INTL Europe: Politics, Economics, and Military- March 2020

[Plain Jane]

France's No.1 police union threatens walkout over coronavirus protection

France's biggest police trade union has given the government an ultimatum, telling it to provide officers with the face masks and gloves they need to enforce a nationwide coronavirus lockdown - or risk its members walking off the job.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 19, 2020 / 8:17 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
France's No.1 police union threatens walkout over coronavirus protection

Dominique Vidalon, Caroline Pailliez
4 MIN READ

PARIS (Reuters) - France’s biggest police trade union has given the government an ultimatum, telling it to provide officers with the face masks and gloves they need to enforce a nationwide coronavirus lockdown - or risk its members walking off the job.

Countries around the world are struggling to deal with the biggest public health crisis since the 1918 influenza pandemic, with medical supplies and protective gear in short supply.
France has some of the most far-reaching worker protections of any developed country, including the right to stop working if confronted by an imminent and grave threat.

The Alliance union said it was giving the government until Friday to provide enough face masks, gloves and hand sanitizer gel for its officers to use at their discretion, and not only under the orders of superiors.

“There is no reason why we should be victims of a government failure to plan,” Frederic Lagache, a senior Alliance union official told Reuters. “We want to carry out our duties to their fullest, but need to be able to guarantee our own safety.”

A second union less present among the police force, the CFDT, urged its officers to refuse tasks that put them in close contact with the public due to the lack of protective gear.

As the number of dead from the coronavirus in France hit 264 and confirmed cases spiraled above 9,000, some 100,000 police have fanned out across the country to enforce a virtual lockdown unprecedented during peacetime.

The stringent restrictions on public life permit people to leave their homes only to buy groceries, travel to work, exercise or seek medical help.

Anyone venturing outside must carry a document justifying their movement, or risk a fine. In the past 24 hours, tens of thousands of police checks had been carried out and more than 4,000 penalties issued, Castaner said.

He downplayed the risk to police, citing public health experts who insisted wearing a mask did not protect those showing no symptoms. “That goes for the police too,” he told Europe 1 radio.


The lockdown would be extended after two weeks if the pandemic remained a threat, he said.

“SHOCKING” SHORTAGES
The global economy is headed for recession as the coronavirus outbreak prompts countries in Asia, Europe and the Americas to impose border controls, instills panic in populations worldwide and disrupts global supply chains.

Carmakers Renault and Peugeot-manufacturer PSA on Thursday announced further factory suspensions, Airbus is halting work at its French and Spanish plants, and Moody’s said the pandemic was negative for French banks.

In France’s National Assembly, where the virus has sickened 18 lawmakers, a few dozen others held a downsized session to begin debating the government’s emergency measures. The lawmakers sat apart in the disinfected chamber and were asked not to touch the microphones.
Countries across Europe are desperately seeking to ramp up the production of face masks and procure ventilators, with tight supplies from Italy to Germany testing solidarity between European Union member states.

The shortages have drawn anger from doctors and nurses on the frontline in the fight to save critically ill sufferers of the coronavirus.

One nurse at the Pitie Salpetriere hospital in Paris, whose intensive care unit is fighting to keeping critically ill patients alive, told Reuters basics like masks and hand sanitizer were in short supply.

“Medics (in other wards) who do not show any symptoms are being asked to work with no protection. It’s shocking,” the nurse said, requesting anonymity because she is not authorized to talk publicly.

Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, Caroline Pailliez and Matthias Blamont; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Mathieu Rosemain and Raissa Kasolowsky
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Zerohedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

How The European Union Turned The Coronavirus Into A Pandemic

by Tyler Durden
Fri, 03/20/2020 - 02:00
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Authored by Con Coughlin via The Gatestone Institute,
The emergence of Europe as the new epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic has as much to do with the European Union's inept handling of the crisis as it does with the resilience of the virus itself.
When the world first learned about the existence of coronavirus in China at the start of the year, the EU's response, like much of the rest of the world's, was to adopt a wait and see approach as to how it developed.
The problem for the EU, though, is that it has maintained this lackadaisical approach long after it became clear that the virus was going to develop into a global, rather than a specifically Chinese, issue. More pertinently, the EU's failure to raise its game, after the rapid spread of the virus resulted in much of Europe coming to a standstill, means that the EU is now trying to play catch-up in terms of asserting a leadership role.
(Video at link)

EU seals borders in coronavirus fight

After weeks of prevarication, the EU finally imposed measures to ban travellers from outside the bloc for 30 days. The measure is expected to apply to 26 EU states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The ban will not apply to citizens from the UK and Ireland.

"This is good," commented European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as she announced the new measures earlier on March 18.
"We have a unanimous and united approach [where] the external borders are concerned."

That it has taken until now for the EU to act, when so many major European countries such as France, Italy and Spain are already in lockdown, illustrates the inadequacy of the EU's response to the crisis. It also helps to explain why Europe has replaced Asia as the main epicentre of the pandemic.
By the time Mrs von der Leyen finally got around to announcing at the start of this week that the EU was planning to impose its travel ban, most member states had already taken matters into their own hands and made their own arrangements to restrict border access.

Moreover, by undertaking their own unilateral actions, the decision by some EU member states, such as Austria and the Czech Republic, to specifically ban citizens from other EU states, such as neighbouring Italy, represents a flagrant breach of one of the EU's key founding principles, namely the free movement of its citizens across the borders of other member states.
Consequently, the EU's failure to address the coronavirus issue earlier has resulted in the Schengen Agreement, which stipulates that the citizens of any EU state can travel freely throughout the union, becoming null and void.
The EU's commitment to Schengen was one of the key factors that persuaded U.S. President Donald Trump to impose his initial travel ban on continental Europe, claiming -- correctly -- that the EU was being far too complacent in its response to tackling the virus.
Now, thanks to the EU's ineptitude, the union has entered a new era in which the precedent has been established whereby it is the governments of the various constituent member states, and not Brussels, that decide who can, and who cannot, cross their borders.
The sudden imposition of new border controls in Europe is already having a serious impact on the trading arrangements between different EU member states. This week, for example, trucks trying to enter Poland from Germany have been subjected to a tailback dozens of kilometres long, as Polish border guards insisted on checking the temperatures, health and documentation of drivers seeking to enter the country.

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Moreover, the EU's inability to provide effective leadership in terms of responding to the coronavirus challenge has led to an increase in tensions between key member states, tensions that could ultimately threaten the survival of the EU in its current manifestation.
Perhaps the most shameful episode concerning inter-EU relations since the start of the coronavirus outbreak was Germany's refusal to allow the export of much-needed face masks and ventilators to Italy after the Italian government made a direct appeal to the rest of the EU for help. Instead of demonstrating the so-called solidarity that is supposed to underpin the EU's founding ethos, the German government issued a ban on the export of the equipment to Italy.
It was left to the Chinese government to provide the Italians with 31 tons of urgent medical supplies.
The EU's handling of the coronavirus has not just been incompetent. It raises serious questions as to whether it is about to become yet another victim of the deadly pandemic.

 

[Melodi]

My understanding is that individual EU countries have always had the right to close their borders to the other EU States as a temporary measure in the face of an emergency.

That doesn't happen very often and is discouraged but Austria and other countries were within their rights to do so.

What I don't know if "temporary" has a sell-by date on it, not that I think any sane government will care until this is all over.

 

[Plain Jane]

Russian army to send coronavirus help to Italy after Putin phone call

The Russian military will start sending medical help to Italy from Sunday to help it to battle the new coronavirus after receiving an order from President Vladimir Putin, Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement.

www.reuters.com

NEWSMARCH 22, 2020 / 2:18 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Russian army to send coronavirus help to Italy after Putin phone call

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian military will start sending medical help to Italy from Sunday to help it to battle the new coronavirus after receiving an order from President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Putin spoke to Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Saturday, the Kremlin said, adding that the Russian leader had offered his support and help in the form of mobile disinfection vehicles and specialists to aid the worst hit Italian regions.

Italy recorded a jump in deaths from the coronavirus of almost 800 on Saturday, taking the toll in the world’s hardest-hit country to almost 5,000.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that military transport planes would deliver eight mobile brigades of military medics, special disinfection vehicles and other medical equipment to Italy from Sunday.

Russia will also send about 100 military specialists in virology and epidemics, the Interfax news agency cited the defense ministry as saying.

Russia itself has reported 306 cases of the virus, most of them in Moscow, and one coronavirus-related death.

Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Christopher Cushing and David Goodman

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

This is a terrible time for an earthquake.

Quake hits Zagreb, PM urges social distancing as residents flee buildings

A large earthquake struck near the Croatian capital Zagreb on Sunday, critically injuring a teenager caught in a collapsed building in the city center and prompting appeals for social distancing after people rushed out onto the streets.

www.reuters.com

ENVIRONMENT
MARCH 22, 2020 / 1:43 AM / UPDATED 30 MINUTES AGO
Quake hits Zagreb, PM appeals for social distancing as residents rush onto streets

Igor Ilic
3 MIN READ

ZAGREB (Reuters) - A large earthquake struck near the Croatian capital Zagreb on Sunday, leaving a teenager critically injured after an apartment building in the city collapsed, the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences and a hospital official said.

Another minor was badly injured and the quake caused several fires and power blackouts in parts of the capital, hospital and emergency services said.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic called on citizens to remain outside their homes amid potential aftershocks. Plenkovic and Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic also appealed for people rushing onto the streets to keep social distances from each other as the country struggles to contain the spread of coronavirus. So far, Croatia has reported 206 cases of the virus and one death.

We will do our utmost to make the best estimate of what to do at the moment. There are protocols when it comes to an earthquake. But when it comes to an earthquake combined with the global pandemic, then it is a much more complicated situation,” Bozinovic told local media.
Plenkovic said the quake, with a magnitude of 5.3 according to GFZ, was the biggest to hit Zagreb in 140 years. It struck 6 km north of the city and was felt across the Western Balkans.
Zarko Rasic, head of the Zagreb Emergency Medicine Institute, a children’s hospital, said a 15-year-old was in a critical condition after being found by an emergency services team under a collapsed building and another minor had been admitted with head injuries from a falling roof. He did not give further details on the persons’ identities.

The Zagreb Fire Department said firefighting and rescue operations were ongoing at several locations.

Plenkovic said the army had been called in to help clean up debris in Zagreb and urged citizens to “stay outside and keep your distance”.

“The situation is contradictory, we invited people to stay at home to avoid spreading of the corona virus, and now we are advising them to leave their homes,” Plenkovic told a press conference.

GFZ downgraded the magnitude of the quake from an initial reading of 6.0.

It lasted over 10 seconds. By far the strongest I have ever felt,” one witness said, adding that it was followed by several aftershocks.

A Reuters reporter on the scene saw a church bell tower damaged, some buildings fell down as people fled apartments and took to the streets.
The government convened an urgent cabinet meeting and said it would hold another press conference on Sunday afternoon.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake measured 5.4, while the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) also reported 5.3 magnitude, followed by another 5.1 magnitude earthquake.

Reporting by Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru, Igor Ilic in Zagreb and Maja Zuvela in Sarajevo; Editing by Sam Holmes/Christopher Cushing/Susan Fenton
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Germany's Merkel goes into quarantine after contact with infected doctor

German chancellor Angela Merkel went into quarantine on Sunday after coming into contact with a coronavirus-infected doctor shortly after announcing more curbs on social interaction to slow the spread of the disease.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 22, 2020 / 3:29 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Germany's Merkel goes into quarantine after contact with infected doctor

Ludwig Burger
3 MIN READ

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German chancellor Angela Merkel went into quarantine on Sunday after coming into contact with a coronavirus-infected doctor shortly after announcing more curbs on social interaction to slow the spread of the disease.


l Kappeler
Merkel, 65, will continue her work from home and will submit to repeated tests over the next few days, her spokesman said in a statement, adding it was too soon for a conclusive test yet.
Merkel had on Friday afternoon received a vaccine shot against pneumococcus, a pneumonia-causing bacteria, from a doctor who later tested positive for coronavirus, according to the statement.

Merkel earlier on Sunday said in a televised press briefing that Germany would ban public meetings of more than two people, amid a raft of further measures.

“The great aim is to gain time in the fight against the virus,” she said, citing an agreement between the federal government and regional states.

For at least the next two weeks, people will not be allowed to form groups of three or more in public unless they live together in the same household, or the gathering is work-related, she added.

Restaurants can only serve patrons via takeaway, while hairdressers and beauty, massage and tattoo parlours must close.

Governments in Europe, the epicenter of the global pandemic, have escalated their emergency responses amid a rising death toll.
Italy banned travel within the country after freezing non-essential business activity. Spain wants to extend until April 11 a state of emergency it imposed this month.

Regional states in Germany had previously taken differing approaches in the fight against the virus. Bavaria and smaller Saarland had gone furthest, imposing restrictions to keep people inside their homes save for a number of work-related exceptions.

“We are reducing public life and social interaction further and we are making sure to impose the same rules in principle across Germany,” Merkel said.

Last year, Merkel suffered several bouts of shaking at public events, sparking speculation about her health.

I am aware of the responsibility of my office,” she told reporters last July after the tremor episodes. “I behave appropriately as far as my health is concerned ... I look after my health.”

Merkel has said she will not seek a fifth term as chancellor in federal elections due by October 2021. She has loomed large on the European stage since 2005, helping guide the EU through the euro zone crisis and opening Germany’s doors to migrants fleeing war in the Middle East in 2015, a move that still divides the bloc and her country.

Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Additional reporting by Paul Carrel; Editing by Andrew Heavens and David Holmes
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Zerohedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

They've Been Lying From The Start" - French Medics File Suit Against Prime Minister

by Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/23/2020 - 04:15
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COVID-19 has infected 328,275 people across the world and caused 14,366 deaths, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins. Europe has turned into the next China, with cases and deaths on an exponential curve in Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Switzerland, and the UK.
In France, the fast-spreading virus has killed 562 and led to more than 14,400 confirmed cases on Sunday. The French hospital system is on the brink of being overwhelmed by virus patients, with hospital beds and ICU-treatment capacity is quickly running out.

French hospitals are running out of protective gear, leaving medical staff susceptible to contracting the virus.
Boris Johnson: Be reasonable in your shopping

It has become entirely evident that the European country was not prepared to fight a pandemic. This is the claim that is being made by three French medics in a new lawsuit against Minister Edouard Philippe and former minister of solidarity and health, Agnes Buzyn.
Lawyers for the medics told RT News that the complaint alleges the two senior officials failed to prepare the country for a health crisis that has paralyzed it.
The complaint said both officials were completely aware of the virus in January but "chose not to act."
"At some point, the truth needs to be told, which is that these people have been lying to us from the start," Fabrice di Vizio, the lawyer representing the three plaintiffs, told RT.

The complaint referenced an interview Buzyn gave the Le Monde newspaper, in which she regrets leaving her government post and running for mayor of Paris as the virus crisis was developing earlier this year:

"I knew that the tsunami wave was before us. "On January 30, I warned [Prime Minister] Edouard Philippe that the elections could probably not be held. "We should have stopped everything, it was a masquerade."

The French government has rejected any wrongdoing and has said their response to the virus has been satisfactory.
Di Vizio told RT that the government is still unprepared and lacks critical protective gear for healthcare workers:

"Last week the government spoke about the masks. You remember those pompous speeches by the president, who was all commander-in-chief in tone and promised the masks?" he said. "Masks are a primary tool of war since they protect the health workers. Have those masks arrived?"

It would be an absolute disaster if French medics and healthcare workers joined the anti-government "Yellow Vest" protestors out of their disgust for the failure of the government. After all, last month, French firefighters joined the protests.

Copyright ©2009-2020 ZeroHedge.com/ABC Media, LTD

 

[Plain Jane]

Italy's Lombardy metalworkers to strike, want more firms shut due to coronavirus

Metalworkers unions in Italy's northern Lombardy region said on Monday they would strike to protect the health of their members because a government decree temporarily shutting many businesses due to coronavirus contained too many loopholes and exceptions.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 23, 2020 / 6:33 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Italy's Lombardy metalworkers to strike, want more firms shut due to coronavirus


1 MIN READ

ROME (Reuters) - Metalworkers unions in Italy’s northern Lombardy region said on Monday they would strike to protect the health of their members because a government decree temporarily shutting many businesses due to coronavirus contained too many loopholes and exceptions.

The three main unions, FIOM, FIM and UILM, said in a statement that the list of companies that can continue working “has been excessively extended, covering areas of dubious importance” and allowing firms “excessive discretion” in applying for exemptions.

Lombardy is the Italian region worst hit by the epidemic, which killed 5,476 people nationwide up to Sunday.

The unions said they would announce the details of their strike in coming days. The government decree, signed on Sunday, says all but “essential” businesses must close until April 3, and sets out a long list of sectors deemed essential.

Reporting By Gavin Jones, editing by Giulia Segreti
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Hungarians queue for guns for fear of disorder as coronavirus spreads

Peter Rostas doesn't want to have any reason to use the gun he was buying, but the young Hungarian father of one was taking no chances with a coronavirus epidemic he fears may bring out the worst in some people.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 23, 2020 / 9:07 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Hungarians stand in line for guns for fear of disorder as coronavirus spreads

Marton Dunai, Bernadett Szabo
3 MIN READ

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Peter Rostas doesn’t want to have any reason to use the gun he was buying, but the young Hungarian father of one was taking no chances with a coronavirus epidemic he fears may bring out the worst in some people.

“It’s a precautionary measure,” Rostas, 33, said as he lined up outside a small Budapest shop selling non-military grade weapons that require no license. “I’d rather be laughing later than find myself in a conflict with nothing but a broomstick.”

Hungarians have sought in increasing number to arm themselves for protection in recent weeks, fearing a possible unraveling of law and order if severe shortages set in as the coronavirus pandemic spreads.

Gun controls are tight in eastern Europe as across the rest of the continent, but demand for small arms amid growing anxiety over coronavirus has risen elsewhere in the region. The Czech arms manufacturers association said shop owners had reported rising demand and a double-digit rise in sales.

About 300,000 people hold licenses for guns in each of the Czech Republic and Hungary, both with about 10 million inhabitants. Licenses are not mandatory for some light arms.

“We are selling five times as much as in a normal March,” said Gabor Vass, who runs three gun shops in the Hungarian capital including the one where Rostas bought his gas pistol.
“We could sell 15 times more if we had any more rubber bullet weapons, but we ran out.”

The shop, little bigger than a phone booth and tucked inside a suburban shopping center on the edge of Budapest, was hardly designed for an onrush of customers. But last week brought a heavy stream, people from all walks of life.

Hungary has registered 167 cases of coronavirus, with seven deaths, but Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Monday the true number was probably much higher.

“REASSURING” TO HAVE GUN AT HOME
Rostas fears violence could arise from shortages of essential goods, something the Hungarian government has insisted will not happen. But the stocky auto trader is skeptical.

“If people brawl over toilet paper now, what will they do later? Once shops run out of stock, people will take what they need. Police can hardly deal with every petty theft,” he said.
“I’m not planning to kill anyone, but it is reassuring to have a weapon at home.”

Vass, the gun shop owner, said even small weapons not requiring a license were very dangerous in the wrong hands, given that even non-combat gas pistols can be lethal at close range, and the interest does not stop there.

“People have gone nuts,” he said. “They gobble up anything they don’t need a licence for. Gas pistols, rubber bullet guns, and even things like crossbows, which can harm you seriously.”

Hungarian police and the government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Gun and ammunition sales have also jumped across the United States amid fears of social breakdown as the pandemic worsens.

Reporting by Marton Dunai; Editing by Mark Heinrich
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Zerohedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

Germany Closes Border To Europeans, But Migrants Still Allowed In

by Tyler Durden
Tue, 03/24/2020 - 03:30
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Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,
Germany has closed its border to visitors from Europe due to coronavirus, but migrants claiming asylum from the Middle East and Africa are still allowed to enter the country.

Aside from exemptions for people from France, Luxembourg, and Switzerland who are providing essential services, German authorities closed the country’s border to all foreign citizens last week.

However, according to the German Ministry of the Interior, so-called “asylum seekers,” a catch-all term that basically describes economic migrants fleeing from the Middle East and Africa, are still welcome.

“At Germany’s EU external borders [airports and seaports], there has been no change in the [asylum] procedure,”a representative of the Ministry of the Interior told Junge Freiheit.

This means that Europeans who previously had a right to enter Germany are being treated as second class citizens compared to migrants from the third world, who merely have to utter the word “asylum” to enter Germany and have their case heard, even in the midst of a deadly global pandemic.

“In practice, this means that if a migrant were to illegally enter the European Union’s Schengen Zone via Italy or Greece and make it to France or Switzerland, he can still demand asylum in Germany, and thus must be allowed to traverse these countries so that he can formally request it on German territory,” reports Voice of Europe.

The situation is similar in Sweden, where asylum seekers will continue to be processed and allowed to stay in the country despite a global pandemic.
Given that migrants already in Germany rioted and displayed ISIS flags when told their refugee camp had to be put in quarantine, one wonders whether newly arrived asylum seekers will obey lockdown rules.
As Breitbart highlights, attempts to enforce a quarantine in migrant-heavy areas of Paris are proving “impossible” because migrants just ignore the law and congregate in large crowds if confronted by police. Authorities cannot hand out fines to migrants due to fears of a violent “backlash.”

An Ipsos survey released last week showed that a majority of people in 12 different countries supported closing the borders until the coronavirus outbreak is contained.

(Video at the link)

 

[Plain Jane]

Coronavirus: What do the lockdowns mean in Europe? – DW – 04/15/2020

Countries across Europe have significantly curbed public life in order to halt the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak. DW breaks down what life in lockdown means and how long the measures are expected to last.

www.dw.com

Coronavirus: What are the lockdown measures across Europe?
Countries across Europe have significantly curbed public life in order to halt the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak. DW breaks down what life in lockdown means and how long the measures are expected to last.




Italy
Restrictions in place until April 3, but could extend to July 31
Italy issued a nationwide lockdown on March 9, ordering its 60 million residents to stay at home. Schools, universities and all non-essential businesses are closed — with supermarkets, banks, pharmacies and post offices allowed to remain open. Travel within Italy has been banned except for health reasons or urgent matters.
People in Italy are only permitted to leave the house under certain circumstances, including: solitary exercise close to home, going grocery shopping or going to the doctor. They must print out a certificate at home declaring their reason for leaving the house, which will be checked by police. Those who violate the lockdown face fines between €400 to €3,000 ($430 to $3,227) or up to three months in jail.
Spain
Restrictions in place until April 11
The Spanish government declared a state of emergency on March 14, issuing a general confinement order for more than 46 million people.
Non-essential shops and schools have been ordered to shut, as well as hotels and tourist accommodation. Spain also closed its external borders with its European neighbors. People are limited to only leaving their homes to go to the pharmacy and grocery shopping. Outdoor exercise is also banned, except for taking a dog on a walk. Hundreds of thousands of police and military personnel are enforcing the lockdown.

• 
• France
  Restrictions in place until April 1, but likely to be extended
  The French government announced a strict nationwide lockdown on March 17, banning all public gatherings and telling residents to stay inside except for grocery shopping and other essential tasks.
  Along with closing all non-essential shops, open-air markets have been ordered to shut. People in France are also required to fill out a form stating their reason for leaving the house.
  Outdoor exercise is only permitted once a day and must be done alone and not exceed one hour. Families are allowed to take walks, but must remain within 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) of their homes. Walking the dog is allowed, although owners must now write down what time they left to make sure it's within the hour-limit.
  Those breaching lockdown rules could face fines between €135 to €3,700 as well as up to six months in prison for multiple violations.
  Read more: Coronavirus: No lockdowns in Sweden, for now
  Germany
  Restrictions in place until April 6
  Unlike other European countries, Germany has so far stopped short of ordering its over 80 million population to remain at home — instead opting for strict social distancing measures which were issued on March 22.
  Public gatherings of more than two people are banned, except for families and those who live together. Restaurants have been told to close unless they offer food delivery and pick-up. Hair salons and tattoo parlors have joined the list of non-essential shops that have been told to shut. Exercising alone outside is still allowed, albeit with at least a 1.5-meter distance between others.
  The states of Bavaria and Saarland have, however, have put their residents on lockdown, telling them to stay at home. Schools across the country have been told to shut until the end of the Easter holiday, which ends between April 13 – April 24.
  Read more: Coronavirus and the EU: The nation versus the union?
  UK
  Restrictions in place until April 13, but will be reviewed
  The British government ordered a lockdown on March 23, limiting people to trips outside the home solely for grocery shopping, medical needs and traveling to work if working from home is not an option.
  Social gatherings and meeting up in crowds have been banned. One form of solitary exercise is permitted such as running or riding s bicycle. Police will be enforcing the lockdown measures, but people are not required to bring papers with them when they go outside to justify their reason for leaving the house.
  Austria
  Restrictions in place until April 13
  Austria banned its nearly 9 million citizens on March 16 from entering public spaces except in certain situations, including pharmacy, grocery store and ATM trips. All sports fields have been shut, but people are still permitted to go on runs or take walks outside with the people who also live in their apartment or house.
  Groups of more than five people are not permitted in public. Restaurants, bars and cafes have been ordered shut. Only supermarkets and food delivery services are available for those looking for food or groceries. Those who do not comply face fines of up to €3,600.
  The borders with neighboring Italy and Switzerland have been shut, with train and air travel significantly cut back.

 

[Plain Jane]

Zerohedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

Czech Republic Says It May Keep Borders Closed For 2 Years

by Tyler Durden
Wed, 03/25/2020 - 03:30
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Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,
Officials in the Czech Republic say that the country may need to keep its borders closed for 2 years in order to fight a potential second wave of coronavirus.

Czech Crisis Staff head Roman Prymula told Czech Television that border controls may have to be kept in place for an extended period in order to restrict the entry of people from other European countries that have been harder hit by coronavirus.

“The situation in other European countries will not be good, there it will take months and long months,” said Prymula.

Czech Minister of Health Adam Vojtech amplified Prymula’s suggestion.

“The point is to avoid having a second or third wave of the epidemic, so that people from other countries such as Italy, France, Spain, Germany, do not begin to flow [into the Czech Republic],” he told Czech Television.

Quarantine measures that restrict the movement of people and have mandated the closure of restaurants and other businesses, as well as the wearing of face coverings in public, will be extended in the Czech. Republic until at least April 1st.

The measures have been successful, with Prymula highlighting how authorities were able to “flatten the curve” of infections and keep the rate under control.
The country has largely escaped the impact of coronavirus in comparison to other European countries, recording 1,236 cases but just a single death.

Vit Rakusan, leader of the opposition STAN party, said the idea of closing the border for 2 years was draconian.

“I understand and support the ban on traveling during current culmination of the epidemic. But scaring people with two years, this must not be a decision of an epidemiologist, however prominent,” he asserted.

 

[Plain Jane]

Prince Charles tests positive for coronavirus, Queen Elizabeth in good health

Prince Charles, the 71-year-old heir to the British throne, has tested positive for coronavirus but is in good health and is now self isolating in Scotland with mild symptoms.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 25, 2020 / 6:47 AM / UPDATED 6 MINUTES AGO
Britain's Prince Charles tests positive for coronavirus

Michael Holden, Guy Faulconbridge
2 MIN READ

LONDON (Reuters) - Prince Charles, the 71-year-old heir to the British throne, has tested positive for coronavirus but is in good health and is now self isolating in Scotland.

Charles, eldest son of Queen Elizabeth, is displaying what Clarence House said were mild symptoms but remains in good health and has been working from his home on the Balmoral Estate in Scotland. His wife, Camilla, tested negative.

“The Prince of Wales has tested positive for coronavirus,” Clarence House said. “He has been displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual.”

“The Duchess of Cornwall has also been tested but does not have the virus,” Clarence House said.

A royal source said the Prince of Wales was tested on Monday and got the results on Tuesday. Charles has spoken to both Queen Elizabeth and his children.

He last saw the 93-year-old monarch on the morning of March 12 following an investiture, before the earliest time he would have been infectious.

“Her Majesty The Queen remains in good health,” Buckingham Palace said. “The Queen last saw The Prince of Wales briefly after the investiture on the morning of 12th March and is following all the appropriate advice with regard to her welfare.”

A royal source said that the earliest Charles would have been infectious was March 13.

Queen Elizabeth left London for Windsor Castle on March 19. She is with her 98-year-old husband, Philip.

“It is not possible to ascertain from whom the Prince caught the virus owing to the high number of engagements he carried out in his public role during recent weeks,” Clarence House said.

Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden; Editing by Kate Holton and Alison Williams
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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[Plain Jane]

France pulls out military forces in Iraq amid virus demands

France is pulling out military forces from Iraq as the French military is increasingly called upon to help fight the new virus at home.

apnews.com

France pulls out military forces in Iraq amid virus demands

PARIS (AP) — France is pulling out its military forces from Iraq as French forces are increasingly called upon to help fight the coronavirus at home.

The chief of staff of the French armed forces said in a statement Wednesday night that France is suspending its anti-terrorism training operations in Iraq and also bringing home its Iraq-based troops involved in the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group.

France, which has suffered repeated attacks on its soil by Islamic State extremists, is maintaining military operations in Kuwait and Qatar, and air force missions over Syria.

The announcement came just after French President Emmanuel Macron launched a special military operation to support efforts to treat people infected with the new virus.

France plans to deploy helicopter carriers in its overseas territories, and has transported the sick on military planes and an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean. The French military also built a field hospital in the eastern city of Mulhouse, located in the region of France hardest-hit by the outbreak.

France had almost 26,000 confirmed cases as of Wednesday and the fifth-largest number of virus-related deaths in the world at more than 1,300.

 

[Plain Jane]

Europol: Criminals exploit virus crisis as fresh opportunity

European law enforcement agency Europol says criminals are preying on a fearful public and disrupting the provision of medical care during the coronavirus pandemic.

apnews.com

Europol: Criminals exploit virus crisis as fresh opportunity
By ELAINE GANLEYtoday



1 of 2
FILE - In this photo taken on March 21, 2020 police officers check on motorists in Baisieux, on the Belgian-French boarder, northern France. Criminals have spotted a new business opportunity with the coronavirus pandemic and are now plundering the needy and the fearful and even disrupting the medical sector, online and off, with fraud, counterfeit products and cybercrime, a report issued Friday by the European law enforcement agency Europol says. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler, File)

PARIS (AP) — Criminals are preying on a fearful public and disrupting the provision of medical care during the coronavirus pandemic by selling counterfeit products, impersonating health workers and hacking computers as many citizens do their jobs online at home, European law enforcement agency Europol said Friday.

In one instance, a cyberattack on a major hospital in the Czech Republic where COVID-19 tests are carried out forced the cancellation of planned surgeries, Europol said in a new report.
Organized crime groups, well-known for identifying new opportunities, have found new pathways to scam people made vulnerable by fears of the virus, which, like criminals, know no borders, according to the report.

“Criminals have quickly seized the opportunities to exploit the crisis by adapting their modes of operation or developing new criminal activities,” Europol Executive Director, Catherine de Bolle said in a statement. She added that organized crime groups’ “capacity to exploit this crisis means we need to be constantly vigilant and prepared.”

Europol’s report lists four main avenues for illicit activity: cybercrime, fraud, counterfeit and substandard goods, and organized property crime. Criminals manufacture and sell high-demand products like masks or medicine, impersonate medical workers to get into homes or businesses, and break into a gold mine of information with so many European citizens now doing their jobs online at home.

Coronavirus-related criminal activity is not limited to Europe. A March 3-10 operation in 90 countries, overseen by international police agency Interpol, dug out suspects seeking fast cash, notably with the sale of counterfeit face masks and medicines.

Interpol said that it disrupted the work of 37 organized crime groups, and seized 34,000 fake and substandard masks, and more than $14 million in potentially dangerous pharmaceuticals. The “corona spray,” “corona packages” and medicines are but “the tip of the iceberg regarding this new trend in counterfeiting,” Interpol said.

COVID-19, the disease caused by the new virus, causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, such as fever or coughing for two to three weeks. But it can cause more serious illness and death for others, especially for older adults and people with existing health problems.
Europol noted the transfer of 6.6 million euros by a European company to another in Singapore to buy face masks and alcohol gels, widely used now for cleaning hands to protect from the coronavirus.

“The goods were never received,” the report said. It did not identify either company.
Criminals also lurk at the doorways of private homes as hundreds of millions of people across Europe are confined under government orders to slow the spread of the virus. The fraud schemes used to get inside private residences to steal vary but often involve someone impersonating medical officials, conducting a “corona test,” providing hygiene products or informative material, Europol said.

In one European country, an individual was notified by phone of a relative hospitalized with the virus and then received a middle-of-the-night visit from individuals in protective gear posing as doctors who actually swabbed the victim’s mouth.

European officials have warned the public to be wary of potential scam artists during the unprecedented and vulnerable times.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen noted recently that increased time online, for work or to while away days and weeks of confinement, means that criminals “exploit our concerns about the coronavirus.”

“Our fear becomes their business opportunity,” she said.

 

[Plain Jane]

Finland blocks roads to Helsinki to curb coronavirus spread

Police and the Finnish army set up roadblocks on all routes that connect Helsinki with the rest of the country, while Finland's parliament approved the plan at the last moment to enforce the capital region's coronavirus blockade by midnight on Friday.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 27, 2020 / 1:31 PM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Finland begins to block roads to Helsinki


2 MIN READ

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Police and the Finnish army set up roadblocks on all routes that connect Helsinki with the rest of the country, while the government rushed legislation through parliament to enforce the capital region’s coronavirus blockade by midnight on Friday.

Finland’s government decided on Wednesday to issue a three-week blockade of the region around Helsinki, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in Finland, to prevent people from traveling and spreading the virus elsewhere in the country. But on Friday the decision was still pending parliament’s approval.[L8N2BI8VJ]

Traffic began to jam towards evening on the motorways leading out from the capital region, Uusimaa, as police began blocking lanes with bollards and fences, local media reported.
Meanwhile in Helsinki, legislators at the parliament continued to debate the law - which was delayed due to constitutional technicalities earlier on Friday - in order to approve it before midnight, when it is supposed to take force.

“Everything aims at the matter being approved by midnight, despite this technical faux pas,” parliament speaker Matti Vanhanen told Finland’s largest daily, Helsingin Sanomat.

Traveling to and from the Uusimaa region will be prohibited until April 19, with certain exceptions such as goods deliveries and indispensable work-related commuting.

By Friday, authorities had counted seven deaths and 1,025 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Finland, most of them in the capital region.

Last week, Finland restricted traffic across its borders, banned public meetings of more than 10 people, closed schools for most pupils and urged people to stay at home as much as possible.

Reporting by Anne Kauranen; Editing by Alex Richardson
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

UK's plan B if 'Team Johnson' is incapacitated? Answer is unclear

What would happen if British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's case of coronavirus - so far he has "mild symptoms" - were to become more serious or even incapacitate him and his team? Under Britain's uncodified constitution, the answer is unclear.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 27, 2020 / 2:05 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
UK's plan B if 'Team Johnson' is incapacitated? Answer is unclear

Michael Holden, Kylie MacLellan
5 MIN READ

LONDON (Reuters) - What would happen if British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s case of coronavirus - so far he has “mild symptoms” - were to become more serious or even incapacitate him and his team? Under Britain’s uncodified constitution, the answer is unclear.

Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock both said they were able to keep working from self-isolation at home after confirming they had tested positive for the virus.

But the fact that two such crucial members of the British government have contracted the disease - and their top medical adviser is now self-isolating with symptoms - has raised questions about how the government would function without them at a time of global crisis.

With only an unwieldy collection of sometimes ancient and contradictory precedents to go by, there is no simple, formally-enshrined “Plan B” or succession scenario, experts said.

“We’ve not been in that kind of situation, we’ve not had to think about it from that point of view before,” Catherine Haddon, a senior fellow at the Institute for Government, told Reuters.

Whereas in the United States the vice president steps up if the president dies or becomes incapacitated, Britain has no formal deputy or caretaker prime minister who would take over.


Downing Street has already said, however, that Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab would deputise if necessary.

Nor is there any guidance for such circumstances in the Cabinet Manual which sets out the rules and conventions for the running of government, and there is little precedence.

When asked about who would stand in for the prime minister, his spokesman said: “The prime minister has the power to delegate responsibility to any of his ministers, but for now it is the prime minister and then the foreign secretary.”

CHURCHILL’S STROKE
In June 1953, then-Prime Minister Winston Churchill suffered a stroke while in office. His illness was kept so secret that some senior ministers were unaware.

Churchill surprised doctors by recovering to carry on his duties, returning to Downing Street and running the cabinet two months later.

More recently, Tony Blair twice underwent treatment for a heart condition while prime minister in the early 2000s, each time briefly cutting back on his workload for a couple of days.

Officials said had he been incapacitated, his then-deputy John Prescott would take over until a new leader was elected.

There is no suggestion Johnson is unable to perform his job, and his spokesman said he could carry on as before, although he was now doing so via teleconferencing.

Bob Kerslake, head of the civil service from January 2012 to September 2014, agreed that Johnson and ministers could continue to operate by video, but said there were potential drawbacks.

“It is a cabinet government but the prime minister’s role is crucial at this time, not least ... because of the visible leadership that the country needs,” he told Sky News.

MUDDLE THROUGH?
Kerslake said officials would need to know there was a system for what would happen if senior ministers were unable to do their jobs.

REUTERS/Hannah Mckay
Losing Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove, who coordinates policy across government, would be a serious blow.

“He is critical to all of this,” Kerslake said. “If, for whatever reason, he was ill, who takes over from him?”

Haddon said some powers were specifically vested in cabinet ministers, so there was an issue of what happened if they were unavailable.

“If you got to a stage where ... you had secretaries of state who aren’t able to perform their functions, then there are question marks about whether junior ministers in their department act on their behalf,” she said.

One lawmaker in Johnson’s party, who has repeatedly tried to bring in a law to formalize who would replace a prime minister in the event of incapacity, said last week no one seemed to know what would happen.

“In a national emergency, you don’t want to be scrabbling around worrying about who’s in charge,” Peter Bone told the Mirror newspaper.

However, Haddon said naming Raab as Johnson’s substitute would prevent a political squabble among senior ministers over who fronted press conferences or chaired meetings.


“It is valuable for them to work out contingencies for various scenarios and they have obviously done a certain amount of thinking about that,” she said.

She said prime ministers and cabinet ministers were often absent and government operated in their absence.

“Secretaries of state go on holiday and their department functions without them. The prime minister goes on holiday and the rest of government is able to continue working,” she added.

“If there are things that (are) invested in a secretary of state and it is not proper for someone to act on their behalf, that’s when it becomes a problem.”

Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Mike Collett-White
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Belgrade Urges Serbs to Stay out of Kosovo Crisis

The head of Serbia’s Office for Kosovo has told Serbian politicians in the country to stay out of what he called an “Albanian-Albanian” conflict – referring to the collapse of Albin Kurti’s coalition government.

balkaninsight.com

Belgrade Urges Serbs to Stay out of Kosovo Crisis

Milica Stojanovic
Belgrade
BIRN
March 26, 202015:49
The head of Serbia’s Office for Kosovo has told Serbian politicians in the country to stay out of what he called an “Albanian-Albanian” conflict – referring to the collapse of Albin Kurti’s coalition government.

The director of Serbia’s Government Office for Kosovo, Marko Djuric, has called on Srpska Lista [Serbian List], the Belgrade-backed political option in Kosovo, to stay out of what he called the “Albanian-Albanian” political conflict in the country.

Djuric said that by backing the no-confidence vote on Wednesday in the Kosovo parliament in the government led by Albin Kurti, the party had not closed the door on cooperation with others who want better relations and dialogue with Serbia.

Parliament in Kosovo voted down the Kurti government on Wednesday night. The vice president of Srpska Lista, Kosovo MP Igor Simic, announced before the vote that all ten of his MPs would support the no-confidence motion filed by the junior partner in the government, the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK.

“When it comes to the [Kurti] government’s work we have too many objections, Simic told the parliamentary session on Wednesday.

“First is the decision not to abolish the taxes [on imports from Serbia], which all citizens in this region suffer from today … and the other thing is that this government did not show a minimum of respect for the Serbian people, that is, for the representatives of Serbian List, elected by those people in legal, democratic elections,” he said.

Kurti formed his coalition government on February 3, after months of negotiations following elections last year. The ten Srpska Lista MPs would “not support the formation of this government”, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said in February.

However, two members of the party, Ivan Milojevic and Dalibor Jeftic, later assumed places in Kurti’s cabinet, as ministers of Rural Development and Communities and Returns.

This is not the first time the party has changed its mind over participating in Kosovo governments. After years of accusing Ramush Haradinaj of war crimes, Srpska Lista voted for and became part of his government in September 2017.

Haradinaj had been a commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, during the independence war in 1998-1999. Indicted for war crimes before the Hague tribunal, ICTY, he was acquitted in November 2012. He resigned as prime minister last year to face a second war-crime indictment in the Hague.

After the October 2019 elections, in which Kurti’s Vetevendosje Movement won most votes, Srpska Lista said it do not want to cooperate with Kurti, on one side, while he also tried not to include them into his cabinet.

Relations between Belgrade and Pristina remain icy. The former province declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, but Serbia has never recognized it as an independent state. Despite that, Serbian political representatives in Kosovo have participated in every election held there so far.

 

[Plain Jane]

Lithuania, Latvia, some other EU countries ask for Mobility Package postponement

VILNIUS - Lithuania, Latvia and "like-minded" EU member states are urging the bloc's bodies to postpone the consideration and adop...

www.baltictimes.com

Lithuania, Latvia, some other EU countries ask for Mobility Package postponement

• 2020-03-27
• LETA/BNS/TBT Staff

VILNIUS - Lithuania, Latvia and "like-minded" EU member states are urging the bloc's bodies to postpone the consideration and adoption of the controversial Mobility Package, a set of rules to regulate the EU's transport industry, until the coronavirus pandemic has ended and its impact on the transport sector has been assessed, the Lithuanian Transport Ministry said on Friday.

The transport ministers of Lithuania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Latvia, Poland, Malta, Romania and Hungary have signed a letter to the European transport commissioner, Croatia, which now holds the rotating EU presidency, and all EU transport ministers.

The letter calls on the EU to support transport companies, most of which are small and medium-sized enterprises "particularly vulnerable" to the crisis, just as it is helping air carriers by putting in place a new appropriate regulatory framework.

Instead, EU bodies are about to adopt the Mobility Package which, coupled with the fallout from the coronavirus crisis, will deliver a hard blow to European transport companies, according to the letter.

"The magnitude of this impact is difficult to predict," it warned.

The Mobility Package would make it even more difficult for the European transport sector to cope with the difficult economic situation that is likely to follow the pandemic, according to the press release.

"Therefore, we are urgently calling for an end to further legal procedures for the Mobility Package, in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the road transport sector and the EU economy," the ministers said.

The mobility package is mostly supported by the EU's old members from Western Europe, such as Germany and France.

The most contentious provision is that requiring trucks to return to their country of registration at regular intervals.

The initiators say the new rules will help prevent abuse and improve drivers' working conditions, but Eastern Europeans argue that they the new regulation will push transport companies from countries on the EU's periphery from the market and will increase road pollution.

The Mobility Package was endorsed by the majority of EU member states in December and has yet to be approved by the European Parliament. No date for the vote has been set yet, but it was thought earlier that it should be no earlier than May.
Lithuania's police warn they might tighten public control during quarantine

 

[Plain Jane]

The Folk Museum wants to collect corona memories - Norway Today

The Norwegian Museum of Cultural History (Norsk Folkemuseum) is asking for help from the population to collect corona memories for posterity.“Now the Norwegian Folk Museum...

norwaytoday.info

The Folk Museum wants to collect corona memories
TOPICS:Collect Corona MemoriesCoronavirus In NorwayCOVID-19Norsk FolkemuseumThe Norwegian Museum Of Cultural History

Norsk Folkemuseum at Bygdøy in Oslo. Photo: Norsk Folkemuseum
Advertisement
POSTED BY: BRIAN KERR 28. MARCH 2020


The Norwegian Museum of Cultural History (Norsk Folkemuseum) is asking for help from the population to collect corona memories for posterity.

“Now the Norwegian Folk Museum wants to record people’s experiences and reactions: How is everyday life affected? How do we behave? What do we think about the future? Some of this we will remember for a long time, but much will also be forgotten if we do not arrange to collect it,” the museum writes in a press release.

The museum is asking people to submit their stories to the website minner.no. A similar collection has already begun in Sweden under the auspices of the Nordic Museum (Nordiska Museet).
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today

 

[Plain Jane]

Zerohedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

The EU's Betrayal Of Italy May Be Its Undoing

by Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/30/2020 - 03:10
TwitterFacebookRedditEmailPrint


Authored by Francesco Giubilei via TheAmericanConservative.com,
When countries are turning to China because their supranational institutions won’t help, that’s a problem...

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a greater toll on Italy than any other nation. The Italians are facing their most severe crisis since the Second World War, with Lombardy in the industrial north particularly hard hit. Yet for all its rhetoric about global citizenship and solidarity, the European Union has all but abandoned them.



That’s even though communist China, arguably globalization’s greatest and shrewdest state beneficiary, is ready to fill the void and help Italy put out the fire its own virus started.
The coronavirus first appeared in Italy on January 31 when two Chinese tourists from the Hubei province tested positive in Rome, eight days after they’d landed at the Milan airport in Lombardy. The two were immediately isolated and quarantined in the Roman Spallanzani hospital, and the situation seemed under control—until February 21. That day, Italy confirmed 16 new coronavirus cases, 14 in Lombardy and two in Veneto. A 38-year-old Italian from Codogno near Milan with acute respiratory symptoms was identified as patient zero. Despite Italy’s attempts to contain the virus by locking down the city of Codogno, coronavirus infections spread.

In just a few days, Italy had the highest number of infections in Europe, with Lombardy as the pandemic’s epicenter. To avoid the spread of infections to the rest of Italy, the government locked down the entire region of Lombardy and other areas in northern Italy, effectively quarantining 17 million people. A few days later, as the situation deteriorated, the whole of Italy was declared an “orange zone”—all “non-essential” commercial activities were shut down and the free movement of citizens was limited to grocery and pharmaceutical shopping and work obligations deemed by the state as of “prime importance.”

The economic repercussions of a complete shutdown loomed large. Consequently, Italy asked the EU for more flexibility on its accounts and requested that emergency measures be deployed to support Italian citizens and businesses. At the time, the crisis was hardly felt in the European powerhouses, France or Germany. The EU’s response was slow and inefficient, and Italians started to feel abandoned by European institutions. As the original signer of the Treaty of Rome, Italy is a founding member of the EU and the third largest economy in the eurozone.
On March 12, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, marked a point of no return—she gave a highly anticipated speech outlining the measures the bank would introduce to combat the effects of the coronavirus. Lagarde decided not to cut interest rates, arguing against the policy of “whatever it takes,” as had been outlined by former ECB president Mario Draghi. To Italians, the EU’s indifference was a betrayal. The consequences of her words were immediate—and disastrous for Italian stocks. Even the pro-EU president of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, released a harsh statement asking the EU to correct its ways in the “common interest” of Europe.
The EU did change its position on the COVID-19 response, but not until the health care crisis had spread to France and Germany, making it their problem, too. By then, the damage done to the Italians’ trust in European institutions was already beyond repair. With few viable options left, Italy’s government is now considering the European “Save the State Funds,” asking the EU to implement the €500 billion emergency bailout program from the European Stability Mechanism designed for EU member states—a risky move that may saddle Italy with long-term debt on a scale similar to Greece.
The coronavirus emergency has exposed the failures and flaws of the European Union, while underscoring the importance of nation-states. In Europe, we’ve observed a series of events that have demonstrated the collapse of the supra-national model. First, the borders shut down—Austria and Slovenia acted unilaterally, without asking approval from Italy’s government. The move was also symbolic: Italy was not only isolated, it was abandoned to its own devices.
Globalization may have its efficiencies, but an overwhelmed health care system suffers in the absence of internal production of the necessary materials—life-saving ventilators, infection-preventing hazmat vests, face masks. The global evolution of supply chains exported manufacturing and relied heavily on the cheap imports of essential products from abroad. But with the spread of the coronavirus, many states are now forbidding the export of medical equipment. A good example is Turkey, a country that readily accepts EU funds and that many liberals would like to bring into the Union. Ankara blocked a shipment of 200,000 face masks already purchased by Italy for the hard-hit northern regions of Marche and Emilia Romagna.

The Italians are coming together to fight the pandemic. Many Italian companies have converted production at home: those working in the textile industry have started producing face masks. Italy’s only manufacturer of respiratory equipment, in the province of Bologna, is not able to meet the current needs and relieve the national shortage of ventilators. Army technicians are now helping to increase production capacity.
What has the coronavirus in Italy taught us so far? A great nation is doing what it can to become self-sufficient as the crisis proves daily that the propaganda of the prophets of globalization is false. We see that there are strategic sectors, such as health care, transport, energy, defense, and telecommunications, that have to be considered from the perspective of national security and not strictly business.
This is a new, unspoken understanding that unites Italy today. We have witnessed a return of patriotism: flags are hanging from windows and Italians are singing the national anthem. But there is something else to consider: our freedom. Some politicians, including former prime minister Matteo Renzi, are proposing to monitor the movements of individuals using their phones and data from telecommunication companies to police compliance with the lockdown rules and assess penalties for violations. This smacks of the Big Brother surveillance state. The collection of metadata for statistical ends, as practiced in Lombardy, should be separated from the indiscriminate control of individual citizens. Otherwise an Orwellian precedent will be set. Such an anti-democratic attitude seems to be one of the collateral ideological effects of what President Trump refers to as a “Chinese virus.”
Meanwhile, we are witnessing a dangerous government narrative born out of an emotional response to Chinese “help” in a time of crisis. This narrative, increasingly uncritical of communist China, turns a blind eye to Chinese long-term foreign policy aims and the fact that its help is tantamount to the arsonist helping to put out the fire he started. Only recently did the Chinese government sent medical assistance to Italy—and a propagandist’s camera to capture the event. But no gesture should whitewash the responsibility of the Chinese Communist Party. According to The South China Morning Post, the first case of coronavirus in China can be traced back to November 17, while the Chinese government publicly admitted the existence of the epidemic on January 12, almost two months later.


What is most disconcerting about Italy’s crisis-induced, pro-China narrative is that it is false. It portrays China as a benefactor, claiming that its ventilators are gifts. In fact, Italy paid for them under a regular contract. The grave absence of the EU should not induce the Italians to strike up an uncritical relationship with Beijing.

In the midst of a crisis that makes Italy particularly vulnerable, it is necessary to have a clear mind and remember how China has quickly turned soft power and public diplomacy into hard power and real influence. This is the aim of the new Belt and Road Initiative, described by President Xi Jinping in his book Governing China, which brought billions in investments that stretch through Greece’s Piraeus, the Balkans, and Italy’s north-eastern Trieste region. In May 2019, Italy became the first G7 country to join the Belt and Road Initiative.

Nor should we forget the incompatibility between China’s values and our own, their human rights violations and denial of liberty and democracy. When Mike Pompeo called Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio to emphasize the closeness between the United States and Italy, he also cautioned Italy about its relationship with China, saying, “the day will arrive in which we will evaluate how the world responded” to Beijing’s propaganda. Despite Pompeo’s clear warnings, the Italian government appears unaware of China’s overt imperial ambitions in Europe.

It is too soon to draw long-term economic conclusions from the coronavirus pandemic, but it is clear that those who reacted best are nation-states with the freedom to manage their borders and fiscal policy. When this emergency ends, the legitimacy of EU institutions will no doubt be questioned.

But there is another path Italy may choose: intensifying bilateral relations with the United States, becoming the nexus of commerce in the Mediterranean, increasing its presence in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, and reclaiming its role as a center of Christianity and Catholicism in the world.

Making Italy great again is more than a dream—it is an attainable possibility.

 

[Plain Jane]

Van Gogh painting stolen from Dutch museum closed by virus

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A painting by Dutch master Vincent van Gogh was stolen in an overnight smash-and-grab raid on a museum that was closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, police and the museum said Monday.

apnews.com

Van Gogh painting stolen from Dutch museum closed by virus
By MIKE CORDERtoday



1 of 6
This image released by the Gronninger Museum on Monday March 30, 2020, shows Dutch master Vincent van Gogh's painting titled "The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring" which was stolen from the Singer Museum in Laren, Netherlands, Monday March 30, 2020. The Dutch museum that is currently closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus says the was stolen in a smash-and-grab raid overnight. (Groninger Museum via AP Photo)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A painting by Dutch master Vincent van Gogh was stolen in an overnight smash-and-grab raid on a museum that was closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, police and the museum said Monday.

The Singer Laren museum east of Amsterdam said “The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring 1884” by the Dutch master was taken in the early hours of Monday. By early afternoon, all that could be seen from the outside of the museum was a large white panel covering a smashed door in the building’s glass facade.

Museum General Director Evert van Os said the institution that houses the collection of American couple William and Anna Singer is “angry, shocked, sad” at the theft.

The value of the work, which was on loan from the Groninger Museum in the northern Dutch city of Groningen, was not immediately known. Van Gogh’s paintings, when they rarely come up for sale, fetch millions at auction.
Police are investigating the theft.

“I’m shocked and unbelievably annoyed that this has happened,” said Singer Laren museum director Jan Rudolph de Lorm.
MORE STORIES:

• – Tiptoe through Dutch tulips? Not in coronavirus crisis
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• – Tulips from Amsterdam? Not in times of coronavirus crisis

“This beautiful and moving painting by one of our greatest artists stolen - removed from the community,” he added. “It is very bad for the Groninger Museum, it is very bad for the Singer, but it is terrible for us all because art exists to be seen and shared by us, the community, to enjoy to draw inspiration from and to draw comfort from, especially in these difficult times.”
The 25-by-57-centimeter (10-by-22-inch) oil on paper painting shows a person standing in a garden surrounded by trees with a church tower in the background.

It dates to a time when the artist had moved back to his family in a rural area of the Netherlands and painted the life he saw there, including his famous work “The Potato Eaters,” in mostly somber tones.

Later, he moved to southern France, where he developed a far more colorful, vibrant style of painting as his health declined before his death in 1890.

Police said in a statement that the thief or thieves smashed a glass door to get into the museum. That set off an alarm that sent officers rushing to the museum but by the time they got there the painting and whoever stole it were gone.

A team including forensics and art theft experts was studying video footage and questioning neighbors. Van Os said the museum’s security worked “according to protocol,” but he added: “Obviously we can learn from this.”

The Dutch government on March 12 banned large crowds among its measures to halt the spread of the virus, leading several museums to close temporarily.

Before the closure, the museum was hosting an exhibition titled “Mirror of the Soul” with works by artists ranging from Jan Toorop to Piet Mondrian, in cooperation with Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum.
Full Coverage: Netherlands

The Singer Laren’s collection has a focus on modernism such as neo-impressionism, pointillism, expressionism and cubism.

It is not the first high profile theft from the museum. In 2007, thieves stole seven works from its sculpture garden, including a bronze cast of “The Thinker” by Auguste Rodin. The famous sculpture was recovered a few days later, missing a leg.

 

[Plain Jane]

Zerohedge

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How "Progressive" Ideology Led To COVID-19 Catastrophe In Spain

by Tyler Durden
Tue, 03/31/2020 - 02:00
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Authored by Soeren Kern via The Gatestone Institute,
The Spanish government, comprised of a coalition of Socialists and Communists, is facing legal action for alleged negligence in its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The government is accused of putting its narrow ideological interests ahead of the safety and wellbeing of the public, and, in so doing, unnecessarily worsening the humanitarian crisis now gripping Spain, currently the second-worst afflicted country in Europe after Italy.

A class action lawsuit filed on March 19 accuses the Spanish government — highly ideological by any standard, as the Communist coalition partner, Podemos, was founded with seed money from the Venezuelan government — of knowingly endangering public safety by encouraging the public to participate in more than 75 feminist marches, held across Spain on March 8, to mark International Women's Day.



The nationwide rallies were aimed at protesting the government's perennial bugbear: the alleged patriarchy of Western civilization.
Hundreds of thousands of people participated in those marches, and several high-profile attendees — including Spain's deputy prime minister, as well as the prime minister's wife and mother, and also the wife of the leader of Podemos — have since tested positive for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). It is unknown how many people were infected by the coronavirus as a result of the rallies.
The lawsuit, involving more than 5,000 plaintiffs, accuses Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his representatives in Spain's 17 autonomous regions of "prevarication" — a Spanish legal term that means lying and deceiving. The government was allegedly so determined to ensure that the feminist marches took place on March 8 that it deliberately downplayed warnings about the pandemic. These warnings include:

• September 2019. The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, an international panel of experts convened by the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), warned of a "very real threat of a rapidly moving, highly lethal pandemic of a respiratory pathogen killing 50 to 80 million people and wiping out nearly 5% of the world's economy.
• December 31. China alerted WHO to several cases of unusual pneumonia in Wuhan, a port city of 11 million people in the central Hubei province. The virus was unknown.
• January 7. China identified the new coronavirus as the cause of a mystery disease in Wuhan.
• January 21. WHO confirmed human-to-human transmission of the virus.
• January 29. Spanish pharmaceutical cooperatives warned that pharmacies were running out of masks due to a surge in demand. Sales of masks surged by 3,000% in January compared to the year before.
• January 30. WHO Director-General declared the coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
• January 31. The first known case of COVID-19 in Spain was confirmed in La Gomera, Canary Islands, where a German tourist tested positive and was admitted to a local hospital.
• February 12. Mobile World Congress, the world's largest mobile phone trade fair, which draws more than 100,000 participants from 200 countries, was cancelled due to fears of coronavirus. The financial loss to Barcelona and the city's hospitality industry was estimated to be €500 million ($560 million).
• February 24. More than 1,000 guests and employees at the Costa Adeje Palace hotel in Tenerife, Canary Islands, were quarantined after an Italian citizen tested positive for COVID-19.
• February 27. A 62-year-old man from Seville tested positive for COVID-19. His was the first case of local transmission of the virus in Spain. The man said that he believed he was infected during a banking conference in Malaga, where he sat next to a partner who traveled to the Canary Islands on vacation and had had contact with people from Asia. Doctors said that the diagnosis was of "great importance" because it proved that COVID-19 has been circulating in Spain without detection.
• March 2. The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention advised European countries to cancel mass gatherings of people to prevent the transmission of coronavirus.
• March 2. The Spanish Medical Agency sent a letter to pharmaceutical distributors to restrict the marketing of masks and to block their distribution across Spanish pharmacies. The agency's objective, on the advice of the Ministry of Health, was to ensure the supply of masks to hospitals and health centers at a time when the number of confirmed cases was beginning to multiply. The measure blocked sales to Spanish pharmacies, as well as sales abroad.
• March 3. The regional health ministry in Valencia announced that the first coronavirus fatality in Spain died on February 13. Health authorities did not know he had the virus until 19 days after his death — an indication that Spanish authorities have been slow to understand the outbreak. Since coronavirus cases that end in death last between two and eight weeks, in addition to a 14-day incubation period, it is possible that the man was infected as early as the beginning of January.
• March 3. Spanish authorities ordered major football and basketball matches to be held behind closed doors with no spectators allowed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
• March 6. The Spanish Ministry of Health advised: "The precautionary principle must prevail. The emergence of a hitherto unknown virus means that precautionary measures must be taken based on the existing scientific knowledge regarding viruses."

On March 7, despite these warnings, the Spanish government's main point man for the coronavirus, Fernando Simón, claimed in a nationwide press conference that there was no risk of attending the rallies on March 8.

"If my son asks me if he can go, I will tell him to do whatever he wants," he said.

The intrepid, Spain-based journalist Matthew Bennett discovered that the Spanish government failed to report new coronavirus cases between March 6 and March 9, apparently in an effort to downplay the danger to the public of attending the rallies.

On March 9, after the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Madrid doubled in one day, the President of the Autonomous Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, ordered all schools in the capital to be closed for at least two weeks. The decision by the regional government caught the central government by surprise and effectively forced it to act.

• March 10. Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa, a Catalan philosophy major with no experience in medicine, said: "Today's situation may be different from yesterday's, it is changing, and this will continue to be so until we overcome this situation."
• March 11. The Spanish government acknowledged that it knew on March 8, before the feminist rallies took place, that the coronavirus outbreak in Madrid was out of control.
• March 12. Prime Minister Sánchez, defending himself against criticism that he allowed the marches to go ahead, said that his government was responding to the "dynamic" situation of the coronavirus by "adapting" to the "hourly" recommendations of scientific experts.
• March 14. The central government announced a nationwide state of emergency that effectively placed 46 million people in lockdown for at least 15 days. All non-essential travel has been prohibited and people are confined to their homes except in cases of emergency or to purchase food or medicine. All schools and universities in the country are closed.
• March 29. The lockdown, the strictest in all of Europe, was extended until April 11.

The lawsuit has been forwarded to the Spanish Supreme Court due to the prime minister's immunity.

Article 404 of the Penal Code establishes a penalty of between nine to 15 years of disqualification for public office for public officials convicted of the crime of prevarication.

Víctor Valladares, a Madrid-based lawyer who is leading the lawsuit, said:

"The result of the calls for these demonstrations and their direct approval by government delegations and by the inaction of the central government chaired by the accused, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, could not be more antagonistic to what the EU indicated in its report. Why was not an order issued to prevent any type of mass event?"

Meanwhile, the Association of Doctors and Medics of Madrid (AMYTS) and the Confederation of Medical Trade Unions (CESM) also filed lawsuits against the government. The complaint demands that the federal and local governments provide hospitals in Madrid with masks, protective glasses and waste containers within 24 hours.

The Spanish blogger Elentir, who operates the blog Contando Estrelas, a politically astute website that is essential to understanding contemporary Spanish politics, wrote:

"As we found out, 16 days late, the first death from coronavirus had occurred in Spain on February 13. Faced with the risk that the massive feminist mobilizations on Sunday, March 8 could be cancelled, Fernando Simón commented: 'We have no specific recommendation on the suspension of the rally on March 8.'
"On March 9, one day after the feminist marches, Health Minister Salvador Illa expressly recommend that all people with chronic diseases or multiple pathologies do not leave their homes except for emergencies.... He said this immediately after the feminist rallies held on March 8.
"Honestly, it seems to me a joke that the government has waited until today, clearly for political reasons, to make this announcement. The Socialist-Communist government has once again put its political interests above the common good. This gross negligence should lead to resignations."

Criticism of the Spanish government's handling of the coronavirus crisis has also come from members of the Socialist Party itself. On March 22, Juan Luis Cebrián, a co-founder of the newspaper El País, a notorious mouthpiece of the Socialist Party, wrote:

"The crocodile tears of so many political leaders who claim that no one could have imagined such a thing such as the coronavirus do not make any sense. There were not only those who imagined it: they foresaw it, and they seriously warned about it. There has undoubtedly been negligence on the part of the various health ministers and their bosses, and in France three doctors have already filed a complaint against the government for this reason. The consequence is that most Western nations today are overwhelmed in their abilities to fight the epidemic. They reacted late and erroneously. Lacking is: hospital beds, medical personnel, respirators and transparency in official information.
"On February 24, WHO officially declared the probability that we would be faced with a pandemic. Despite this and knowing the magnitude of the threat, which has already been fully realized in several countries, hardly any measures were taken in most of the potential scenarios for the spread of the virus. In the case of Spain, attendance at gigantic demonstrations was encouraged, the holding of massive popular festivals was promoted, urgent funding for research was delayed, the threat was minimized, and even the official still in charge today of the scientific recommendations dared to say between smiles that there was no risk to the population.
"This is not the time to open a debate on the subject, but it is legitimate to assume that in addition to political responsibilities, citizens... will have the right to demand legal redress if there is guilty negligence."

Spain is one of the European countries most effected by the virus: As of March 29, more than 80,000 people had been diagnosed with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and more than 6,500 had died as a result. The actual number of people infected may be ten times higher due to the lack of testing of asymptomatic cases. As the pandemic runs its course, Spain is on track soon to overtake Italy as Europe's hardest-hit country.

 

[Plain Jane]

Coronavirus hits rich and poor unequally in Latin America

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — From Mexico City to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and Santiago, Chile, the coronavirus is taking root in the world’s most unequal region, where many of Latin America's first cases arrived with members of the elite returning from vacations or work trips to Europe and the United

apnews.com

Coronavirus hits rich and poor unequally in Latin America
By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN, EVENS SANON and FRANKLIN BRICEÑO

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — From Mexico City to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and Santiago, Chile, the coronavirus is taking root in the world’s most unequal region, where many of Latin America’s first cases arrived with members of the elite returning from vacations or work trips to Europe and the United States.

Many of the wealthy are already recovering, but experts warn that the virus could kill scores of the poorest people, who must work every day to feed their families, live in unsanitary conditions and lack proper medical care. Some countries are making payments to informal workers — maids, street sellers and others who have been told to stay home to reduce the spread of the virus, but the effort is patchwork and doesn’t apply to everyone who needs help.

“I stay home, I will lose all my goods. I have no way to save them,” said Marie-Ange Bouzi, who sells tomatoes and onions on the street of Haiti’s capital. “I am not going to spend money fighting corona. God is going to protect me.”

Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country, reported its first two cases of the virus on March 20. One was imported by one of its most successful artists, an R&B singer who had just returned from France, according to the director of health in Port-au-Prince.

Singer Roody Roodboy, who’s real name is Roody Pétuel Dauphin, quarantined himself when he got back to avoid infecting others and sent his entourage to be tested, manager Narcisse Fievre said. He said the singer had received death threats from people who accuse him of bringing the disease to Haiti, although there is no evidence Dauphin had infected anyone else.
For hundreds of thousands of Haitians who earn a few dollars a day selling goods on the street, quarantine like Dauphin’s would mean near-starvation.

’’People are not going stay home. How are they going to eat?” Bouzi said. “Haiti isn’t structured for that.”

The Haitian government has cut banking and government office hours, closed schools and broadcast radio messages asking people to stay home. But thousands in Port-au-Prince still crowded this week into street markets, buses and repurposed pickup trucks known as tap-taps.
In Chile, which has seen cases grow to more than 2500 since March 3, many coronavirus diagnoses have been in upper-middle-class neighborhoods, in people just back from Europe, particularly Italy.

Health Minister Jaime Mañalich has complained that wealthy residents of the Las Condes and Vitacura sections of Santiago, the capital, are routinely violating required quarantines after they tested positive or encountered someone who did.
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Las Condes Mayor Joaquín Lavín says more than half the cases in the city are in Las Condes and Vitacura.
The health minister says he has personally called wealthy residents supposedly in quarantine and discovers they are defying the order.

“You hear honking and street noises, which tells me they’re fooling us and disrespecting the quarantine,” Mañalich said.

Mexican authorities say at least 17 of the country’s wealthiest people returned after being infected during a ski trip to Vail, Colorado.

The first person to die in Rio state was Cleonice Gonçalves, a 63-year-old who worked as a maid for a woman in Leblon, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Brazil. The woman of the household was infected during a trip to Italy but Gonçalves’ family members said she wasn’t informed her boss was in isolation awaiting test results, according to Camila Ramos de Miranda, health secretary for the town of Miguel Pereira. Gonçalves, who had hypertension and diabetes, fell ill and died on March 17 in Miguel Pereira two hours north of the capital.
“I know we need to work, need our daily bread, but nothing is more important than the value of a life,” Miguel Pereira Mayor André Português said in a video posted on Facebook.

In Lima, Peru, the fallout from the pandemic is starkly different depending on class.
Nadia Muñoz watched her 8-year-old son, Luka, follow online lessons from his private Catholic school on a recent afternoon. The makeup artist and her family live in an upper-middle-class neighborhood, where Lima’s 15-day quarantine hasn’t been too disruptive.

Full Coverage: Virus Outbreak
“We have a supermarket nearby, light, water, internet, a phone and cable TV,” Muñoz said as she recorded a makeup lesson to post on Instagram.

In a shack on a nearby hill, Alejandro de la Cruz, 86, his wife María Zoila, and his son Ramiro, who sold clothes on the street until the quarantine started this month, were cooking with charcoal. They have no running water, electricity, internet or phone service.
They live among security guards, cooks, drivers, tailors, shoemakers, car mechanics and construction workers who are unemployed during the lockdown.

While there are more poor people in other regions of the world, Latin America remains the region in which the greatest proportion of wealth is held by a small number of citizens.
“Latin America is the most unequal region in the entire world. We’re talking about class disparities that are unlike anywhere else on the planet,” said Geoff Ramsey, a researcher at the Washington Office on Latin America.

Some Latin American governments were striving to help workers whose informal jobs provide them no access to the social safety net, including unemployment payments or severance packages.

Peru has announced a payment of $108 for the 2.7 million homes classified as poverty stricken. But the hillside shanty where de la Cruz and his unemployed neighbors are waiting out the quarantine aren’t poor enough to qualify.

“My son hasn’t worked for a week, there’s barely enough to buy a bit of food,″ Zoila said.
In Argentina, the center-left government approved a $151 payment in April for informal workers, who make up 35% of the nation’s economy. Argentina plans to make more payments soon.
Brazil’s right-wing government has no such plans. On Twitter last week, left-leaning politicians called for maids to receive their salaries while self-isolating, adding the hashtag #PaidQuarantineNow.

The lack of help worries Patricia Martins, who lives in Brazil’s largest favela, or slum, Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro, which houses about 70,000 people in brick homes packed tightly together on steep slopes overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Clean water is sporadic, sewage often runs in the streets and winding alleys and soaring staircases make it difficult for medical professionals to retrieve a sick person in an emergency.

“My concern is that if someone gets that sickness, this is going to be a focal point, like it’s a focal point for tuberculosis and for HIV,” said Martins, a 45-year-old cleaning woman.
“The person who’s a cleaner, the person who counts on that money to survive, to sustain their family — they’re going to bring in money from where?” she said of anti-virus measures. “If everything stops, it will end people’s lives! There will be nothing people can do to survive!”
___
Weissenstein reported from Havana and Briceño from Lima, Peru. Eva Vergara in Santiago, Chile; Maria Verza in Mexico City; David Biller in Rio de Janeiro; and Almudena Calatrava in Buenos Aires contributed to this report.