Bhinneka News Online: Wednesday Morning Briefing: Beijing inches back to normal

Wednesday 29 April 2020

What you need to know about the coronavirus today

Beijing inches back to normal

In one of the clearest signs yet of Beijing returning to a normal of sorts after months of near-standstill, China announced on Wednesday new dates for its annual parliament meeting, known as the National People's Congress.

Delegations from far-flung regions attend the meeting, which is now scheduled to start on May 22. The session was initially meant to begin on March 5. Beijing also plans to lift the two-week quarantine required for domestic travelers, unless they come from high-risk areas, two sources familiar with the situation said.

In tests we trust

France said on Tuesday it would adopt an aggressive doctrine on COVID-19 testing from May 11 so it can slowly unwind its lockdown and avoid further economic meltdown. It is not alone: Australia plans to expand testing as well, with the help of 10 million test kits secured from China by Fortescue Metals Group founder Andrew Forrest, who sold them to the government at the cost price of $2.09 a kit.

U.S. feels the economic pain

Twenty-six million people in the United States have filed for unemployment in just a month, with millions more likely waiting in electronic queues at overtaxed state unemployment systems.

Gross domestic product numbers released on Wednesday will probably also show a large hit from the virus-fighting efforts that began in mid-March. Forecasters expect anywhere from $2 trillion to $5 trillion of output to be wiped out by year's end. While such a hit to the world's largest economy is largely unparalleled, optimists point out that, with overall output at nearly $22 trillion, that still leaves a lot on the table.

"We can't complain", say pals stuck in London pub

If you are going to be stuck under lockdown, there are worse places to end up than a spacious pub with free beer on tap. Steve Pond and Dom Townsend consider themselves lucky to be sharing an apartment above The Prince in Stoke Newington, north London. Like all UK pubs, it is closed until further notice as part of measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

"I moved in just a couple of months before lockdown which has worked out well, considering," said Townsend, 29, now assistant manager after starting there as a barman.

"We've got fresh beer on tap," Townsend told Reuters as he poured a pint and placing it next to the hand sanitizer on the bar.

Track the spread with our interactive graphic and live blog

Breakingviews - Corona Capital: StanChart, Carmakers, Odd activism
Read concise views on the pandemic’s financial fallout from Breakingviews columnists across the globe.

Reuters reporters and editors around the world are investigating the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

We need your help to tell these stories. Our news organization wants to capture the full scope of what’s happening and how we got here by drawing on a wide variety of sources. Here’s a look at our coverage.

Are you a government employee or contractor involved in coronavirus testing or the wider public health response? Are you a doctor, nurse or health worker caring for patients? Have you worked on similar outbreaks in the past? Has the disease known as COVID-19 personally affected you or your family? Are you aware of new problems that are about to emerge, such as critical supply shortages?

We need your tips, firsthand accounts, relevant documents or expert knowledge. Please contact us at coronavirus@reuters.com.

We prefer tips from named sources, but if you’d rather remain anonymous, you can submit a confidential news tip. Here’s how.

Life under lockdown

A veteran of organising elections and pilgrimages in stifling dust and heat, Indian bureaucrat Pranabjyoti Nath sees a precious opportunity in the coronavirus crisis - documenting the country’s legions of migrant workers to help boost their rights. Millions of India’s migrant labourers say they are in limbo, struggling to access aid to survive the six-week lockdown in the states where they work and appealing for help from officials back home.

As food stalls around him have closed during the coronavirus outbreak in Singapore, 28-year-old cook Jason Chua has vowed to stay open for the many that now depend on him. The tattoo-covered, former boxer has been serving up dozens of free meals for those in need since early April, when the city-state imposed a lockdown aimed at curbing virus cases now among the highest in Asia.

British World War Two veteran Captain Tom Moore is in for a very special 100th birthday on Thursday after well-wishers from around the world repaid his record-breaking fundraising efforts by sending tens of thousands of birthday cards. Moore has raised more than $36 million for the National Health Service by completing laps of his garden with the help of a walking frame.

Chile and Bolivia agreed to allow several hundred Bolivians stranded in a makeshift tent camp in Santiago to quarantine for 14 days and then return home, Chile’s foreign ministry said in a statement. Large groups of Bolivians, toting bulging suitcases, had pitched tents near their country’s consulate in a leafy, upscale suburb of the Chilean capital, flouting a nighttime curfew and social-distancing rules.

Follow the money

Much of U.S. economy still plugging along despite coronavirus pain

Garbage haulers still collect trash. Cops are on the beat. Couriers deliver food and packages. Insurance agents work from home. The coronavirus crisis would appear to have put the entire U.S. economy on ice. Twenty-six million people have filed for unemployment in just a month, with millions more likely waiting in electronic queues at overtaxed state unemployment systems.

12 min read

Fed likely to renew vow to use all tools to brace economy

The Federal Reserve, which has pumped trillions in emergency funding into U.S. financial markets to stem the damage from the coronavirus pandemic, is expected on Wednesday to reiterate its promise to do whatever it takes to support the world’s largest economy.

5 min read

Thousands of British workers will need to gather the harvest

Thousands of British workers will need to help gather the harvest as seasonal workers from other parts of Europe are unable to travel due to the coronavirus lockdown. British Environment Secretary George Eustice said that in a normal year around 30,000 people come from mainly the European Union to do seasonal agricultural work, though only a third are here now.

1 min read

Uganda restricts truckers on busy trade route to curb coronavirus

Uganda has stepped up restrictions on trucks passing through its territory - limiting them to one driver and banning them from stopping over in hotels - in a bid to curb the spread of the new coronavirus. The landlocked country sits on some of east Africa’s busiest road cargo routes that funnel goods from ports in Kenya and Tanzania further inland to Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

3 min read