Some countries — and U.S. states — are shifting their focus away from stay-at-home measures and toward fixing ravaged economies. But some worry that prematurely lifting restrictions could spark a resurgence in coronavirus infections. For many it’s the most agonizing of delicate balancing acts imaginable.
Perhaps less so in Georgia, where reopening in the U.S. state is set to continue apace with restaurants and movie theaters, as more restrictions against the coronavirus are loosened in the big U.S. southern state. An earlier easing saw many establishments gratefully opened their doors after a monthlong closure, but others didn’t feel ready yet and remained shuttered. A similar mixed response is expected from the businesses allowed to reopen today.
— Global stocks rose Monday after Japan’s central bank boosted support for financial markets and more governments prepared to reopen economies that were shut down to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
— The novel coronavirus has sickened thousands of America’s first responders and killed dozens more. But many have recovered, and they’re going back to work — back to the crime scene, back into the ambulance, back to the jail.
— After two months of frantic response to the coronavirus, the White House is planning to shift President Donald Trump’s public focus to the burgeoning efforts aimed at easing the economic devastation caused by the pandemic.
— Americans’ support for mail-in voting has jumped amid concerns about the safety of polling places during the coronavirus pandemic, but a wide partisan divide suggests President Donald Trump’s public campaign against vote by mail may be resonating with his Republican backers.
— The historic crash in oil prices in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic is reverberating across the Middle East as crude-dependent countries scramble to offset losses from a key source of state revenue. The economies of all the Arab Gulf oil exporters are expected to contract this year.
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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. The vast majority of people recover.
Here are the symptoms of the virus compared with the common flu.
One of the best ways to prevent spread of the virus is washing your hands with soap and water. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends first washing with warm or cold water and then lathering soap for 20 seconds to get it on the backs of hands, between fingers and under fingernails before rinsing off.
You should wash your phone, too. Here’s how.
TRACKING THE VIRUS: Drill down and zoom in at the individual county level, and you can access numbers that will show you the situation where you are, and where loved ones or people you’re worried about live.
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ONE NUMBER:
— 0: The number of hospitalized patients in Wuhan, the city at the center of China’s coronavirus outbreak, after the last 12 were discharged Sunday.
IN OTHER NEWS:
— VIRUS OUTBREAK-BLUEGRASS MUSEUM — The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum in western Kentucky is encouraging fans to visit by taking a new virtual tour of its exhibits.
— VIRUS OUTBREAK-VIRTUAL PROMS — High schoolers undefeated by the coronavirus lockdowns are heading online for isolation proms.
