EU Urges Nations To Coordinate Lifting Lockdowns, Rely On Scientists To Guide Strategies Once Infections Significantly Drop

The Associated Press: EU To Unveil Virus Exit Plan, Hoping To Avoid More Chaos
The European Union moved Wednesday to head off a chaotic and potentially disastrous easing of restrictions that are limiting the spread of the coronavirus, warning its 27 nations to move very cautiously as they return to normal life and base their actions on scientific advice. With Austria, the Czech Republic and Denmark already lifting some lockdown measures, the EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, was rushing out its roadmap for members of the world’s biggest trade bloc to coordinate an exit from the lockdowns, which they expect should take several months. (Cook, 4/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Death Toll In Europe Likely Far Higher Than First Reported
Newly published figures show deaths linked to the new coronavirus in the U.K. have far exceeded preliminary estimates, adding to a growing body of evidence across Europe that closely watched daily death tallies don’t reveal the virus’s true toll. Behind the discrepancy are lags in recording some deaths that can stretch to a week or more, as well as deaths in nursing homes and other non-hospital settings that aren’t normally captured by rapid-fire estimates used to track the pandemic. (Douglas and Legorano, 4/14)

The Associated Press: China Didn’t Warn Public Of Likely Pandemic For 6 Key Days
In the six days after top Chinese officials secretly determined they likely were facing a pandemic from a new coronavirus, the city of Wuhan at the epicenter of the disease hosted a mass banquet for tens of thousands of people; millions began traveling through for Lunar New Year celebrations. President Xi Jinping warned the public on the seventh day, Jan. 20. But by that time, more than 3,000 people had been infected during almost a week of public silence, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press and expert estimates based on retrospective infection data. (4/15)

The New York Times: She Kept A Diary Of China’s Coronavirus Epidemic. Now She Faces A Political Storm.
As Wuhan was engulfed by the coronavirus, the Chinese author Fang Fang worked late into the night, writing a daily chronicle of life and death in her home city that gave rise to a global pandemic. Her online diary, though sometimes censored, became vital reading for tens of millions of Chinese readers — a plain-spoken, spontaneous view into Wuhan residents’ fears, frustrations and hopes during their 11 weeks under lockdown in their homes. (4/14)

The Associated Press: South Koreans Vote In National Election Amid Virus Fears
In a surprisingly high turnout, millions of South Korean voters wore masks and moved slowly between lines of tape at polling stations on Wednesday to elect lawmakers in the shadows of the spreading coronavirus. The government resisted calls to postpone the parliamentary elections billed as a midterm referendum on President Moon Jae-in, who enters the final two years of his term grappling with a historic public health crisis that is unleashing massive economic shock. (Tong-Hyung, 4/15)

The Associated Press: Virus Choking Off Supply Of What Africa Needs Most: Food
In a pre-dawn raid in food-starved Zimbabwe, police enforcing a coronavirus lockdown confiscated and destroyed 3 tons of fresh fruit and vegetables by setting fire to it. Wielding batons, they scattered a group of rural farmers who had traveled overnight, breaking restrictions on movement to bring the precious produce to one of the country’s busiest markets. (Mutsaka, 4/15)

CIDRAP: COVID-19 Poised To Hit Americas Nations With More Force
COVID-19 activity has yet to hit the Americas with full force, especially Latin America and the Caribbean, and countries should prepare for rapid intensification over the next few weeks, the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned today. Elsewhere, more countries—some trending down and some trending up—extended their lockdown measures, as cases rapidly rose in some African countries and some Asian nations battled resurgences. (Schnirring, 4/14)