In Ecuador, Victims Who Have Succumbed To Virus Are Being Left In Streets With Morgues At Capacity

Los Angeles Times: As The Coronavirus Spreads In Ecuador, Bodies Are Being Left On Streets
The corpses have been overwhelming Guayaquil, a port city of 2.8 million at the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis in Ecuador. Over the last few days, several were wrapped in plastic and left on the streets. Others have lain unclaimed in hospitals and clinics that have been overwhelmed by infections. The city morgue is full. (Viteri and Kraul, 4/1)

The Wall Street Journal: In Developing World, Coronavirus Slams Workers In Informal Economy
Life has never been easy, said Zuleidy Carrasco, but she and her husband on a good day could earn enough money to cover the room they share with two small children and pay for the family’s meals.Until now. With Colombia and a growing part of the developing world in lockdown, Ms. Carrasco, a gangly 31, and her husband, Hector Brisuela, 24, cannot work or even venture outside. They are quickly running out of food and their landlord wants them to leave over unpaid rent. Twelve days remain before Colombia’s quarantine ends. (Forero, 4/2)

NBC News: WHO Concerned By ‘Rapid Escalation’ Of Coronavirus, As U.S. Death Toll Nears 5,000
The head of the World Health Organization has voiced deep concern over the “rapid escalation” and global spread of the new coronavirus pandemic, as the United States nears a grim milestone of 5,000 deaths. “Over the past five weeks, we have witnessed a near exponential growth in the number of new cases, reaching almost every country, territory and area,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesuss told a virtual news conference at the organisation’s Geneva headquarters on Wednesday. (Smith, 4/2)

The Associated Press: Chinese Smartphone Health Code Rules Post-Virus Life
Since the coronavirus outbreak, life in China is ruled by a green symbol on a smartphone screen.Green is the “health code” that says a user is symptom-free and it’s required to board a subway, check into a hotel or just enter Wuhan, the central city of 11 million people where the pandemic began in December. The system is made possible by the Chinese public’s almost universal adoption of smartphones and the ruling Communist Party’s embrace of “Big Data” to extend its surveillance and control over society. (4/2)

Politico: G-20 Prepares Coronavirus Rescue Package For Africa
A group of G-20 leaders are preparing an international response to the impact of the coronavirus crisis in Africa that would include debt relief and financial aid, African officials and European diplomats said. A comprehensive package supported by countries including France and Italy would incorporate recent demands from President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia, who have called on the world’s most industrialized countries to support the continent through the economic downturn caused by the pandemic. (Marks, 4/1)

The New York Times: France Tries Limiting Joblessness To Confront Coronavirus Recession
When France started shutting down a few weeks ago as the coronavirus marched relentlessly into the country, Dominique Paul feared disaster. His family’s white-glove catering company, Groupe Butard, halted operations, putting 190 jobs at risk. Edward Arkwright, the director general of Aéroports de Paris, the Paris airport operator, weighed how to preserve over 140,000 jobs when a freeze on most global airline traffic caused activity to nose-dive 90 percent in a few head-spinning days. (Alderman, 4/1)

The Associated Press: Reporting For Duty: Airline Crew Sign Up To Help Hospitals
Filip Palmgren had wanted to work on planes since he was a child. Now, after just two years as a flight attendant, the 21-year old has lost his job because of the coronavirus crisis and will be soon heading to work in a hospital instead to help save patients. He is part of a first group of 30 laid-off employees of Scandinavian Airlines who have started training this week to learn basic skills to assist in nursing homes and hospitals currently overwhelmed by a surging number of patients and ill medical staff. (Keyton, 4/1)