Yahoo Autos The Latest: Philippines prep for typhoon amid coronavirus
The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.
TOP OF THE HOUR:
—Typhoon Vongfong bears down on Philippines during lockdown for coronavirus.
—United Nations chief calls for mental health needs to be addressed amid pandemic.
—Australia to continue to push for origin of coronavirus.
—Japan's government holding coronavirus task force meeting.
—China reports 3 new coronavirus cases while moving toward opening businesses and schools.
—UN forecasts pandemic will shrink world economy by 3.2% this year.
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MANILA, Philippines — A strong typhoon roared toward the Philippines as authorities work to evacuate tens of thousands of people while avoiding overcrowding in emergency shelters that could spread the coronavirus.
The first typhoon to hit the country this year is expected to slam ashore on eastern islands later Thursday.
Typhoon Vongfong has maximum sustained winds of 150 kph (93 mph) and gusts of up to 185 kph (115 mph).
The Philippines remains under a lockdown to fight the coronavirus.
Governors say social distancing will be nearly impossible for residents staying in emergency shelters. Some shelters are now serving as quarantine facilities, and they may have to be turned back into emergency storm shelters.
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UNITED NATIONS — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is urging governments, civil society and health authorities to urgently address mental health needs arising from the coronavirus pandemic, warning that psychological suffering is increasing.
He pointed to “grief at the loss of loved ones, shock at the loss of jobs, isolation and restrictions on movement, difficult family dynamics, and uncertainty and fear for the future.”
The U.N. chief said in a video message late Wednesday launching a policy briefing that “after decades of neglect and under-investment in mental health services, the COVID-19 pandemic is now hitting families and communities with additional mental stress.”
Guterres said those most at risk and in need of help are front-line health care workers, older people, adolescents, young people, those with pre-existing mental health conditions, and those caught up in conflict and crisis.
He said “mental health services are an essential part of all government responses to COVID-19” and must be expanded and fully funded.
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CANBERRA, Australia — Australia says it will continue to push for an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus, even if it hurts trade relations with China.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison had been accused of playing “deputy sheriff” to the United States after calling for the inquiry. On Thursday, he brushed off the criticism.
“We have always been independent, we have always pursued our national interests, and we always will,” he told reporters. “We will always be Australians in how we engage with the rest of the world, and we will always stand our ground when it comes to the things that we believe in and the values that we uphold.”
China has suspended beef imports from four abattoirs and plans to impose tariffs on Australian barley, after warning the inquiry could harm two-way trade ties.
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TOKYO — Japan’s government is holding a coronavirus task force meeting Thursday to get experts’ approval on a plan to lift an ongoing state of emergency in most areas ahead of schedule, with the exception of Tokyo and several other high risk areas.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a month-long state of emergency on April 7 in Tokyo and six other urban prefectures and later expanded it to the whole country through May 31. With signs of the infections slowing, Abe is seeking to relax the measure while balancing disease prevention and the economy.
His government plans to lift the state of emergency in 39 of the country’s 47 prefectures, while keeping the measure in place for eight prefectures, including Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hokkaido.
Japan has more than 16,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with about 680 deaths. The number of new cases has significantly decreased nationwide.
Abe will explain details at a news conference later Thursday.
Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, in his opening remarks at the task force meeting, asked experts to provide basis for easing the measure, a well as its possible tightening, in case of a resurgence of the outbreak.
Experts and officials have urged people to adopt “new lifestyles” and continue practicing physical distancing measures such as remote-working and avoid out-of-town trips, even after the state of emergency is lifted.
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BEIJING — China reported three new coronavirus cases Thursday while moving to reopen for business and schools.
The National Health Commission said 101 people remain in treatment for COVID-19, while 716 are isolated and being monitored for being suspected cases or for having tested positive for the virus without showing symptoms.
China plans to restart classes for most students on June 1, with other grades to resume at a later date, depending on conditions. No announcement has been made on when university classes will resume.
China has reported a total of 4,633 deaths among 82,929 cases of the virus.
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SEOUL, South Korea __ South Korea has confirmed 29 coronavirus cases over a 24-hour period as it battles a spike in infections linked to nightlife spots in Seoul.
The additional cases reported Thursday by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pushed the national total to 10,991 with 260 deaths. The agency says 26 of the 29 new patients were locally transmitted cases while the rest three came from overseas.
South Korea’s caseload has been on an upward trend in the past week, with about 120 new cases detected linked to nightclubs in Seoul’s entertainment Itaewon district as of Wednesday.
The new outbreaks in Itaewon are threatening South Korea’s progress in its anti-virus quarantine. The country reported hundreds of new cases every day between late February and early March.
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MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he will let his stay-at-home order expire as scheduled Monday, though he’ll leave key restrictions in place to keep up the state's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Don’t get me wrong — we believe that the safest place we can be is at home,” Walz said in a televised address Wednesday. “But we know we can’t continue like this forever.”
Walz made the announcement after health officials released updated modeling — couched in caveats — that showed the potential effects of various scenarios he could have chosen. The Democratic governor has been under increasing political pressure to loosen up the restrictions, and some business owners have threatened defiance if they remain in place.
Walz said his new order brings back some of the social interactions “that are so important in life.”
While the stay-at-home order will expire, the changes he announced amount to only a gradual relaxation of the state’s restrictions. Bars, restaurants, and other places where people gather in large numbers won’t be allowed to reopen for business as usual just yet. But gatherings of 10 people or fewer, such as family celebrations, will be allowed. Retailers that had been shuttered as nonessential will be allowed to reopen with restrictions on how many people can be allowed inside.
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CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wyoming residents will be allowed to dine at restaurants, meet in bars and gather in larger numbers as part of new state public health orders that take effect Friday.
Gov. Mark Gordon announced the new orders Wednesday as the state continues to post some of the lowest coronavirus infection numbers in the nation.
Restaurant and bar tables must be adequately spaced, and employees must wear face coverings. They will need to be screened for COVID-19 symptoms.
Up to 25 people will be allowed to gather, up from 10 currently. Gordon urged people to continue to be careful, saying “the virus is not yet gone.”
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DENVER -- Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said that President Donald Trump has committed to sending 96,000 tests for the coronavirus to the state.
Polis met with the president in the White House on Wednesday to seek federal support for Colorado’s response to the coronavirus and to try to secure additional testing supplies and personal protective equipment.
“I need to pursue all possible options that can provide lifesaving supplies for the people of Colorado and make sure that our president is not just sequestered in the White House and really has the knowledge of what’s really going on in the states on the ground,” Polis said after the meeting.
The Democratic governor said the supplies will help the state reach its goal of testing at least 8,500 people a day.
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SANTA FE, N.M. -- New Mexico is allowing nonessential businesses, including retailers and service providers, to reopen Saturday while requiring that face masks be worn in public, with few exceptions.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Wednesday that the next public health order will allow businesses to reopen at 25% of ordinary occupancy to avoid crowding and guard against coronavirus transmission. Large retailers have a 20% limit.
New Mexico health officials cautioned that infections among children are surging. New Mexico health officials have announced 12 more deaths and 155 newly confirmed infections from the coronavirus.
Tighter business restrictions will remain in place in northwestern New Mexico, where high rates of infection continue to afflict Native American communities including the Navajo Nation.
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UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations is forecasting that the coronavirus pandemic will shrink the world economy by 3.2% this year, the sharpest contraction since the Great Depression in the 1930s.
The U.N.’s mid-year report released Wednesday said COVID-19 is expected to slash global economic output by nearly $8.5 trillion over the next two years, wiping out nearly all gains of the past four years.
In January, the U.N. forecast a modest growth of 2.5 percent in 2020.
The United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects report said the pandemic is also “exacerbating poverty and inequality,” with an estimated 34.3 million people likely to fall below the extreme poverty line in 2020 — 56 percent of them in Africa.
It said an additional 130 million people may join the ranks of people living in extreme poverty by 2030, dealing a “huge blow” to global efforts to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by the end of the decade.
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The World Health Organization’s emergencies chief said it’s possible the new coronavirus may be here to stay, warning it’s impossible to predict when the pandemic might be controlled.
“This virus may never go away,” said Dr. Michael Ryan, in a news briefing on Wednesday. He said that the number of people infected by COVID-19 so far is relatively low.
Without a vaccine, he said it could take years for the population to build up sufficient levels of immunity to it.
“I think it’s important to put this on the table,” he said. “This virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities,” he said, noting that other previously novel diseases such as HIV have never disappeared, but that effective treatments have been developed to allow people to live with the disease.
Ryan said there remains hope that an effective vaccine will be developed, but even then, it would require a huge amount of work to produce the shots and distribute them worldwide to people willing to be immunized.
