Coronavirus latest: German children head back to school as more restrictions ease

11:06 The German government should attach climate-friendly conditions to the coronavirus aid provided to companies, said the head of Germany’s environmental agency.

“If we only concern ourselves with here and now and forget the much bigger climate crisis, it will come back to haunt us,” Dirk Messner told newspaper die Welt.

Messner also dismissed the idea of offering car buyers state-provided bonuses, which some have suggested as a means of boosting Germany’s car industry. Instead, Germany should invest money into infrastructure for electric cars, he said.

“If we apply funds properly, it would be the greatest stimulus program since the beginning of the industrial revolution – not only in Germany but in [all of] Europe,” he said.

He warned against allowing the aid to “cement” the existing power structures and urged using the economic response to protect the climate and make more efficient use of resources.

“If we postpone it now, the climate change will be unsolvable,” Messner said.

09:30 Hong Kong’s economy contracted by 8.9% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the same period last year — the worst contraction since modern records began in 1974, official figures showed Monday.

While the city was already suffering prior the pandemic following months of protests and the knock-on effect of the US-China trade dispute, fallout from the coronavirus has pushed the Chinese special-administrative region into its deepest recession since 2009.

08:45 Manufacturing activity in the eurozone collapsed in April as government-imposed lockdowns to curb the spread of the coronavirus forced factories to shut down and consumers to stay indoors, a new survey showed on Monday.

IHS Markit’s final Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the eurozone declined to 33.4 from March’s 44.5 — its lowest since the survey began in mid-1997.

The steep decline came despite unprecedented amounts of fiscal stimulus from governments to safeguard economies devastated by the pandemic as well as the European Central Bank’s boosting of its quantitative easing program.

07:40 Italians were once again allowed to take walks and visit their relatives on Monday following an eight-week lockdown. Restaurants can now offer takeout and more stores have been opened.

“We are feeling a mix of joy and fear,” Rome resident Stefano Milano told the AFP news agency, adding he was looking forward to visiting his parents and in-laws.

“But we are also worried because they are old and my father-in-law has cancer, putting him into the high-risk group,” he added.

The easing of measures varies between Italian regions, with restaurants and bars in Veneto and Calabria opening up their terraces even before Monday.

The country of roughly 60 million people has recorded nearly 29,000 coronavirus deaths, making it the worst hit in Europe.

07:05 The EU has approved €7 billion ($7.7 billion) of urgent aid from France to its flagship airline Air France.

The measure includes a state guarantee on loans on a shareholder loan to provide “urgent liquidity” to the company, said EU Commission vice-president Margrethe Vestager.

“Member States can design measures in line with their policy objectives & EU rules: [France] has asked for certain green commitments,” she wrote on Twitter.

The pandemic and the resultant limitations on international movement have put considerable strain on a series of commercial airlines. 

06:42 After recovering from COVID-19, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said suffering from the coronavirus was “bloody awful.”

Wallace said he lost the senses of taste and smell while self-isolating for eight days in his London apartment around one month ago.

“It wasn’t severe but it mentally taps your will because it comes and goes, it ebbs and flows,” he told broadcaster Sky News.

06:31 Vietnamese pupils returned to class on Monday after a three-month break prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Monday also marks the 18th straight day without any new domestically transmitted infections or fatalities in the Asian country.

Students were required to have their temperatures checked before entering classrooms. 

“I’m very happy and excited because it’s boring being at home,” 11-year-old Pham Anh Kiet told the AFP news agency. “I feel safe when I wear a mask and have my temperature checked, I am not afraid of being infected.”

The country with a population of over 95 million has recorded only 271 coronavirus cases and zero deaths, partly due to the government’s extensive quarantine measures and thorough contact-tracing efforts

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06:19 In Japan, the government will seek to prolong the state of emergency until the end of May, said Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishmura in parliament on Monday. The previous emergency order was due to expire this Wednesday.

Earlier on Monday, Nishmura urged a group of infectious disease experts to come up with “examples of a new way of life” amid the pandemic. He also warned that it would take “a long time to deal with this infectious disease.”

Under Japanese law, governors can call on people to stay at home and businesses to stay shut during the state of emergency, but there are no punishments for those who refuse to comply.

05:00 Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro again criticized the country’s lockdown measures on Sunday, as the known number of cases in Latin America’s worst-hit country passed 100,000. 

“The destruction of jobs by some governors is irresponsible and unacceptable. We will pay a high price in the future,” Bolsonaro said at a rally in the capital Brasilia. The president has repeatedly clashed with regional governors, in charge of deciding how to respond to the virus, on their handling of the outbreak. 

The president also attacked Congress and the courts in the wake of the resignation last week of his justice minister, Sergio Moro, and the Supreme Court’s decision to block Bolsonaro’s chosen successor last week. 

“We have the armed forces on the side of the people, for law, order, democracy and freedom,” he said. “Enough with the interference.”

Despite his praise for the armed forces, the former general Bolsonaro stopped short of the call made by some demonstrators for the closing of the Supreme Court and Congress and increased powers for Brazil’s military.

04:30 The number of confirmed cases in Germany has increased by 679 to 163,175, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases. Sunday’s figure was 114 lower than the previous day, as the number of new cases in Germany continues to decline. The reported death toll rose by 43, bringing the total to 6,692.

03:57 New Zealand and Australia are looking into the possibility of a “travel bubble” allowing movement between the two countries, according to New Zealand’s foreign ministry.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will participate in a meeting of Australia’s COVID-19 cabinet on Tuesday, the Australian government confirmed, increasing speculation that two-way travel could be imminent.

“The idea of a bubble with Australia was floated two weeks ago, and this is an example of the sort of action that could happen within it, while always ensuring the protection of public health,” New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement. “Officials in both countries are considering all aspects of the trans-Tasman concept, and planning how this could happen more broadly,” Peters added.

03:51 Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry has stated that the government has “not yet” received an invitation to participate in this month’s World Health Organization (WHO) convention of global members.

However, the Taiwanese government will endeavor to take part in the assembly right up “until the last moment,” ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said in a statement.

Taiwan’s inability to gain membership at the WHO is mainly down to China not recognizing it as a separate state, merely as one of its own provinces. This has angered Taipei, though, which says its omission has created a glaring gap in the battle against COVID-19, thus weakening global efforts.

Read more: Coronavirus: Does Taiwan’s exclusion from the WHO endanger public health?

03:32 The European Commission is to host a video pledging conference among leaders on Monday in the hopes of raising billions of euros towards developing a vaccine, as well as other treatments against COVID-19.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will host the meeting from Brussels and it is set to commence at 3 p.m. local time (1300 GMT). It is expected that at least €7.5 billion ($8.3 billion) will be pledged in the process. The funds will predominantly be distributed to established international health organizations and research networks.

Attendees will include German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

US President Trump has already expressed his confidence at finding a vaccine before the year is out but German Health Minister Jens Spahn was less optimistic, saying it “could take years” before one is developed.

03:00 Many business sectors have reopened in parts of Malaysia as Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s government hopes to kick-start the country’s ailing economy. However, the decision has split public opinion as some fear that by easing the restrictions, the risk of a second wave of infections is significantly increased.

Nine of the Malaysia’s 13 states, including the richest state Selangor, either refused to reopen or restricted the list of businesses that can function. Large gatherings and interstate travel remain banned.

The rate of infections has fallen sharply in recent weeks but a slight rise of 227 cases was reported over the weekend, sparking fears of a renewed wave in the country. Malaysia has so far registered 6,298 cases, with its death toll currently standing at 105.

02:40 US Vice President Mike Pence has admitted he made a mistake by not wearing a face mask when visiting patients at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota last week.

Pence came in for some heavy criticism for not wearing the mask as many said it undermined efforts to slow the spread of the virus that has resulted in the deaths of more than 67,000 Americans.

During an appearance at a town hall event with President Donald Trump on US broadcaster Fox News, Pence said: “I didn’t think it was necessary, but I should have worn a mask at the Mayo Clinic.”

The vice president added that as well as for health reasons, wearing the mask carried an important symbolic weight as well. “It’s really a statement about the American people, the way they have been willing to step forward, practice social distancing and wear masks in settings where they can’t do that,” he said.

Meanwhile, Trump fielded questions from citizens in a virtual town hall from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, and was keen to stress the importance of restarting the nation’s economy, saying “we have to reopen our country. We have to get it back open safely but as quickly as possible,” Trump said.

01:48 New Zealand has not registered any new cases in its daily update for the first time since March 16, the health ministry announced at a news conference.

There were no additional fatalities from the virus, so the death toll remains at 20, Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said.

The total number of confirmed cases in New Zealand currently stands at 1,137.

01:46 China reported three new cases for May 3, up from two the day before, data from the national health authority showed. All of the new infections were imported, according to the National Health Commission.

The commission also said 13 new asymptomatic cases for May 3 had occurred, an increase of one from the previous day.

The number of confirmed cases in China now stands at 82,880, while no new fatalities from the disease were reported, meaning the death toll remains at 4,633.

01:44 Global cases have now surpassed 3.5 million, with almost a third of those coming in the United States, the hardest-hit country in the world, according to the Johns Hopkins Institute.

From scrambling for vaccines to notions of “immunity passports,” the world continues to struggle in its fight to come to terms with the virus that has caused the deaths of almost a quarter of a million people.

Just over four months since reports first emerged of a SARS-like virus in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, has since spread across Asia, ripping through Europe and causing devastation in the US. More than 200 countries have reported infections.

Read more: What is life like in post-lockdown Wuhan?

Lockdowns have been implemented like dominoes across the globe, with varying degrees of stringency and success, though some of these are now being gradually relaxed.

Senior politicians, actors and sports stars have all been struck down with COVID-19 while sporting events have been canceled and global travel has ground to a halt in an effort to prevent the virus spreading.