The Week UK - 04.04.2020

10 NEWS The world at aglance

THEWEEK4April 2020

WashingtonDC

Democrats’fears:TheGovernorofNew

York,AndrewCuomo(pictured),has

publiclyquashedspeculationthathe

couldbedraftedinasalast-minute

Democratcandidateforthepresidency.

Cuomo’sdailypressbriefings,showing

acalmauthorityandfocusedgriponthe

detail,haveimpressedmanyAmericans.

Bycontrast,theDemocrats’presumptive

candidate,JoeBiden,hasfailedtoremain

inthepubliceyeatthistime,raisingfears

inthepartythathewouldstruggleto

defeatPresidentTrump,whoseapprovalratings,likethoseof

manynationalleaders,haverisenduringthecrisis.

Separately,Democratshavecalledforreforms–suchasan

expansionofpostalvoting,same-dayregistrationandearlyvoting

• toensurethisautumn’spresidentialelectioncangoahead
  safely,astherehasbeentalkofTrumppossiblyusing
  theemergencyasareasontodelaytheelectionifhis
  pollratingsarenotlookingpromising(seepage 18 ).
  Trumphascategoricallykickedbackagainstthe
  proposedreforms,arguingthatthey’ddisadvantagehisparty.The
  proposedmeasureswere“crazy”,hesaidinaTVinterview.
  “Theyhadthings,levelsofvotingthatifyoueveragreedtoit,
  you’dneverhaveaRepublicanelectedinthiscountryagain.”

Detroit,Michigan

Brewingstorm:MedicalexpertsinDetroithavewarnedthatthe

cityissettobecomeAmerica’snextmajorhotspotforCovid-19,

andthatitmaybefacingamoreintensecrisisthanthatcurrently

consumingNewYork.“Thehighratesofsocialdisadvantageand

higherco-morbiditiesmakethecityofDetroitmorevulnerable

toCovid-19,”saidDrTeenaChopra,aprofessorofinfectious

diseases.AthirdofDetroit’sresidentsareclassedaslivingin

poverty,andthecityishometolargenumbersofpeoplewith

underlyingriskfactors,includingobesity,diabetes,hypertension

andcongestiveheartfailure,whichwillmakethemmore

vulnerabletotheinfection.Lastweek,Michigan’sgovernor

GretchenWhitmer–whohaspubliclychallengedPresident

Trumpoverthefederalgovernment’suncertainresponsetothe

emergency–issuedastay-at-homeorderinplaceuntil 13 April.

Xingu, Brazil

Self-isolation:Indigenous groupsacross

SouthAmerica are blockading their

villages,and retreating into their

traditionalforestand mountainhomes,

in a neffortto avoid theCovid- 19

pandemic, reportsTheGuardian.

Infectiousdiseasessuchasmeasles,

smallpoxand flu viruseshavealong

recordofwrea kinghavocamong such

communities,starting withthe European

conquest of the Americas. “Coronavirus

could wipeusout,”warnedIanucula

Kaiabi,an indigenous leaderin Brazil’s Xingu National Park,

where roads into tribal reserves havebeenseale doff. Theterritory

in thesouthern Amazonisalmostthe sizeof Belgium,andhome

to6,000 peoplefrom16 tribes.Similaractions have been taken

by indigenousgroups in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador.

NewOrleans,Louisiana

Hotspot:NewOrlea nshasemerged asoneof theUS’s most

troublingvirushotspots.Thefirstknowncase ofCovid-19inthe

stateofLouisianaoccurredon9March,andthenumber now

stands at5,237.Accordingto onestudy,in thetwo weeksafter

thefirstcase wasdiagnosed, NewOrleans hadthe fastest growth

rateforthediseaserecordedanywherein the world.Thishasbeen

attributedtoitsMardiGrasfestivities, whichattracted 1 .4 million

tourists–thoughnolinkhasbeendefinitively established.This

week, theauthoritieswerescramblingtosourcethe 13 ,

ventilatorsthey expecttoneed,and settingupafield hospitalin

the convention centreinwhich25, 000 peopletook refugefrom

HurricaneKatrinain 2005.

RiodeJaneiro, Brazil

Governorsdefiant:Thegovernors

of 26of Brazil’s 27stateshave

attacked Jair Bolsonaro, thefar-right

president,over hisreck less handling of thecoronaviru scrisis,

and told him they willignorehis cal ls for ascal ingbackofthe

nationwide lockdown. Inrecen tweeks,Bolsonarohas createda

political crisisbypubliclyflouting hisown government’s rules on

physicaldistancing. Last week, heurged peopletoretur ntowork

and schoolsindefia nceofhis own healthministry’s instructions.

According to opinion polls, almost halfof Brazilians want

Bolsonarotobeimpeached.There have been nightly pot-banging

protests in majorcities, andinRio, criminal gangs have imposed

their ownstrict curfewsonthe city’s overcrowdedfavelas.

Caracas

Maduro targeted:The Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, has

beenclassifiedasa“narco-terrorist”bytheUS authoritiesand

indictedby aUS court –alongwithanumber of hissenior officials

–onchargesincludingmoney launderinganddrugtrafficking. He

isaccused ofconspiringwithaFarc splinter group from Colombia

to “floodtheUnited Stateswithcocaine”.Inacarrotand stick

approach, Washingtonthenofferedtolifttoughsanctionson

VenezuelaifMaduroandhisrival,JuanGuaidó, agreedtostand

aside toallowtheformation ofaninterimgovernmentmade upof

theirsupporters. Analysts saythe hope isthat, withtheeconomic

crisis in Venezuelafurtherexacerbatedby the Covid-19 pandemic,

Madurowill feel hehas nooption but to concede.