The world at aglance NEWS 114April 2020 THE WEEKDamascus
Firstknownfatalities:Syria’shealth
ministryconfirmedthecountry’sfirst
knownfatalitiesfromCovid-19this
week,amidwarningsfromdoctorsand
aidagenciesthattheviruscouldcreate
anewhumanitariancatastropheinthe
war-ravagedcountry.UNhumanitarian
chiefMarkLowcockhassaidthatthe
knowncasesrepresentafractionofthe
total,andthatSyria’shealthsystemis
tooweaktoassessthevirus,orrespond
toit.TheAssadgovernmenthasimposed
anight-timecurfew,restrictedtravel
betweenprovinces,shutschoolsand
colleges,andbannedgatherings.Butthere
remainseriousconcernsforthe6.2million
peoplewhoareinternallydisplacedin
Syria,manyofwhomarelivingin
overcrowded,insanitaryconditions,
withlittleornoaccesstohealthcare.
Tehran
Methanoldeaths:Hundredsofpeople
havediedacrossIranasaresultof
drinkingtoxicmethanol,inthemisguided
beliefthatalcoholisacureforCovid-19.
Adoctorworkingforthehealthministry
putthedeathtollat 48 0;afurther 2 ,
peoplehavebeentakenill.Somechildren
who’dbeengivenitbytheirparentsare
reportedtobeamongthecasualties.In
Iran,wherealcoholisbanned,producers
ofmethanol–anindustrialalcoholusedin
solventsandantifreeze–mustcolourthe
liquidtodistinguishitfromethanol,the
alcoholusedindrinks.However,boot-
leggersstilluseit,andaddbleachtomask
thecolour.Rumoursthatalcoholcuresthe
virusmayhaveoriginatedinreportsabout
aBritishschoolteacherinWuhan,who
claimedinFebruarytohavegotthrough
aninfectionbydrinkinghottoddies.Lagos,Nigeria
Africa locks
down:Countries
acros sAfrica have
now introduced
lockdowns in
responseto th ecoron aviruspandemic.
Nigeria’s commercial hubLagos (Africa’s
most populouscity) began a14-day
lockdownon Monday night,with people
confinedto th eir homes andbusinesses
ordered to close. In South Africa, where
President Ramaphosahaswon pla udits
for hissurefootedresponse tothecrisis,
a21-day lockdown began lastFriday .In
Kenya,police used tear gastodispe rse
crowds of commuterslast week befo re
thestart of anationwidedusk-to-dawn
curfew.Uganda is also locked down,
andthe presidentofBotswana–which
hadfourconfirm ed cases this week –
hasdecla redastate ofemergency.Tokyo
Rapidescalation:Japan
hasseenanominous
acceleration inCovid-
cases over thepastten
days,followingalengthy
period inwhichincreases
hadbeenrelativelysmall
andlinear. The rapid
rise hasraised fearsin
particularfor Tokyo,a
densely populated city of
14 million people. Japan
hasdonefarless testing,
andintroduced farless
stringentshutdowns,than
neighbouring SouthKorea
andTaiwan, and its
government isnowunder
growing pressureto
adoptamore
assertive
approach.NewDelhi
Indianexodus:
TheIndian
government’s
impositionofa
totallockdown
lastweekhas
prompteda
chaoticexodus
fromitscities.
Around 8 0%
ofIndia’s 470
millionworkers
areemployedinformally,lackingcontracts
andscrapingalivinginthefields,factories
andstreets.Leftwithnomeansof
subsis tence,millionshavebeenheadingto
theirhomestates,manyofthemonfoot.It
mayrepresenttheirbesthopeofsurviving
theemergency,butitrisksspreadingthe
diseasetoruralareas.Gorongosa,
Mozambique
Wildlife success:
Adecade-long
rewilding
project in
Mozambique’s
Gorongosa
NationalPark
has beenhailed
as aspectacular
success–for
boostingthe
number of an imalstenfold to 100,000,
andfor th einadvertentdiscovery of a
solutiontoMimosapigra infestations.
The shru bhas sp read aroundtheworld
from theAmericas, sucking up vast
amounts ofwater andwiping outindigen-
ous plants. However, thereintroduction
of ante lope into the park has tamedthe
shrub,Princetonresearchers found.Wuhan,China
Unrest:Police officers from Hubei
province clashed with policefrom
neighbouringJiangxi onabridgeover
the Yangtze lastweek,after Beijing lifted
the lockdown inHubeiand th ousands of
residents triedtol eave .The clashes reflect
publicscepticismabout officia ls’claims
that theepidemic in Hubeihas been
contained. Thereis als osuspic ion that
Chinamay have understated thenumber
of deaths. Officially,3,187 people died
in Hubei. However, residentshave told
foreign media that they believe the true
deathtollrunsintotens of thousands.