The EconomistMarch 28th 2020 5
The world this week Politics
More countries rolled out
wartime-like emergency
measuresto fight covid-19. In
Britainpeople were told to
leave home only in limited
circumstances; gatherings of
more than two people were
banned. All non-essential
businesses, pubs and restau-
rants were ordered to shut. The
government announced an
unprecedented aid package,
including paying up to 80% of
workers’ wages. The American
Congressprepared a $2trn
economic-rescue bill, the
biggest in modern history,
which provides relief to busi-
ness and direct payments to
workers. Germanytore up its
strict fiscal rules and launched
a raft of emergency measures
totalling €750bn ($810bn).In America more states went
into lockdown, but the mes-
sage to stay indoors was some-
what undermined by Donald
Trump’s insistence that some
restrictions should be relaxed
so that the economy can get
working again by Easter.India’sprime minister,
Narendra Modi, sparked panic-
buying when he said the entire
country would be placed on
lockdown within hours for a
duration of three weeks to slow
the spread of the new corona-
virus. He later clarified that
food shops and other essential
services would remain open.Abe Shinzo, Japan’s prime
minister, announced that the
summer Olympicswould be
delayed by a year because of
the pandemic. Athletes have
been complaining that re-
strictions on movement relat-
ed to the outbreak made it
impossible to train. Tokyo’s
governor warned of an “explo-
sive spike” in cases in the city.ThegovernmentofBangla-
deshreleasedonbailKhaleda
Zia,theleaderoftheBangla-
deshNationalistParty,the
mainopposition,toallowher
toseekmedicaltreatment.ThesupremeleaderofIran,
whichisfightingoneofthe
world’sworstoutbreaksof
covid-19,rejectedanofferof
aidfromAmerica.“Possibly
yourmedicineisa wayto
spreadthevirusmore,”said
AyatollahAliKhamenei,re-
vealinganoddworldview.
China’sambassadortoAmeri-
ca saidit was“harmful”to
speculateabouttheoriginof
covid-19.Hisremarksappeared
aimedata baselessconspiracy
theory,promotedbysome
Chinesediplomats,thatthe
Americanarmymayhave
broughtthevirustoChina.Could it be?
Hubei, the province in China
worst-hit by covid-19, allowed
most of its people to move
freely again, as long as they
have no symptoms. Officials
said the lockdown of the prov-
ince’s capital, Wuhan, where
the disease was first discov-
ered, would end on April 8th, 11
weeks after it was imposed.
China continued to report few
if any newly confirmed domes-
tic cases of infection.The Speaker of Israel’sparlia-
ment, Yuli Edelstein, resigned
instead of complying with a
Supreme Court order to hold a
vote on his replacement. The
opposition bloc, which won a
majority in the last election,
hopes to appoint a new Speak-
er and may seek to bar Binya-
min Netanyahu from leading a
new government. Mr Edel-
stein, an ally of the prime
minister, had been accused of
obstructing those moves.Prosecutors in Turkey charged
20 Saudi citizens for the mur-
der of Jamal Khashoggi, a
Saudi dissident writer, in
Istanbul in 2018. A former
adviser to the royal family and
a former deputy head of
intelligence were accused of
instigating the killing, the rest
with carrying it out.Risking legal action, Lebanon
said it would stop paying its
maturing Eurobonds in foreign
currencies, as the heavily
indebted country deals with an
economic and financial crisis.Boko Haram, a jihadist group
operating mainly in north-
eastern Nigeria, killed 92 sol-
diers in an attack on an army
base in Chad. In a separate
incident the group killed 50
soldiers in Nigeria.The World Bank and the imf
said that Somaliawill qualify
for debt relief under the Heavi-
ly Indebted Poor Countries
Initiative. Outstanding debt of
more than $5bn will decline to
$557m over three years.At least 23 prisoners died in a
riot at one of Colombia’slarg-
est jails. Prisoners fearful of
contracting covid-19 attempted
to break out of La Modelo jail in
Bogotá.Political parties in Chileagreed
to postpone a plebiscite due to
be held on April 26th on
whether to set up an assembly
to write a new constitution.
Boliviadelayed a general
election that had been planned
for May 3rd. Both are in
response to covid-19.As the covid-19 pandemic
deepened in Europe, both Italy
and Spainovertook China to
become the countries where
the largest and second-largest
numbers of people have died
from the disease.InRussia, Vladimir Putin put
on hold his plans for a popular
vote on constitutional changes
that could allow him to stay in
office for another 16 years. The
vote had been scheduled for
April 22nd, Lenin’s birthday.
He blamed covid-19. The mayor
of Moscow criticised his slow
response to the crisis.Alex Salmond, a former leader
of the Scottish Parliament, was
cleared of sexual assault char-
ges by the high court. The
Scottish government has con-
ceded that its own investiga-
tion into the matter breached
its guidelines.CoronavirusbriefsInAmerica,somesenatorsand
congressmen were accused of
having used intelligence infor-
mation on the covid-19 out-
break to sell stockbefore
markets crashed.New York’s governor warned
about the “astronomical num-
bers” of infections in the state,
but also said that social dis-
tancing seemed to be working.Amid a wave of panic-buying,
the British government urged
shoppers to behave responsi-
bly. Hoarders are thought to
have £1bn-worth ($1.2bn) of
extra food in their kitchens
that they have not eaten.Mississippi followed Texas and
Ohio in classifying abortions
as non-essential medical
procedures during the crisis.Among those testing positive
for covid-19 were Prince
Charles and Rand Paul, a
Republican senator. Angela
Merkel went into self isolation
after her doctor tested positive.Active cases* by week, ’To March 25th 2020Europe
Rest of worldDeaths,logscaleSource: Johns Hopkins CSSE
*Confirmed cases minus recovered and deadDays since tenth death10,1,10010
51 3125201510200
150100
50
0
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