COVID-19 Lockdown Exit Strategies for the world

[StreetFight3r]

The World Health Organisation (WHO) released new guidance for governments looking for exit strategies beyond existing lockdown measures.

For many countries currently under lockdowns which have crippled or stalled economies, the answer of when and how to ease restrictions has not been easily answered or forthcoming.

“We understand that these countries are now trying to assess when and how to ease these measures,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“The answer depends on what countries do while these wide measures are in place.”

Six criteria were identified in WHO’s guidance document to ensure that governments would be able to manage a controlled and deliberate transition from community transmission to a steady state of low level or no transmission.

Any government that wants to start lifting restrictions must first meet six conditions:

• Transmission of Covid-19 is under control
• Health systems and public health capacity are able to detect, test, isolate and quarantine every case and trace every contact
• Hot spot risks are minimized in highly vulnerable places, such as nursing homes
• Preventive measures such as physical distancing and hand washing in workplaces have been establised
• Controlled and managed risk of new import cases from travellers
• Populations are fully engaged, understand and empowered to live under a new state of “normality”

There must be a gradual process to prevent a cycle of new outbreaks.

“You can’t replace lockdowns with nothing,” said Dr. Mike Ryan, head of WHO’s emergencies programme. “We don’t want to lurch from lockdown to nothing to lockdown to nothing.”

“We need to have a much more stable exit strategy that allows us to move carefully and persistently away from lockdown.”

WHO has said that in most countries, it is too soon to get back to normal. Ending lockdowns prematurely in an attempt to restart economies could result in the reemergence of infections.

There are currently more than 2 million cases of Covid-19 worldwide and more than 130,000 people have already died.

https://codeblue.galencentre.org/2020/04/16/who-countries-need-to-meet-6-conditions-to-end-lockdowns/?fbclid=IwAR30p_2zYQjm0e7pVUI6AXY-OQ1l8h2jozomgaE3qwnEF9zpLyh3Tmae-8U

 

After seeing all the crazy spikes and explosive nos pop out all across Asia, Europe, United States whats more interesting is how countries are executing their exit strategies from this pandemic. Meanwhile in SG our fight has just started

So far countries already eased restrictions/planning to

• China
• South Korea
• New Zealand
• Vietnam?
• Germany
• Norway
• Switzerland
• USA 

[Blueray]

New Zealand extends COVID-19 lockdown by a week, to ease measures on Apr 27

Quote

WELLINGTON: New Zealand will extend the lockdown measures in place to beat the coronavirus by a week, after which it will move to a lower level of restrictions, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday (Apr 20). 

"New Zealand will move out of Alert Level 4 lockdown at 11.59pm on Monday Apr 27, one week from today," Ardern said in a news conference.

"We will then hold in Alert Level 3 for two weeks, before reviewing how we are tracking again, and making further decisions at Cabinet on May 11," she said.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/covid19-new-zealand-lockdown-extended-a-week-12658384

 

With COVID-19 'under control', Germany begins opening up

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BERLIN: Germany takes its first steps back towards normality on Monday (Apr 20), with smaller shops in some regions opening up for the first time in a month after politicians declared the coronavirus "under control".

From florists to fashion stores, the majority of shops smaller than 800 sq m will be allowed to welcome customers again, in a first wave of relaxations to strict curbs on public life introduced last month.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and regional state premiers announced the decision to reopen last week, though they have been careful to cast it as no more than a cautious first step.

While the first shops will open their doors on Monday, each of Germany's 16 states is set to lift the restrictions at a slightly different pace.

In some states such as the capital Berlin, reopening will take a little longer.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/covid-19-coronavirus-germany-lockdown-lifted-12658274

[Jp66]

100,000 gather for funeral in Bangladesh, defying lockdown and sparking outbreak fears

the power of ......

[StreetFight3r]

Thailand https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1903640/ministry-floats-ideas-on-exit-strategy

[StreetFight3r]

1 hour ago, Jp66 said:

100,000 gather for funeral in Bangladesh, defying lockdown and sparking outbreak fears

the power of ......

God bless them

[StreetFight3r]

1 hour ago, Blueray said:

New Zealand extends COVID-19 lockdown by a week, to ease measures on Apr 27

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/covid19-new-zealand-lockdown-extended-a-week-12658384

 

With COVID-19 'under control', Germany begins opening up

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/covid-19-coronavirus-germany-lockdown-lifted-12658274

Germany has done well so far. They are the "South Korea equivalent of Europe".

As of Monday, Europe's biggest economy had over 140,000 confirmed cases and 4,404 deaths, while Spain and Italy have reported more than 20,000 deaths each. France has close to 20,000 fatalities while Britain has more than 16,000.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/germany-cover-costs-of-foreign-coronavirus-patients-12658940

Germany will foot the bill for treating novel coronavirus patients taken in from European Union neighbour countries as a gesture of goodwill, Health Minister Jens Spahn said Monday (Apr 20).

Germany has been spared the worst of the coronavirus crisis seen in some of its hard-hit European neighbours, and has taken in patients - mainly from France and Italy - to relieve pressure on their overburdened healthcare systems.

A total of 229 foreign patients have been treated in Germany, a spokesman for the foreign ministry said Monday - 130 from France, 44 from Italy and 55 from the Netherlands.

Their treatment has so far cost about 20 million euros (US$21.7 million), according to Spahn.

"Germany will cover the treatment costs of these patients, that is what we understand by European solidarity," Spahn said ahead of a meeting of ministers tackling the virus crisis on Monday.

"The willingness and capacity is there to admit more if necessary," he added.

Germany had 28,000 intensive care beds before the start of the crisis and has since increased that number to 30,000.

Over 12,600 beds remained free Sunday according to the Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive and Emergency Medicine (DIVI).

[Mustank]

9 hours ago, StreetFight3r said:

Germany has done well so far. They are the "South Korea equivalent of Europe".

As of Monday, Europe's biggest economy had over 140,000 confirmed cases and 4,404 deaths, while Spain and Italy have reported more than 20,000 deaths each. France has close to 20,000 fatalities while Britain has more than 16,000.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/germany-cover-costs-of-foreign-coronavirus-patients-12658940

Germany will foot the bill for treating novel coronavirus patients taken in from European Union neighbour countries as a gesture of goodwill, Health Minister Jens Spahn said Monday (Apr 20).

Germany has been spared the worst of the coronavirus crisis seen in some of its hard-hit European neighbours, and has taken in patients - mainly from France and Italy - to relieve pressure on their overburdened healthcare systems.

A total of 229 foreign patients have been treated in Germany, a spokesman for the foreign ministry said Monday - 130 from France, 44 from Italy and 55 from the Netherlands.

Their treatment has so far cost about 20 million euros (US$21.7 million), according to Spahn.

"Germany will cover the treatment costs of these patients, that is what we understand by European solidarity," Spahn said ahead of a meeting of ministers tackling the virus crisis on Monday.

"The willingness and capacity is there to admit more if necessary," he added.

Germany had 28,000 intensive care beds before the start of the crisis and has since increased that number to 30,000.

Over 12,600 beds remained free Sunday according to the Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive and Emergency Medicine (DIVI).

20k fatalities each?!?!?! 

[Sosaria]

10 hours ago, Jp66 said:

100,000 gather for funeral in Bangladesh, defying lockdown and sparking outbreak fears

the power of ......

Ok ok , those FW in our dorms here, surely will agree now that it's safer in SG than back home!!

 

[Tonyng]

Very easy. Go by scientific evidence. 
 

Let the young people go out and play first and make sure they don't mix with the old - only Singapore can make this happen. 

[Sosaria]

18 minutes ago, Mustank said:

20k fatalities each?!?!?! 

Yes, the numbers are huge for Spain and Italy. So much for Mediterranean lifestyle / diet ...

Maybe it's something to with their touchy-feely latin mode of greetings that spread virus fast, or?

Anyway, Spain just reported that their numbers are dropping - this is consistent with epidemics, once the grim reaper has gone through and killed / hospitalised enough, the numbers naturally drop because of greatly reduced number of hosts and potential for cross-infection (people confined to bed cannot move around and pass it on to others ).

Chilling, but that's how it works. We can take comfort in the fact that this is why, with sufficient time, viruses eventually mutate to more benign forms - to help it to propagate, they need to be less potent, to keep the hosts alive and moving!

Edited April 21, 2020 by Sosaria

[Mustank]

3 hours ago, Sosaria said:

Yes, the numbers are huge for Spain and Italy. So much for Mediterranean lifestyle / diet ...

Maybe it's something to with their touchy-feely latin mode of greetings that spread virus fast, or?

Anyway, Spain just reported that their numbers are dropping - this is consistent with epidemics, once the grim reaper has gone through and killed / hospitalised enough, the numbers naturally drop because of greatly reduced number of hosts and potential for cross-infection (people confined to bed cannot move around and pass it on to others ).

Chilling, but that's how it works. We can take comfort in the fact that this is why, with sufficient time, viruses eventually mutate to more benign forms - to help it to propagate, they need to be less potent, to keep the hosts alive and moving!

Human culling 

 

[Blueray]

Vietnam to ease nationwide coronavirus lockdown

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Vietnam has won plaudits for appearing to contain the virus despite being less wealthy than other places seen as relatively successful such as South Korea and Taiwan. It has reported no new infections for nearly a week.

It has used a combination of the mass quarantine of tens of thousands, contact-tracing and testing to successfully contain relatively small clusters of Covid-19 outbreaks.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/1905235/vietnam-to-ease-nationwide-coronavirus-lockdown

[Blueray]

South Koreans return to work, crowd parks, malls as social distancing rules ease

Quote

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Koreans are returning to work and crowding shopping malls, parks, golf courses and some restaurants as South Korea relaxes social distancing rules amid a continued downward trend in coronavirus cases.

A growing list of companies, including SK Innovation and Naver, has ended or eased their work from home policy in recent weeks, though many continue to apply flexible working hours and limit travel and face-to-face meetings.

Parks, mountains and golf courses brimmed with visitors over the weekend, while shopping malls and restaurants were slowly returning to normal.

South Korea’s ongoing recovery from the first major coronavirus outbreak outside China paints a stark contrast to many other countries where metropolises remain sealed off and sweeping stay-at-home orders are in place.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-southkorea/south-koreans-return-to-work-crowd-parks-malls-as-social-distancing-rules-ease-idUSKBN2220EO

we can only watch ... 

[Blueray]

Without a single COVID-19 death, Vietnam starts easing its coronavirus lockdown

Quote

The numbers are stunningly low considering that Vietnam — which shares a border with China — was among the first countries where the virus spread and lacks the resources of governments more celebrated for their containment strategies, such as South Korea’s widespread testing and Taiwan’s aggressive digital surveillance.

Its results stand out even more as other Southeast Asian countries struggle. Wealthy Singapore, once regarded as a model, has seen infections skyrocket among migrant workers living in overcrowded dormitories. Indonesia, the largest country in the region, initially ignored the threat and now has the most COVID-19 deaths in Asia after China.

 

Quote

Experts credit Vietnam’s early, decisive steps: swiftly banning nearly all travel from China, suspending schools in mid-January even before recording any infections, quarantining tens of thousands of people and employing the extensive Communist Party apparatus to communicate distancing measures and trace the contacts of COVID-19 patients.

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-04-23/vietnam-eases-coronavirus-lockdown

Edited April 25, 2020 by Blueray

[BabyBlade]

19 hours ago, Blueray said:

South Koreans return to work, crowd parks, malls as social distancing rules ease

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-southkorea/south-koreans-return-to-work-crowd-parks-malls-as-social-distancing-rules-ease-idUSKBN2220EO

we can only watch ... 

Our turn will come too. 😊 

[Blueray]

Coronavirus: Hong Kong public services to resume next week, says city’s leader Carrie Lam, but no news on whether social distancing will end

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Chief executive expects civil servants to return to work, while libraries, museums and sports grounds will all reopen

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3081842/coronavirus-hong-kong-public-services-resume-next

[Blueray]

Half of US states easing COVID-19 restrictions as jobless numbers grow

Quote

About two dozen states, mostly in the South, the Midwest and mountain West, have moved to relax restrictions since Georgia led the way late last week. Texas and Florida, among others this week, outlined plans for doing so in the days ahead.

But no companies are required to reopen, and it was not clear how many business owners and their employees would return to work, and how many patrons would venture back into stores and restaurants.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/half-of-us-states-easing-covid-19-restrictions-jobless-grow-12693592

[Blueray]

Bundesliga to return from coronavirus pause on May 16

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The Bundesliga will return on May 16 amid the coronavirus crisis and the German Football Association (DFL) hope to complete the season by June 30.

Germany's government on Wednesday gave the green light for the Bundesliga to return and left the decision of the return date to the DFL. At an Ordinary Assembly on Thursday, the 36 clubs of the upper two tiers agreed the first match will be played on May 16 in order to complete the season by June 30.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/german-bundesliga/story/4092755/bundesliga-to-return-from-coronavirus-on-may-16-sources