EU Considers Banning U.S. Tourists For Being Too Risky; Brazilian Court Orders President To Wear Mask In Public

The New York Times: EU May Ban Travel From US As It Reopens Borders, Citing Coronavirus Failures 
European Union countries rushing to revive their economies and reopen their borders after months of coronavirus restrictions are prepared to block Americans from entering because the United States has failed to control the scourge, according to draft lists of acceptable travelers reviewed by The New York Times. That prospect, which would lump American visitors in with Russians and Brazilians as unwelcome, is a stinging blow to American prestige in the world and a repudiation of President Trump’s handling of the virus in the United States, which has more than 2.3 million cases and upward of 120,000 deaths, more than any other country. (Stevis-Gridneff, 6/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Brazilian Court Rules President Bolsonaro Must Wear Mask In Public 
A federal court has ordered Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is among a handful of prominent world leaders who sometimes refuse to wear a mask, to put one on when he’s out in public in the country’s capital. Mr. Bolsonaro’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. In the past, he has expressed support for the use of masks but he has been erratic about using them. And he is not the only one. (Lewis and Magalhaes, 6/23)

The New York Times: The Hajj Pilgrimage Is Canceled, And Grief Rocks The Muslim World 
For much of his life, Abdul-Halim al-Akoum stashed away cash in hopes of one day traveling from his Lebanese mountain village to perform the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca that all Muslims who can are obliged to make once in their lives. He was all set to go this year until the coronavirus pandemic forced Saudi Arabia to effectively cancel the hajj for what some scholars say may be the first time in history. (Hubbard and Walsh, 6/23)

Politico: Germany Reckons With Second Wave Risk
Is Gütersloh where Europe’s battle to prevent a second coronavirus wave starts? A regional lockdown announced Tuesday affecting more than 500,000 locals near Germany’s industrial heartland offers a laboratory for how Europe can manage new outbreaks of COVID-19. (Posaner, Furlong and Martuscelli, 6/23)

AP: UN Chief Criticizes Lack Of Global Cooperation On COVID-19
The United Nations chief criticized the total lack of international coordination in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday and warned that the go-it-alone policy of many countries will not defeat the coronavirus. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an interview with The Associated Press that what needs to be done is to make countries understand that by acting in isolation “they are creating the situation that is getting out of control” — and that global coordination is key. (Lederer, 6/23)

Politico: WHO Sets Out Vaccines Allocation Plan
The World Health Organization has set out its proposal for the distribution of future coronavirus treatments and vaccines, with over four billion doses needed to vaccinate the world's priority populations. In a document presented to its member countries on June 18, the WHO writes that the goal of its Global Allocation Framework should be to reduce Covid-19 mortality and protect health systems. Accordingly, three groups should receive priority vaccinations: Health care workers; adults older than 65; and adults with comorbidities such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and obesity. (Furlong, 6/23)

Reuters: Thailand Plans To Allow Some Foreign Travellers In Next Week 
Thailand plans to allow some foreign travellers into the country starting next week, as it eases restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, a senior official said on Wednesday. The first group of foreigners that have registered for 14-day state quarantine include those with work permits, investors and business executives, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, spokesman for the government’s Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration. (6/24)

AP: Plastic Keeps Virus, Not Love Away From Spain Nursing Home
Even when it comes wrapped in plastic, a hug can convey tenderness, relief, love and devotion.The fear that gripped Agustina Cañamero during the 102 days she and her 84-year-old husband spent physically separated during Spain’s coronavirus outbreak dissolved the moment the couple embraced through a screen of plastic film. (Morenatti, 6/24)

The Washington Post: Chile Coronavirus: Pinera's Early Success Led To Reopening; Cases Soared 
It wasn't that long ago that Chilean President Sebastián Piñera boasted that the country was ready for the coronavirus. "Far better prepared than Italy," is how he put it in March.And after locking down the population, bolstering hospitals and testing aggressively, the country did appear to be faring well against the pandemic. With a comparatively advanced health-care system, it kept numbers of cases and deaths lower than in neighboring Brazil, Ecuador and Peru. By April, officials were touting plans to distribute a first-in-the-world “immunity passport,” enabling Chileans who had recovered from covid-19 to get back to work. (Bartlett, 6/23)

Financial Times: Sweden Debates Its Coronavirus Public Health Experiment
The two sides of Sweden’s against-the-grain coronavirus strategy are visible from a small square in northeastern Gothenburg. On one side lies the Gerashus care home, where more than a quarter of residents have died in the last three months, most of them from COVID-19. At the peak of the outbreak, two-thirds of its staff were absent. On the other side of the square is a bustling tram stop where dozens of people wait to head into the center of Sweden’s second city and children come from a primary school. A steady stream of customers head into a convenience store to collect online shopping parcels or buy lottery tickets. Nobody wears a mask, but most keep a meter’s distance from each other. (Milne, 6/23)

The New York Times: Virus Gains Steam Across Latin America 
By late March, the Mexican government calmly predicted that its coronavirus outbreak would peak in April. A few weeks later, it changed its prediction to mid-May.And then to late May. And then to June. Now, with new infections surging and the government facing growing anger, even ridicule, over its constant guesswork, many Mexicans have drawn their own conclusion: No one really knows. (Ahmed, Kurmanaev, Politi and Londono, 6/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Races Across Brazil And Latin America, A Warning To Poor Nations
In early May, the new coronavirus swept through the crowded homes in Alley 24 of Rocinha, one of the largest of Brazil’s favelas, or slum communities. Twenty of the 35 members of Ivanete Dias de Carvalho’s extended family who live crammed together here came down with symptoms of Covid-19, from high fevers to fluid-filled lungs. Few were able to get a test. Her 65-year-old aunt died. (Magalhaes and Forero, 6/23)

Reuters: Exclusive: Women, Babies At Risk As COVID-19 Disrupts Health Services, World Bank Warns 
Millions of women and children in poor countries are at risk because the COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting health services they rely on, from neonatal and maternity care to immunisations and contraception, a World Bank global health expert has warned. Monique Vledder, head of secretariat at the bank’s Global Financing Facility (GFF), told Reuters in an interview the agency was gravely worried about the numbers of children missing vaccinations, women giving birth without medical help and interrupted supplies of life-saving medicines like antibiotics. (Kelland, 6/24)

Reuters: Back Home: The Premature Baby Born During UK's COVID Crisis 
At the peak of Britain’s coronavirus outbreak in April when hundreds were dying each day from COVID-19, Kirsty Anderson was rushed to hospital to give birth to her baby son who had not been due to arrive for another three months. Just two hours after she went into labour, baby Theo was born weighing just 2lb 4oz (1 kg) at the intensive care unit at Burnley General Hospital’s maternity wing in northern England. Father Leon Stubbs, 35, was only allowed to see Kirsty 20 minutes beforehand and after Theo’s birth, they had just an hour together before he had to go home. (McKay, 6/24)

Reuters: China Loses Appetite For Salmon, Seafood On Virus Contamination Worries 
China’s appetite for salmon and other seafood has crashed this month, after a resurgence in coronavirus infections in Beijing was traced to chopping boards for imported salmon in a wholesale food market in the capital. Exporters all the way to Europe are feeling the pinch as the virus scare prompts supermarkets and e-commerce players such as Taobao, JD.com and Meituan in China, the world’s top consumer of frozen and fresh seafood, to slash salmon sales. (Yu and Chow, 6/24)