World’s Eyes Continue To Watch South Korea As Nation Takes Steps Back To ‘Normal’
Global pandemic developments are reported out of South Korea, Canada, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Greece, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Mexico, Argentina, Panama, Brazil, China, Chile, Peru and other nations.
The Associated Press:
World Watches As South Korea Cautiously Returns To Life
The baseball league is on. Students have begun returning to school. And people are increasingly dining out and enjoying nighttime strolls in public parks. As South Korea significantly relaxes its rigid social distancing rules as a result of waning coronavirus cases, the world is paying close attention to whether it can return to something that resembles normal — or face a virus resurgence. (Kim, 5/27)
Reuters:
South Korea Examines First Suspected Cases Of Syndrome In Kids Linked To COVID-19
Two children who are the first suspected cases in South Korea of a rare, life-threatening syndrome linked with the new coronavirus, are recovering following treatment, health authorities said on Wednesday. The symptoms of “Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome in Children” (MIS-C) are similar to toxic shock and Kawasaki disease, and include fever, rashes, swollen glands and, in severe cases, heart inflammation. (Shin, 5/27)
The Associated Press:
Global Pandemic: Through The Eyes Of The World's Children
These are children of the global pandemic. In the far-north Canadian town of Iqaluit, one boy has been glued to the news to learn everything he can about the coronavirus. A girl in Australia sees a vibrant future, tinged with sadness for the lives lost. A Rwandan boy is afraid the military will violently crack down on its citizens when his country lifts the lockdown. There is melancholy and boredom, and a lot of worrying, especially about parents working amid the disease, grandparents suddenly cut off from weekend visits, friends seen only on a video screen. (Irvine, 5/27)
The Associated Press:
With Test Results Lost, An Afghan Family Fell To Virus
As in many Afghan households, dinner at Dr. Yousuf Aryubi’s home meant the whole family — his mother, his siblings, their children — sitting on the floor together around a mat laid with food on the carpet. During one recent dinner, Aryubi confided to his youngest brother that he was worried. A patient he’d seen that morning had a cough and high fever. (Akhgar, Faiez and Keath, 5/27)
The Associated Press:
Doctors Use GPS, Dinghies To Screen Greek Islands For Virus
Using dinghies, GPS and a portable refrigerator, doctors deployed by Greece’s national public health agency have launched a coronavirus testing drive on the country’s Aegean Sea islands ahead of the summer vacation season. Ferry service for visitors to the islands resumed Monday, and Greece plans to start welcoming international travelers again on June 15. The government hopes the comparatively low number of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths in Greece — just under 2,900 cases with 173 deaths — will attract foreign tourists and and ease the effects of an expected recession. (Stavrakis, 5/27)
The Associated Press:
Hypocrisy Gone Viral? Officials Set Bad COVID-19 Examples
“Do as I say, but not as I do” was the message many British saw in the behavior of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s key aide, who traveled hundreds of miles with coronavirus symptoms during the country’s lockdown. While Dominic Cummings has faced calls for his firing but support from his boss over his journey from London to the northern city of Durham in March, few countries seem immune to the perception that politicians and top officials are bending the rules that their own governments wrote during the pandemic. (Adamson and Corbet, 5/27)
The Associated Press:
Spread Of Coronavirus Fuels Corruption In Latin America
Even in a pandemic, there’s no slowdown for swindlers in Latin America. From Argentina to Panama, a number of officials have been forced to resign as reports of fraudulent purchases of ventilators, masks and other medical supplies pile up. The thefts are driven by price-gouging from manufacturers and profiteering by politically connected middlemen who see the crisis as an opportunity for graft. (Goodman, 5/27)
The New York Times:
China Forgets The Coronavirus. A Writer Explores Its Amnesia.
How quickly can a whole nation forget about a catastrophe? In Chan Koonchung’s 2009 dystopian novel “The Fat Years,” China endures a huge, fictional crisis. Two years later, nobody seems to remember it. In reality, Mr. Chan realized, it took less than two months for many people in China to leave behind their anger and despair over the coronavirus crisis and the government’s bungled response. Today, they believe China triumphed over the outbreak. (Yuan, 5/27)
CIDRAP:
Tough Summer Ahead For South America's COVID-19 Hot Spots
As the global COVID-19 total passed 5 million last week, cases in Latin America—the current epicenter—passed the United States and Europe in number of cases, and though Brazil's total is highest in the region, health officials are worried about an even higher incidence in Chile and Peru, where outbreaks are accelerating. The global total today climbed to 5,550,399 cases, and 348,447 deaths have been reported, according to the Johns Hopkins online dashboard. (Schnirring, 5/26)
