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Brazil reported a record number of new infections on Friday, with an additional 20,803 cases. The country has now passed Russia as the country with the second-most infections, with 330,890. Yesterday also saw the third-highest number of fatalities recorded as a further 1,001 people lost their lives, pushing the death toll to 21,048.
Grant Shapps, the UK transport secretary, announced a £283m spending package to get Britain’s public transport network “moving back to a full timetable”. Mr Shapps said that due to social distancing it would only be able to operate “at best” at 20 per cent of normal capacity. Previously, he had said it would be at 10 per cent of capacity.
The publication of a long-awaited report from Imperial College London that models the impact of coming out of lockdown has been delayed for several weeks, following criticism of its methods as the debate around the UK’s coronavirus restrictions becomes increasingly politicised. The rightwing UK press and some Conservative politicians question the need for such stringent lockdown measures.
Spain will allow international tourism to restart from July, prime minister Pedro Sánchez said, as he set out new steps to combat the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Foreign tourists will be allowed into Spain in July, with additional health measures to avoid outbreaks. Spain’s football league, La Liga, will return from the week of June 8.
As Iran is set to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan on Sunday, the Islamic republic has taken more steps to get back life to normal with further loosening of lockdown restrictions. The country’s holy shrines would reopen to worshippers a day after the end of Ramadan, from an hour after sunrise till an hour before sunset. Congregational prayers and long stays remain banned.
Middle-class Indians are splashing out on dishwashers and vacuum cleaners to help them with their housework, after surviving two months of domestic drudgery without maids to help them during India’s stringent lockdown. Domestic helpers who did not already live in their employers’ homes were unable to come to work, leaving many families to wrestle with all their own housework – often for the first time.