What you need to know about coronavirus on Sunday, May 17
With the virus largely contained in China, life is slowly returning to normal there. Lockdowns have eased while some schools and factories have reopened.
But the country’s top medical adviser, Dr. Zhong Nanshan, tells CNN that a potential second wave of Covid-19 infections remains a “big challenge.” That’s because we don’t know whether people develop immunity to the virus after contracting it.
There have been worrying signs. Most recently, eight sailors from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt tested positive for the virus a second time.
Zhong also confirmed that local authorities in Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first reported in December, suppressed key details about the magnitude of the initial outbreak. “At the very beginning they kept silent, and then I said probably we have (a larger) number of people being infected,” he said.
Fresh clusters of cases have emerged across China recently. On Friday more than 8,000 people were quarantined in and around Shulan, in the northeastern province of Jilin.
Fears of a potential second wave have also rattled South Korea, where confirmed cases believed to be linked to Seoul’s nightclub cluster rose to 168 today.
Many from the country’s LGBTQ community, which still faces discrimination in South Korea, frequent the nightclubs. And fears of having their sexuality outed have kept some patrons who were potentially exposed from coming forward.
As global leaders weigh the risk of second waves of infections with the need to reopen their economies, people are increasingly losing patience. Protests against lockdown measures spread this weekend in the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom.
YOU ASKED. WE ANSWERED
Q: My kids don’t want to wear a mask. What should I do?
A: To ease their fears, try buying or making masks with fun designs. Or have your child customize his or her own mask by drawing on them with markers. You can also order children’s face masks with superheroes on them, or show your kids photos of their favorite celebrities wearing masks. It’s also important to wear a mask yourself. And let them know that by wearing one they’ll be just like mom or dad.
Send your questions here. Are you a health care worker fighting Covid-19? Message us on WhatsApp about the challenges you’re facing: +1 347-322-0415.
WHAT’S IMPORTANT TODAY
Coronavirus spreads across Russia
Russia has the world’s second-highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases after the United States. Moscow has been hardest hit, with more than half of the country’s roughly 281,000 cases.
But the virus is spreading across the country, a landmass that covers 11 time zones and includes remote and impoverished places. Nathan Hodge reports on Russia’s inequalities and its decrepit healthcare system.
The generational divide
“I feel like my generation has just received no breaks,” said Rachel Friend, a 30-year-old Florida mom of two. “When I graduated high school in 2008, it was a recession. Now, here I am, I just started a family, and I’m basically in another recession.”
While older generations endure higher physical risks from the coronavirus, it’s younger Americans who will likely suffer the economic fallout.
Millennials face another once-in-a-generation economic disaster and Generation Z will likely experience a decline in their long-term pay and job prospects.
US relies on India for generic drugs but China controls supply chain
Generic drugs in the US represent 90% of all prescriptions. And one in every three pills is produced by an Indian generic drug manufacturer.
But India gets around 68% of its raw materials — active pharmaceutical ingredients — from China. Any disruption in that supply chain can create a major problem, especially during a pandemic, Priyali Sur reports.
New York City’s Rikers Island jails: ‘The epicenter of the epicenter’
As coronavirus cases began spiking in New York City in March, officials worried that the city’s jail system on Rikers Island would become a powder keg inside the US epicenter of the pandemic.
In the weeks that followed, correctional officials handed out masks. They increased cleaning and released more than 2,600 inmates.
Despite these efforts, Sonia Moghe reports, 363 inmates and more than 1,300 Department of Corrections workers have contracted the virus. Three inmates and 10 corrections officers have died.
ON OUR RADAR
- He said goodbye to his elderly father over FaceTime. Now he’s donating iPads to local medical centers so families can stay connected.
- A mother and daughter left Arkansas to work at the epicenter of the US pandemic.
- Nepal has recorded its first coronavirus-related death.
- Former US President Barack Obama said yesterday that the “folks in charge” don’t always know what they’re doing, in rare public criticism of the Trump administration.
- An Alaskan makes a 14-hour boat trip to Costco every week to supply his small city with groceries amid the pandemic.
- Three countries hit hard by the pandemic early on — Spain, Italy and Iran — all reported their lowest daily deaths in two months yesterday.
- Celebrities and two former US presidents came together to ensure the class of 2020 got their shining moment.
- It wasn’t soccer as we know it, but the German Bundesliga returned yesterday, bringing a high-profile sporting competition back to life.
TODAY’S TOP TIP
How to keep your preschoolers learning (while staying sane)
Homeschooling during the Covid-19 crisis, particularly with younger children, has generated anxiety, conflict and resentment among parents who need to be calm, sensitive and emotionally available to their children during this difficult time, says Erica Komisar, a licensed clinical social worker and parent guidance expert.
“It is far more important for the emotional well-being of families to pick and choose what they feel capable of doing, rather than abide by the strict rules of digital learning set by their individual schools,” Komisar said. “Less is more now.”
