As students in Israel return to school, CNN catches up with one mother whose frustration at homeschooling went viral.
Trump Gets Savage Reminder About ‘Lost Month’ Of Coronavirus Inaction In New Ad
President Donald Trump’s inaction in February as the coronavirus spread is the focus of a blistering new attack ad.
The video that Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-Calif.) Remedy PAC released online Wednesday features footage of Trump minimizing the threat of the virus, playing golf, holding campaign rallies and attending the Daytona 500 ― alongside an interview with Denise Jorgensen, whose father died after contracting COVID-19.
“By February, it was clear that COVID-19 would kill many Americans. It was clear to everyone ― except Donald Trump,†reads the on-screen text.
“In November, we are literally voting for our lives,†Jorgensen concludes in the clip.
It’s the latest spot to call out Trump’s halting response to the public health crisis, with anti-Trump GOP groups The Lincoln Project and Republicans for the Rule of Law also weighing in regularly.
More than 94,000 people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. Members of the White House coronavirus task force have suggested it could kill up to 240,000.
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Scotland’s lockdown to ease from May 28
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon | Pool photo by Fraser Bremner/Getty Images
Nicola Sturgeon sets out her ‘route map’ for easing lockdown in Scotland.
EDINBURGH — Some coronavirus lockdown restrictions are likely to be eased in Scotland from next week, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced Thursday.
Speaking to the Scottish parliament, Sturgeon unveiled her four-phase “route map” for easing restrictions while still suppressing the virus. Phase one measures will provisionally begin from May 28, though the first minister confirmed this is subject to “public health advice” and some steps could be postponed.
Scotland has been slower to lift lockdown measures than England and Sturgeon last week criticized Boris Johnson’s government in Westminster for its approach. Scottish Secretary Alister Jack later admitted Johnson’s address to the nation on his coronavirus exit plan did “cause some confusion” for people in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland because the changes only applied to England.
From May 28, people in Scotland will be allowed to meet people from outside their own household and play some sports such as tennis and golf, providing they practice social distancing. Traveling for exercise will also be permitted, though people are asked to stay as close to their own homes as possible.
Recycling and garden centers will reopen, and some outdoor work will also resume. Indoor cafés, restaurants and pubs will remain closed as part of phase one, and visiting other houses will also not be allowed.
“I hope that these steps will bring some improvements to people’s well-being and quality of life,” Sturgeon said, “as well as start to get our economy moving again.
“The message will still remain [that people should] stay at home as much as possible.”
Meatpacking Coronavirus Guidelines Are Largely Unenforceable
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal recommendations meant to keep meatpacking workers safe as they return to plants that were shuttered by the coronavirus have little enforcement muscle behind them, fueling anxiety that working conditions could put employees’ lives at risk.
Extensive guidance issued last month by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that meatpacking companies erect physical barriers, enforce social distancing and install more hand-sanitizing stations, among other steps. But the guidance is not mandatory.
“It’s like, ‘Here’s what we’d like you to do. But if you don’t want to do it, you don’t have to,’†said Mark Lauritsen, international vice president and director of the food processing and meatpacking division for the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.
The pandemic is “the most massive workers’ safety crisis in many decades, and OSHA is in the closet. OSHA is hiding,†said David Michaels, an epidemiologist who was the agency’s assistant secretary of labor under President Barack Obama. Michaels called on OSHA to make the guidelines mandatory and enforceable, which would include the threat of fines.
OSHA’s general guidance plainly says the recommendations are advisory and “not a standard or regulation,†and they create “no new legal obligations.â€
But the guidance also says employers must follow a law known as the general duty clause, which requires companies to provide a workplace free of recognized hazards. Critics say that rule is unlikely to be enforced, especially after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April aimed at keeping meat plants open.
Already, examples have emerged of questionable enforcement efforts and pressure to keeping plants running:
— Shortly before Trump’s order, state regulators in Iowa declined to inspect a Tyson Foods pork plant despite a complaint alleging workers had been exposed to the virus in crowded conditions. Documents obtained by The Associated Press show it took the Iowa division of OSHA nine days to seek a response from Tyson and eight more to get a reply. The state agency ultimately found Tyson’s voluntary efforts to improve social distancing at the Perry plant were “satisfactory†and closed the case without an inspection. A week later, 730 workers — almost 60% of the workforce — had tested positive.
— In Kansas, the state softened its quarantine guidelines after industry executives pushed to allow potentially exposed employees to continue going to work, according to emails and text messages obtained by The Kansas City Star and The Wichita Eagle. The state had previously advised such employees to quarantine for two weeks, before conforming to the more lenient CDC guideline, which allows employees to continue working if they have no symptoms and use precautions. The move came after Tyson raised a concern with the state of rising worker absenteeism.
After Trump’s executive order — developed with input from the industry — the Labor Department and OSHA said OSHA would use discretion and consider “good faith attempts†to follow safety recommendations. Employers would be given a chance to explain if some are not met. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue made clear in letters earlier this month that the Department of Agriculture expected state and local officials to work with meat plants to keep them running. And he said any closed plants without a timetable to reopen had to submit protocols to the USDA.
The USDA did not respond to repeated requests to provide those company plans to the AP. When asked how guidelines would be enforced, a USDA spokesperson said enforcement was up to OSHA.
Major meatpackers JBS, Smithfield and Tyson have said worker safety is their highest priority. They provided the AP with summaries of their efforts to improve safety, but the plans themselves have not been made public. Tyson said because the temporary suspension of its operations was voluntary and the company was already meeting or exceeding federal guidance, it was not required to submit a reopening plan to the USDA.
One plan obtained by the AP, for the reopening of a JBS pork plant in Worthington, Minnesota, details multiple safety improvements, including installing physical barriers, increasing spacing between workers and requiring protective equipment. The plan includes photos. It says employees will be screened for health issues, but it makes no mention of requiring testing.
JBS spokesman Cameron Bruett said the plan “demonstrates the extraordinary measures†the plant has taken “to keep our team members safe as they provide food for the country.â€
In an emailed response to questions about how guidance would be enforced and what role OSHA would play in protecting workers, the Department of Labor said OSHA received 55 complaints in the animal-processing industry and opened 22 inspections since Feb. 1.
Echoing language from the general duty clause, the agency also noted longstanding rules that require employers to provide a safe workplace.
“OSHA’s standards remain in place and enforceable, and they will continue to be as workers return to their workplaces,†a labor spokesperson said.
Michaels, the former OSHA official, said the clause has no preventive effect and is generally enforced only after a worker is injured. He said it’s effective only in cases in which OSHA conducts an inspection and issues citations and the employer agrees to fix the problem — so any impact is felt months or years later.
Michaels said OSHA will not issue citations if employers are doing their best to eliminate a hazard but find it’s not feasible.
Jeffrey Lancaster, founder and CEO of Lancaster Safety Consulting in Wexford, Pennsylvania, said violations of the general duty clause can get expensive, especially if companies are found to be repeat violators, have a willful violation, or fail to fix an issue.
“The laws have been in place,†he said. “It’s just a new ballgame – a new hazard.â€
Minnesota is one of 22 states or territories with worker-protection agencies that cover private and government workers, and the state OSHA has the power to enforce the CDC and state Department of Health’s COVID-19 safety guidelines under the general duty clause, spokesman James Honerman said.
The agency has two open investigations into the meatpacking businesses — one at a JBS plant in Worthington and one at a Pilgrim’s Pride plant in Cold Spring, said Honerman, who could not discuss the investigations because they are pending.
Lauritsen, with the food workers’ union, said OSHA has not done enough to hold employers accountable. The union is advocating for access to daily testing for all meat-production workers, personal protective equipment if necessary and paid sick leave.
“By and large, if our members are healthy enough, if they are not sick or on quarantine, they are going to show up to do their job,†Lauritsen said. “But that doesn’t mean that they’re not anxious or not nervous.â€
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2.4 Million More People Applied For Unemployment Last Week
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 2.4 million people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week in the latest wave of layoffs from the viral outbreak that triggered widespread business shutdowns two months ago and sent the economy into a deep recession.
Roughly 38.6 million people have now filed for jobless aid since the coronavirus forced millions of businesses to close their doors and shrink their workforces, the Labor Department said Thursday.
An additional 2.2 million people sought aid under a new federal program for self-employed, contractor and gig workers, who are now eligible for jobless aid for the first time. These figures aren’t adjusted for seasonal variations, so the government doesn’t include them in the overall number of applications.
The continuing stream of heavy job cuts reflects an economy that is sinking into the worst recession since the Great Depression. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated this week that the economy is shrinking at a 38% annual rate in the April-June quarter. That would be by far the worst quarterly contraction on record.
Nearly half of Americans say that either their incomes have declined or they live with another adult who has lost pay through a job loss or reduced hours, the Census Bureau said in survey data released Wednesday More than one-fifth of Americans said they had little or no confidence in their ability to pay the next month’s rent or mortgage on time, the survey found.
During April, U.S. employers shed 20 million jobs, eliminating a decade’s worth of job growth in a single month. The unemployment rate reached 14.7%, the highest since the Depression. Millions of other people who were out of work weren’t counted as unemployed because they didn’t look for a new job.
Since then, 10 million more laid-off workers have applied for jobless benefits. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in an interview Sunday that the unemployment rate could peak in May or June at 20% to 25%.
Across industries, major employers continue to announce job cuts. Uber said this week that it will lay off 3,000 employees, on top of 3,700 it has already cut, because demand for its ride-hailing services has plummeted. Vice, a TV and digital news organization tailored for younger people, announced 155 layoffs globally last week.
Digital publishers Quartz and BuzzFeed, magazine giant Conde Nast and the company that owns the business-focused The Economist magazine also announced job cuts last week.
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EU regulators give airlines flexibility on social distancing
Travelers wearing face masks walk through the check-in area of Schipol airport in Amsterdam on May 11, 2020 | Evert Elzinha/ANP/AFP via Getty Images
New guidelines balance health with economic and logistical concerns.
The EU’s top regulators have emphasized the importance of social distancing at the airport and on planes — but left it up to operators to decide whether that’s feasible.
As countries across the bloc look to open up travel again, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued final joint safety guidelines late Wednesday designed to minimize the risk of spreading the coronavirus while flying.
The advice is likely to result in a huge variation in travel experience because of the flexibility it gives the industry to balance health with economic and logistical concerns.
In planes, for example, the guidelines state that “aeroplane operators should ensure, to the extent possible, physical distancing among passengers†but only “where allowed by the passenger load, cabin configuration and mass and balance requirements.â€
“This may be achieved by leaving at least one seat empty between passengers, increasing the distance between the seats or leaving every other row empty,†it suggests.
The tourism sector and airlines in general, hard hit by the pandemic, are keen to salvage what they can of their busiest time of year between June and September.
Airlines such as Ryanair have been vocal with concerns that flying will not remain economically viable (without price hikes or government subsidies) if planes are forced to fly with middle seats empty.
The tourism sector and airlines in general, hard hit by the pandemic, are keen to salvage what they can of their busiest time of year between June and September. They argue limiting a plane to be two-thirds full will make it even harder for air travel to return.
Other airlines such as Lufthansa and TAP Air Portugal have instituted empty-row policies as a temporary measure while flights remain largely unfilled.
“The guidance is clear that while airlines should seek to maintain physical distancing where practicable, flexibility on seating arrangements is permitted,†said global airline lobby IATA in reaction to the guidelines.
An earlier version of the guidelines obtained by POLITICO did not mention leaving every other seat nor entire rows empty.
The final version also backs wearing masks while flying, allowing only passengers into terminals and not permitting people to line up in cabins to use the toilet.
Overall, the guidelines recommend that “aeroplane operators, airport operators and service providers should ensure that physical distancing of 1.5 metres is maintained wherever this is operationally feasible.â€
But they discourage temperature checks at airports — which were backed by airlines — as being a “high-cost, low-efficiency measure†that would do little to identify cases.
While screening at airports has been widely adopted, some countries, including the U.K., have resisted implementing airport controls — with British Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam stating the incubation period of the virus means checks would be ineffective in preventing spread.
When it comes to the use of masks, airlines have emphasized their mandatory use as an effective measure in the absence of social distancing.
But the EU regulators say they are only a “complementary measure and not as a replacement for established preventive measures, such as physical distancing, respiratory etiquette, meticulous hand hygiene and avoiding touching the face, nose, eyes and mouth.â€
“We look forward to working with EASA and the ECDC to incorporate the relevant improvements” — Lobby group A4E
They also warn about the potential “false sense of security that can be given by wearing a face mask.â€
Airports welcomed the guidelines. Lobby group ACI-Europe said the guidelines will allow passengers to return “to air travel with confidence.â€
Given airlines’ opposition to some of the measures mentioned, airlines’ reaction was more qualified. Lobby group A4E said it welcomed the guidelines, but more work needs to be done. “We look forward to working with EASA and the ECDC to incorporate the relevant improvements,” the group said in an emailed statement.
“The next task is for airlines and airport operators to adapt the guidelines to their individual facilities and operations,†said EASA’s Executive Director Patrick Ky. “EASA and ECDC will continue to offer their expertise in this crucial phase.â€
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Man Enjoys The Sweetest Post-Lockdown Reunion With His Donkey
Ismael Fernández hadn’t seen his family’s donkey, Baldomera, for more than two months.
But when they reunited following the easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions in some parts of southern Spain on Monday, it was a sight to behold.
Video going viral shows Fernández, fearing the donkey wouldn’t recognize him, calling out for the 5-year-old animal on a hillside. The donkey responds and quickly approaches. Fernández, rubbing the donkey’s forehead, bursts into tears and Baldomera begins braying.
Check out the video here:
Malaga-based Fernández shared the video of the sweet encounter at his family’s country home, some 20 miles away in El Borge, to Facebook on Monday. He wasn’t embarrassed to be heard crying in the clip because it was a demonstration of “unconditional love,†he wrote.
Fernández has since set up an Instagram account in the name of the donkey, who was a gift to his father Antonio upon his retirement two years ago, reported local newspaper Diario del Sur. He didn’t immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for further information.Â
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Europe promises to reopen for summer tourism in wake of coronavirus
(CNN) — The world’s biggest tourist playground has been roped off since it became a coronavirus epicenter, but as summer looms Europe is desperate to lift restrictions to get visitors pumping much needed cash into stricken economies.
Across the continent, various nations currently sitting behind the firewall of quarantines or sealed frontiers, are figuring out how they can once again welcome holidaymakers.
Last week, the European Union unveiled an action plan to get its internal borders reopening, safely fire up its hospitality sector and to revive rail, road, air and sea connections that have been strangled during the pandemic.
It’s a situation eagerly anticipated by millions of would-be travelers, desperate to enjoy a slice of European sunshine and culture after weeks or months being sequestered at home under lockdown.
“We all need a break, especially after this confinement,” Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal market commissioner, said. “We want to enjoy summer holidays, we would like to see our families and friends even if they live in another region, in another country.
“But we want to be able to so while staying healthy and safe because we know the virus will stay for us for some time.”
The EU currently has recommendations in place to all its member nations that they restrict all non-essential visitors from outside. But with infection rates dropping off in some countries, this looks set to change.
Some countries, such as Greece and Italy, are already naming specific dates. On Saturday, Italy announced plans to reopen its internal borders next month, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that many internal EU border restrictions would be lifted by June 15.
There’s even talk of permitting special “green corridors” or “travel bubbles” that would allow certain countries with low or sharply declining infection rates to open up to a select few destinations until borders are fully reopened.
Those moves have been backed in the EU plan which proposes lifting restrictions between member states of “sufficiently similar epidemiological situations,” in other words, the same rate of coronavirus infection.
Visitors from outside the EU could still face an indeterminate wait though.
The EU’s plan also sets out a roadmap for developing health and safety protocols for beaches, hotels, campsites, B&Bs, cafes and restaurants to protect guests and employees, such as allowing people to book time slots at the gym or swimming pools in advance.
It also aims to strengthen rules giving travelers the right to choose between vouchers or cash reimbursement for canceled transport tickets or package trips.
EU member states have also agreed to protocols to ensure tracing apps work across borders so that citizens can be warned of a potential infection with coronavirus while traveling within the bloc.
“This is not going to be a normal summer, not for any of us,” said Margrethe Vestager, the vice-president of the EU’s executive arm, the European Commission.”But when we all work together and we all do our part in the ways the Commission is setting out today, then we don’t have to face a summer stuck at home or a completely lost summer for the European tourism industry.”
While these new measures will help impose some order on a somewhat chaotic travel situation across the continent, it remains a fluid situation.
For the time being, if you’re planning to travel to or within Europe in coming months, here’s what you need to know:
France
France is the world’s most visited country, but the coronvirus crisis has cripped tourism here.
PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/AFP via Getty Images
Travelers with France at the top of their list of places to visit once the coronavirus crisis is abating should prepare themselves for a long wait.
Much like the rest of the EU, its borders have been shut to non-EU visitors for the last two months — with the EU recently recommending an extension to the ban until June 15, 2020.
From now until at least July 24, anyone who enters the country, with the exception of EU citizens or arrivals from the UK, will be subject to a compulsory 14-day coronavirus quarantine.
While its lockdown is slowly being lifted, with schools, restaurants and cafes in the country to reopen in the coming weeks, France’s interior minister, Christophe Castaner, has made it clear the country will not be adapting its border restrictions for the foreseeable future.
However, hotels may be given permission to resume business in the coming weeks.
French hotel chain Accor has closed nearly two-thirds of its hotels, while those that remain open are being used to support healthcare and frontline workers, as well as “vulnerable populations.”
“One piece of good news is the initial recovery of the Chinese hotel market, with mild improvements in occupancy and food & beverage activity: an encouraging tell-tale sign,” a spokesperson for Accor tells CNN.
While waiting for the green light from the government, workers have been “setting stringent safety standards and cleaning protocols,” in preparation for reopening.
Although they aren’t expecting many, if any, international visitors in the coming months, much of Accor’s revenue is from domestic travel, which seems likely to increase considerably if border restrictions stay in place while restrictions are relaxed.
“When the lockdown measures soften, French tourists are likely to want to stay close to home in the short term,” adds the spokesperson.
“It will be the moment for them to rediscover their own country and we will be there to welcome them.”
Greece
Greece hopes to wlelcome back visitors as early as June.
Russell Yan/Pixabay
Greece may end up becoming one of the first European destinations to open up to tourists again.
The Mediterranean nation has managed to keep its coronavirus death toll remarkably low, with less than 170 Covid-19 deaths so far, by enforcing a strict lockdown early on.
This week, prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the country would reopen to tourists on June 15.
“Let us make this summer the epilogue of the [Covid-19] crisis,” he added.
According to Mitsotakis, direct international fights to Greek destinations will slowly recommence from July 1, and tourists will no longer be required to take a Covid-19 test or go into quarantine.
However, tourism minister Haris Theoharis says health officials will conduct spot tests when necessary.
In addition, value added tax (VAT) on all transport will be reduced from 13% from 24% in a bid to entice travelers.
The news came shortly after archaeological site the Acropolis, located in Athens, reopened on May 18, along with the country’s high schools and shopping malls.
However, any summer 2020 Greece vacations will be very different to those of past years for obvious reasons.
“The tourism experience this summer may be slightly different from what you’ve had in previous years,” Mitsotakis told CNN earlier this month.
“Maybe no bars may be open, or no tight crowds, but you can still get a fantastic experience in Greece — provided that the global epidemic is on a downward path.”
Greece’s city hotels are scheduled to reopen on June 1 followed by seasonal hotels a month later.
At present, all international passengers must take a Covid-19 test upon arrival in Greece or go into quarantine for 14 days. Mitsotakis had previously suggested tourists would be required to undergo testing before their visit as a further precaution.
While the country may be priming itself to receive visitors again, getting there will prove to be a challenge for many.
At present, all non-EU citizens are banned from entering Greece until June 15, while the majority of low-cost carrier routes, which make up much of the country’s foreign air arrival, from neighboring countries are suspended.
Mitsotakis is banking on an influx of “more high-end tourists” to help re-energize the country’s tourism industry, which employs one in five Greeks.
Spain
New beach protocols in Spanih town Sanxenxo will involve allocating sunbathing spots on a “first come, first served” basis.
Courtesy Diario de Arousa
Spain’s lockdown proved to be one of the strictest in Europe — children were banned from leaving the house entirely at one stage.
But the popular destination, which welcomed a record 84 million visitors in 2019, is slowly easing restrictions, with beaches set to reopen in June and hotels in some parts of the country granted permission to resume business.
However, officials are understandably cautious about reopening the country, and it seems unlikely the current border restrictions, which ban non-essential travel to Spain for everyone other than Spanish citizens, residents and frontier workers, will change before the end of the summer season.
“We have to guarantee, when international tourism opens, that the person who comes to Spain is a safe person,” Spanish tourism minister Reyes Maroto recently told local newspaper El Pais.
“The issue of borders will be accompanied by the evolution of the health crisis,” he said.
“Therefore, I do not have the solution of when [they will be able to open]. On how you will be able to enjoy our beaches, we are defining different scenarios.”
One or two of these “scenarios” have already been announced, with a number of towns setting out new protocols to maintain social distancing measures on busy stretches of sand.
Canet d’en Berenguer, a Mediterranean town located just north of Valencia, will only allow 5,000 daily sunbathers on its local beach when it reopens, while Galicia’s Sanxenxo will allocate entry to its beach on a “first come, first served” basis.
Both are roping off small sections on the sands to ensure beachgoers can maintain a safe distance from each other, a move that may well indicate the future of beach visits.
Earlier this month, a senior government official admitted the country’s tourism industry wouldn’t be able to get going again until all internal and external borders within the EU are reopened.
“A big part of our economy depends on the movements of international visitors and of Spaniards,” said the official.
“But we have to have a health system that can take care of anyone who’s in Spain. That’s the fundamental issue.”
Italy
Italy is slowly lifting restrictions after weeks and weeks in lockdown.
ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP via Getty Images
Italy has been one of the destinations worst hit by the pandemic, with a “very long” lockdown imposed back in March, but the Beautiful Country won’t be off limits for much longer.
The Italian government has announced EU travelers will be allowed to enter without having to go into quarantine from June 3 in a “calculated risk” to get the country’s tourism industry moving again.
“We have to accept it, otherwise we will never be able to start up again.”
At present, Italy along with the rest of the EU, currently has restrictions in place on all non-essential travel from outside the Schengen Zone (a grouping of 26 countries that normally have open borders) — apart from the UK.
Travelers from EU countries have previously been required to undergo a two-week quarantine before entering the country.
The announced measures are a major step in the country’s efforts to restart its economy after more than two months of lockdown.
However, nearby Austria and Switzerland still have heavy restrictions in place regarding traveling across the borders, while many airlines have canceled the majority of their flights to Italy, so reopening won’t be a straightforward process.
But officials have made it clear they’re keen to get things moving.
“I have never spoken, nor ever thought, of closing the Italian borders to tourists for 2020,” Giorgio Palmucci, president of the Italian National Tourist Board (ENIT) told local reporters last month. “I am working on the exact opposite.”
All museums, including Rome’s Vatican Museums, are to slowly reopen throughout May. However, strict social-distancing rules will apply, with tickets bought in advance online.
St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican reopened on Monday May 18 after being closed for over two months.
The island of Sicily has already announced a scheme to entice travelers back, with subsidized holidays for both domestic and international visitors on offer.
Germany
Officials in Germany are in no rush to reopen its borders.
Maja Hitij/Getty Images
Germany has managed to contain its coronavirus fatality numbers somewhat due to substantial testing and contact tracing, but officials have seemed hesitant about letting tourists back in.
The fact that virus infections began rising in the country this week, just days after lockdown restrictions were eased, will have done little to ease concerns regarding reopening borders, although it was announced Wednesday that its frontier with neighboring Austria was being unlocked as of May 15.
Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel wishes to stop border controls in the Schengen area within weeks.
“The aim is — if the infection process allows it — I want to stress that — that from June the 15th border controls in the Schengen area can be completely eliminated,” she said on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the Austrian Tourism Ministry says the chancellors of the two countries agreed to open the border in a first step for day trippers and commuters. A second step would see a normalized reopening as of June 15.
Germany remains closed to non-EU visitors, while many of its border crossings to neighboring states such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Switzerland are either closed or guarded.
Hotels are currently prohibited from accommodating tourists, and the majority of flights to and from Germany remain grounded.
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has previously expressed concerns about reopening destinations too swiftly, stressing that European countries should come together to decide the best course of action.
“A European race to see who will allow tourism travel first will lead to unacceptable risks,” he told Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
United Kingdom
Visitors to the UK are required to go into quarantine for 14 days.
Maja Hitij/Getty Images
The UK government’s decision to introduce a 14-day quarantine on all arrivals just as it begun to ease restrictions for residents has dashed any lingering hopes of reviving international tourism here in the coming weeks.
It’s thought the move, introduced for an indeterminate amount of time, will dissuade airlines from restarting flight operations quickly and officials have warned Brits that their prospects of a summer foreign escape are slim.
Asked in a BBC television interview whether UK citizens should book flights in July, Transport Minister Grant Shapps said: “I’m saying, right now you can’t travel abroad. If you are booking it you are clearly by very nature taking a chance of where the direction of this virus goes and therefore where the travel advice is in the future.”
Under current plans, hotels are likely begin to open in early July, but as EU border restrictions are still in place, it’s expected the UK will focus on domestic travel before any further decisions are made.
“With nearly 40 million inbound visitors per year, International visitors play a hugely important part of the UK visitor economy and we look forward to welcoming visitors back when it is safe to do so,” Nigel Huddleston, UK tourism minister, said during a speech at the Extraordinary G20 Tourism Ministers’ Meeting on Covid-19.
Sadly, there’s absolutely no indication of when that’s likely to happen.
Portugal
Portugal received 24 million tourists in 2019.
Regiao de Turismo do Algarve
Portugal has also begun to ease its lockdown restrictions, allowing hair salons, dry cleaners and repair shops to reopen.
Some restaurants, museums and coffee shops were allowed to opening at reduced capacity on May 18, as well as schools.
However, sunbathers will be required to adhere to Portugal’s social distancing rules by keeping 1.5 meters apart.
An app that allows people to check whether there’s space on the beach of their choice has been introduced in a bid to prevent overcrowding.
While it seems doubtful international visitors will be able to return before 2021, the destination has already put measures in place to alleviate the effects.
Rita Marques, the country’s Secretary of State for Tourism, recently launched a “don’t cancel, postpone” scheme, which allows tourists to reschedule any pre-arranged holidays to Portugal until the close of 2021.
This applies to all bookings made through accredited travel agencies, as well as hotels or Airbnbs, for trips scheduled between March 13 and September 30, 2020.
Meanwhile, national tourism authority Turismo de Portugal has devised a free hygiene-certification stamp to distinguish “Clean & Safe” tourism enterprises in order to gain visitors’ confidence.
Businesses will need to comply with hygiene and cleaning requirements for the prevention and control of Covid-19, in order to receive the stamp, which is valid for one year.
The aim here is to boost the sector’s recovery by reassuring visitors that all efforts are being made to ensure they’re protected.
Raul Martins, President of the Association of Portuguese Hotels (AHP,) says he expects most hotels in the country to reopen in July.
But like most other European countries, Portugal will have to rely on business from domestic travelers while border restrictions remain in tact.
Eliderico Viegas, head of the Association of Algarve Hotels and Tourism Enterprises, recently told Bloomberg he’s not expecting any international tourists in Portugal’s Algarve region until next year.
Croatia
Croatia suffered from overtourism previously, now the destination is keen to get travelers back.
ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP via Getty Images
But like many European destinations, Croatia is reliant on tourism, accounting for 20% of its GDP, and officials have suggested its borders may be opened to foreign tourists later this year.
However, the current limitations on foreign nationals are likely to remain in place until June 15.
Any non-nationals who are permitted entry may be ordered to self-isolate or spend 14 days in official government quarantine facilities “at the expense of the traveler.”
But officials are hoping to work around this by introducing a special “green corridor” between itself and the Czech Republic, another destination with a low number of coronavirus cases as early as this summer.
This would effectively mean any Czech tourists who can provide documentation to prove they’re not infected with the virus would be permitted to travel into Croatia.
“We have already discussed with the Czech Republic that they prepare their proposals and we will prepare ours,” Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli said during an interview aired on the state-run HRT radio.
Switzerland
A picture taken on from Mont-Pelerin, western Switzerland, on November 20, 2016 shows the cities of Vevey (below) and Montreux (background) on Lake Geneva. / AFP / FABRICE COFFRINI (Photo credit should read FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)
Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images
By mid-May, the Swiss border crossings with Italy, France, Germany and Austria, will all have reopened, less than two months after they were shut by the Federal Council due to the pandemic.
But that doesn’t mean things have returned to normal when it come to traveling within the country.
Only Swiss citizens and permanent residents, as well as those who have to travel to Switzerland for professional reasons, are currently permitted to enter the country.
Plans to resume domestic tourism industry are moving ahead, with museums, bars and restaurants due to be reopened this week, followed by hotels towards the end of May.
Eastern Europe
The Czech Republic was one of the first European countries to close its borders back in March.
Pixabay/Creative Commons
Croatia isn’t the only country the Czech Republic is likely to share a “green corridor” with.
Proposals for a similar arrangement with Slovakia, one of the first European countries to ban international passenger travel, are apparently in the works.
Both countries have closed their borders to non-citizens and residents, along with Ukraine, Hungary and Poland, with a mandatory 14-day quarantine required for anyone coming from abroad.
While there’s been no clear indication from the governments of the aforementioned countries on when borders will be reopened, wearing a face mask in public spaces is now compulsory in Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia.
As the likes of Czech Republic and Slovakia have expressed interest in solely opening up international tourism to less affected destinations, it’s fair to assume officials will be in no rush to welcome travelers from those destinations heavily affected, such as the UK and the US, as well as Spain and Italy.
Scandinavia and the Nordic region
Sweden’s government opted not to issue a lockdown
JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP
As one of the only countries in Europe not to issue a lockdown, Sweden has few restrictions to lift.
However, its borders are still shut to countries outside the EU, EEA, or Switzerland, and these measures are set to remain in place for now.
Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lovin has admitted the country’s tourism sector has been hit “incredibly hard” by the absence of travelers.
Lovin said it was wrong to suggest the more relaxed approach meant it was business as usual in Sweden.
“The biggest myth and misconception is that life goes on as normal in Sweden,” she recently told multi-regional publication The Local. “It absolutely does not.”
“A lot of small businesses are on their knees because production is down or has decreased a lot.
“It is not business as usual in Sweden but the opposite, things are very, very tough.”
Nearby Austria is planning a gradual return to normality, with hotels reopening from May 29.
The Geniesserhotel “Die Forelle” in Carinthia, is one of several establishments gearing up to welcome domestic travelers months after being forced to close their doors.
“We would like to offer our guests a wonderfully relaxed stay and of course we make sure that all hygiene regulations are observed,” says Hannes Muller, who runs the hotel.
Meanwhile Denmark plans to lift its remaining lockdown restrictions by the second week of June.
The country’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen has previously spoken of the possibility of reopening borders warning this could move things into “a negative direction.”
“It may help to move the infection in a negative direction. Of course, the borders must also be seen in the context of what is happening in the countries around us.” Frederiksen went on to suggest Denmark would not reopen borders until “at least.”
Iceland brought temporary internal border controls last month, banning all foreign nationals, except for nationals of the EU and associated European countries. Everyone arriving from outside the country has been required to complete a 14-day quarantine since April 24.
The Nordic country is now preparing to reopen in a bid to undo some of the damage caused by the closure.
Iceland’s government expects to start easing restrictions on international arrivals by June 15.
While the full details are yet to be confirmed, it;s thought travelers will be given the choice of a test on arrival or a two-week quarantine.
“Although Iceland is an island, it has always thrived through international trade and cooperation,” Foreign Minister Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson said in a statement.
“With only three cases of the virus diagnosed in May, we are once again ready to carefully open our doors to the world.
“While we remain cautious, we are optimistic as a country that we can successfully begin our journey back to normality.”
Baltic states
Lithuania is set to join a “travel bubble” with fellow Baltic states Estonia and Latvia.
PETRAS MALUKAS/AFP/Getty Images
The borders for Baltic countries Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia have been largely closed to foreign travelers due to the pandemic.
But as of May 15, each will lift restrictions for each other’s citizens, creating the European Union’s first official “green corridors” or “travel bubble.”
The new protocol, which is due to come into effect on May 15, was agreed after the states decided all three “had successfully managed the spread of Covid-19 and trust each other’s health care systems,” according to the Lithuanian government.
“We showed a good example by stating, very clearly, that only countries which successfully dealt with the situation can open themselves up,” Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said in a statement.
“I think we will keep to this principle when dealing with countries where the situation is very bad, which did not take measures to control the virus spread.
Skvernelis went on to suggest that Poland and Finland may be invited to join further down the line.
However, anyone traveling the countries from outside the “bubble” will be required to go into quarantine for two weeks.
“It’s a big step towards life as normal,” Juri Ratas, prime minister of Estonia, tweeted after the announcement.
CNN’s James Frater, Max Ramsay, Lindsay Isaac, Stephanie Halasz, Al Goodman, Mick Krever and Elinda Labropoulou contributed to this report.
Gauging the wider impact of #Coronavirus on the #NHS – EU Reporter
Coronavirus has hit the British health-care system like a wave, and the worst is still on the way according to many experts. It has sent tens of thousands of patients to the hospital wards, overwhelming an overloaded health-care system which was already showing cracks before the incident. It has also caused thousands of scheduled procedures to be delayed, while others are denied care, writes Colin Stevens.
These are just the immediate effects, however, and the repercussions of the virus are set to ripple through the health-care system for months. It could also have an effect on much more than just health care, and affect British society as a whole. Let’s gauge the wider impact of the coronavirus on the NHS, what we can expect for the future, and some possible solutions.
The labour shortage
Labour shortages have plagued the NHS for years, and the virus is only exacerbating them. Shortages first came to the forefront and the attention of the general public with the junior doctor strikes of 2016. Staff shortages have now been made worse due to the sheer number of healthcare staff who became ill or simply had to go into quarantine.
To address the situation, conservatives were elected with the promise of hiring fifty thousand new nurses at the start of 2020. However, they have failed to deliver at the most critical time. To put things in perspective, nursing vacancies were around 44,000 at the start of 2020, which is equal to 12% of the current nursing workforce, and were still far from the benchmarks set forth by the conservative government.
The immigration debate surrounding the Brexit issue is also affecting British healthcare. Many NHS frontline workers had their visas extended, for instance. It is also unclear how proposals to restrict international migration among low skill workers will impact support staff. More also has to be done to move domestic nurses through the pipelines.
For those wanting to enter the field, it would be wise to start looking at postgraduate nursing courses so you’ll have the credentials needed to qualify for newly funded positions. Uni Compare has a massive database of British universities you can search to find the right one for you. Their database allows you to search by location, study mode, TEF rating or university rating. You could also find institutions that will let you earn the degree part-time, full-time or both.
Failed promises are catching up
Promises of new hospitals usually get a lot of media attention, and are often used as political pet projects by parties. Unfortunately, they are a difficult and expensive endeavour, and that’s why these projects are often shelved. That probably explains why the promise of 40 new hospitals has been pushed back, if we are to believe that they were intended to be a reality in the first place.
There’s also the debate as to whether opening more hospitals would be the best solution. New construction often sucks up resources that could go toward repairing, maintaining, staffing and expanding overcrowded facilities, which is really at the core of the issue. A better approach could be to alter existing facilities so they can meet the constantly changing needs of the public.
The demand for flexibility will extend to individual healthcare providers. We may see more generalist education over specialist education. Furthermore, administrative personnel may be called upon to provide more patient care and support in emergencies.
Growing respect for ICU beds
The number of intensive care unit beds in the United Kingdom has been low by international standards, just as the number of doctors per capita. Yet, demand for ICU beds is growing due to an aging population which resulted in ICU bed occupancy hovering around 80% before the coronavirus hit. This meant there was no room for a sudden influx of additional patients which isn’t a one-time event as we see similar shortages when there is a bad flu season.
Impact on patients
The situation is set to impact patients in many ways. Wait times for elective care will most likely increase, and they might hit the levels seen in the early 1990s for public hospital patients. Many will cope by seeking private care and a large number are taking advantage of video and telephone conferences, but this will not reduce overall demand for healthcare and cannot eliminate the need for all in-person visits.
One possible solution could be to raise pay for nurses, something that will attract students to the profession and keep healthcare professionals in the field longer. Unfortunately, that’s an unpopular proposition, since it will result in higher taxes. Yet, we need more nurses and doctors to provide an adequate level of patient care as data on nursing strikes shows that mortality rates and readmissions go up around 20% if there aren’t enough nurses in the wards.
The coronavirus pandemic presents a clear, short-term crisis for the NHS. More importantly, it is making serious shortcomings clear that must be addressed on a systemic level.
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Category: A Frontpage, coronavirus, Coronavirus face masks, Coronavirus Global Response, COVID-19, Featured Article, Health, PPE, UK