Germany yesterday unveiled a plan for reopening, as Europe’s largest economy tries to get the wheels turning after weeks of shutdown, while US President Donald Trump on Tuesday made his first major foray out of the White House since the COVID-19 lockdown began, pushing for the US economy to reopen.
“We can’t keep our country closed for the next five years,” Trump said on a trip to a mask factory in Arizona on Tuesday, as he conceded that some people would be “badly affected.”
In a sign that his administration no longer considers the pandemic its top priority, the White House is set to disband the emergency task force handling the country’s outbreak.
“I think we’re starting to look at the Memorial Day [May 25] window, early June window” for shutting it down, US Vice President Mike Pence said.
However, highlighting the challenges involved, New York’s subway system closed for the first time in its history on Tuesday night for disinfection, as authorities try to balance functionality with health and safety.
The US remains the worst-hit country with more than 71,000 deaths. It recorded 2,333 more fatalities in the 24 hours to Tuesday evening, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker, twice as many as the day before.
The relentless march of the virus continued as Latin America logged its 15,000th death and Britain passed Italy as the country with the world’s second-highest number of deaths.
However, elsewhere in Europe, hard-hit Spain and France reported a leveling off of figures, offering hope of an end to a pandemic that has overwhelmed healthcare systems and shattered economies.
Germany is eyeing an almost complete return to normality this month, with plans to send all pupils back to school and restart top-flight soccer, a draft agreement seen by reporters said.
The Bundesliga would become the first of Europe’s top five leagues to restart, a prospect German Minister of Health Jens Spahn said could make the competition an “export hit.”
With about 165,000 cases and 7,000 deaths, Germany has so far been able to prevent the scenes of dire overcrowding in its hospitals that have been seen elsewhere in Europe.
The restrictions imposed globally to curb the spread of the virus have gutted national economies, with the EU yesterday forecasting that the eurozone economy would contract by a staggering 7.7 percent this year, and saying the wreckage from the COVID-19 outbreak could endanger the single currency.
Calling it a “recession of historic proportions,” the EU executive said that the 19-member single currency zone would rebound by 6.3 percent in 2021, but in a recovery that would be felt unevenly across the continent.
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS