Workers paint a line on the street to adapt the mobility of pedestrians and ensure social distancing in Barcelona, Spain, May 19, 2020. (Barcelona City Hall/Handout via Xinhua)
- Spain: to relax restrictions from Monday
- South Africa: unveils guidelines for religious gatherings
- India: records 7,466 COVID-19 new cases, so far the highest single-day spike
- Russia: GDP shrinks by 12 percent year-on-year in April due to coronavirus-related restrictions
BEIJING, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
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MADRID -- About 70 percent of Spain's population will enjoy further relaxation on restrictions in place to control the spread of COVID-19 as it enters Phase 2 of its restriction plans on Monday, the Spanish Ministry for Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Services said Wednesday.
Phase 2 allows commercial centers, restaurants, cinemas and theaters, among other businesses, to open at a limited capacity. Outdoor exercise and access to beaches is also permitted, alongside social distancing guidelines.
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BEIJING -- The All-China Women's Federation has honored a nurse who sacrificed her life to the fight against COVID-19.
Liang Xiaoxia, 28, who died on May 26, was honored as a national-level female role model. She died after doctors could not revive her as she passed out while working in an isolation ward in Wuhan, the hardest-hit city in central China's Hubei Province.
Liang, who came from south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, arrived in Wuhan to help combat the coronavirus on February 21.
Citizens walk along a street in Johannesburg, South Africa, May 22, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng)
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CAPE TOWN -- The South African government on Friday unveiled guidelines for religious gatherings after the country eases COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.
After wide consultations with the religious sector, the government is now in a position to categorize religious counselling as an essential service, said Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
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NEW DELHI -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met federal home minister Amit Shah to discuss the ongoing lockdown strategy and the measures to move ahead, local media reported.
The meeting comes on the day as India recorded 7,466 COVID-19 new cases, so far the highest single-day spike, pushing the infection tally across the country to 165,799.
Two passengers with full protective suits are seen at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, India, May 25, 2020. (Photo by Partha Sarkar/Xinhua)
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MANILA -- The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors on Thursday approved a 500-million-U.S.-dollar loan to help the Philippines mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on poor and vulnerable households, and to provide financial relief to small and medium enterprises.
According to a World Bank statement, the Philippines Emergency COVID-19 Response Development Policy Loan supports the country's efforts to provide social assistance to 18 million poor and vulnerable Filipinos badly hit by COVID-19; expansion of social assistance to 13.6 million affected households that are not part of the program; and support for repatriated overseas Filipino workers.
A passenger wearing a face mask waits for a subway train in Moscow, Russia, on May 12, 2020. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/Xinhua)
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MOSCOW -- Russian gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 12 percent year-on-year in April due to coronavirus-related restrictions, the economic development ministry said late Thursday.
The decline in economic activity was caused by the paid leave for all Russians and the negative economic conditions abroad, the ministry said in a monthly report. ■
