Mint Lite | India eases some foreign travel, anti-China mood hurts trade, other news to know
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About 600 nurses around the world are known to have died of the novel coronavirus, which has infected about 450,000 healthcare workers globally. The covid-19 death toll among nurses has doubled in past month, from 260 on May 6, the International Council of Nurses said on Wednesday. On average, 7% of all cases of covid-19 are among healthcare workers. For a quick catch up on the news in five minutes, here’s Mint Lite.
India eases some foreign travel
India’s coronavirus infections crossed 207,000 on Wednesday. Infections are not yet at their peak as the country is set to emerge from complete lockdown only on 8 June, four days away. Cases rose by 8,909 over the previous day in one of the highest single-day spikes, taking the tally to 207,615, the health ministry said. Doctors from the Indian Council of Medical Research told Reuters the country is “very far away for the peak". Cases could peak later this month, or even in July, before numbers decline. Six countries, including the US, UK and Brazil, have higher caseloads. In India, the mortality rate has been relatively low at 2.82% against the global average of 6.13%. The covid death toll is now at 5,815. The home ministry said foreign businessmen, engineers and healthcare professionals could enter India if they get visas revalidated and travel on chartered flights in a cautious step to restarting the economy. International flights were suspended in March.
Airline insurers worried as storm season begins
Mumbai escaped the brunt of Nisarga after winds changed direction and the cyclone made landfall south of Alibag. Flight operations were stopped at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji airport till 7pm. Across Asia, airlines, airports and insurers, caught in the whirl of coronavirus, are bracing for high damages as the tropical storm season begins. Major airports in India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines and Thailand are now effectively giant parking lots due to covid-19 restrictions. Moving planes in the event of a storm is no easy matter. In Mumbai, small private planes vulnerable to strong winds had priority to be flown out. Taiwan has asked airports to hold typhoon preparation meetings 36 hours in advance this year, rather than the usual 24 hours. At Hong Kong airport, where 150 planes are parked, typhoon preparation is done. This includes fuelling planes to make them heavier, adding weight in the cargo hold, and putting double chocks on wheels.
Anti-China mood hurts trade
Google Playstore on Wednesday took down an app that deleted Chinese-made apps from phones. The apps was downloaded in India more than 5 million times since late May as anti-China sentiment has been rising not just among individuals but also governments. Border skirmishes have intensified India’s deep-rooted mistrust of China, weeks after the Centre tightened investment norms. Covid-19 has earned China the ire of quite a few countries with Australia and US, among others, calling for inquiries, but China is not new to trade restrictions. It has faced more trade restrictions than any other country since 2019 (see chart). Global backlash against China could tempt India too, but trade and investment are essential to counter the economic crisis. For more, read Plain Facts.
Support for US activists grows
Softbank said it will launch a $100 million fund to invest in “companies led by founders of colour" as protests against systemic racism entered an eighth day in US. This new Opportunity Growth Fund, however, is just a sliver of its global $100 billion Vision Fund. Protests on Wednesday were largely peaceful with sporadic reports of looting. From Vatican City, Pope Francis said “we cannot tolerate... racism and exclusion in any form". Marches against police brutality were held in UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Kenya and Nigeria, putting pressure on US to ensure justice for George Floyd. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s 21-second pause before he answered a query on US’ Donald Trump using tear gas on protesters is being seen as a comment from a leader who has always been careful not to criticize US, on which it depends for 75% of its exports.
Asia looks to reopen with travel bubbles
Thailand said on Wednesday it plans to create ‘travel bubbles’ through bilateral agreements to check coronavirus when borders reopen. Thailand, which depends on tourism, closed its borders in March as part of a state of emergency that runs till 30 June. Foreign tourist arrivals for the year are expected to drop 42%. Across southeast Asia, which has had more success than US and India in bringing the virus under control, the question now is how to restart international travel and trade safely. Compulsory quarantines will not be feasible for tourists and business travellers. One solution is travel bubbles or air bridges, which allow travel between countries that trust one another’s protocols. Japan is considering easing entry restrictions for Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand, with which it has strong business ties. Singapore and China have discussed plans to reopen essential travel for business between the two countries early next month. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have formed travel bubbles, and Greece has released a list of 29 countries it will accept visitors from starting 15 June.
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