ROME (AP) — Both
China and South Korea reported new spikes in coronavirus cases on
Sunday, setting off fresh concerns in countries where local outbreaks
had been in dramatic decline.
Former President Barack Obama,
meanwhile, harshly criticized President Donald Trump’s handling of the
coronavirus pandemic as an “absolute chaotic disaster,” while U.S.
states began gradually reopening, even as health officials are anxiously
watching for a second wave of infections.
China
reported 14 new cases on Sunday, its first double-digit rise in 10
days. Eleven of 12 domestic infections were in the northeastern province
of Jilin and one in Hubei, whose capital Wuhan was the epicenter of the
global pandemic. The Jilin cases prompted authorities to raise the
threat level in one of its counties, Shulan, to high risk, just days
after downgrading all regions in the country to low risk.
Authorities
said the Shulan outbreak originated with a 45-year-old woman who had no
recent travel or exposure history, but spread it to her husband, her
three sisters and other family members. Train services in and out of the
county were being suspended through the end of the month.
Responding
to the latest, cases, the Jilin Communist Party secretary, Bayin
Chaolu, the province’s highest official, told local media that “epidemic
control and prevention is a serious and complicated matter, and local
authorities should never be overly optimistic, war-weary, or off-guard.”
Jilin also
shares a border with North Korea, where the virus situation is unclear
but whose vastly inadequate health system has been offered help by China
in dealing with any outbreak.
South
Korea on Sunday reported 34 additional cases as a spate of
transmissions linked to clubgoers threatens the country’s hard-won gains
in its fight against the virus. It was the first time that South
Korea’s daily jump has marked above 30 in about a month.
On
Sunday, President Moon Jae-in said citizens must neither panic nor let
down their guard, but warned that “the damage to our economy is indeed
colossal as well.”
Around
the world, the U.S. and other hard-hit countries are wrestling with how
to ease curbs on business and public activity without causing the virus
to come surging back.
During
a conversation with ex-members of his administration, Obama said
combating the virus would have been bad even for the best of
governments, but it’s been “an absolute chaotic disaster” when the
mindset of “what’s in it for me” infiltrates government, according to a
recording obtained by Yahoo News.
The United States has suffered nearly 80,000 deaths from COVID-19, the most of any nation.
In
Australia, Health Minister Greg Hunt said the government supports a
European Union motion for an independent investigation into the origins
of COVID-19 in China, a proposal stiffly resisted by Beijing,
Australia’s No. 1 trading partner.
“We
support the EU motion which includes an independent investigation,
regulatory work on wet markets and also the potential for independent
inspection powers,” Hunt told Sky News on Sunday.
Ursula
von der Leyen, the head of the EU’s executive arm, said last week she
would like to see China work together with her organization, and others,
to determine how the virus emerged.
While
the virus is believed to have originated in Wuhan, most scientists say
it was most likely transmitted from bats to humans via an intermediary
animal such as the armadillo-like pangolin. That has placed the focus on
a wet market in the city where wildlife was sold for food.
However,
Trump and allies have expressed confidence in an unsubstantiated theory
linking the origin of the outbreak to a possible accident at a Chinese
virology laboratory in Wuhan, something Chinese officials and state
media have called an attempt to divert attention from U.S. failings
through the dissemination of groundless accusations.
China
says its too early to launch an investigation into the virus’ origin
and angrily rejects accusations that it covered up the initial outbreak
and didn’t do enough to prevent the global pandemic.
In New York,
the deadliest hot spot in the U.S., Gov. Andrew Cuomo said three
children died from a possible complication of the coronavirus involving
swollen blood vessels and heart problems.
Three members
of the White House coronavirus task force, including Dr. Anthony Fauci,
placed themselves in quarantine after contact with someone who tested
positive for COVID-19.
Worldwide,
4 million people have been confirmed infected by the virus, and more
than 279,000 have died, including over 78,000 in the U.S., according to a
tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. Spain, France, Italy and
Britain have reported around 26,000 to 32,000 deaths each.
Businesses
in the U.S. continue to struggle as more employers reluctantly conclude
that their laid-off employees might not return to work anytime soon.
Some
malls have opened up in Georgia and Texas, while Nevada restaurants,
hair salons and other businesses were able to have limited reopenings
Saturday or once again allow customers inside after nearly two months of
restrictions.
About
1,500 opponents of Washington’s stay-at-home order to slow the
coronavirus rallied again Saturday at the state Capitol, while some residents
who reported stay-at-home violators said they’ve received threats after
far-right groups posted their personal information on Facebook. Such
protests have drawn relatively small crowds in several states despite
encouragement from the White House, which is anxious to see the economy
reopen.
The federal government said it was delivering supplies of remdesivir,
the first drug shown to speed recovery for COVID-19 patients, to six
more states, after seven others were sent cases of the medicine earlier
this week.
In
the U.S. Southwest, some small Native American villages are embracing
extraordinary isolation measures such as guarded roadblocks to turn away
outsiders as the virus ravages tight-knit communities.
Italy
saw people return to the streets and revel in fine weather and Rome’s
Campo dei Fiori flower and vegetable market was also bustling in Rome.
But confusion created frustrations for the city’s shopkeepers.
In
Spain, certain regions can scale back lockdowns starting Monday, with
limited seating at bars, restaurants and other public places. But Madrid
and Barcelona, the country’s largest cities, will remain shut down.
___
Gera
reported from Warsaw, Poland, and Forliti reported from Minneapolis.
Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this
report.
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