Coronavirus: Weighing costs of human lives and economic damage

NEW DELHI • Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an extension to India's 21-day lockdown, scheduled to end yesterday, by almost three weeks to May 3 as the country's number of coronavirus cases crossed 10,500, with 358 deaths.

He warned that restrictions had to continue, saying the "virus is spreading fast".

"From an economic only point of view, it undoubtedly looks costly right now, but measured against the lives of Indian citizens, there is no comparison itself," Mr Modi said in a televised address to the nation.

The announcement saw thousands of migrant workers gather at Bandra West railway station in Mumbai, protesting and seeking to go home. The initial announcement of the lockdown on March 25 led to a migrant exodus, which the federal government stopped amid fears of the virus spreading to rural parts of the country. Around 1.25 million migrant workers are in 28,000 relief camps and shelters across India.

SYDNEY • As New Zealand's Covid-19 numbers were rising like the rest of the world on March 23, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern decided that instead of gradually preparing for a serious outbreak, the country should try to completely eliminate the virus.

She introduced a four-week strict lockdown that started 48 hours later. All schools and non-essential businesses have been closed since March 26. The country's five million residents have been ordered to stay at home, except for brief periods of outdoor exercise, shopping and medical visits. Police and the military have been deployed to enforce the measures.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke to Ms Ardern last week. He later noted in a Facebook post that New Zealand's numbers started to come down only on Day 11 of its approach and that Singapore will hopefully also "see positive results" by that point.

PARIS • France's economy is expected to shrink by a worse-than-expected 8 per cent this year after President Emmanuel Macron extended the lockdown until May 11.

Officials cautioned yesterday that any lifting of the stay-at-home orders would be gradual at best.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire had previously targeted a 6 per cent GDP drop for the year, but that was based on a lockdown that lasted just one month, instead of the two-month period announced by Mr Macron in a televised address on Monday night.

The massive relief effort for bars, restaurants, hotels, shops and other businesses closed during the lockdown will push France's budget deficit up to 9 per cent of GDP this year, Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin said separately in an interview with France Info radio.

France yesterday reported more than 136,000 confirmed cases, with over 14,900 deaths.

WASHINGTON • New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said yesterday that he would refuse any order by US President Donald Trump that would begin the process of reopening the economy before it was safe to do so without reigniting the outbreak in his state.

Mr Cuomo and the governors of six other north-eastern states on Monday said they would formulate a plan to gradually lift social distancing curbs that have shut down non-essential businesses and schools.

Health officials credit the shutdown with slowing the spread of the virus in New York.

On the Pacific coast, the state governors of California, Oregon and Washington said they also would take a regional approach.

After the announcements, Mr Trump asserted he had the ultimate authority to reopen the largely shuttered economy.

On Monday, the US reported about 1,500 new fatalities, far below last week's running tally of roughly 2,000 deaths every 24 hours. The US has reported more than 580,000 cases, with over 23,000 deaths.

MADRID •The construction sector across Spain and other industries in Catalonia and the Basque Country went back to work yesterday, after the government eased one of the world's toughest lockdowns.

Health Minister Salvador Illa said Spain was flattening the curve on the graph representing the rate of growth of the coronavirus outbreak.

The daily increase in reported cases has been falling since hitting a peak of more than 9,000 at the end of last month, according to the health ministry.

Spain yesterday reported its lowest increase in new cases - 3,045 - since March 18. It now has over 172,000 infection cases and more than 18,000 deaths.

But with the overnight death toll edging up further beyond 500, some front-line workers have joined the head of the Catalan regional government in questioning if the curbs were being lifted too soon.

Shops, bars and public spaces are to stay closed until at least April 26.

VIENNA •Austria allowed thousands of shops to reopen yesterday.

It had acted early in its outbreak to close schools, bars, theatres, restaurants, non-essential shops and other gathering places roughly four weeks ago and told the public to work from home if possible.

The country has fared relatively well so far, having reported 384 deaths in total, fewer than what some larger European nations have been suffering each day.

The daily increase in confirmed cases has fallen to low single digits in percentage terms and hospitalisations have stabilised.

Last week, the government outlined a step-by-step plan to reopen parts of the economy, starting with shops of up to 400 sq m - about twice the playing area of a singles tennis court - as well as all DIY and garden centres yesterday.

They will be followed by shopping centres, larger shops and hairdressers from May 1.