Spanish children were allowed outside on Sunday for the first time in six weeks as countries prepared to ease lockdown measures and reopen economies gutted by the coronavirus despite the worldwide death toll surpassing 200 000. Rejecting the advice of top disease experts, the US state of Georgia allowed thousands of businesses to resume operations, from hairdressers to bowling alleys. It is followed by Italy with around 26 000, France and Spain with over 22 000 each, and the UK which has passed 20 000 deaths. German police arrested dozens of protesters in Berlin on Saturday for flouting the coronavirus lockdown measures they were demonstrating against. Alireza Zali, a health coordinator for the capital, criticised "hasty reopenings" that could "create new waves of sickness in Tehran".

Source: News 24 April 26, 2020 07:30 UTC