New COVID-19 Peaks As Nations Ease Lockdowns

As several governments resume productive activities and lift lockdowns amid the COVID-19 pandemic, experts warn the threat of a second wave of infections.  

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On Sunday some of the world’s most populous countries reported worrisome new peaks in infections, including India, which saw its biggest single-day jump yet.​​​​​​ The country reported more than 2,600 new infections. While in Russia, new cases exceeded 10,000 for the first time. 

Health experts have warned of a potential second wave of infections unless testing is expanded dramatically once the lockdowns are relaxed. But the pressure to reopen keeps building after the weeks-long shutdown of businesses worldwide plunged the global economy into its deepest slump since the 1930s and wiped out millions of jobs.

If restrictions are lifted too soon, the virus could come back in “small waves in various places around the country,” the director of the Center for Health Security of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Dr. Tom Inglesby warned. 

“Nothing has changed in the underlying dynamics of this virus,” reminding the public on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Many nations announced quarantine cease after about two months. Italy, once the pandemic epicenter, declared ready to beginning lifting the measures on May 4. While Spain, the second worst-hit nation in the world just behind the U.S., allowed adults to go outdoors to parks and for exercise starting Starutday.

However, as local media reported, thousands of Spaniards filled the boulevards of popular parks and beaches without wearing facemasks or maintaining safe social distance, worrying many about the risk this could represent in the Iberian nation.  

Worldwide health authorities report over 3.5 million cases, 247,979 deaths, and more than 1.1 million recoveries.