Covid-19 wrap | Trump bars travel from Brazil, Japan to lift nationwide state of emergency

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis.

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Trump bars travel from Brazil, a new pandemic hotspot: WHouse

President Donald Trump on Sunday suspended travel from Brazil, which has emerged as a major new hotspot in the coronavirus pandemic, the White House said.

Non-Americans who have been in Brazil in the 14-day period prior to when they seek admittance to the US cannot come to America, said White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. Trade is not affected by the new rule.

"Today's action will help ensure foreign nationals who have been in Brazil do not become a source of additional infections in our country," she said in a statement.

With nearly 350 000 confirmed cases, Brazil now has the second-biggest caseload in the world, after the United States. It has registered more than 22 000 deaths.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is a political ally of Trump and with his brash, not politically correct way of speaking, he has been dubbed the "Tropical Trump."

And, like Trump, Bolsonaro has downplayed the health crisis, famously comparing the virus to a "little flu" and arguing that stay-at-home measures are unnecessarily hurting Latin America's largest economy.

AFP

Japan set to lift coronavirus emergency as cases slow

Japan was poised to lift its nationwide state of emergency over the coronavirus on Monday, gradually reopening the world's third-biggest economy after new cases slowed to a crawl.

Compared to hard-hit areas in Europe, the United States, Russia and Brazil, Japan has been spared the worst of the pandemic, with 16 581 cases in total and 830 deaths.

Yet with infections threatening to run out of control, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared an initial state of emergency for Tokyo and six other regions on April 7 - later expanding it to cover the entire country.

AFP

Qatar virus tracing app stirs rare privacy backlash      

Privacy concerns over Qatar's coronavirus contact tracing app, a tool that is mandatory on pain of prison, have prompted a rare backlash and forced officials to offer reassurance and concessions.

Like other governments around the world, Qatar has turned to mobile phones to trace people's movements and track who they come into contact with, allowing officials to monitor coronavirus infections and alert people at risk of contagion.

The apps use Bluetooth radio signals to "ping" nearby devices, which can be contacted subsequently if a user they have been near develops symptoms or tests positive, but the resultant unprecedented access to users' location data has prompted fears about state surveillance.

Qatar's version goes considerably further - it forces Android users to permit access to their picture and video galleries, while also allowing the app to make unprompted calls.

The government launched the "Ehteraz" app, meaning "precaution", in April and on Friday it became mandatory for all citizens and legal residents to install it on their phones.

Non-compliance is punishable by up to three years in jail - the same term as for failing to wear a mask in public - in a state battling one of the world's highest per capita infection rates.

AFP

First Spanish beaches to reopen as lockdown eases  

Coronavirus lockdown measures will finally be eased for people in Madrid and Barcelona from Monday, while elsewhere in Spain the first beaches are due to reopen.

Residents in the two cities can now meet in groups of up to 10 people in their homes or on the terraces of bars and restaurants.

The gates of the capital's parks will also be reopened, and major museums will be able to receive a limited number of visitors.

The Madrid and Barcelona regions, the most populated in the country, and a large part of Castile-Leon in the northwest are moving into the first phase of Spain's four-phase deconfinement programme, following what has been one of the strictest lockdowns in the world.

These regions have been on a slower deconfinement track as they bore the brunt of the pandemic in Spain, which has killed more than 28 700 people to date, one of the world's highest tolls.

AFP