Page 30 - bon-dia-aruba-20200422

a30 Feature
Wednesday 22 april 2020
Virus forces cancellation of iconic events like Oktoberfest

By COLLEEN LONG, CARA restaurants in mid-May. He strict lockdown. "Many citi-
ANNA and JAN M. OLSEN said the government will zens are tired of the efforts
and Associated Press watch closely and will "pull that have been made so
COPENHAGEN (AP) — the emergency brake if far and would like a sig-
Spain canceled the Run- that is necessary." nificant loosening of these
ning of the Bulls in July, But in an indication that it measures, or even their to-
the U.S. scrapped the na- will be a long time before tal abolition,'' Conte said
tional spelling bee in June life returns to normal, Spain on Facebook. "A decision
and Germany even called canceled its Running of the of that kind would be irre-
off Oktoberfest, making it Bulls in Pamplona, the more sponsible.''
clear Tuesday that the ef- than 400-year-old event In the U.S., some states,
fort to beat back the coro- made world-famous by including Georgia, South
navirus and return to nor- Ernest Hemingway's 1926 Carolina, Tennessee, West
mal could be a long and novel "The Sun Also Rises." Virginia and Colorado,
dispiriting process. It was also called off during announced plans to be-
Amid growing impatience A man wearing a protection mask as he pass the subway sign the Spanish Civil War in the gin reopening in stages in
over the shutdowns that 'Theresienwiese', the Oktoberfest beer festival area, in Munich, 1930s. The U.S. canceled the coming days, despite
have thrown millions out Germany, Tuesday, April 21, 2020. the Scripps National Spell- the concerns of health of-
of work, European coun- Associated Press. ing Bee. The competition ficials. Boeing and at least
has been held since 1925 one other American heavy
tries continued to reopen Even under a best-case and was scrubbed only equipment manufacturer
in stages, while in the U.S., scenario, Africa will need once before — in 1943-45, resumed production.
one state after another — $44 billion for testing, per- because of World War II. But governors and local
mostly ones led by Repub- sonal protective equip- The U.S. has recorded officials from many other
lican governors — outlined ment and treatment of more than 42,000 deaths states said they lack nec-
plans to gradually get back coronavirus, according to — the highest in the world essary testing supplies and
to business in the coming a U.N. report. The worst- — and nearly 800,000 in- warned they could get hit
days. The push to reopen case scenario estimates fections. according to a by a second wave of infec-
has set off warnings from $446 billion. The continent Johns Hopkins University tions. And the experience
health authorities and poli- has recorded more than count, though the true fig- in places like China makes
ticians that the crisis that 1,100 deaths. ures around the world is be- it clear that businesses will
has killed well over 170,000 In Europe, Denmark, Aus- lieved much higher, in part not necessarily spring back
people worldwide is far tria, Spain and Germany because of limited testing, to life once they get the
from over, with deaths still began allowing some peo- difficulties in counting the all-clear. Customers may
mounting, and that relax- ple back to work, including dead and efforts by some be hesitant to go out, and
ing the stay-at-home re- hairdressers, dentists and governments to hide the some businesses may not
strictions too quickly could construction workers. and extent of their outbreaks. see any financial sense in
enable the virus to come some stores were cleared Germany called off the opening up right away.
storming back. to reopen. world-famous, centuries- Kristin Allin, who with her
The economic dam- Spain, which is among the old Oktoberfest beer festi- husband owns Bread and
age mounted as stocks worst-hit countries, will also val in Munich, which draws Butterfly restaurant and
dropped around the world begin allowing children about 6 million visitors each Proof Bakeshop in Atlanta,
and oil prices suffered an out of their homes for brief year in the fall. said they were caught off
epic collapse. periods next Monday. Den- "We agreed that the risk is guard when Georgia Gov.
A barrel of U.S. oil to be de- mark's Tivoli Gardens, the simply too high," Bavarian Brian Kemp announced
livered in May was $5.38 in Copenhagen amusement governor Markus Soeder Monday that restaurants
morning trading, or about park that inspired Walt Dis- said. In Italy, Premier Gi- could reopen for dine-in
the cost of a fancy latte. A ney, will reopen on May 11. useppe Conte confirmed service within a week.
day earlier, the price was In Austria, Chancellor Se- that businesses can start "We didn't expect to have
negative for the time ever, bastian Kurz said all shops reopening on May 4 but this conversation at all until
with the market so glutted will be up and running at doused any hopes of a probably the end of May at
with oil and running out of the beginning of May and full end to the country's the earliest, so having it so
places to store it that sell- soon is a shock," Allin said,
ers were essentially offering adding that they still do not
to pay buyers almost $38 a plan to open right away
barrel just to take it off their and could remain closed
hands. for a month or more.
Meanwhile, U.N. leaders "I think most of our custom-
called for efforts to ensure ers are not ready to ven-
that all people have ac- ture out yet," she said.
cess to testing, medical New York Mayor Bill de Bla-
supplies, drugs and future sio said that governors eas-
vaccines, especially in de- ing off restrictions had bet-
veloping countries where ter have the facts on their
virus cases are rising. side or they could trigger a
African officials have been resurgence of the virus be-
outspoken about the need yond their states' borders.
for medical supplies across A new born baby Asian elephant walks in its enclosure at "If some of these reopen-
the 54-nation continent, the Prague Zoo, Czech Republic, Tuesday, April 21, 2020. The ings are done the wrong
female calf was born on March 27, and its yet to be named. The
where health care systems zoo has been closed for public in affords to stem the spread of way, it's going to affect
are weak and could be- the coronavirus. all of us," de Blasio said on
come overwhelmed. Associated Press. CNN. q