May 20 coronavirus news

People in Spain are now required to wear face masks in public spaces when a minimum two-meter (about 6.5 feet) distance can't be guaranteed, the Health Ministry announced in a decree today.

The rule applies to all people over the age of six, in both indoor and outdoor spaces. People who have respiratory problems or disabilities incompatible with masks are exempt.

"Any type of mask" is allowed as long as it covers the nose and mouth, though the ministry recommended "hygienic and surgical” masks. 

Emergency order: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and other government ministers will meet today to vote on extending the national state of emergency by two weeks.

The state of emergency, with strict movement restrictions, started March 14 and has so far been extended four times, for a total of 10 weeks. 

It has apparently helped curb the virus -- Spain has seen its daily new cases and deaths begin to slow -- but it has also attracted criticism from some quarters.

For weeks, some people banged pots from their windows in the evenings as a form of protest -- this escalated to marching on the streets last week to demand the government end restrictions on movement.

If you're just joining us, here are the latest developments regarding the global coronavirus pandemic.

Aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce is cutting at least 9,000 jobs because of the collapse in demand for air travel caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Rolls-Royce has not yet revealed where the job cuts will fall, but its civil aerospace business will bear the brunt of the restructuring. It said it will take several years for the commercial aerospace market to return to the levels seen just a few months ago.

By now, you've likely heard the main pieces of advice to avoid the coronavirus: wear a mask, wash your hands, avoid gatherings.

But there's one more aspect to infection that has received less attention. Growing evidence suggests that Covid-19 infection, like with other illnesses, is related to prolonged time exposed to the virus. The longer you stay in an environment that may contain the virus, the higher the risk of getting sick.

Erin Bromage, a comparative immunologist and professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, summed it up with a short and sweet equation:

The main idea is that people get infected when they are exposed to a certain amount of viral particles. That viral threshold can be reached by an infected person's sneeze or cough, which releases a large number of viral particles into the air. But an infected person talking or even just breathing still releases some virus into the air, and over a long period of time in an enclosed space, that could still infect others.

Read more here:

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The coronavirus pandemic is complicating cyclone evacuation efforts in India and Bangladesh, as relief teams grapple with how to get millions of people to safety while also protecting them against the risk of Covid-19.

Cyclone Amphan, currently the equivalent of a strong Category 2 Atlantic hurricane, is expected to make landfall late Wednesday afternoon local time near the Indian city of Kolkata, home to 14 million people and close to the Bangladesh border.

Up to 33.6 million people in India and 8 million in Bangladesh could be in the storm's path, according to the US Pacific Disaster Center and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Evacuations during a pandemic: Emergency workers are now carrying out difficult work with masks, gloves and visors, evacuating people who may already have the virus.

In Bangladesh, evacuees have been told to bring their own face masks. In India, some cyclone shelters have cut their capacity more than half, to allow evacuees inside to still socially distance. Pregnant women and the elderly are being kept separate from the rest of the evacuees.

Pradeep Jena, special relief commissioner for Odisha state, said emergency services had to balance saving lives from the cyclone with saving lives from the coronavirus.

Read the full story here:

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Cyclone Amphan evacuations in India and Bangladesh complicated by virus

India recorded 5,611 new coronavirus cases today -- its biggest one-day jump since the pandemic started, according to the country's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

This past weekend, India saw its infection numbers surge, with total cases increasing by 10,000 in just two days. The latest numbers raise the national total to 106,750 cases and 3,303 deaths, said the ministry.

The highest number of cases have been concentrated in the western state of Maharashtra, which has 37,136 cases and 1,325 deaths so far.

India has conducted more than 2.5 million tests nationwide so far, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research.

This week, high school and college seniors across the United States are graduating -- a major milestone that looks a little different during a global pandemic.

Many schools are holding virtual events or drive-through celebrations, or postponing their ceremonies until later in the summer in hopes of having them in person. But some schools are finding safe ways to make sure the show goes on.

One high school in Indiana, located close to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will be handing out diplomas to seniors at the racetrack's finish line. Each student and their family will be allowed one car, in which they will get to drive onto the speedway and get out at the finish line.

For many college seniors, the process looks more stressful: they are graduating into a labor market that's been devastated by Covid-19. But for a few days, they get to celebrate the end of their student careers, and the culmination of years of hard work.

Many seniors returned to their campuses and dormitories this week, wearing face masks and gowns to take graduation photos -- a rite of passage. Other students held small gatherings to carry out graduation rituals, like jumping into school fountains and toasting champagne.

In New York, following annual tradition, the Empire State Building was lit up purple on Tuesday night in celebration of New York University's graduation. Tomorrow, it will be lit blue and white for Columbia University's graduation.

If America navigates its risky pursuit of a comeback without unleashing a vicious resurgence of coronavirus, it will be in spite of US President Donald Trump, not because of him.

By this weekend, all 50 states will have taken at least some steps to reopening societies and economies as the country stops trying to halt the virus in its tracks and tries to learn to live with it -- at least until a proven therapy or vaccine is developed.

But they will not be shepherded by a president offering advice on how to safely open, empowering his public health officials, or publicly shouldering the fear and concern of his compatriots.

Instead, Trump is undermining his own government's best practices by dosing himself with the drug hydroxychloroquine, discrediting studies that found it isn't effective in combating Covid-19 and refusing to wear a mask as recommended by his own health experts.

But in Trump country, every step the President takes that seems a dereliction of duty to his critics can be perceived by loyal fans as delivering on the promise of establishment-splintering leadership for which they voted in 2016.

Trump's strategy -- that effectively replaces the rallies that invigorate the base he believes is the passport to a second term -- is stirring a combustible political brew that is likely to further deepen national divides exacerbated by the pandemic.

Read the full analysis here:

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Trump sows division and confusion as anxious country edges toward opening

In South Korea, 193 coronavirus cases have been linked to a Seoul nightclub cluster, Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said today.

The cluster, which was identified on May 9, is concentrated in the capital city's entertainment district of Itaewon.

The cases are believed to have begun after an infected 29-year-old went to several different clubs in the area, according to Seoul officials. Authorities used credit card records, cell phone data, and other methods to track down all the people who had visited Itaewon, and asked them all to be tested.

More than 65,000 people have been tested in relation to the cluster, said the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday.

New cases nationwide: The country reported 32 new cases on Tuesday, 24 of which were locally transmitted. There were no new deaths.

This brings the national total to 11,110 cases and 263 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.