US, European leaders weigh reopening risks without a vaccine

On a weekend when many pandemic-weary people emerged from weeks of lockdown, leaders in the US and Europe weighed the risks and rewards of lifting COVID-19 restrictions knowing that a vaccine could take years to develop.

In separate stark warnings, two major European leaders bluntly told their citizens that the world needs to adapt to living with the coronavirus and cannot wait to be saved by a vaccine.

“We are confronting this risk, and we need to accept it, otherwise we would never be able to relaunch,” Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said, heeding a push by regional leaders to allow restaurants, bars and beach facilities to open Monday, weeks ahead of an earlier timetable.

In the US, images of crowded bars, beaches and boardwalks suggested some weren't heeding warnings to safely enjoy reopened spaces while limiting the risks of spreading infection.

A member of President Donald Trump's cabinet, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, wouldn't second-guess state and local officials as they decide whether to let restaurants and other businesses reopen.

He said the lockdown measures also carry “serious health consequences,” including the risk of suicide, delayed cardiac procedures and cancer screenings.

“I think in any individual instance you're going to see people doing things that are irresponsible,” Azar told CNN on Sunday.

“That's part of the freedom we have here in America.”

The warnings by Italy's Conte and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson came as governments worldwide and many U.S. states struggled with restarting economies blindsided by the pandemic.

With 36 million newly unemployed in the US alone, economic pressures are building even as authorities acknowledge that reopening risks setting off new waves of infections and deaths.

''We are facing a calculated risk, in the awareness ... that the epidemiological curve could go back up,” Conte said, adding that Italy could “not afford” to wait until a vaccine was developed. Health experts say the world could be months, if not years, away from having a vaccine available to everyone despite the scientific gold rush now on to create one.

Britain's Johnson, who was hospitalised last month with a serious bout of COVID-19, speculated Sunday that a vaccine may not be developed at all, despite the huge global effort to produce one.

“I said we would throw everything we could at finding a vaccine,” Johnson wrote in the Mail on Sunday newspaper.

“There remains a very long way to go, and I must be frank that a vaccine might not come to fruition.”

Coronavirus has infected over 4.6 million people and killed more than 312,000 worldwide, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University that experts say under counts the true toll of the pandemic.

The US has reported over 88,000 dead and Europe has seen at least 160,000 deaths.

In the US, many states have lifted stay-at home-orders and other restrictions, allowing some types of businesses to reopen.

Ohio Gov Mike DeWine, a Republican, told CNN on Sunday that he was concerned to see images of a crowded bar in Columbus, Ohio, on the first day that outdoor dining establishments were allowed to reopen.

“All of this is a work in progress,” he said. “We made the decision to start opening up Ohio, and about 90 per cent of our economy is back open, because we thought it was a huge risk not to open. But we also know it's a huge risk in opening.” Professional soccer matches in Germany resumed over the weekend, a move keenly watched by the rest of the soccer world as well as Major League Baseball, the NBA, the NFL and the NHL in the US, which all face major changes to their operations amid the pandemic.

Germany has won wide praise for its widespread testing amid the pandemic. Not all fans were happy about the restart, which took place in empty stadiums, but the games were broadcast widely around the world.

Players were warned not to spit, shake hands or hug each other to celebrate goals. Team staff and substitutes wore masks on the bench, and balls and seats were disinfected.

“The whole world is watching Germany to see how we do it,” Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick said.

“It can act as an example for all leagues.” China's airline regulator reported that flights had returned to 60 per cent of pre-outbreak levels, exceeding 10,000 per day for the first time since Feb. 1.

No new deaths have been reported in a month in the world's second-largest economy, where the coronavirus was first detected late last year.

China reported just five new cases on Sunday, while South Korea recorded 13, raising hopes that a new outbreak linked to nightclubs in Seoul may be waning, even though 168 patients have been infected so far.