The Latest: Spain to consider requiring masks in public

The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.

TOP OF THE HOUR:

— Spain to consider requiring masks in public.

— Turkish senior citizens allowed to leave home for second time since lockdown.

— Malls reopen in Thailand as virus recedes.

— British PM says there might never be a vaccine for COVID-19.

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MADRID — Spain’s health minister says the government will consider making the use of face masks mandatory in public spaces.

Face masks in Spain are currently only mandatory on public transport, while strongly recommended in public spaces. Many people now wear them while out of their homes after Spain managed to overcome a scarcity of masks in the first weeks of the pandemic.

Health Minister Salvador Illa said Sunday that “there is a wide consensus (among Spain’s regional governors) to reinforce the obligation to wear masks.”

Illa said the ministry’s experts still need time to study the details on the new restriction.

Spain is emerging from a strict lockdown that has slowed down a COVID-19 outbreak that has killed more than 27,000 people in the country and infected more than 277,000.

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MADRID — Spain's two largest cities are still largely shut down while most of the country has begun to reopen following a lockdown to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Madrid and Barcelona have been told to wait by the government’s health officials since they have been the hardest hit areas and need to improve their capacity to monitor new cases.

That has led to complaints by Madrid’s regional leaders and to daily protests of a few hundred people in one of the capital’s upscale neighborhoods and other cities like Salamanca and Zaragoza. Many marchers carry Spanish flags and shout, “Freedom!”

Spain’s far-right Vox party and the conservative leader of the region have voiced their support for the protests, saying that the city’s economy must restart soon to save jobs.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez made a plea on Saturday for his detractors to consider that keeping the health crisis under control was key to protecting the country’s fragile economy.

“By saving lives, we also save businesses and jobs,” Sánchez said.

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ISTANBUL — Turkey’s senior citizens were allowed to leave their homes for a second time as the country continues to ease some coronavirus restrictions.

People above 65 — the age group most at risk of COVID-19 — can be outside for six hours on Sundays, but their lockdown on other days continues. The health minister urged them to wear masks and practice social distance.

Turkey has instituted partial lockdowns, with people above 65 and under 20 ordered to stay home. The measures for senior citizens took effect on March 21 and were relaxed for the first time last Sunday.

Children and teenagers were also allowed out this week on different days for several hours.

The latest statistics from the health ministry put confirmed infections in Turkey at 148,067 and the death toll at 4,096.

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LONDON — Britain has hired most of the 18,000 contact tracers it needs for a testing and tracking program it plans to roll out next month when lockdown restrictions are eased further.

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove told the BBC on Sunday that 17,200 people had been recruited, allowing the government to meet its hiring goal by next week.

The contact tracers will track down anyone who has been in close contact with those testing positive for COVID-19. They’re part of program authorities plan to launch in June, when some students will be allowed to return to school and shops can start reopening in phases. Authorities have also been testing a smartphone tracing app to help with the effort.

The tracers are a mix of people who have clinical training and those who can provide a call center service, Gove said. Britain has Europe’s highest death toll and number of confirmed virus cases.

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BANGKOK — Thais have been streaming into shopping malls as the country eases another restriction imposed to fight the threat of the coronavirus.

The government decided to allow the malls to reopen as Thailand’s number of new COVID-19 cases dwindled to single digits for all but one day over more than two weeks.

Malls had been closed since March as a measure to combat the spread of the virus. The government will watch to see whether the infection rate remains low before deciding on the next phase of the plan to restore normality.

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MADRID — Spain has registered its first daily death toll of fewer than 100 confirmed fatalities since declaring a state of emergency to fight the coronavirus two months ago.

Spain’s health minister says regional authorities have reported 87 new deaths, the lowest daily count since March 16. Spain reported over 900 deaths a day at the height of the outbreak.

The country of 47 million has had 27,650 deaths and 277,719 infections from COVID-19.

Spain is easing its strict lockdown measures that succeeded in slowing the spread of the virus but have also brought its economy to a halt.

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LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says there might never be a vaccine for COVID-19 despite the huge global effort to develop one.

The British government is giving 93 million pounds ($110 million) in funding to speed up the opening of the new Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Center. Johnson said Britain also is supporting research into drug treatments to help people recover quickly from the virus.

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.”

Johnson says “we need to find new ways to control the virus,” including testing people who have symptoms and tracing contacts of those infected people.

The British government relaxed some restrictions on outdoor activities in England last week and plans to continue easing rules over the next few months.

Johnson says “I know this will not be easy — the first baby steps never are.”

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ATHENS, Greece — Churches throughout Greece have opened their doors to the faithful after two months.

They limited the number of congregants and dispensed disinfectant outside, but communion was given using the same spoon.

Those who flocked to churches for Sunday Mass sat three chairs apart and observed social distancing of at least 1.5 meters (5 feet) from each other. The number of people attending was limited to 1 per 10 square meters (108 sq ft). Many were left outside, but avoided crowding, and churches used loudspeakers to broadcast Mass.

Some churches performed Mass two or three times to accommodate the number of people who showed up.

Greece is gradually easing strict quarantine measures which were imposed in March and have helped limit fatalities from COVID-19 to 162. There have been fewer than 3,000 confirmed cases.

Greeks will be able to travel freely in the mainland and on the island of Crete starting Monday. Bars, cafes and restaurants will reopen March 25.

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SEOUL — South Korea’s top anti-disease official says it’s too early to have an optimistic view that recent coronavirus outbreaks linked to nightlife spots in Seoul could be suppressed.

Jung Eun-kyeong, director of South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, made the comments hours after her agency reported 13 additional cases — the second straight day that the country’s daily jump was below 20.

Jung says the recent outbreaks haven’t so far showed “explosive” surges in infections. But she says the incubation periods for those who recently visited night clubs in Seoul’s Itaewon entertainment haven’t ended and a large number of people who came in contact with those clubgoers were still under quarantine.

She says authorities need about a week to assess a prospect for the outbreaks.

Jung says 168 new patients have so far been found linked to Itaewon clubs. Of those, 89 visited the establishments and 79 came in contact with them.

She says five of the 13 new cases reported Sunday were associated with Itaewon clubs.

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UNITED NATIONS — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is warning of the increasing vulnerability of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people during the COVID-19 pandemic on the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.

The U.N. chief said in a message marking Sunday’s commemoration that the day comes at a time of great challenge when the world needs to protect the LGBTI community.

Guterres said many LGBTI people who already face bias, attacks and murder “simply for who they are or whom they love ... are experiencing heightened stigma as a result of the virus, as well as new obstacles when seeking health care.”

He said: “There are also reports of COVID-19 directives being misused by police to target LGBTI individuals and organizations.”

“As the pandemic unfolds, the United Nations will continue to highlight these and other injustices, as well as the need for everyone to be protected and included in the response to the crisis,” the secretary-general said. “Together, let us stand united against discrimination and for the right of all to live free and equal in dignity and rights.”

The International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia is observed on May 17 to commemorate the U.N. World Health Organization’s decision to remove homosexuality from the international list of diseases on that date in 1990. The founders urge countries around to world to take actions to raise awareness of LGBT rights and violations.

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SEOUL — South Korea has reported 13 new cases of the coronavirus over a 24-hour period, raising hopes that a new outbreak linked to nightclubs in Seoul may be waning.

The additional figures released Sunday by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention brought the national tally to 11,050 with 262 deaths.

The agency says 9,888 of them have recovered and that 17,660 were under tests to determine whether they’ve contracted the virus.

After weeks of a slowdown of new cases, South Korea’s daily jump marked an average of about 30 for several days, mostly associated with nightclubs in Seoul’s Itaewon entertainment district. But the daily increase marked 19 on Saturday.

The disease control agency didn’t immediately say how many of the 13 new cases were linked to nightlife spots in Itaewon.

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OROVILLE, Calif. — A person who attended a religious service on Mother’s Day has tested positive for the coronavirus, possibly exposing it to more than 180 members of a congregation.

The church in Butte County, north of Sacramento, chose to open its doors despite rules banning gatherings of any size, county public health officials said in a statement Friday.

“Moving too quickly through the reopening process cancause a major setback and could require us to revert back to more restrictive measures,” the statement said.

Most people with the virus experience fever and cough for up to three weeks. Older adults and people with existing health problems can face severe illness, including pneumonia, and death. The vast majority recover.

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SYDNEY — Opera singer Jane Ede will perform Monday for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of live shows, but in an unusual location.

Ede, Opera Australia’s principal soprano, will join several other musicians for about 450 guests who have spent two weeks in government-ordered hotel quarantine after returning from overseas locations.

The audience, on their last night in quarantine, will be able to watch the courtyard performance from their balconies, or on their in-room televisions or devices.

“It’s really just to sort of bring everyone together and it will be quite an uplifting concert to sort of have a moment of connection and celebration before they end their quarantine,” Ede said.

For the soprano, who has starred in productions of The Marriage of Figaro, La Boheme, Don Giovanni and Falstaff among many others, it will be her first live performance since March.

“It will be lovely just to have a really good sing again,” Ede said.

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CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela is reporting its biggest one-day increase in confirmed coronavirus cases since the pandemic hit the South American nation.

Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said Saturday that the 45 new cases bring Venezuela’s total to 504 illnesses, with 10 resulting in death. Officials have reported a relatively low number of cases since the first were discovered in mid-March.

While Venezuela has reported relatively few cases so far, health experts say its hospitals are especially vulnerable to being overwhelmed. Venezuela is in a deep political and economic crisis that has left its health care system in a shamble.

President Nicolás Maduro ordered a nationwide lockdown shortly after the first cases, and he recently extended it until mid-June, hoping to contain the virus’ spread.

Officials say that 35 of Saturday’s cases involved people returning to Venezuela, including several on a flight from Peru.

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