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BEIJING (AP) — The central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus outbreak emerged, is now allowing for limited movement within and outward as its months-long lockdown gradually eases. The municipal government said in a Monday notice that residents whose health is classified as “green” on an electronic database will be allowed to leave their residential neighborhoods if they have proof that they are returning to work. Public transportation is being revived, while checkpoints between different districts are being dismantled. Wuhan has the bulk of China’s more than 81,000 virus cases. The first infections were reported there, and it was also the first city to be locked down.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The IOC will look at postponing the Tokyo Olympics during four weeks of talks amid mounting criticism by athletes and sports officials during the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, the leader of international track and field became the latest to call for the games to be postponed. World Athletics President Seb Coe sent a letter to IOC President Thomas Bach on Sunday saying that holding the Olympics in July “is neither feasible nor desirable." Later Sunday, Canada said it won't send a team to Tokyo this year if the games are held as scheduled. It was the first country to threaten such a move.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The latest economic rescue package being negotiated in Washington is now nearly $2 trillion. But the Senate has yet to agree on the parameters of the package, voting against advancing the measure to a full vote. Talks were continuing Sunday night on Capitol Hill with the goal a new vote on Monday. Democrats say the draft package is insufficient in the face of economic havoc from the coronavirus, arguing that it is tilted toward corporations and does too little to help workers and health care providers. President Donald Trump weighed in earlier in the day, saying “it's not very complicated” and that workers must be helped and companies saved.
NEW DELHI (AP) — As India's leader called for people to stay home and cities and factories were closing in virus-control measures, migrant workers crowded a railway station to reach their home villages. The scene suggests social distancing could be difficult in the world's second-most populous country. It was just one of many examples of crowding on the same day Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called on Indians to stay home for a 14-hour “people's curfew” to halt the spread of the virus. Indian Railways later suspended passenger train services until March 31. It was unclear what this would mean for people stranded at railway stations.
BANGKOK (AP) — U.S. futures have declined and Australia's share benchmark plunged 8.5% as work on more stimulus for the U.S. economy hit snags in the U.S. Senate. Shares also dropped in Hong Kong and South Korea early Monday. However, Japan's Nikkei 225 index held steady, gaining 0.5% after the International Olympic Committee said it plans to discuss potentially changing the timing of the Tokyo Games, due to begin in July. In the U.S., top-level negotiations between Congress and the White House continued after the Senate voted against advancing the $2 trillion economic rescue package. Markets opened to a new business landscape amid expanding lockdowns and closures to help stop the spread of the corona virus that has infected more than 300,000 people worldwide.
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