Bombardier, Florida, tattoo parlours, the Caribbean, Europe, Australia global choices on whether or not to open, Trump’s ideas, testing or no testing, sports – to play or not to play? Welcome to our new normal – your daily dose of facts, confusion and contradictions.
Bombardier Inc. says 11,000 furloughed employees will likely return to work over the next few weeks, part of some 450,000 Quebecers expected to go back on the job as the province prepares to restart its economy.
The plane-and-train maker says it will resume production in Quebec as of May 11, the day set by the provincial government for factories to unlock their doors.
The economic restart will come as welcome news to a company grappling with share-price lows, credit downgrades and a $9.3-billion debt.
Southwest Airlines posted its first quarterly loss in nearly a decade and said Tuesday that the downturn in air travel that began in late February shows no signs of letting up. The airline said trip cancellations have pulled back from a peak in March but remain at levels that Southwest has never seen, as customers scrap plans to travel during the coronavirus pandemic.
Donald Trump defended his administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic as he met with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and promised to help states safely begin reopening their economies.
Trump insisted that the United States was doing enough testing to protect Americans reentering the workforce. He said the administration was talking to airlines about requiring temperature and virus checks for travellers as they board certain flights.
“We’re looking at doing it on the international flights coming out of areas that are heavily infected,” Trump said. “We will be looking into that in the very near future.”
He said it has not been determined yet whether the federal government or the airlines would conduct the testing. “Maybe it’s a combination of both, he said.
He said the idea of having passengers wear masks sounded “like a good idea.”
Trump has claimed for weeks now that airlines have been screening passengers, even though they’re not.
Florida, with a high population of older Americans vulnerable to the disease, has long been a source of concern, and DeSantis was slower to impose social distancing guidelines than other governors were. But DeSantis, a fellow Republican and close Trump ally, promoted his state’s ability to test its citizens. He also raised the idea of testing airline passengers on international flights from areas where the virus is spreading.
When Trump suggested DeSantis might be “cutting off Brazil,” which is experiencing a major outbreak, the governor replied, “Not necessarily.”
The uncertainty of the US restrictions was spotlighted in Georgia on Tuesday, after businesses such as barber shops and tattoo parlours were given the go-ahead to reopen. Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said the changes could prove perplexing to the public.
“In reality we’re under a stay-at-home order until April 30,” Johnson said. “Yet you can go get your nails done, you can go get a tattoo, you can go to movie theatres, you can go to bowling alleys. It’s those kinds of things that leave people confused.”
Maine will begin reopening its economy in phases this week on a schedule that is more ambitious than most of the rest of the hard-hit Northeast. The state will extend its broad stay-at-home order until May 31 but also begin lifting restrictions Friday, said Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat. The first stage will give residents access to personal services like barbers and drive-in churches. Later phases, to spread across the summer, will reopen restaurants, hotels, summer camps and bars.
Maine has reported over 1,000 cases of the virus and more than 50 deaths.
The 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course is delaying the start of ticket sales until August. Tickets were originally set to go on sale to those who registered online in May. Instead, PGA Championship tournament director Scott Reid said that with the world grappling with the coronavirus pandemic it was not appropriate to ask potential spectators to make purchasing decisions at this time.
The tournament said the 2021 event remains set for its May dates. This year’s PGA Championship in San Francisco was moved from its original dates next month to early August.
The Sugar Bowl Committee is donating $500,000 to several organizations in an effort to help soften the financial hardship caused by the new coronavirus in the New Orleans area. The money will go to assist the Second Harvest Food Bank, the Greater New Orleans Foundation’s Service and Hospitality Family Assistance Fund and the Hospitality Cares Pandemic Response Fund, which is managed by United Way of Southeastern Louisiana. “This organization’s primary mission is to generate tourism through amateur athletics,” Sugar Bowl Committee President Ralph Capitelli said Tuesday.
The French government says the rest of the soccer and rugby seasons won’t be completed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Anguilla will lift restrictions today on movement and gatherings and, Anguilla’s ports will remain closed for passenger movements until the situation outside Anguilla allows for the safe reopening to external traffic. No definitive date has yet been set, but it is unlikely to be before the end of May. A limited number of repatriation flights for foreign nationals will take place this week.
The Government of Trinidad and Tobago is providing $50 million to hoteliers in Tobago to assist in the upgrade and refurbishment of their respective properties in preparation for the re-opening of their hotels post Covid-19.
In Germany, where lockdowns were eased earlier this month citizens were still urged to keep abiding by the social-distancing rules, including wearing masks while on public transportation or shopping.
New Zealand reported just three new infections Tuesday, and the government loosened its lockdown. Surfers hit the waves at dawn, builders returned to construction sites and baristas fired up espresso machines.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said people have done an incredible job of breaking the chain of transmission but cautioned they need to remain vigilant.
“There may still be some smouldering ashes out there, and they have the potential to become a wildfire again, if we give them the chance,” she said, quoting a microbiologist.
In Australia, hundreds returned to the water after Sydney’s Bondi Beach reopened to swimmers and surfers. Still, people can use the beach only during daylight and must keep their distance from one another. Australia has recorded 83 virus deaths, fewer than what most US states have reported.