Новости за 21.04.2020

The US was making matters worse in the global fight against coronavirus, the EU's foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said, amid geopolitical competition to exploit the crisis.

Germany might let EU institutions borrow money on the international markets using the EU budget as security chancellor Merkel has said. "I can imagine such instruments further down the line ... More generally I would like to say that Germany not only wants to act in solidarity, but that it will act in solidarity," she said. Germany and The Netherlands have previously opposed issuing joint debt to fight the slowdown.

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell has attacked US handling of the pandemic. He said it was "weak ... and now they are seeing the consequences", but "blaming China is not the solution". The US was wrong to defund the WHO, he added. It was also unhelpful that US sanctions were stopping humanitarian supplies from getting into Iran and Venezuela, with Borrell pledging to advocate for more access.

US oil prices turned negative for the first time on record on Monday after oil producers ran out of space to store the oversupply of crude left by the coronavirus crisis, triggering an historic market collapse which left oil traders reeling, the Guardian reports. The price of US crude oil crashed from $18 a barrel to -$38 in a matter of hours on Monday but recovered to $1.10 on Tuesday.

Only a tiny proportion of the global population – maybe as few as 2% or 3% – appear to have antibodies in the blood showing they have been infected with Covid-19, according to the World Health Organization, diminishing hopes that herd immunity will ease the exit from lockdown, the Guardian reports. "Easing restrictions is not the end of the epidemic in any country," the WHO said.

Over 100 Belgian academics sent a letter to the Belgian government with concerns on a contact-tracing app to fight the coronavirus pandemic. "Whether the app works or not, it is more important to realise that many will not want to use it, for completely legitimate reasons," it says. Academics said an app must be part of a larger set of measures, such as a significant increase in test capacity.

The European Commission, in collaboration with several partners, on Monday launched the EU's Covid-19 data platform to enable the collection and sharing of research data, including genes, protein structures, electron microscopy data and scientific publications. The platform is part of the coordinated research and innovation actions ("ERAvsCORONA") announced earlier this month. This project is set to follow the standards of open science.

Austria has offered 181 accommodation and sanitary containers to alleviate the overcrowding of refugee camps in Greece. "The EU will of course co-finance the delivery costs of these containers to the country," said a European Commission spokesperson. Some 39,000 refugees, asylum seekers and migrants are currently stuck on the islands, whose centres are designed for around 8,700.

Madrid added its voice to the debate on how to come up with big enough recovery plan that would help protect the euro and stabilise economies worse-hot by the corona-virus. EU leaders will flesh out ideas on Thursday.

The European Commission vice-president Vera Jourova recognised that the EU's pharmaceutical sector had a 'morbid dependency' on third-country suppliers. But some experts from the pharma field have warned export bans undermine global supply chains.

On 4 March, the European Commission's legal service handed president Ursula von der Leyen an analysis of the Greek government's controversial decision to temporarily freeze asylum applications. The commission will not now release the document.

After more than 22,000 coronavirus-related deaths and over a month of lockdown, Italy's health emergency is taking its toll from the social point of view too. Stress is skyrocketing.

'As a single mother, I am now caring for my severely disabled son alone, 24/7, without any assistance, without rest, with more demand for shopping, cooking, feeding and intensive care.'