What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now
Representative image Image Credit: ANI

Here's what you need to know about the novel coronavirus right now: To work or not to work?

Launching lockdowns was a relatively simple process: Winding them down is going to be much more complex. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has discovered that to his cost after his Sunday night announcement of an easing was greeted with widespread confusion and dissent. The previous "stay at home" injunction has been replaced by a much more nuanced "stay alert" call, with those who can't work from home being encouraged to go to work - but only if they think they can do so safely. There was even confusion as to when the new policy should apply - from Monday or only Wednesday. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have said they will not be using the new guidance and will stick to the existing "stay at home" message. Johnson's government is due to release more details of its plan in the coming hours. Second waves?

South Korean officials are scrambling to track down thousands of people after a small cluster of coronavirus cases emerged around several Seoul nightclubs. The new outbreak, which has sent infections rebounding to a one-month high, comes just as the government was transitioning from intensive social distancing to measures around "distancing in daily life".

New cases were also reported on Sunday in northeast China and the central city of Wuhan, where the virus first emerged, in what could be the beginning of a new wave of cases there. Masks and fever checks as Shanghai Disneyland reopens

About 30 annual pass holders in Mickey Mouse outfits waited in yellow squares drawn on the ground outside Shanghai Disneyland as it ended a roughly three-month closure on Monday. Social distancing, masks, temperature screenings, and visitor numbers "far below" 24,000 people, which is 30% of daily capacity, a level requested by the Chinese government, mark the milestone reopening. It is being closely watched to see how the company might recover from the pandemic that has forced it to shut parks in Asia, the United States, and France, as well as operations at its retail stores and cruise ships.

Virus war of words continues China's foreign ministry posted a 30-page, 11,000-word article on its website late on Saturday, rebutting what it said were 24 "preposterous allegations" by U.S. politicians over its handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

The article set out a timeline of how China provided information about the coronavirus to the international community in a "timely ... open and transparent" manner, to rebuke U.S. suggestions that it had been slow to sound the alarm. Male vulnerability

Men's blood has higher levels than women's of an enzyme used by the new coronavirus to infect cells, the results of a big European study showed on Monday. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a receptor on the surface of cells that binds to the new coronavirus and allows it to enter and infect cells, is found in the heart, kidneys, the tissues lining blood vessels, and especially in the testes.

Its presence there might partially explain higher ACE2 concentrations in men, and why men are more vulnerable to COVID-19, those carrying out the study said. Gaming the system

Chinese fans of Nintendo's "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" are paying up to 50% more for unlocked Switch consoles sold abroad and using code words to buy the game online as it is not licensed for sale in China's tightly regulated gaming industry. The game has become a global bestseller as its players can create virtual versions of themselves and their homes and interact with other gamers in what they describe as a form of escapism from the real world of coronavirus lockdowns.

It has also become a political flashpoint after Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong used it to protest against Beijing's rule of the territory, prompting a mainland crackdown on illicit sales.

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