The World Health Organisation has urged governments around the world not to relax their lockdown measures too early, with Director General Tedros Adhanam saying ” While Covid-19 accelerates very fast, it decelerates much more slowly. In other words, the way down is much slower than the way up”.
Some countries have been announcing plans to ease some restrictions; from Wednesday, Denmark will allow children aged under 11 to return to school after a month in lockdown. But the country’s Prime Minister has said that the lifting of restrictions would be extremely careful and gradual, likening it to „walking on a tightrope”.
Norway and Austria are also planning to gently lift restrictions but China, which is now out of lockdown, has seen a spike in new cases, raising concerns of a „second wave” outbreak Elsewhere, France’s president Emmanuel Macron extended his nation’s lockdown until May 11th but said that school and colleges would be able to reopen after then.
Wildfires rage just kilometres from Chernobyl reactor No. 4
In Ukraine, there’s growing concern this week as forest fires burn just kilometres away from the Chernobyl nuclear power station.
According to local reports by environmental activists Greenpeace, the fires may be as close as 1km from the abandoned nuclear reactor, which they say poses a radiation risk.
A local tour operator also told news agencies that the flames had reached the abandoned city of Pripyat, just 2km or 1.2miles from the power station.
However, Ukraine’s emergency management agency has refuted claims radiation level have spiked, saying they remain within normal limits and that in the nearby city of Kiev levels were not above normal background levels.
On April 26th, 1986 Chernobyl was the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history when its reactor No.4 exploded, spraying radiation and debris across the surrounding area and affecting most of Europe. Today the area around the reactor is abandoned but is still home to high levels of radiation.
LOT scraps Condor take-over
LOT Polish Airlines has scrapped its planned take over of Germany’s Condor airlines amid devastating economic effects of the pandemic on the air travel industry.
LOT agreed a deal to take over the airline back in January, after Condor’s parent company, the British airline Thomas Cook, went bust.
LOT had been hoping the take over could help it expand out of Poland into Germany and other neighboring markets.
But the coronavirus pandemic has since devasted airlines as countries including Poland, stop all international flights and demand plummets as consumers stay at home.
Gdansk launches „Gdansk Helps” initiative
In Gdansk, the city government has launched a new platform for people offering a helping hand to those in need during the epidemic.
The platform, named Gdansk Pomaga (or „Gdansk Helps” in English), aims to support residents needing assistance by connecting them to fellow residents and organisations offering help.
The initiative is also collecting donations to be distributed to local hospitals, care homes, charities, and other organisations supporting response efforts.
The website is currently only available in Polish but if you or someone you know is in need of help or can offer help to someone else, you can find the website by searching for Gdansk Pomaga.
Weather
We had some beautiful weather over Easter weekend but today is feeling chilly by comparison with temperatures only getting up to 7°C, 45°F. Partly cloudy today with a strong northwesterly breeze keeping temperatures low for this time of year.
Radio Gdansk News/TAH
