Category Archives: Covid-19

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You don't need an appointment to get tested for COVID-19 at this site on Monday - KMOV.com

In many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a boon to cybercriminals: With unprecedented numbers of people working from home and anxious for news about the virus outbreak, its hard to imagine a more target-rich environment for phishers, scammers and malware purveyors. In addition, many crooks are finding the outbreak has helped them better market their cybercriminal wares and services. But its not all good news: The Coronavirus also has driven up costs and disrupted key supply lines for many cybercriminals. Heres a look at how theyre adjusting to these new realities.

One of the more common and perennial cybercriminal schemes is reshipping fraud, wherein crooks buy pricey consumer goods online using stolen credit card data and then enlist others to help them collect or resell the merchandise.

Most online retailers years ago stopped shipping to regions of the world most frequently associated with credit card fraud, including Eastern Europe, North Africa, and Russia. These restrictions have created a burgeoning underground market for reshipping scams, which rely on willing or unwitting residents in the United States and Europe derisively referred to as reshipping mules to receive and relay high-dollar stolen goods to crooks living in the embargoed areas.

A screen shot from a user account at Snowden, a long-running reshipping mule service.

But apparently a number of criminal reshipping services are reporting difficulties due to the increased wait time when calling FedEx or UPS (to divert carded goods that merchants end up shipping to the cardholders address instead of to the mules). In response, these operations are raising their prices and warning of longer shipping times, which in turn could hamper the activities of other actors who depend on those services.

Thats according to Intel 471, a cyber intelligence company that closely monitors hundreds of online crime forums. In a report published today, the company said since late March 2020 it has observed several crooks complaining about COVID-19 interfering with the daily activities of their various money mules(people hired to help launder the proceeds of cybercrime).

One Russian-speaking actor running a fraud network complained about their subordinates (money mules) in Italy, Spain and other countries being unable to withdraw funds, since they currently were afraid to leave their homes, Intel 471 observed. Also some actors have reported that banks customer-support lines are being overloaded, making it difficult for fraudsters to call them for social-engineering activities (such as changing account ownership, raising withdrawal limits, etc).

Still, every dark cloud has a silver lining: Intel 471 noted many cybercriminals appear optimistic that the impending global economic recession (and resultant unemployment) will make it easier to recruit low-level accomplices such as money mules.

Alex Holden, founder and CTO of Hold Security, agreed. He said while the Coronavirus has forced reshipping operators to make painful shifts in several parts of their business, the overall market for available mules has never looked brighter.

Reshipping is way up right now, but there are some complications, he said.

For example, reshipping scams have over the years become easier for both reshipping mule operators and the mules themselves. Many reshipping mules are understandably concerned about receiving stolen goods at their home and risking a visit from the local police. But increasingly, mules have been instructed to retrieve carded items from third-party locations.

The mules dont have to receive stolen goods directly at home anymore, Holden said. They can pick them up at Walgreens, Hotel lobbies, etc. There are a ton of reshipment tricks out there.

But many of those tricks got broken with the emergence of COVID-19 and social distancing norms. In response, more mule recruiters are asking their hires to do things like reselling goods shipped to their homes on platforms like eBay and Amazon.

Reshipping definitely has become more complicated, Holden said. Not every mule will run 10 times a day to the post office, and some will let the goods sit by the mailbox for days. But on the whole, mules are more compliant these days.

KrebsOnSecurity recently came to a similar conclusion: Last months story, Coronavirus Widens the Money Mule Pool, looked at one money mule operation that had ensnared dozens of mules with phony job offers in a very short period of time. Incidentally, the fake charity behind that scheme which promised to raise money for Coronavirus victims has since closed up shop and apparently re-branded itself as the Tessaris Foundation.

Charitable cybercriminal endeavors were the subject of a report released this weekby cyber intel firm Digital Shadows, which looked at various ways computer crooks are promoting themselves and their hacking services using COVID-19 themed discounts and giveaways.

Like many commercials on television these days, such offers obliquely or directly reference the economic hardships wrought by the virus outbreak as a way of connecting on an emotional level with potential customers.

The illusion of philanthropy recedes further when you consider the benefits to the threat actors giving away goods and services, the report notes. These donors receive a massive boost to their reputation on the forum. In the future, they may be perceived as individuals willing to contribute to forum life, and the giveaways help establish a track record of credibility.

Brians Club one of the undergrounds largest bazaars for selling stolen credit card data and one that has misappropriated this authors likeness and name in its advertising recently began offering pandemic support in the form of discounts for its most loyal customers.

It stands to reason that the virus outbreak might depress cybercriminal demand for dumps, or stolen account data that can be used to create physical counterfeit credit cards. After all, dumps are mainly used to buy high-priced items from electronics stores and other outlets that may not even be open now thanks to the widespread closures from the pandemic.

If that were the case, wed also expect to see dumps prices fall significantly across the cybercrime economy. But so far, those price changes simply havent materialized, says Gemini Advisory, a New York based company that monitors the sale of stolen credit card data across dozens of stores in the cybercrime underground.

Stas Alforov, Geminis director of research and development, said theres been no notable dramatic changes in pricing for both dumps and card data stolen from online merchants (a.k.a. CVVs) even though many cybercrime groups appear to be massively shifting their operations toward targeting online merchants and their customers.

Usually, the huge spikes upward or downward during a short period is reflectedby a large addition of cheap records that drive the median price change, Alforov said, referring to the small and temporary price deviations depicted in the graph above.

Intel 471 said it came to a similar conclusion.

You might have thought carding activity, to include support aspects such as checker services, would decrease due to both the global lockdown and threat actors being infected with COVID-19, the company said. Weve even seen some actors suggest as much across some shops, but the reality is there have been no observations of major changes.

Interestingly, the Coronavirus appears to have prompted discussion on a topic that seldom comes up in cybercrime communities i.e., the moral and ethical ramifications of their work. Specifically, there seems to be much talk these days about the potential karmic consequences of cashing in on the misery wrought by a global pandemic.

For example, Digital Shadows said some have started to question the morality of targeting healthcare providers, or collecting funds in the name of Coronavirus causes and then pocketing the money.

One post on the gated Russian-language cybercriminal forum Korovka laid bare the question of threat actors moral obligation, the company wrote. A user initiated a thread to canvass opinion on the feasibility of faking a charitable cause and collecting donations. They added that while they recognized that such a plan was cruel, they found themselves in an extremely difficult financial situation. Responses to the proposal were mixed, with one forum user calling the plan amoral, and another pointing out that cybercrime is inherently an immoral affair.

Tags: alex holden, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Gemini Advisory, Intel 471, money mules, reshipping mules, Snowden, Stas Alforov

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 30th, 2020 at 2:20 pmand is filed under Ne'er-Do-Well News, Other, Web Fraud 2.0.You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can skip to the end and leave a comment. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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How Cybercriminals are Weathering COVID-19 - Krebs on Security

More than 300,000 in the UK may have quit smoking during the coronavirus crisis as evidence mounts that the habit makes them more vulnerable to Covid-19, a survey suggests.

A further 550,000 have tried to quit, while 2.4 million have cut down, according to the joint study by YouGov and the campaign group Action on Smoking and Health (Ash).

The survey of 1,004 people suggested 2% of smokers had quit because of concerns about coronavirus; 8% were trying to quit; 36% had cut down; and 27% were now more likely to quit.

A quarter of former smokers said they were less likely to resume smoking, although 4% said the pandemic had made them more likely to relapse.

The results of the survey were welcomed by several health and anti-smoking organisations in a statement released by #QuitforCOVID Twitter campaign.

Dr Nick Hopkinson, the chairman of Ash who is also a respiratory specialist at Imperial College London, said: Smoking harms the immune system and our ability to fight off infections. Evidence is growing that smoking is associated with worse outcomes in those admitted to hospital with Covid-19.

Quitting smoking also rapidly reduces peoples risk of other health problems such as heart attacks and strokes. Those are bad whenever they happen, so preventing them is an end in itself and is especially important at a time like now when everyone is keen to stay out of hospital.

Ruth Tennant, the tobacco lead for the Association of Directors of Public Health, said: There are so many reasons to quit smoking but never a more important time than right now during the coronavirus pandemic.

The founder of the #QuitforCOVID campaign urged more people to stop smoking during the pandemic and beyond.

Stopping smoking remains the single biggest thing people can do to improve their overall health, said Dr Charlie Kenward, a GP from Bristol. It will improve heart and lung health as well as reducing the chances of developing cancer and even improve wound healing after surgery. There has never been a better time to quit.

Cllr Ian Hudspeth, the community wellbeing board chairman at the Local Government Association, said: Councils can help the government to achieve its ambition of eliminating smoking in England by 2030, through their tobacco control and other public health and support services, but need certainty over their long-term funding to help do so.

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More than 300,000 UK smokers may have quit owing to Covid-19 fears - The Guardian

A new strain of Coronavirus, COVID 19, is spreading around the world, causing deaths and major disruption to the global economy.

Responding to this crisis requires global cooperation among governments, international organizations and the business community, which is at the centre of the World Economic Forums mission as the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation.

The Forum has created the COVID Action Platform, a global platform to convene the business community for collective action, protect peoples livelihoods and facilitate business continuity, and mobilize support for the COVID-19 response. The platform is created with the support of the World Health Organization and is open to all businesses and industry groups, as well as other stakeholders, aiming to integrate and inform joint action.

As an organization, the Forum has a track record of supporting efforts to contain epidemics. In 2017, at our Annual Meeting, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) was launched bringing together experts from government, business, health, academia and civil society to accelerate the development of vaccines. CEPI is currently supporting the race to develop a vaccine against this strand of the coronavirus.

1. How COVID-19 is affecting the globe

Testing is key in battling COVID-19, but where is testing the most prevalent? According to data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Iceland, Luxembourg and Estonia have tested more of their population for coronavirus than any other countries.

The lowest levels of testing in OECD countries are in Mexico (0.4), Japan (1.8) and Greece (5.8). The average testing rate for all OECD countries is 22.9 tests per 1,000.

Top officials have welcomed announcements to boost testing including OECD Secretary-General ngel Gurra who said increasing testing capacity was essential to start easing lockdowns and to reduce the risk of new outbreaks.

Diagnostics testing for COVID-19 in OECD countries

Image: OECD

Though passenger planes have seen steep declines, cargo planes are facing a surge in demand to respond to the need for supplies during the COVID-19 crisis. Slowing efforts are a slew of new guidelines, including fast-changing border restrictions and quarantines for crew. Airlines are lobbying for governments to respond with practical exemptions, writes Isobel Fenton, Platform Curator, Aviation & Aerospace, World Economic Forum. A two-week delay for essential supplies is clearly unacceptable, she says.

Looking for an escape? Literature instructor Christine Berberich from the University of Portsmouth shared a selection of books to enjoy during lockdown in a recent article for the Conversation. These books, including Kazuo Ishiguros The Remains of the Day and Rohinton Mistrys A Fine Balance engross their readers in their characters lives and transport them to another world.

On this weeks World Vs Virus podcast, our colleague David Knowles interviews science Journalist Laura Spinney about her book, Pale Rider, an exploration into the history of the Spanish Flu. The flu changed the world in many important ways, says Spinney, and there are some important lessons for how we respond to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic..

The World Versus Virus podcast is available on Apple Podcasts as part of its Essential Listening collection. The podcast is also available on Spotify and Libsyn.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with our Terms of Use.

Written by

Linda Lacina, Digital Editor, World Economic Forum

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 1 May - World Economic Forum

On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an official name for the new coronavirus disease: COVID-19 making sure not to reference Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the virus originated. COVID-19 stands for Corona Virus Disease 19.

Having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatizing, said Director-General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. It also gives us a standard format to use for any future coronavirus outbreaks. The WHO referenced guidelines set in 2015 that ensure the name does not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual or group of people, while still being pronounceable and related to the disease.

Public health experts agree with the choice not to name the disease after a geographic region in China.

If the new name had included a reference to Wuhan it would put a tremendous stigmatization on the people of Wuhan who are the victims of the disease, Wendy Parmet, a law professor at Northeastern University and public health expert, tells TIME.

People tend to think of the disease as belonging to, as being a characteristic of some group of people associated with the place name, which can be really stigmatizing, Parmet says. To be thought of as a hole of disease is not going to be productive. It encourages the next city not to come forward, not to report a disease if your city is labeled as the disease.

Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter by clicking on this link, and please send any tips, leads, and stories to virus@time.com.

Following the outbreak of the new coronavirus, there have been reports of xenophobic incidents and attitudes, particularly towards people of Asian descent.

Experts note though that there is a long history of diseases being named in ways that include particular groups of people or places or animals.

Around the 1500s in France, Syphilis was called the Italian disease and in Italy it was called it the French disease. The 1918 influenza pandemic was widely called the Spanish Flu in the U.S., even though it did not originate in Spain. In 2009, the WHO stopped using the term swine flu and replaced it with Influenza A (H1N1), following a drop in the pork market. Ebola was named after a river near where the outbreak first originated.

The WHO now notes the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, the Spanish Flu, Swine Flu and the Chagas disease as examples of names that are should be avoided when looking to name new diseases.

Arnold Monto, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigans School of Public Health, says its important to be sensitive to different cultures when naming a disease. If you have a name which is regional and it spreads globally, its confusing, Monto says.

In the case of the new coronavirus, the WHO has specified a name for the disease but not the virus. The virus has been named the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by the Coronavirus Study Group of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, which is responsible for the official classification of viruses. The committee recognized the new coronavirus similarities to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) pandemic that occurred between 2002-2003.

For the disease, its ideal to have a name thats easy to pronounce like COVID-19, Parmet says: its short, easy to say and two syllables. You want something thats easy and that people are going to keep using otherwise theyre going to substitute it with more problematic slang, she says.

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Write to Sanya Mansoor at sanya.mansoor@time.com.

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COVID-19: Why Does the Disease's Name Matter? | Time

The number of novel coronavirus cases in Illinois continues to rise by another 2,450 from Friday to Saturday, with 105 people dying after testing positive despite residents statewide being subjected to a stay-at-home order for six weeks.

The steady rise really is a function of doing more tests, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said during his daily briefing Saturday. And, in fact, what youll find is a lower infection rate. If you do the math, of how many tests done as a denominator and how many positives as a numerator, youll see that weve come down on average, from what was around (a) 21% or 22% infection rate to something in the high teens.

In the past 24 hours, labs have processed 15,208 specimens more than double the tests that were being processed on a daily basis a month ago.

In total, Illinois has seen 58,505 COVID-19 cases with 2,559 resulting in death.

Backlash against Pritzker, and the clampdowns he has issued in order to prevent spread of the virus, are also increasing.

Friday saw protests outside the state capitol and the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago, where the governor gives his daily coronavirus briefings, with some people carrying signs with Nazi propaganda and swastikas.

The meaning of that swastika is apparently unknown to the people who are carrying it or if it is known, it is a demonstration of the hate that is among us, Pritzker said. Having said all that, these were a few hundred demonstrators. And there are millions of people in the state of Illinois, really good people who are doing the right thing protecting each other during this extraordinary crisis.

The protesters are upset with Pritzker's latest executive order, which spans through May but loosens some restrictions: Retailers have the green light to open for curbside pickup or delivery, golfers can once again hit the greens, some state parks have reopened and religious organizations can hold worship services with ten or fewer people.

Chicago, however, is not allowing golf courses or paths like the Lakefront to open just yet.

Nothing in our data justifies it, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.

But the latest statewide executive order also imposes new requirements, including that everyone over the age of two who can medically tolerate it must wear a face covering or mask in public.

The order calls for coverings to be worn wherever and whenever social distancing is not feasible.

But Pritzker on Saturday stressed that masks should be worn in public, period including when people are walking around their neighborhoods.

Face coverings are vital for people to wear. In fact, it may be the most important thing that you can do to save other peoples lives, to keep other people from getting infected and to protect people in your own home, he said.

The governor said hes noticed that people seem to think that if theyre on the sidewalk, they dont need to wear a mask if theres nobody six feet directly in front of or behind them.

People feel like why do I need to wear a mask? Well you know why: Its because someone may be coming from the (other) direction toward you, Pritkzer said. You are going to be within six feet of that person for at least a few moments, as you pass that person and the next person, and the next person.

Five of Illinois 102 counties Edgar, Edwards, Pope, Putnam and Scott continue to see no cases. Brown County saw its first case on Thursday.

Follow Amanda Vinicky on Twitter:@AmandaVinicky

Coronavirus Prevention Tips and Resources

Officials advise taking preventive measures to slow the spread of the virus, including:

Washing your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and waterUsing hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcoholSneezing or coughing into a tissue and then disposing of the tissueLimiting contact with people regardless of how you feelStaying home when you are sick

Symptoms of COVID-19 include, but are not limited to:

New onset of fever, cough, shortness of breathCongestion in the nasal sinuses or lungsSore throat, body aches or unusual fatigue

If you think you have COVID-19:

Call you doctor before showing up at their office. If you have a medical emergency and need to call 911, tell the operator that you think you have COVID-19. If possible, wear a mask before medical help arrives or presenting at a doctors office. More advice for those who think they have COVID-19.

Additional resources:

Centers for Disease Control and PreventionIllinois COVID-19 websiteIllinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) websiteIDPH COVID-19 hotline: 800-889-3931IPDH COVID-19 email linkCity of Chicago COVID-19 websiteCity of Chicago COVID-19 hotline: 312-746-4835City of Chicago COVID-19 email link

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Illinois Seeing More and More COVID-19 Cases as Testing Continues to Increase - WTTW News

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- According to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services, the state has reported two more COVID-19-related deaths bringing the statewide total to 50 deaths.

The DHHR is reporting a 69-year old woman from Kanawha County, and a 100-year old woman from Monongalia County have passed away due to the virus.

As of 5 p.m. Saturday, there have been 51,115 laboratory results received for COVID-19, with 1,184 positive, 49,931 negative and 50 deaths.

Delays may be experienced with the reporting of cases and deaths from the local health department to the state health department.

CONFIRMED CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (5), Berkeley (156), Boone (6), Braxton (2), Brooke (3), Cabell (44), Fayette (14), Gilmer (2), Grant (1), Greenbrier (5), Hampshire (7), Hancock (11), Hardy (7), Harrison (30), Jackson (130), Jefferson (79), Kanawha (168), Lewis (4), Lincoln (2), Logan (13), Marion (46), Marshall (15), Mason (12), McDowell (6), Mercer (10), Mineral (18), Mingo (2), Monongalia (105), Monroe (5), Morgan (13), Nicholas (6), Ohio (33), Pendleton (3), Pleasants (2), Pocahontas (2), Preston (13), Putnam (27), Raleigh (10), Randolph (4), Roane (7), Summers (1), Taylor (7), Tucker (4), Tyler (3), Upshur (4), Wayne (89), Wetzel (3), Wirt (3), Wood (41), Wyoming (1).

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50th COVID-19 death reported in WV - WSAZ-TV

Posted: May 2, 2020 / 02:36 PM CDT / Updated: May 2, 2020 / 02:59 PM CDT

SAN ANGELO, Texas The Health Department is continuing to provide updated information regarding COVID-19 tests in San Angelo and Tom Green county.

As of 2:00 p.m. May 2, 2020, there are 22 new cases of COVID-19 that were confirmed by the Health Department. Please note that 19 of the 22 came from one large employer who chose to have their entire workforce tested. The Health Department does not have demographic information on most of the 19 cases, as of now, but will report more information if and when they receive it. Because of this, the demographic information throughout the first page will not add up to the total number of cases.

Below we have listed 3 of the known cases:

Results that came back from the employer who tested their workforce:

As of May 2, the number of total patients released and being monitored is at 58.

We will update the public on the current COVID-19 crisis as we receive more information.

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The Health Department confirms 22 new cases of COVID-19 - ConchoValleyHomepage.com

People in low-income and conflict-affected countries have so far largely escaped the high levels of Covid-19 infection seen in western Europe and the US, although this may be changing.

The pandemic is killing them in different ways: lost jobs, ruined businesses, increased poverty, rising malnutrition and risk of famine, and a prospective increase in untreated, non-Covid preventable illnesses.

For many of the most vulnerable, the developed worlds cures are proving worse than the disease. At the extreme, families must choose between going hungry and getting ill.

And their plight is exacerbated by Covid-style underlying conditions chronic, pre-existing political, security, economic, and climate problems that grow ever more unsustainable.

A Covid tidal wave may be about to hit sub-Saharan Africa and other less resilient regions, the International Rescue Committee warned last week. Without urgent international action, the virus could cause 1bn infections and 3.2m deaths in 34 fragile states, including Afghanistan and Syria, it said.

The World Health Organization has issued similar alerts. Yet even if these worst-case outcomes are somehow avoided, poorer countries already face enormous collateral damage.

For millions of workers, no income means no food, no security, and no future

According to UN estimates, half a billion people, or 8% of the worlds population, could be pushed into destitution by the years end, largely due to the pandemic. The fight against poverty would be set back 30 years.

The crisis could produce famines of biblical proportions, with the number of people facing hunger almost doubling to more than 250 million, the World Food Programme (WFP) said. Shortfalls in donor funding and food aid meant 30 million people could die within a matter of months, it added.

Vanishing demand, collapsed distribution chains, and disrupted export markets are pushing people to the brink, affecting groups as diverse as Ethiopian and Kenyan flower producers, Sri Lankan tea-growers, and Bangladeshi garment workers whose contracts have reportedly been cancelled by UK supermarkets.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, Nigeria, Venezuela and Haiti are among the countries most at risk, the WFP said: Millions can only eat if they earn a wage.

War-torn Yemen is worse off than most. About 12 million Yemenis rely on food aid that is threatened by renewed fighting. A repeat cholera outbreak is under way. The detection last week of a Covid-19 cluster in Aden may be the least of its worries.

South Sudan is another conflict-scarred country with little or no capacity to handle a Covid-19 emergency. In 2019, 61% of the population faced food insecurity. Drought and locust infestations were contributory factors.

Yet with only 34 confirmed Covid cases so far, and no deaths, South Sudans main worry at present is the pandemics indirect impact on humanitarian aid, food supply and livelihoods.

This perspective is shared by many in South Africa, the continents second largest economy. The official death toll is just over 100, yet the governments lockdown is said to be costing 570m a day. Some restrictions were eased last Friday amid fears that 1.7 million people could lose the means to make a living.

Looked at globally, the pandemics impact on jobs is devastating. The International Labour Organization reported last week that 1.6 billion workers in the informal economy nearly half the worlds total workforce of 3.3 billion stand in immediate danger of having their livelihoods destroyed.

The first month of the crisis is estimated to have resulted in a drop of 60% in the income of informal workers globally. This translates into a drop of 81% in Africa and the Americas, it said.

If lockdowns continue or expand, this situation will only get worse. More than 436 million enterprises were at risk, the ILOs Guy Ryder said. For millions of workers, no income means no food, no security, and no future.

The wests self-absorption threatens to obscure the viruss harmful impact on treatment of non-Covid, preventable diseases. Just as UK cancer deaths are forecast to rise due to a diversion of resources, so measles and other immunisation programmes in poorer nations are being undercut.

The WHO announced last week that polio vaccinations for up to 12 million children in Africa will be delayed as resources are switched to fighting Covid-19. It admitted the move would inevitably lead to more child polio cases.

Disrupted vaccination programmes have frequently led to explosive outbreaks of life-threatening diseases previously held in abeyance, warned vaccine specialist Edward Parker. Without systematic efforts to maintain immunisation programmes, the viruss legacy could include a disastrous surge in childhood deaths.

The pandemic is providing cover for malign governments to pursue or accelerate policies that place lives at risk, regardless of Covid-19. A striking example is Myanmar, where the army has renewed its repression of minorities in Rakhine and Chin states.

Yanghee Lee, the UNs human rights rapporteur, said last week she feared a repeat of the alleged genocide in 2017 when 700,000 Rohingya Muslims were forced to flee. The resulting densely populated refugee camps created in next-door Bangladesh are potentially lethal Covid-19 hotspots.

And Kashmir reveals more Covid collateral damage. The continuation of last years illegal Indian government lockdown is now justified by the need to contain the disease. Spiralling mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, suicide, and domestic violence, are among the results.

Not to be left out, the Trump administration is ignoring a UN call to lift sanctions on struggling, virus-hit countries such as Iran, Cuba and Venezuela while also blocking a global ceasefire.

World Bank and IMF billions offered in assistance and debt relief to poorer countries and fragile states cannot begin to repair all this hurt. Right now, western responses to the virus are imperilling more people worldwide than the virus itself.

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While the west fixates on Covid-19, vulnerable countries pay the price - The Guardian

It has endured Europes longest lockdown, but when Italy enters its much-anticipated phase two tomorrow, few will find reason to celebrate.

Last week, after Italys prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, outlined plans to slowly ease the countrys quarantine, millions of people were overcome with feelings of anger and disappointment as their hopes were dashed by what many described as a false reopening.

Italians will now be able to travel within regions to visit relatives, provided they wear masks, but schools, hairdressers, gyms and many other commercial activities will stay closed; cafes and restaurants will offer takeaways only; and all travel between regions will be banned except for work, health or emergency situations. Restrictions on funerals have been relaxed, with a maximum of 15 mourners allowed to attend, but masses and weddings will have to wait.

For this reason, last Friday, Pietro Demita, a stylist in Lecce whose company is a leading wedding dress designer, set fire to his entire collection in protest against the lockdown, which has brought the wedding industry to near-collapse.

I set my creations alight, the fruits of my talent and my artistry, to send a strong message, Demita told the Observer. Because, even if I hadnt, the economic and political decisions imposed during the coronavirus crisis would have sent them up in smoke anyway.

Expectations had been high for a quick return to normality, especially in the south, where there have been fewer Covid-19 cases than in the north. The mood is sombre, not only because the virus, despite its slackening, continues to claim lives, but also because people are on edge after having been forced to stay at home for more than 50 days.

It seems theyre having a good laugh at our expense, says Costantino Montalbano, 31, a hair stylist in Palermo. Its as if theyre telling us to go out, but to stay at home. All this time locked up has affected our mental health, but its also hit us hard in the wallet. If we dont return to normality soon, coronavirus will have killed not only thousands of people, but the entire economy as well.

Like bars and restaurants, hairdressers should fully reopen on 1 June; museums and retailers from 18 May. Factories already geared towards exports and public construction projects resumed activity last Monday, while the majority of Italys industry will restart tomorrow. However, as the country plunges into recession, many businessmen and shopkeepers are complaining about the lack of financial support.

With summer around the corner, experts predict that the impact of Covid-19 on tourism, one of the countrys most important sectors, will be devastating. According to Italys National Confederation for Artisans and Small- and Medium-Sized Businesses (CNA), there will be 25 million fewer foreign tourists between July and September. The risk is that thousands of hotels, resorts and B&Bs will be forced to close their doors for the foreseeable future.

Bars and restaurants are the lifeblood of the economy of so many Italian cities and towns, but thousands have come together in protest against reopening, feeling that the restrictions of post-lockdown social distancing could spell the end for many.

As part of a series of symbolic gestures organised by a movement called Movimento Imprese Ospitalit (MIO), the owners of 75,000 bars and restaurants switched on the lights of their premises to mark the last day of business last Tuesday night before handing over the keys to their respective mayors the following morning. On Friday night, they switched off the lights in their homes for an hour.

Paolo Bianchini, a restaurant owner in Viterbo, Lazio, and spokesperson for MIO, said the peaceful protest was to show how much the hospitality sector was struggling. We only want to open when we know well be able to work efficiently, he said. For example, my restaurant has 100 covers with social distancing this will be reduced to 30. If I do so little business, my restaurant will close, as I wont be able to cover my costs. Paradoxically, we will fail if we open. We need liquidity how is it that serious countries like England are managing to help business owners, but Italy isnt lending a hand?

During the debate in the Senate on Thursday, the opposition parties grilled Conte. Ex-prime minister Matteo Renzi, who has called for less restraint in the reopening, remarked, The people in Bergamo and Brescia who are gone, those who died of the virus, if they could speak, theyd tell us to relaunch the country for them, in their honour.

Renzis controversial statement was harshly criticised by doctors who warned that the spread of the disease, which, as of Thursday, had killed almost 30,000 people in the country and infected more than 205,000, was not over and that a misstep could take the entire country back to mid-March coronavirus levels.

We risk a new wave of infections and outbreaks if were not careful, said Tullio Prestileo, an infectious diseases specialist at Palermos Benefratelli Hospital. If we dont realise this, we could easily find ourselves back where we started. In that case, we may not have the strength to get back up again.

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Anger as Italy slowly emerges from long Covid-19 lockdown - The Guardian