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\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBRUSSELS<\/strong>\u00a0New coronavirus clusters have surfaced around the world as nations struggle to balance reopening economies with preventing a second wave of infections and a top world health official warned that \u201cthis virus may never go away.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nAuthorities in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the pandemic first began late last year, reportedly were pressing ahead Wednesday to test all 11 million residents for the virus within 10 days after a handful of new infections were found.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nIn Lebanon, authorities reinstated a nationwide lockdown for four days beginning Wednesday night after a spike in reported infections and complaints from officials that social distancing rules were being ignored.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nWorldwide, the virus has infected about 4.3 million people and killed more than 293,000, according to the Johns Hopkins tally. Experts say the actual numbers are likely far higher.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nA top World Health Organization official, meanwhile, warned that it\u2019s possible the new coronavirus may be here to stay.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cThis virus may never go away,\u201d Dr. Michael Ryan said in a press briefing Wednesday. Without a vaccine, he said it could take years for the global population to build up sufficient levels of immunity.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cI think it\u2019s important to put this on the table,\u201d he said. \u201cThis virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities,\u201d he said, noting that other previously novel diseases like HIV have never disappeared, but that effective treatments have been developed.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nThe United Nations is forecasting that the coronavirus pandemic will shrink the world economy by 3.2% this year, the sharpest contraction since the Great Depression in the 1930s.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nThe U.N.\u2019s mid-year report released Wednesday said COVID-19 is expected to slash global economic output by nearly $8.5 trillion over the next two years, wiping out nearly all gains of the past four years.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nIn January, the U.N. forecast a modest growth of 2.5 percent in 2020.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nDespite the risk that loosening restrictions could lead to infection spikes, European nations have been seeking to restart cross-border travel, particularly as the summer holiday season looms for countries whose economies rely on tourists flocking to their beaches, museums and historical sites.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nThe European Union unveiled a plan to help citizens across its 27 nations salvage their summer vacations after months of coronavirus lockdown and resurrect Europe\u2019s badly battered tourism industry. The pandemic has prompted border closures across Europe and shut down the lifeline of cheap local flights.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nAustria said its border with Germany would reopen fully on June 15, and that border checks would be reduced starting Friday. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said Austria was aiming for similar agreements with Switzerland, Liechtenstein and its eastern neighbors \u201cas long as the infection figures allow.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nBut he said it\u2019s too early to talk about such measures with Italy, one of the world\u2019s hardest-hit countries, with more than 220,000 infections and 30,000 deaths.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s no perspective for opening the border soon,\u201d Kurz told reporters Wednesday.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nThe tension in balancing people\u2019s safety against the severe economic fallout is playing out across the world. Italy partially lifted lockdown restrictions last week only to see a big jump in confirmed coronavirus cases in its hardest-hit region. Pakistan reported 2,000 new infections in a single day after crowds of people crammed into local markets as restrictions were eased.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nThe situation remains unclear in some countries. The U.S. says Tanzania has not publicly released any data on COVID-19 in two weeks. The World Health Organization also has expressed worry about Tanzania, whose president has questioned his own government\u2019s virus testing and refused to close churches in the belief that the virus can\u2019t survive in the body of Christ. A new U.S. Embassy statement warns that the risk of being infected in Tanzania\u2019s commercial hub, Dar es Salaam, is \u201cextremely high\u201d and says many hospitals in the city have been overwhelmed.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nChina, the first nation to put a large number of citizens under lockdown and the first to ease those restrictions, has been strictly guarding against any resurgence. In January, it put the entire city of Wuhan and the surrounding region, home to more than 50 million people, under a strict lockdown. A cluster of six new cases recently emerged, the first local infections in Wuhan since before the lockdown was eased in early April.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nGreece will allow the reopening of some beaches Saturday when a heat wave is expected to hit the country.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nSlovakia\u2019s Constitutional Court has suspended parts of legislation that gives health authorities a right to use data from mobile phone operators to trace people amid the outbreak of the coronavirus.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BRUSSELS\u00a0New coronavirus clusters have surfaced around the world as nations struggle to balance reopening economies with preventing a second wave of infections and a top world health official warned that \u201cthis virus may never go away.\u201d Authorities in the Chinese … Continue reading