British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged his lockdown-weary nation to be

patient Monday, arguing that easing social and economic restrictions too

soon would create a second deadly spike of coronavirus infections.

On his first day back at work in three weeks after a bout of COVID-19 that

left him dangerously ill, Johnson said Britain had reached the moment of

"maximum risk" in its outbreak.

Speaking outside No 10 for the first time since recovering from the virus,

Mr Johnson said "we are now beginning to turn the tide" on the disease.

He said lockdown would not be relaxed too soon and details on any changes

will be set out over the "coming days".

But some paused NHS England services, such as cancer care, are to resume.

Mr Johnson said he understood concerns from business owners who were

impatient to end the lockdown.

But ending it too soon could lead to a second spike in cases and cause more

deaths, "economic disaster" and restrictions being reintroduced, he said.

He said there were "real signs now that we are passing through the peak" -

including with fewer hospital admissions and fewer Covid-19 patients in

intensive care.

And comparing the outbreak to someone being attacked, Mr Johnson said: "If

this virus were a physical assailant, an unexpected and invisible mugger -

which I can tell you from personal experience, it is - then this is the

moment when we have begun together to wrestle it to the floor... the moment

when we can press home our advantage".

Mr Johnson said once the UK is meeting the five tests for easing

restrictions - including a consistent fall in the death rate and making sure

the NHS can cope - "then that will be the time to move on to the second

phase" in the fight against the outbreak.

A Downing Street spokesman said there could be more on how the government

will judge the country's ability to "move forward" by the end of the week.

NEW YORK STATE SET TO START REOPENING FROM MAY 15 IN PHASES

New York state, the American epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic, will begin

reopening around mid-May, starting with low-risk businesses in regions with

low incidence of the disease. New York city and its suburbs, which have

borne the brunt of the epidemic, will remain under lockdown.

"The numbers are on the decline: everything we have done is working," New

York governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters at his daily briefing Sunday.

"There's no doubt that we've gone at this point through the worst. And as

long as we act prudently going forward, the worst should be over."

Phase One of the reopening could start on May 15, when the stay-at-home

orders in the state are set to end.

Cuomo told reporters Monday that he will be extending these restrictions -

called the "New York on Pause" order - for parts of the state and will

"unpause" them for some but urged local officials, who are raring to reopen,

to be "smart" about it, and weigh their options carefully.

New York state has been the worst hit with 288,045 infections thus far and

22,269 death with 17,280 in New York city alone.

Low-incidence area of upstate New York could begin reopening after May 15

when New "York State On Pause" are set to end. The reopening of an area or

region will depend on a steady decline in new cases for 14 days there, and

will apply to construction and manufacturing sectors.,

These areas will be closely monitored and the state could move to the next

phase only if there was no resurgence in cases because of the reopening. In

phase two, the resumption would be "business-by-business".

AUSTRALIA HITS BACK AT CHINA'S 'COERCION'

Chinese citizens could avoid Australian products and universities if Prime

Minister Scott Morrison doesn't stop calling for an international enquiry

into the coronavirus origins, a top Chinese official has said in what is

fast developing into a testy diplomatic exchange between the two countries.

Australia has shot back against the threat, cautioning China against any

threat of "economic coercion".

In the past week, Morrison had spoken to the leaders of the US, France and

Germany to gather support for an international investigation into the Wuhan

origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Beijing didn't take lightly to the move.

Chinese ambassador to Australia Cheng Jingye said in an interview to The

Australian Financial Review on Sunday that the call for the probe was

"dangerous".

"If the mood is going from bad to worse, people would think 'why should we

go to such a country that is not so friendly to China?' The tourists may

have second thoughts," Cheng said, adding: "It is up to the people to

decide. Maybe the ordinary people will say 'Why should we drink Australian

wine? Eat Australian beef?'"

"The parents of the students would also think... whether this is the best

place to send their kids," he added.

China is not only Australia's largest export market for wine and beef, it is

also the largest markets for energy exports, education and tourism -

Bloomberg reports that Australia's is the most China-reliant economy in the

developed world.

On Monday, Australian foreign minister, Marise Payne cautioned China against

attempts at "economic coercion".

Payne said in a statement on Monday that Australia had made a "principled

call" for an independent review of the Covid-19 outbreak which first emerged

in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late last year.

"We reject any suggestion that economic coercion is an appropriate response

to a call for such an assessment, when what we need is global cooperation,"

Payne said in the statement.

CORONAVIRUS | UN WARNS OF A 'HUMAN RIGHTS DISASTER'

The UN rights chief warned on Monday that countries flouting the rule of law

in the name of fighting the novel coronavirus pandemic risk sparking a

"human rights disaster".

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called on countries

to refrain from violating fundamental rights "under the guise of exceptional

or emergency measures".

"Emergency powers should not be a weapon governments can wield to quash

dissent, control the population, and even perpetuate their time in power,"

she warned in a statement. "They should be used to cope effectively with the

pandemic - nothing more, nothing less."

Ms. Bachelet acknowledged that states have the right to restrict some rights

to protect public health, but she insisted that any restrictions should be

necessary, proportionate and non-discriminatory, and also limited in

duration.

"There have been numerous reports from different regions that police and

other security forces have been using excessive, and at times lethal, force

to make people abide by lockdowns and curfews," she said, lamenting that

"such violations have often been committed against people belonging to the

poorest and most vulnerable segments of the population".

"Shooting, detaining, or abusing someone for breaking a curfew because they

are desperately searching for food is clearly an unacceptable and unlawful

response. "So is making it difficult or dangerous for a woman to get to

hospital to give birth." "In some cases, people are dying because of the

inappropriate application of measures that have been supposedly put in place

to save them," Ms. Bachelet said.

She also decried the mass arrests in some countries over curfew violations

as "both unnecessary and unsafe."

Ms. Bachelet also insisted that any exceptional measures or state of

emergencies introduced in the name of fighting COVID-19 should be subject to

proper parliamentary, judicial and public oversight to avoid abuses.

NEW ZEALAND EASES LOCKDOWN

On Tuesday, New Zealand began to gradually emerge from its tight lockdown.

The country says it has stopped community transmission of Covid-19,

effectively eliminating the virus.

Lowering its alert level from four to three means that some non-essential

business, healthcare and schools were able to resume this morning.

Around 400,000 people headed back to work, some schools and childcare

facilities are open, and people are allowed to get takeout food again.

New Zealand, partly thanks to its isolation and easily-closed borders,

managed to contain the virus early on.

It has reported fewer than 1,500 confirmed or probable cases of coronavirus

and 19 deaths have been linked to it.

BILL GATES'S CORONAVIRUS VACCINE COULD BE READY IN 12 MONTHS

Billionaire Bill Gates's foundation will focus all of its resources on

fighting the coronavirus, according to the Financial Times.

The philanthropist and founder of Microsoft Corp. said that the Bill &

Melinda Gates Foundation, with an endowment exceeding $40 billion, will give

"total attention" to the pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 and is

roiling economies around the world, he said in an interview with the

newspaper.

"You're going to have economies with greatly reduced activity levels for

years," Gates said. The pandemic could cost the global economy "tens of

trillions of dollars," he said in the interview.

The foundation has contributed $250 million to help counter the coronavirus

and is re-purposing units dedicated to fighting other diseases to join in

the battle against the pandemic.

"We've taken an organization that was focused on HIV and malaria and polio

eradication, and almost entirely shifted it to work on this," he told the

FT.

Gates also defended the World Health Organization against accusations from

U.S. President Donald Trump that the body had mishandled the virus response.

"WHO is clearly very, very important and should actually get extra support

to perform their role during this epidemic," Gates said. He said he doesn't

believe Trump will follow through on his threat to withdraw funding for the

WHO.

WE'LL COOPERATE, RECONVENE PARLIAMENT: SRI LANKAN OPPOSITION

Seven Opposition parties in Sri Lanka have urged President Gotabaya

Rajapaksa to reconvene Parliament, pledging "responsible cooperation" to his

government in fighting the COVID-19.

Assuring citizens that they would not draw salaries, attempt to defeat the

government or thwart any of the "legitimate actions of the government", the

party leaders said in a joint statement on Monday: "As members of the

dissolved Parliament, we are duty bound to fulfil our obligations to resolve

this crisis in a spirit of responsible cooperation extended to the

President."

Political sources said the statement was handed over to Mr. Rajapaksa's

office. He is yet to comment.

U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI ENDORSES JOE BIDEN FOR PRESIDENT

U.S. House Of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has endorsed Joe Biden

for president, joining a list of top Democrats, who have recently thrown

their support behind the former vice-president.

Ms. Pelosi's endorsement of the Democratic presidential candidate follows

that of U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, former president

Barack Obama and former vice-president Al Gore, who all threw their weight

behind Mr. Biden earlier this month.

In a video statement released on Monday, Ms. Pelosi cited Mr. Biden's

experience in government, including his role in passing the Affordable Care

Act, as an evidence of his leadership qualities. She said Mr. Biden is

well-positioned to lead the country amid the ongoing coronanvirus outbreak.

"As we face coronavirus, Joe has been a voice of reason and resilience, with

a clear path to lead us out of this crisis," Ms. Pelosi said in her

endorsement.