(Fighting against New Coronary Pneumonia) International Observation: European Water Test "Unblocking", Cautiously Moving Forward, Multi-Country "Cloud Head" Focusing on Economic Recovery

　　China News Agency, Beijing, April 24: Question: European water test "unblock", proceed with caution, multi-country "cloud gathering", focus on economic recovery

　　China News Agency reporter Wu Xu

　　Recently, the rapid development of the new crown epidemic in Europe has been curbed, and some countries have shown positive signs of slowing down. As the epidemic entered the platform period, many countries began to consider "unblocking" and gradually resuming economic activities. However, in view of the complexity of the prevention and control situation in Europe, the lifting measures of various countries need to proceed with caution. At the same time, European countries need to coordinate their positions and allow the economy to "recover" as soon as possible.

On April 24 local time, workers at a beach club in Italy wore masks and gloves to prepare for the reopening of the resort. Italian Prime Minister Conte said that starting on May 4, the country will officially enter the second stage of anti-epidemic and restart the national economy.

Overall turning point or approaching

　　Italy and Spain are the countries with the worst epidemics in Europe. After taking corresponding measures, the inflection point momentum has emerged. The newly confirmed data of Germany, France, and Britain also declined, and the overall turning point in Europe may be approaching.

　　The latest data released by Italy on the 23rd shows that the country's epidemic situation has further improved, and the number of patients admitted to hospitals or home-based illnesses has not only declined for four consecutive days, but the number of newly cured cases on the same day exceeded the newly confirmed cases for the first time. Spain also showed signs of turning. The Spanish Ministry of Health stated that when the virus testing was increased, the number of newly diagnosed diagnoses decreased at a faster than expected rate, which indicates that the prevalence of new coronary pneumonia in Spain may be lower than expected.

　　The epidemic situation in Belgium, Germany, France, Greece, Ireland and other places has continued to ease not only as the "severe disaster area" of the epidemic, but also the number of newly confirmed cases, deaths and severe cases has continued to decline. The analysis of the German disease prevention and control agency believes that, as a whole, traces of the process of confirming the number of single-day diagnoses in Europe have shifted from rising to falling.

　　From the initial "fighting each other's hands" to the current pace of cooperative anti-epidemic gradually stabilized, the European "epidemic" measures are related to the development stage of the global epidemic of viruses, and are closely related to the national conditions of European countries. Entering the stage of stable anti-epidemic disease, some countries continue to increase testing efforts on the one hand, on the other hand, they have also begun to actively store anti-epidemic materials in preparation for the resumption of economic activities and school opening.

　　"The latest infection case data gives people cautious hope." German Chancellor Angela Merkel commented on the initial results. "Although the situation has eased, this is only a 'fragile' temporary result. We are still on thin ice."

On April 16, local time, in the intensive care unit of the Povisa Hospital in Vigo, northwestern Spain, medical staff are taking care of patients with new coronavirus.

　Try to "unblock" the water and proceed with caution

　　The slowing down of the epidemic has caused many European countries to wander between prevention and control and "unblocking". Many countries announced that they would relax their previous control measures for the epidemic.

　　The whole of Italy will be gradually reopened from May 4th, and Spain will also relax the comprehensive restrictions on youth travel from April 27th. On the other hand, Turkey, whose cumulatively diagnosed cases quickly exceeded 100,000 cases, plans to expand the "closed city" measures, and 31 provinces will implement a four-day "foot ban" from the early hours of the 23rd.

　　Some analysts pointed out that the dilemma faced by many countries is obvious: the unblocking is too fast, the medical system is unbearable; the unblocking is too slow, and the people's livelihood is unsustainable. In addition, some countries have difficulty in accurately assessing the status of the epidemic due to lack of testing capabilities. If the “unblocking” decision is made rashly without knowing the relevant data, it may cause more harm than good.

　　Therefore, in order to avoid the second wave of outbreaks, many countries have chosen a step-by-step "unblocking" approach. Germany took the first step of "unblocking" on the 20th, allowing shops under 800 square meters to reopen, and some schools will reopen in the next few weeks. The Serbian government also announced that starting from the 21st, auto repair shops, laundries, etc. can be operated normally, and construction sites can be resumed, but shopping malls, barber shops and other places are not within the scope of resumption.

　　"If the restrictive measures are relaxed too quickly, countries may face an increase in infection cases again." Ge Xijian, WHO's regional director for the Western Pacific, warned that despite the continued remission of the new crown epidemic in European countries, because of the large number of patients, newly diagnosed, The number of deaths and serious cases still reminds people not to relax.

On April 15, local time, in Barcelona, ​​Spain, during the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic, health workers expressed support to citizens in front of balconies and windows.

"Yunjushou" tries to solve the economic test questions

　　Sustained by the epidemic, the European economy is "frozen" at both ends of the supply and demand, the job market is deteriorating, and uncertainty continues to rise. At present, many European countries are planning to lift some of the epidemic prevention and control restrictions in early May, and strive to achieve a balance between anti-epidemic and economic recovery.

　　According to the latest forecast from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European economy will shrink sharply this year, and the gross domestic product (GDP) of the euro zone will shrink by 7.5%. Bol Thomson, head of the European department of the IMF, pointed out that the output of the currently closed non-critical economic sectors accounts for about one-third of the output of the European economy. The shutdown of these sectors has a great impact on European GDP.

　　The biggest shock the European economy is currently facing is the shutdown of operating and production enterprises. Some analysts believe that Europe is still in the "storm eye" of the new coronavirus pandemic, and the degree and duration of its economic recession depends on the progress of epidemic control and the progress of resumption of production.

　　From the currently announced plan, the European Central Bank and European governments have taken a series of economic stimulus measures. These measures are mainly to increase liquidity, and aim to provide support for short-term repayment of enterprises, households and individuals.

　　On the other hand, the leaders of the European Union and its member states are extremely "hearted" in restoring the economy. On the 23rd local time, the leaders of EU member states agreed to set up a large-scale "recovery fund" through the "cloud gathering" to deal with the economic impact of the epidemic.

　　But how to balance the interests of all parties in the process of revitalizing the economy has always been a challenge for the EU. Prior to this, countries such as Italy and Spain that had been severely affected by the epidemic had called for the issuance of "Euro bonds" to ease the economic pressure brought about by the epidemic, but countries with better economic conditions such as Germany and the Netherlands were relatively cautious.

　　"From the enterprise, the market to the country, the first phase of economic crisis management has already begun, and now we must work together to prepare for the lifting of the second phase," said Wanbach, head of the European Economic Research Center. (Finish)