Tourists gather at a waterfront pavilion at the West Lake in Hangzhou in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. Millions of Chinese tourists usually would use their week-long National Day holidays to travel abroad. This year, travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic mean that some 600 million tourists – about 40% of the population – will travel within China during the holiday that began Thursday, according to Ctrip, China’s largest online travel agency.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards puts his face mask back on at the conclusion of a press conference at Louisiana State Police Training Academy, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020, in Baton Rouge, La. Edwards says the state will ease various restrictions on public gatherings aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 — but he’s withholding details for a day. Edwards said Thursday that Louisiana will move to “Phase Three” of restrictions after current restrictions expire Friday.
An elderly woman pets a goat named Jurem at the “Casa de Repouso Laços de Ouro” nursing home in Sepetiba, Brazil, Thursday, Oct.1, 2020. The Golias organization brought the animals, who they rescued from abandonment, to provide a little relief from the isolation many elderly people feel, cut off from friends and family due to fear of contagion from the new coronavirus.
A woman wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus carries her child while shopping for grocery at a shopping mall in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. Thursday’s new COVID-19 infections made it the second highest increase since the recovery movement control order (MCO) phase began on June 9.
A Muslim women wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus measures her temperature at a shopping mall in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. Thursday’s new COVID-19 infections made it the second highest increase since the recovery movement control order (MCO) phase began on June 9.
FILE – In this July 30, 2020 file photo, Kai Hu, a research associate transfers medium to cells, in the laboratory at Imperial College in London. Imperial College is working on the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. An ambitious humanitarian project to deliver coronavirus vaccines to the world’s poorest people is facing potential shortages of money, cargo planes, refrigeration and vaccines themselves — and is running into skepticism even from some of those it’s intended to help most.
FILE – In this Sept. 24, 2020, file photo, people receive COVID-19 tests at a mobile testing center in Marseille, France. The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus eclipsed 1 million, nine months into a crisis that has devastated the global economy, tested world leaders’ resolve, pitted science against politics and forced multitudes to change the way they live, learn and work.
Healthcare workers attending to COVID-19 patients in an intensive care unit (ICU) at Na Bulovce hospital in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. A record surge of new coronavirus infections in the Czech Republic in September has been followed by a record surge of those hospitalized with COVID-19. The development has started to put the health system in the country under serious pressure for the first time since the pandemic hit Europe.
A healthcare worker attends to a COVID-19 patient in an intensive care unit (ICU) at Na Bulovce hospital in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. A record surge of new coronavirus infections in the Czech Republic in September has been followed by a record surge of those hospitalized with COVID-19. The development has started to put the health system in the country under serious pressure for the first time since the pandemic hit Europe.
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men, some wearing face masks, inspect an etrog, a citrus fruit, to determine if it is ritually acceptable as one of the four items used as a symbol on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, during the current nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic in the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem, Wednesday Sept. 30, 2020. The holiday commemorates the Israelites 40 years of wandering in the desert and a decorated hut is erected outside religious households as a sign of temporary shelter. The weeklong holiday begins on Friday.
An Indian health worker takes a nasal swab sample of a student to test for coronavirus after classes started at a college in Jhargaon village, outskirts of Gauhati, India, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. India’s Health Ministry on Wednesday raised its confirmed total of coronavirus cases to more than 6.2 million.
Passengers walk through a largely empty check-in area for American Airlines at Miami International Airport during the coronavirus pandemic, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020, in Miami. The airline industry has been decimated by the pandemic. The Payroll Support Program given to the airlines as part of the CARES Act runs out Thursday.
Yanira Villarreal, left, Ayde Choque, center, and Milenda Limachi, wearings masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic and dressed as a “Cholita” pose for a photo with their skateboards during a youth talent show in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. Young women called “Skates Imillas,” using the Aymara word for girl Imilla, use traditional Indigenous clothing as a statement of pride of their Indigenous culture while playing riding their skateboards.
Holding a toy machine gun and wearing a mask to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, a gay man perfoms for peace in front of a police car during a LGTBI Pride caravan in Asuncion, Paraguay, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. LGTBI organizations celebrated their Pride day with a caravan of vehicles because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
North Korean defector Han Hong-geun, left, and his family members pay respect to their ancestors in North Korea to celebrate the Chuseok, the Korean version of Thanksgiving Day, at Imjingak Pavilion in Paju, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. The government has discouraged people from visiting their hometowns for the Chuseok holiday amid concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.
FILE – In this Wednesday, June 24, 2020 file photo, a volunteer receives an injection at the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, Johannesburg. An ambitious humanitarian project to deliver coronavirus vaccines to the world’s poorest people is facing potential shortages of money, cargo planes, refrigeration and vaccines themselves — and is running into skepticism even from some of those it’s intended to help most.
Students bump elbows as they arrive for the first day of in-person classes at Erasmus High School in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020 in New York. The city’s plans to send kids back into classrooms rely on an ambitious plan to do random virus testing of pupils and staff throughout the school year.
Rev. Mario Carminati touches a pictures of his nephew Christian Persico, at a cemetery in Casnigo, near Bergamo, Italy, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020. As the world counts more than 1 million COVID victims, the quiet of everyday life and hum of industry has returned to Bergamo, which along with the surrounding Lombardy region was the onetime epicenter of the outbreak in Europe. But the memory of those dark winter days, and the monumental toll of dead they left behind, has remained with those who survived only to see the rest of the world fall victim, too.
Rev. Mario Carminati walks in a cemetery in Seriate, near Bergamo, Italy, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020. As the world counts more than 1 million COVID victims, the quiet of everyday life and hum of industry has returned to Bergamo, which along with the surrounding Lombardy region was the onetime epicenter of the outbreak in Europe. But the memory of those dark winter days, and the monumental toll of dead they left behind, has remained with those who survived only to see the rest of the world fall victim, too.
Pennsylvania’s new coronavirus exposure-notification app is shown on a mobile phone screen, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020, in Zelienople, Pa. The release of the app Tuesday is part of Pennsylvania’s effort to more quickly break chains of transmission by using the new technology to notify people who may have been exposed.
A medical worker wearing protective gear, waits near ambulances standing in line to deliver patients suspected of being infected with coronavirus to a hospital for COVID-19 patients in St.Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. The number of daily new cases started to rapidly grow this month in Russia, which had earlier lifted most of the virus-related restrictions and resumed air traffic with several countries.
Seniors pet a goat named Jurema at the “Casa de Repouso Laços de Ouro” nursing home in Sepetiba, Brazil, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. The Golias organization brought the animals, who they rescued from abandonment, to provide a little relief from the isolation many elderly people feel, cut off from friends and family due to fear of contagion from the new coronavirus.
An elderly woman reaches out to pet a horse named Tony at the “Casa de Repouso Laços de Ouro” nursing home in Sepetiba, Brazil, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. The Golias organization brought the animals, who they rescued from abandonment, to provide a little relief from the isolation many elderly people feel, cut off from friends and family due to fear of contagion from the new coronavirus.
People wearing masks and face shields wait for their turn to pick up student electronic tablets as online classes are scheduled to start next week in the Dona Rosario High School in Quezon city, Philippines, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. Public schools will hold online classes using electronic gadgets and educational materials provided to students as the opening got delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
MANILA, Philippines — Two of the most popular Philippine tourist destinations, including the Boracay beach, have partially reopened with only a fraction of their usual crowds showing up given continuing coronavirus restrictions.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said Friday that 35 local tourists, including seven from Manila, came on the first day of the reopening of Boracay, a central island famous for its powdery white sands, azure waters and stunning sunsets. Only local tourists from regions with low-level quarantine designations could go, subject to safeguards, including tests showing a visitor is coronavirus-free.
The mountain city of Baguio, regarded as a summer hideaway for its pine trees, cool breeze and picturesque upland views, has been reopened to tourists only from its northern region, she told ABS-CBN News.
Despite the urgent need to revive the tourism industry, it’s being done “very slowly, cautiously,” she said, adding mayors and governors would have to approve the reopening of tourism spots. “We really have to be careful,” she said.
Like in most countries, the pandemic has devastated the tourism industry in the Philippines, which now has the most confirmed COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia at more than 314,000, with 5,504 deaths.
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK: