Russia’s Routine Of Protecting Bureaucrats Undermines Efforts To Protect Citizens’ Health; Skepticism About North Korea’s Zero Cases Claim Is High

The New York Times: In Pandemic, A Remote Russian Region Orders A Lockdown — On Information
Nearly as big as California but served by only a handful of mostly decrepit Soviet-era hospitals, the remote northern Russian region of Komi is a coronavirus petri dish for the horrors lying in wait for the world’s largest country. Amid growing evidence that the pathogen had already breached Komi’s feeble defenses, the local authorities moved vigorously last week to contain the crisis: The police summoned critics of the regional government to ask how they knew about an outbreak in a hospital at a time when officials in Komi were insisting nobody had been infected. (Higgins, 4/19)

The Associated Press: North Korean Defectors, Experts Question Zero Virus Claim
As a doctor in North Korea during the SARS outbreak and flu pandemic, Choi Jung Hun didn’t have much more than a thermometer to decide who should be quarantined. Barely paid, with no test kits and working with antiquated equipment, if anything, he and his fellow doctors in the northeastern city of Chongjin were often unable to determine who had the disease, even after patients died, said Choi, who fled to South Korea in 2012. (Kim, 4/20)

The Washington Post: Nations Credited With Fast Response To Coronavirus Moving To Gradually Reopen Businesses
Several countries moved ahead or laid out plans for the gradual reopening of their economies this week, signaling cautious optimism by their governments that measures to combat the virus are working. Germany and South Korea — which have both been credited as role models in handling the outbreak in their respective regions — are slowly reversing some of the restrictions put in place weeks ago, embarking on a cautious and long path back to normality that could serve as a template for other nations. (Noack, 4/20)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Lockdowns Prompt Protests In India, Lebanon, Iraq
As more than half the people in the world hunker down under some form of enforced confinement, stirrings of political and social unrest are pointing to a new, potentially turbulent phase in the global effort to stem the coronavirus pandemic. Already, protests spurred by the collapse of economic activity have erupted in scattered locations around the world. Tens of thousands of migrant laborers stranded without work or a way home staged demonstrations last week in the Indian city of Mumbai, crowding together in defiance of social distancing rules. (Sly, 4/19)