VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Spanish children have been kept indoors since 14 March, under strict measures to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Now Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez aims to relax the rule on 27 April so they can "get some fresh air".

Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau, who has young children herself, this week pleaded with the government to allow children outside.

Spain has seen more than 20,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic and almost 200,000 reported cases.

However, the main lockdown measures remain in place, with adults only allowed out to visit food shops and pharmacies or work considered essential. Children have been barred from leaving their homes completely.

Spain's eight million children have already spent five weeks confined to their homes and there has been growing unease at the risk to their health.

Other countries such as Denmark have begun opening up schools for under-11s while Norway is set to reopen kindergartens on Monday.

Germany will reopen some schools on 4 May although the most populous state will begin opening up from Monday.

Sweden has kept its schools open throughout the crisis. However, none of these countries has been as badly hit by the virus as Spain.(BBC).

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday, April 18 that Texas and Vermont will allow certain businesses to reopen on Monday, while still observing coronavirus-related precautions and Montana will begin lifting restrictions on Friday.

"We continue to see a number of positive signs that the virus has passed its peak," Trump told reporters at a daily briefing.

Some state governors have warned that they will not act prematurely to reopen their economies until there is more testing for the virus, however.

Business leaders have also told Trump the country needs to have widespread testing in place before their companies can return to normal operations.

On Saturday, Trump said "our testing is getting better and better," but offered no concrete evidence.

On Saturday morning, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York, epicenter of the U.S. epidemic, said his coronavirus-battered state, may finally be past the worst of the health crisis there.(Reuters).

British actress Jameela Jamil on Saturday kicked off an eight-hour global event of music, comedy and personal stories aimed at bringing hope and unity during the coronavirus pandemic.

Pop and classical musicians from the United States, Asia and the Middle East, all performing from their homes, appeared on the "One World: Together at Home" live stream due to run for six hours, to pay tribute to frontline workers battling the health crisis around the world.

The livestream's first hours featured the likes of British soccer star David Beckham, American R&B singer Jennifer Hudson, Hong Kong singer Eason Chan, India's Vishal Mishra and Emirati musician Hussain Al Jassmi.

That followed by a two-hour concert broadcast on Saturday night across multiple television channels and featuring stars including The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish.

The event, curated by Lady Gaga and organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the nonprofit group Global Citizen, is the biggest celebrity effort so far to mark the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 150,000 people worldwide.(Reuters).

Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) Chairman Daeng M. Faqih stressed on the criticality of support, from all elements of the nation in the fight against COVID-19, as the pandemic is expected to prolong.

"The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to last for an extended period of time. Hence, we need the support of many parties," Faqih noted in a statement in Jakarta on Saturday as quoted by Antara.

The IDI chairman pointed to the shortage of personal protection equipment (PPE), faced by medical workers while bureaucracy had hindered the distribution of the equipment, from the government to hospitals nationwide.

The IDI has received a report that cited the difficulties faced by private hospitals in obtaining PPE, as most of them were distributed to the government's referral hospitals.

To this end, the association has commended the efforts made by various parties to help medical workers in handling the outbreak.(Antara).