Good morning.
We’re covering the next phase in Japan’s coronavirus efforts, flaws in the Kremlin’s ambitious plan to help doctors and how our reporter felt after finally sending his children back to school in Sydney.
Japan lifts its state of emergency Restrictions on Tokyo and the northern island of Hokkaido were lifted on Monday, ending the last measures that were put in place. Japan entered a new phase of its pandemic response.
The next steps will focus on avoiding a resurgence, as happened after Japan partially lifted the state of emergency a few weeks ago. The restrictions imposed in Tokyo were more successful than anticipated, defying predictions that the densely populated capital would experience a catastrophe.
“We need to make a new normal. Let’s change our thinking,” said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he announced the shift. He called on the public to keep taking actions that will curb the spread of the virus, warning, “We can’t continue to live and work in the way we’ve done until now.”
Context: The measures were lifted for most of the rest of the country earlier this month after a drop in the number of new coronavirus cases.
By the numbers: As of Sunday, the country had recorded 16,500 coronavirus cases nationwide and 830 deaths, which rank among the lowest mortality rates in major economies.
Here are the latest updates and maps of where the virus has spread.
In other developments:
Dominic Cummings, a top adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is fending off calls to resign after admitting to driving more than 250 miles with his wife, who was ill, and son while Britain was under lockdown.
India’s airlines restarted domestic flights on Monday, with temperature checks in place and no food served on flights.
Americans looking to enjoy summer on the heels of the Memorial Day weekend were confronted by the difficulties of how to gather during the pandemic as the country inched closer to the terrible milestone of 100,000 deaths.
The U.S. added Brazil to a list of countries from which travel is banned. The country has more than 350,000 infections and more than 22,500 deaths.
The virus is threatening the Chinese tradition of sharing food with chopsticks: The government has asked people to use a second set of serving chopsticks rather than sharing food with their own set and spreading germs. It’s what state news agencies are calling a “dining table revolution.”
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Putin’s bonus for doctors goes awry President Vladimir Putin’s promise of cash bonuses for the doctors and nurses leading Russia’s battle with the coronavirus has turned into a bureaucratic mess, with some medical workers getting visits from the security services rather than money.
The promise of up to $1,100 a month was meant to showcase Mr. Putin’s proudest achievement — the revitalization of the Russian state after the chaos of the 1990s.
A month after the pledge, though, Mr. Putin said that 29 regions have ignored his order and that less than half of medical workers nationwide had received the money he had promised.
Quotable: “The diagnosis is obvious,” said Dmitri Drize, a Moscow-based human rights lawyer. “Officials have forgotten how to make decisions on their own. And this disease is worse than the coronavirus.”
Background: With more than 350,000 cases, Russia is the third most infected country after the United States and Brazil. Mr. Putin’s approval rating has taken a beating over the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis. Many observers, however, expect the president to bounce back, albeit in a weakened position.
If you have 3 minutes, this is worth it Back-to-school lessons from Sydney
As Australia’s infection rates decline, a milestone came on Monday when children were sent back to school in parts of the country. Damien Cave, our Sydney bureau chief, wrote about being overjoyed (“if my wife and I could have popped champagne at 8 a.m. we would have”) even though watching parents with masks gave him a sense of a changed normal life.
“What have we learned? Honestly, less about school than ourselves,” he wrote. “Our children said they were surprised to discover how hard their parents worked. I come away with a deeper understanding of my children as students.”
Here’s what else is happening New Zealand quake: A magnitude-5.8 earthquake struck Monday while Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was giving a live television interview, but it did not cause major damage nor did it disrupt Ms. Ardern’s calm demeanor.
In Memoriam: Hana Kimura, a Japanese professional wrestler who starred in the Netflix reality series “Terrace House: Tokyo,” has died. She was 22. The cause of her death remained unknown.
Snapshot: Above, people enjoying a night out at a restaurant in Málaga, Spain, over the weekend. In a new phase of reopening across Europe, pools, hotels and restaurants are back in business and preparing for the summer. But tourism is unlikely to look the same for a long time.
What we’re looking at: The poppy field cams on the California Department of Parks and Recreation website and virtual tours of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. For when you “long for the outside world,” writes Jenna Wortham, a Times Magazine staff writer.
Now, a break from the news
Cook: Momofuku’s Bo Ssam, a slow-roasted pork shoulder served with lettuce, rice and a raft of condiments. Our Food editor, Sam Sifton, calls it “a gift to the world” in his weekly roundup of cooking ideas.
Watch: The Cannes film festival was canceled this year because of the pandemic, but our critics singled out some highlights from past competitions, and a few less-than-stellar prizewinners.
Do: Travel-themed board games are about more than winning. Here’s a list of all sorts of travel games inspired by landmarks, train rides and hotels.
Look: With museums closed, coffee-table books bring the art to you, including works from Gerhard Richter and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
There are many more ideas on what to read, cook, watch and do while staying safe at home in our At Home section.
And now for the Back Story on … Coronavirus and climate disasters The U.S. government’s annual Atlantic region hurricane forecast came out on Thursday, and it’s worrisome. A typical hurricane season has 12 named storms. This year’s season — which could start any day now — is expected to have between 13 and 19, according to the forecast.
To get ready for hurricane season, Christopher Flavelle, a Times reporter who covers the climate, recently called Samantha Montano, a professor of emergency management at the University of Nebraska, Omaha. He asked her what was making local officials nervous this year. Her answer: The effect that the coronavirus will have on the volunteers who normally respond to storms.
The U.S. disaster response system relies heavily on volunteers, and many won’t be able to fly to disaster zones, Christopher says. Those who do go will have a harder time interacting with people. “Volunteers do everything,” Dr. Montano told him — handing out donations, moving debris off the roads, repairing houses, helping survivors navigate state and federal aid programs. “Every single task we do in emergency management involves volunteers,” she said.
Christopher then began calling major volunteer organizations and heard deep anxiety from them. He describes that anxiety in an article that talks about the many ways that the virus is undermining other kinds of disaster response. “The story that emerged made me think of an aging sedan, its parts failing in sequence,” he said. “And we keep trying to make it go faster.”
That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.
— Melina and Carole
Thank you
To Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh for the break from the news. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.
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