Summary:
- Russia nears 200k cases as country celebrates 75th anniversary of Nazi defeat
- Belarus holds parade commemorating victory, with thousands bunched close together
- Spain prepares to lift lockdown on Monday for vast majority of country
- South Korea moves to contain latest cluster
- New study finds combo of 3 powerful antivirals effective at treating COVID-19 patients
* * *
After rejecting Madrid's bid to move into the next phase of the lockdown, Spain's socialist-led government is preparing to lift the most-stringent restrictions from its 2-month lockdown for most of its citizens starting Monday.
PM Pedro Sánchez pleaded with the Spanish people to take as many precautions as possible when business reopen and people pour out of their homes for the first time in months as one of the most strict lockdowns in Europe is officially wound back. Though suspicions about under-counting of cases and deaths linger, the viral tide as clearly started to wane (most of the outliers depicted in the chart below coincide with revisions).
During a speech, Sanchez said people should "take precautions as if they were infected" and called for "total caution and prudence" from those living in regions where the lockdown will be loosened. More than 50% of Spain's ~50 million population will transition out of lockdown on Monday, when restaurants and bars will be allowed to serve clients outdoors, shops selling non-essential merchandise iwll be allowed to reopen without appointment and small private gatherings of up to 10 people can be held.
However, as we mentioned above, the country's worst-hit areas (cities including Madrid and...