Nations grapple with pressure as lockdowns hurt economies

Pressures mounted Sunday on governments to ease the economic pain of coronavirus lockdowns after protests from those fearing for their livelihoods, and authorities responded with a wide range of possible dates and solutions and a few emphatic “not yets.”

Shutdowns that began in China in late January and spread to Europe, the US and elsewhere have disrupted economic, social, cultural and religious life across much of the globe, plunging the world into its most painful economic slump since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Millions of workers have lost their jobs already, and many more fear that they are next.