Countries throughout the globe are
escalating efforts to contain an outbreak of the new coronavirus that
has so far infected over 77,650 people, mainly in China.
The epicenter of the outbreak, China’s Hubei Province, had nearly 500
new confirmed cases on Monday, according to the country’s National
Health Commission (NHC), marking an increase from 398 a day earlier.
The total number of infections in China now stands at 77,658, and the
NHC said on Tuesday that it would continue strict control and
prevention measures in Hubei. This photo, taken on February 23, 2020, shows volunteers disinfecting a residential area in Wuhan, China. (By AFP)
The outbreak of the flu-like virus has spread to nearly 29 countries
and territories outside mainland China, with a death toll of about two
dozen.
Beijing warned its citizens on Monday against traveling to the United
States, saying that Chinese tourists were being treated unfairly by
American authorities due to excessive prevention measures. Trump seeks $2.5bn to fight coronavirus
US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has asked Congress for 2.5
billion dollars to “accelerate vaccine development, support preparedness
and response activities and to procure much needed equipment and
supplies,” according to the White House on Monday.
More than 1 billion dollars of the requested funding would go toward developing a vaccine.
There have been 53 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus across the
US so far — 14 in people diagnosed in the country and 39 among Americans
repatriated from the outbreak’s epicenter of Wuhan and from the Diamond
Princess cruise ship quarantined in Japan, according to the US Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
American and South Korean militaries are also considering scaling
back joint war games amid the spread of the virus in South Korea. Italy infections rise drastically to 220
Italy on Monday became the new front-line in the battle against the
virus, with 220 reported cases, a major hike from just three on Friday.
The death toll from the virus in the country stands at seven.
Italian authorities have sealed off the worst-affected towns, shut
down schools, and halted the carnival in Venice, where there were two
cases. An air transport strike planned for Tuesday in Italy has also
been delayed until further notice. Carabinieri forces block the road in Zovon, near Venice,
Italy, on February 24, 2020, amid fears over the spread of the COVID-19.
(Photo by AFP)
France blocked coach passengers coming from Milan on Monday over
concerns that one Italian on board might have be infected. However, a
French minister insisted on Monday that he saw no need to shut transport
borders between France and Italy.
Ireland also warned its citizens against traveling to the virus-hit parts of Italy. Third case detected in Spain
Reports said one Italian man had tested positive in Spain, becoming the third confirmed case in the country.
In South Korea, the number of the coronavirus infections also surged
to 893 on Tuesday, as health authorities said they planned to test more
than 200,000 members of a church at the epicenter of the outbreak in the
country.
Hong Kong’s government cautioned residents on Monday to avoid all non-essential travel to South Korea.
In Japan, 773 cases of the virus were confirmed as of late Sunday, mostly on the cruise ship quarantined near Tokyo.
In West Asia, the countries of Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Afghanistan,
and Iraq reported their first virus cases, while in Iran, 95 infections
were reported — mostly in the holy city of Qom — with 15 cases leading
to death.
Yemenis gather with flowers outside the Chinese Embassy in
the capital, Sana’a, on February 4, 2020, to express their solidarity
with people in China suffering from the coronavirus outbreak. (Photo by
AFP)
Qatar Airways, meanwhile, announced on Monday that it would ask
passengers from Iran and South Korea to remain in home isolation or a
quarantine facility for 14 days.
Airlines across the world have been suspending flights or modifying services in response to the coronavirus outbreak. WHO insists coronavirus outbreak containable
Meanwhile, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO)
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the coronavirus outbreak could
still be beaten, insisting that it was premature to declare it a
pandemic even though it had the potential to reach that level.
“The key message that should give all countries hope, courage, and
confidence is that this virus can be contained. Indeed, there are many
countries that have done exactly that,” he said during a Monday press
conference in Geneva.
“Using the word ‘pandemic’ now does not fit the facts but may
certainly cause fear,” Tedros said. “We must focus on containment while
doing everything we can to prepare for a potential pandemic.”
He further said that sudden increases of cases in South Korea, Italy,
and Iran were “deeply concerning” but for now authorities were not
witnessing an uncontrolled global spread of the virus.
“Does this virus have pandemic potential? Absolutely, it has,” Tedros added. “Are we there yet? From our assessment, not yet.”
Moreover, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also
called on countries to help prevent the epidemic from spiraling into a
crisis with “dramatic consequences” for global health and the world
economy.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (L), sitting next to
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus (R), speaks during an update on the situation regarding the
COVID-19, at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on February
24, 2020. (Photo by AFP)
Speaking to reporters during a visit to the WHO center for managing
emergencies, Guterres also called for fully funding WHO’s appeal of 675
million dollars to cover its overall response for three months.
Massive public protests taking place in Hong Kong over the past week are aimed at a new extradition law, known as the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance , that would see accused criminals extradited to mainland China to face prosecution. Hongkongers feel the law could be used to legalise the kidnapping of people who express views, and act in ways, that are not popular with the Chinese government . The same law could also be used to extradite tourists and visitors to China who are arrested on suspicion of having committed these crimes. Protesters want the bill scrapped. For now, debate of the legislation has been postponed . Organisers say one million people turned out for the protests, while police estimate the number was around 240,000. Either way, it was a significant number of Hong Kong’s 7.5 million population. Commentators on Twitter remarked on how well organised the protesters were. So, how did they do it? Protesters across the world are using n
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