Officials in Cameroon are calling on citizens to stop attacks on foreigners and visitors from the diaspora who are being blamed for an increase in coronavirus cases.  The attacks began after some passengers on an Air France flight that landed in Cameroon last week ignored a quarantine order.  

Forty-three-year-old businessman Ferdinand Muffo Che says he has been victim of regular attacks and harassment since he returned to Yaounde from Milan, Italy through France on March 17.  

He says residents of Ekounou, the neighborhood where he lives, accuse him of being a healthy carrier infecting people with COVID-19. 

“I do not see why my own country where I was born will reject me because I have been out. The coronavirus is a problem that concerns the whole world,” he said.

Che is one of 198 passengers of an Air France flight that landed at the Douala International airport on March 17. The government ordered all of its passengers to be isolated in hotels for at least 15 days.  

Instead, many of them escaped to their homes, provoking the anger of some Cameroonians. 

On the streets of Yaounde, attacks and insults on people identified as foreigners, especially whites and Chinese, have increased sharply in the last week.  

The U.S. Embassy in Yaounde has reported a rise in verbal and online harassments, stone throwing and banging of vehicles occupied by expatriates. 

Spreading misinformation

Ebenezer Mukete, 29, says he is among those who joined the attacks.  

He alleges that COVID-19 was created by either the U.S. or China for commercial purposes and unfortunately, developed into a health crisis.  There is no scientific evidence to support his allegation. 

“They create the so called pandemic, and they come and inflict{spread} in Africa,” he said. “When you listen to the French president, he says France is at war, American president comes out and says America is at war. Let them fight their war not in Africa. The minister of public health is telling us that the cases are from abroad. Whites coming to transmit it to Cameroonians, so let them go away. We do not have any other choice than to attack them.” 

Cameroon health minister Manaouda Malachie has called on the population to stop the attacks.  

He adds that everyone should respect measures put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19. 

He says people who came in from Europe, China and America before Cameroon closed its borders should not be stigmatized, but that they as well as any other Cameroonian who has cold, severe respiratory syndrome, runny nose, cough, sore throat and tiredness, should contact the nearest hospital. He says those who are running from isolation should know that they may be putting the lives of their families and communities in danger and that they will be treated free of charge if tested positive. 

Confirmed cases

Cameroon confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on February 6.  On Monday, officials said the number of confirmed cases had increased to 40, with a majority of them imported. Seven are Cameroonians infected by their relatives who came from Europe. 

In an effort to stop the spread of the virus, Cameroon last week closed all its borders and suspended issuance of visas into the country until further notice. 

Source: VOA

China has registered 78 new cases of coronavirus infection, most of them imported from abroad, sparking concerns about a second wave of infections in the country.

The Chinese National Health Commission said on Tuesday that of the 78 individuals, 74 had arrived from overseas, the highest since the beginning of March, when officials began reporting imported cases, and almost double the figure for Monday.

The commission said only one of the four local transmissions had taken place in Wuhan, where the new deadly virus first emerged late last year and afflicted the most people. The infection on Monday was the first new case in the city in nearly a week.

Also on Monday, seven more people died, all of them in Wuhan, the commission added.

China is believed to have brought the country’s coronavirus outbreak under control, but there is now growing anxiety about an influx of new infections coming in from nations grappling with the beginning of their own epidemics.

More than 381,000 people worldwide have been infected and over 16,500 have died of the viral disease, according to a running tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.

China has so far recorded over 81,000 infections, and 3,277 deaths.

Chinese state media warned of a second wave of infections on Tuesday.

“Inadequate quarantine measures” mean a second wave of infections is “highly likely, even inevitable,” the Global Times daily warned on its front page.

South Korea records 76 new cases

In South Korea, which has the second highest number of infections in Asia after China, 76 new coronavirus cases were reported on Tuesday, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 9,037.

The death toll from the coronavirus epidemic in South Korea also increased to 120 after the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported that two more people had died of the disease.

Despite a declining trend, Health Ministry official Yoon Tae-ho said that authorities “cannot assess the occurrence of a pandemic or an explosion of cases through the number of confirmed patients for one day,” nor can they be optimistic about the outbreak coming to an end.

A peak of 909 new infections had been recorded in South Korea on February 29.

In Italy, ‘light at the end of the tunnel’

Meanwhile, Italy, which turned into the new epicenter of the pandemic last week, reported 601 new deaths and 4,789 new infections on Monday, marking a second successive drop in daily tallies.

The top medical officer for Milan’s devastated Lombardy region appeared on television smiling for the first time in many weeks.

“We cannot declare victory just yet,” Giulio Gallera said. “But there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

Italy’s National Health Institute (ISS) chief Silvio Brusaferro was more guarded.

“These are positive numbers but I do not have the courage to firmly state that there is a downward trend,” Brusaferro told reporters.

The Italian government has imposed a lockdown nationwide to contain the virus, which has killed more than 6,000 people in the country in a month.

In Spain, elderly people found dead, abandoned in retirement homes

Meanwhile, soldiers deployed to help fight the new coronavirus outbreak in Spain — Europe’s second hardest-hit country — found elderly patients abandoned and sometimes dead in retirement homes.

The military has been charged with helping disinfect retirement homes in Spain, where dozens of coronavirus deaths have been recorded.

“The army, during certain visits, found some old people completely abandoned, sometimes even dead in their beds,” Defense Minister Margarita Robles said in an interview with private television channel Telecinco.

The general prosecutor announced that an investigation had been launched into the matter.

Spain’s Health Ministry said on Monday that the death toll had reached 2,182, following the deaths of 462 people within 24 hours.

Amid the surge in fatalities, a spokeswoman for Madrid city hall told AFP that an ice rink at the Palacio de Hielo (Ice Palace) shopping center in the city had been turned into a temporary morgue.

Germany reports 4,764 new cases

Germany reported 4,764 new infections on Monday, bringing the tally in the country to 27,436.

The Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases also said on Tuesday that the death toll from the outbreak had surged by 28 to 114 the day before.

Source: Presstv

The US surgeon general issued his starkest warning to date on Monday about the health risk posed by the coronavirus outbreak, warning Americans that the crisis was “going to get bad” this week.

The country’s top public health official, Surgeon General Jerome Adams, sounded the alarm as nearly one-third of Americans awoke to “stay at home orders.”

As of Sunday night, states with a population totaling more than 100 million people have imposed restrictions to curtail the virus, which has infected nearly 35,000 people and killed 428 in the United States, putting the country on a track similar to those of devastated European countries such as Italy and Spain.

“This week it’s going to get bad,”  Adams told NBC’s “Today” show, saying there were more people out to see Washington’s famed annual cherry blossoms than there were blossoms. “This is how the spread is occurring. Everyone needs to be taking the right steps right now: stay home.”

Trump imposed a 15-day national action plan a week ago urging Americans to follow the direction of the “stay at home” orders of state and local officials.

At the same time, he has also been far more optimistic than health experts have been about the prognosis for the outbreak while also voicing concern about the negative effect of shutting down wide swathes of the economy.     

“We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself,” Trump tweeted in all capital letters overnight. “At the end of the 15-day period, we will make a decision as to which way we want to go.”

Also on Monday, the US Federal Reserve mounted an extraordinary new array of programs to offset the disruptions to the economy caused by the outbreak, backstopping an unprecedented range of credit for households, small businesses and major employers.

Congress meets

Congress was trying to address concerns over the economy, which is forecast to shrink as a result of emergency measures. US Senate Democrats and Republicans were working on an economic relief bill, aware that failure to strike a deal could trigger further heavy losses in US stock markets.

The Senate was due to reconvene at noon ET (1600 GMT) to consider the bill, which Democrats argue favors corporate interests at the expense of healthcare workers, hospitals and state and local governments. Republicans in turn accused them of obstructing a badly needed stimulus in the midst of a national emergency.

Independent experts have suggested far more than 15 days will be needed to halt the spread.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy on Monday called on the federal government to do more to provide personal protective equipment, noting that all states “are all out looking for the same thing” in competition with each other. ”We need a lot more,” Murphy told CNN. “Anything they could do is going to make a huge difference.” Murphy reiterated his call for the federal government to collectively provide $100 billion in direct cash assistance to New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

Trump on Sunday defended his decision to hold off using his powers under the Defense Protection Act to ramp up supplies, telling reporters at a news conference that nationalizing businesses “is not a good concept.”

Murphy noted that on one day last week 15,000 New Jersey residents applied for unemployment benefits, crashing the state’s computer systems. ”We need the feds to come in a big way to help us,” Murphy said. “Folks are hurting.”

The first of two US military hospital ships was dispatched on Monday to boost hospital bed capacity as the number of US coronavirus cases swells.    

The US Naval Ship Mercy departed San Diego with nearly 900 staff on board to take on non-coronavirus patients and allow local personnel to manage those on shore with the virus, the Pentagon said in statement. Trump on Sunday said the Mercy would be dispatched to Los Angeles while the USNS Comfort would go to New York.

(Source: Reuters)

Cases of infection with the new coronavirus continue to surge throughout the world, and restrictions put in place by governments to contain the pandemic have confined one billion people to their homes in different countries.

The following are the latest on the coronavirus epidemic around the globe.

As many as 300,000 infections have been confirmed across the globe while the number of worldwide fatalities has exceeded 13,000.

Italy, the world’s hardest hit country, recorded a jump in its death tally from the viral infection on Saturday. Fatalities jumped by 793 to 4,825 in the largest one-day rise since the contagion emerged in Italy a month ago.

Confirmed cases of infection also rose to 53,578 from 47,021, the Civil Protection Agency said Sunday.

Cuban doctors, nurses rush to help fight virus in Italy

Italy requested Cuba to send a brigade of doctors and nurses to its worst-hit northern region of Lombardy, which, according to health officials, remains in a critical condition with 3,095 deaths and 25,515 cases.

Cuba sent a team of 36 doctors, 15 nurses, and a logistic expert to the country on Saturday night.

Cuba has already sent “armies of white robes” in recent days to combat the spread of the virus to several countries, including Venezuela, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Suriname, and Grenada.

But this was the first time Cuba was sending an emergency contingent to a European country.

Cuban doctors were in the front lines in the fight against cholera in Haiti and against the Ebola epidemic in West Africa in the 2010s.

The country has 8.2 doctors for every 1,000 people, one of the highest rates in world, according to the World Bank.

Russia sending military medics to Italy

The Russian army is also sending medical help to Italy on Sunday, after receiving an order from President Vladimir Putin, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

The ministry said military transport planes would deliver eight mobile brigades of military medics, special disinfection vehicles, and other medical equipment to Italy.

Putin offered his support and help to Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte during a phone call on Saturday, the Kremlin said.

Russia itself has reported one death and 306 infections, most of them in Moscow.

Spain: Worst yet to come

The coronavirus death toll in Spain, meanwhile, reached 1,326 on Saturday, from 1,002 the day before, and the number of infected people rose to 24,926, from 19,980.

The Spanish government, however, warned that “the worst is yet to come,” but promised to do whatever was needed to combat the epidemic.

A total of 5,000 people have so far died of the infection across Europe, with Italy, Spain, and Germany reporting steep rises in both infections and deaths.

UK predicts jump in numbers

In the United Kingdom, a total of 5,018 have been infected with the virus, while 233 patients have succumbed to the disease.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that Britain’s National Health Service could be “overwhelmed” by the virus like Italy’s health system in just two weeks.

“The numbers are very stark, and they are accelerating. We are only a matter of weeks – two or three – behind Italy,” he said.

Increase in US cases as widespread shutdowns enforced

In America, 26,900 people have tested positive and 348 people have died of the novel coronavirus.

Almost 1 in 4 Americans were obliged to close up shop and stay at home on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Republican and Democratic leaders are still working on reaching a deal to pump over $1 trillion into the economy on top of the hundreds of billions of dollars in fiscal and monetary stimulus that have already been used to support the world’s largest economy.

China sees rise in imported cases

China, where the virus first emerged in December last year, said the imported cases of the disease continued to rise.

The National Health Commission reported 46 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday.

China has drastically reduced the number of locally transmitted cases. After four consecutive days of zero such cases, health officials reported the first local transmission on Saturday.

The latest figures bring mainland China’s total cases to 81,054, with 3,261 deaths, including six on Saturday.

The central province of Hubei, where the outbreak first emerged, reported its fourth straight day of no new cases.

North Korea says Trump offered help

North Korea said on Saturday that the US had offered cooperation in the country’s fight against the pandemic.

US President Trump “expressed his intent to render cooperation in the anti-epidemic work, saying that he was impressed by the efforts made by the Chairman to defend his people from the serious threat of the epidemic,” the North’s official news agency, KCNA, said, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

It did not say when the letter had been received.

A senior US administration official confirmed Trump had sent a letter to Kim and offered help. The official said Trump looked forward to continuing communications with the North Korean leader.

Pyongyang, which has not reported any cases of the infection, welcomed the offer, saying it was a sign of “the special and very firm personal relations” between Kim and Trump, according to KCNA.

Trump has attempted to build a relationship with Kim but has refused to lift any sanctions on North Korea. Negotiations between the two countries on demilitarization have snagged.

Two dead in Sri Lanka jail clash over coronavirus restrictions

Two prisoners in Sri Lanka’s Anuradhapura prison were killed and six others injured after fighting broke out over restrictions to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus to the facility on Saturday.

Clashes erupted between prison guards and prisoners when the inmates began to complain about a ban on visitors. Some inmates attempted to escape amid the clashes.

Police said on Sunday that the guards had opened fire to prevent the prisoners from fleeing.

Sri Lanka imposed a three-day countrywide curfew on Friday. The number of infections in the country stands at 77. Sri Lanka’s prisons are overcrowded, sometimes reportedly housing 5,000 inmates in a facility capable of holding only 800.

India launches 24-hour curfew

The fast-spreading coronavirus prompted India to launch a 14-hour curfew on Sunday, in a crucial test of its abilities to fight the pandemic.

India has reported 315 infections so far.

Malaysia traces worshipers, deploys army to enforce ban on movements

Malaysia says authorities are tracing thousands of worshipers who attended a four-day mass religious event at a mosque near the capital, Kuala Lumpur, at the end of last month.

The government said the religious event was connected to 60 percent of all the 1,183 cases in the country.

Officials said on Thursday that they had yet to trace 4,000 of the 14,500 Malaysian residents who attended the mosque.

The government has also enforced a two-week ban on travel and movements, starting on Wednesday. It said army force would be deployed to help police enforce the ban.

Malaysia has the highest number of infections in Southeast Asia, which has a total of more than 3,000 cases.

Indonesia reports more deaths

The Indonesian Health Ministry on Sunday updated the new number of coronavirus infections and deaths in the country to 64 and 10 respectively, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 514 and the fatality count to 48.

Death toll exceeds 1,680 in Iran

Iranian Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on Sunday that 1,028 new coronavirus cases had been diagnosed within the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infected individuals to 21,638.

“With 129 new deaths in the past 24 hours, the death toll from the virus has reached 1,685,” he said.

Jahanpour further put the number of patients who have recovered from the viral disease at 7,913.

Jordan deploys troops, armored vehicles amid curfew

In the Middle East, Jordan started a nationwide curfew “until further notice” on Saturday, warning its 10 million citizens to stay indoors.

“Anyone going outside will be subjecting themselves to punishment,” Justice Minister Bassam Talhouni told Jordan’s al-Mamlaka news channel.

Thousands of soldiers and armored vehicles have been deployed inside cities and on main highways across the country, according to witnesses.

Jordan has closed land and sea border crossings with Syria, Iraq, and Egypt, and suspended all incoming and outgoing flights since Tuesday.

Coronavirus cases in Jordan have risen to 99, including 15 new cases identified on Saturday.

Kuwait orders partial curfew

Meanwhile, Kuwait has ordered a partial curfew starting Sunday evening till early Monday morning.

The decision was made due to “some manifestations of non-compliance with precautionary measures,” Deputy Prime Minister Anas al-Saleh said.

Those who violate the curfew could face up to three years in jail or fines of up to 32,157 dollars.

The Kuwait National Guard will aid police in imposing the curfew.

The Persian Gulf country has reported 176 cases of infection.

Kuwait has taken some of the most drastic steps in the region, including the closure of schools and universities until August.

Coronavirus spreading in Africa

The coronavirus continues to spread across Africa, with more than 1,000 confirmed cases across the continent so far, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Eritrea and Uganda reported their first cases on Sunday, while Mauritius confirmed its first death, with 14 cases of infection so far.

South Africa, which has the most cases in sub-Saharan Africa, reported a total of 240 infections on Saturday.

Health experts have been concerned that Africa will not be able to handle a surge in cases due to the lack of medical facilities.

Source: Presstv

Africa’s cases of the coronavirus rose above 1,000 on Saturday while two heads of state appeared to defy their own travel restrictions to attend another president’s inauguration.

Angola announced its first cases, meaning at least 40 of Africa’s 54 countries are now affected. Congo reported its first death; Burkina Faso reported two new ones. Somalia said it was lifting its ban on international flights for two days so stranded citizens could come home. And Ethiopia’s electoral authorities discussed the virus’ effect on a major national election later this year.

Angola closed its air, land and sea borders this week, but Namibian media showed Angola’s President Joao Lourenco at the inauguration of Namibian President Hage Geingob. Also in attendance was President Mokgweetsi Masisi of neighboring Botswana, which this week suspended international travel by all government employees.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa also was there. He announced a national disaster even before his country confirmed its first virus case on Friday. On Saturday, his country announced the first case in the capital, Harare.

Burkina Faso now has the most virus deaths of any country in sub-Saharan Africa. The West African nation has one of the highest caseloads on the continent with 64.

Several government ministers in Burkina Faso have tested positive, including the minister of foreign affairs. On Friday, President Roch Marc Christian Kabore announced the country’s two international airports would close for two weeks with the exception of military and cargo.

Burkina Faso is one of Africa’s most fragile states with a growing humanitarian crisis caused by attacks linked to Islamic extremists. More than 130 health centers have closed, affecting more than 1.5 million people, the government and aid groups say.

Insufficient screenings

According to a government response plan seen by The Associated Press, emergency teams aren’t trained for a respiratory disease outbreak and don’t have appropriate protective gear.

There’s also insufficient screening at borders. None of Burkina Faso’s 44 high-flow entry points have the needed personal protective equipment, and only 23% have coronavirus screening devices.

Jerry-Jonas Mbasha, cluster coordinator for the World Health Organization in Burkina Faso, said he was “much worried about what might happen in the next one week, two weeks from now.”

Most people only experience minor flu-like symptoms from the coronavirus and recover within a few weeks, but the virus is highly contagious and can be spread by those who appear well. It can cause severe illness, including pneumonia, in some patients, particularly those with underlying health problems.

More than 275,000 cases have been confirmed globally, including over 11,000 deaths, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. At least 88,000 people have recovered.

In Nigeria, which just three weeks ago announced the first coronavirus case in sub-Saharan Africa, authorities said that first patient, a man who had traveled from Italy, was now fit to go home. Meanwhile, Africa’s most populous country said it now had cases in the capital, Abuja.

In Kenya, health officials continued to disinfect crowded markets in the capital, Nairobi, trying to stop the virus’ spread.

“It’s for the sake of us, it’s for the sake of the country,” said Simon Kimani, public health council chairman.

Source: AP

The Spanish government said on Saturday it would do whatever was needed to combat the coronavirus pandemic and warned that “the worst is yet to come” after the national toll surpassed 1,300 deaths and reached close to 25,000 cases.

The second-worst outbreak in Europe showed no sign of slowing as the death toll jumped by more than 300 from the previous day. Intensive care units are filling up in some hospitals.

“We have yet to receive the impact of the strongest, most damaging wave, which will test our material and moral capacities to the limit, as well as our spirit as a society,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told a news briefing on Saturday.

Sanchez said Spain had not lived through such a dramatic situation since its 1936-39 civil war, in which around half a million people died. Drawing parallels to a war economy, he said his government was working on plans to produce in Spain the equipment needed to battle coronavirus, such as masks.

His leftist government a week ago declared a 15-day state of emergency nationwide barring people from all but essential outings. Sanchez praised the “exemplary” response and said he had no plans to strengthen the restrictions, which he called the toughest in Europe.

The prime minister also made no mention of extending the state of emergency, though he warned of tough weeks ahead.

Spain’s death toll jumped to 1,326 from 1,002 the day before, according to Health Ministry data released on Saturday. The number of cases rose to 24,926 from 19,980.

The death rate from the current data is around 5%, Maria Jose Sierra, a top official at Spain’s health emergency committee, said at an earlier briefing. But she suggested the real rate is lower as testing has mostly been conducted on people in hospital, meaning there are likely far more cases.

More testing

Testing is set to increase – the government announced on Saturday it had acquired more than 640,000 testing devices and said that number could quickly reach a million. Six million more devices could also be on the way, Sanchez said.

Raquel Yotti, director of Carlos III Public Health Institute, earlier said the first devices were being distributed on Saturday and added the government was working on acquiring four robots that could bring the number of daily tests to 80,000. That would be up from 15,000-20,000 a day at the moment.

Robots are helpful as they can conduct automated testing, she said.

Authorities also said they were acquiring more medical equipment, including 700 ventilators. Around 1.3 million protective masks were distributed on Saturday across Spain for healthcare staff and patients.

There is growing concern about overcrowding at hospitals and complaints that facilities could be running short of equipment, such as masks. Some 1,612 patients are currently in intensive care units.

Ricard Ferrer, chairman of Spain’s intensive medicine society, told public television channel TVE that he expected than in eight to 10 weeks around 10,000 patients would be in intensive care units.

Ferrer said Spain had the capacity to deal with that number, but added that he hoped that from Monday the confinement measures would start having an impact on the number of cases.

On Friday evening military personnel moved patients from hospitals in Madrid to others with more space.

The military is also building a giant makeshift hospital at a conference centre in the Spanish capital and will disinfect nursing homes in Madrid, which have seen large numbers of deaths, Prime Minister Sanchez said.

Of the 17 Spanish regions, Madrid has been the worst hit, with 60% of the country’s deaths.

Source: REUTERS

Hundreds of millions of people worldwide kicked off the weekend under a coronavirus lockdown, as the global death toll accelerated sharply and the World Health Organization warned the young they were “not invincible”.

The pandemic has completely upended lives across the planet, sharply restricting the movement of huge populations, shutting down schools and businesses, and forcing millions to work from home – while many have lost their livelihoods entirely.

While President Donald Trump insisted the United States was “winning” the war against the virus, individual states dramatically ramped up restrictions, with New York and Illinois joining California in ordering residents to stay home.

The virus death toll surged past 11,000 worldwide, with 4,000 alone in worst-hit Italy where the daily number of fatalities has shot up relentlessly over the past week.

While the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions are the hardest hit by the virus, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that young people were also vulnerable.

“Today I have a message for young people: you are not invincible. This virus could put you in hospital for weeks – or even kill you,” Tedros said.

“Even if you don’t get sick, the choices you make about where you go could be the difference between life and death for someone else.”

China on Saturday reported no new local infections for a third straight day, and the WHO said the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus emerged late last year, offered a glimmer of “hope for the rest of the world”.

But there are growing concerns of a new wave of “imported” infections in the region, with Hong Kong reporting 48 suspected cases on Friday – its biggest daily jump since the crisis began. Many of them have a recent history of travel to or from Europe.

Across Europe, governments continued to rigorously enforce lockdown measures as the continent’s most celebrated boulevards and squares remained silent and empty even as warmer spring weather arrived.

Italy reported its worst single day, adding another 627 fatalities and taking its reported total to 4,032 despite efforts to stem the spread.

The nation of 60 million now accounts for 36 percent of the world’s coronavirus deaths and its death rate of 8.6 percent among confirmed infections is significantly higher than in most other countries.

France, Italy, Spain and other European countries have told people to stay at home, threatening fines in some cases, while Bavaria became the first region in Germany to order a lockdown.

Britain, falling in line with its neighbours in the European Union, also announced tougher restrictions, telling pubs, restaurants and theatres to close and promising to help cover the wages of affected workers.

US ‘hotbeds’

With virus fears gripping the United States, its largest state California – with over 1,000 cases and 19 deaths – told its 40 million residents to stay at home.

New York state, which has reported over 7,000 cases and 39 deaths, followed suit on Friday, ordering its nearly 20 million residents to do the same from Sunday evening.

Trump applauded the New York and California decisions, but said he did not think a nationwide lockdown was needed.

“Those are really two hotbeds,” he said. “I don’t think we’ll ever find (a US-wide lockdown) necessary.”

Shortly after the president spoke, the governor of Illinois ordered residents of the midwestern state to stay at home and the Connecticut governor did the same.

The restrictions so far imposed in seven states cover around 100 million people, with the country’s three most populous cities – New York, Los Angeles and Chicago – under lockdown.

Trump also announced Friday that the US and Mexico have agreed to restrict non-essential travel across their border beginning on Saturday.

Meanwhile a staffer in the office of US Vice President Mike Pence, the pointman for Washington’s response to the outbreak, tested positive for the coronavirus.

The family of country music legend Kenny Rogers, who died aged 81, said Friday they would hold a small private service “out of concern” for the virus emergency.

‘Idiots’

France said more than 4,000 people were fined on the first day of confinement and ministers described those breaking the rules as “idiots”.

The strict measures follow the template set by China, as a lockdown imposed in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, appeared to have paid off.

Europe now accounts for more than half of the world’s fatalities linked to COVID-19.

Accurate figures are difficult to come by, however, as many of those who die suffer from other illnesses and infection rates are uncertain because of a lack of testing in many countries.

The shadow of the virus is lengthening across Africa and the Middle East too.

Gabon confirmed sub-Saharan Africa’s second known death, with reported cases across Africa standing at more than 900 and rising fast.

In Iran, both supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani promised the country would overcome the outbreak – but still refused to join the rest of the world in imposing heavy restrictions.

In Latin America, Cuba and Bolivia both announced they were closing their borders, and Colombia said it would begin mandatory isolation from Tuesday.

The pandemic has sparked fears of a global recession, battering the world’s stock markets and prompting governments to push huge spending plans to limit the damage.

Rio de Janeiro’s beaches will be off-limits to sunseekers from Saturday, leaving street vendors worried how they will survive with limited government support.

“As long as I can, I will continue to come here and try to sell cocktails. I still have not thought about what I will do when it is no longer possible,” said Jorge Martins on Ipanema beach.

(AFP)

Italy’s death toll from coronavirus overtook that of China, where the virus first emerged, on Thursday as hospitals said they were being overwhelmed and the government prepared to prolong emergency lockdown measures.

A total 427 deaths were registered in Italy over the past 24 hours, bringing the total nationwide tally to 3,405 since the outbreak surfaced on Feb. 21. China has recorded 3,245 deaths since early January.

However, Italy has far fewer confirmed cases – 41,035 as of Thursday against 80,907 in China.

Officials and experts believe the total number of infections there is significantly higher, with testing largely limited to those arriving for hospital care. The country’s large, elderly population, who are particularly vulnerable to the virus, is also seen as factor for the high number of fatalities.

“We’re working in a state of very high stress and tension,” said Daniela Confalonieri, a nurse at a hospital in Milan, the capital of the wealthy northern region of Lombardy, which has been the epicentre of the epidemic.

“Unfortunately we can’t contain the situation in Lombardy. There’s a high level of contagion and we’re not even counting the dead any more,” she said.

Underscoring the scale of the drama, soldiers transported bodies overnight from the northern town of Bergamo, northeast of Milan, whose cemetery has been overwhelmed.

An army spokesman said 15 trucks and 50 soldiers had been deployed to move coffins to neighbouring provinces. Earlier local authorities had appealed for help with cremations as their own crematorium could not cope with the huge workload.

“Look at the news that’s coming out of Italy and take note of what the situation really is like. It’s unimaginable,” said the Milan nurse, Confalonieri.

Police checks

Italy went into virtual lockdown before other countries in Europe but, with cases still rising, the government is considering even tougher measures that would further restrict the limited amount of outdoor movement currently permitted.

Luca Zaia, governor of the Veneto region neighbouring Lombardy, demanded stronger curbs from Rome, including closing all shops on Sunday, and said if they were not passed, he would consider passing a regional decree.

“I hope there will soon be measures to restrict people jogging or going out for walks. I’m sorry about that, but the alternative is intensive care, hospitalisation and contagion,” he said.

At the other end of the country, in Sicily, the regional governor said the army would now help police make spot checks to ensure only people with legitimate reasons were out.

Police across Italy have stopped more than 1.2 million people over the past week and booked some 51,000 for violating the rules, the interior ministry said on Thursday.

Corriere della Sera newspaper quoted Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte as saying the government would extend the deadline on emergency rules closing schools and many businesses.

The measures currently order most shops to stay shut until at least March 25 and schools till April 3. He did not say how long schools would have to remain closed.

Education Minister Lucia Azzolina told SkyTG24 television that schools would reopen only when there was “certainty of absolute safety”, adding that the end of the school year would depend on how well online lessons went in coming weeks.

The contagion is also badly damaging Italy’s economy, which had already been on the brink of recession before the virus struck last month and the government imposed a nationwide clampdown, causing many businesses to grind to a halt.

The Treasury has announced a 25 billion euro ($26.84 billion) package of measures to support companies and workers and sources said it was considering extending guarantees on bank loans to help firms hit by a collapse in orders. ($1 = 0.9315 euros).

Source: REUTERS

Before shutdowns swept the globe and many were urged — or mandated — to stay indoors to stymie coronavirus’s spread, Divya Sonti sensed the worst was yet to come.

A specialist in public health communications, the 31-year-old encouraged her millennial peers to steer clear of bars and parties — but says “friends would think I was overreacting.”

Her age group is considered low-risk if they contract coronavirus — but today authorities warn younger generations are likely carriers of asymptomatic cases, and could easily infect older or immunocompromised people.

Deborah Birx, the White House taskforce coronavirus administrator, said “the millennial generation” could include many more virus carriers than previously thought.

She also said COVID-19 — which has infected at least 210,000 people, leaving more than 8,800 people dead worldwide — could hit younger people harder than believed, noting reports from France and Italy of serious cases even among 20 and 30-somethings.

“We need them to be healthy,” Birx said. “I’m not only calling on you to heed what’s in the guidance, but to really ensure that each and every one of you are protecting each other.”

– ‘Invincible’ –

Donald Trump also has pointed to young people, saying “we don’t want them gathering. And I see they do gather, including on beaches and including in restaurants.”

“Young people — they don’t realize, they’re feeling invincible,” said the 73-year-old president of the United States, which so far has reported more than 9,300 cases with 150 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins University count.

“Millennial” is often used as a blanket term for all young people, though the Pew Research Center defines it as those born between 1981 and 1996.

Those approximately 24 and younger are considered members of Generation Z — the group most likely to be flying south for spring break beach trips.

The Miami Beach mayor, Dan Gelber, warned of “devastating consequences” over the virus and ordered bars and gyms to close this week, telling springbreakers: “You’ve got to think about the person next to you and even the person you don’t know.”

Shelly Hill, a 21-year-old university student, told AFP she cut short her Miami trip as airlines axe flights.

“I’m not really scared of corona, but I feel like it’s causing a lot of problems… a lot of stuff is getting shut down,” the Atlanta resident said.

But “people need to be safe and quarantine, because it is spreading really fast.”

– ‘Stupid and privileged’ –

A streak of individualism runs through contemporary society, standing out most prominently among youth, according to Jean Twenge, a psychology professor and author of “Generation Me.”

Individualism has led to more equality and less prejudice, she said — along with a flippant attitude towards rules and less trust in institutions, including science.

“All of us have to realize that we’re going to have to shift our thinking,” she told AFP.

“It just might be particularly challenging for a generation that has not ever experienced a culture that needs to be more collectivistic for some really good reasons.”

Celebrities, like 18-year-old Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande, 26, have urged people to heed COVID-19 warnings.

“The ‘We will be fine because we’re young’ mindset is putting people who aren’t young and/or healthy in a lot of danger,” Grande posted recently. “You sound stupid and privileged and you need to care more about others.”

“Like now.”

– ‘Fever dream’ –

Nate Christensen has been laying low at home in New York — which closed schools and banned gatherings — for a week with his partner.

The nursing student, 30, compared attitudes towards coronavirus to those of climate change: “I think people have a hard time taking something seriously that’s not right in their backyard.”

As America’s most populated city began closing up shop over the weekend, Christensen said he “saw a lot of millennials on social media self-isolating — but many also still going to the gym, going on dates.”

“Ultimately I don’t blame people for wanting to continue living a normal life,” he said, criticizing the city’s mayor and New York’s state governor “for not acting sooner to shutter public life.”

He said his generation’s strength has been savvy use of social media to spread coronavirus risk awareness — though he said some people on his feeds, especially Trump supporters, are still touting an “invincible approach.”

“Anyone that has seen what is happening in Italy but still thinks this country will deal with the virus like any flu season is certainly living in an ‘American exceptionalism’ fever dream,” Christensen said.

“The virus is about to show just how not great this country truly is.”

Source:  AFP

German leaders on Monday urged citizens to stay home, as the government announced unprecedented nationwide measures to radically scale back public life in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Germans to cancel any holidays at home and abroad, while president Frank-Walter Steinmeier told people to “stay at home”.

The government banned gatherings in churches, mosques and synagogues and ordered non-essential shops as well as playgrounds shut.

The number of virus cases in Germany rose to 6,012 on Monday, a leap of 1,174 in 24 hours, according to the tally posted on disease control agency Robert Koch Institute’s website.

So far the country has seen 16 fatalities.

At a press conference in Berlin, Merkel said that under the new measures, “there shouldn’t be any holiday trips undertaken inside the country or outside it”.

“There have never been measures like this in our country before. They are far-reaching, but at the moment they are necessary.”

Meanwhile, Steinmeier called on Germans to “work together to ensure the virus spreads as slowly as possible”.

“So wherever possible: stay at home! Avoid close contact… and have understanding for all restrictive measures,” he said in a statement.

The sweeping restrictions aimed at “limiting social contact in public places” will leave most sites from museums to swimming pools to gyms shuttered.

But supermarkets, banks and post offices will stay open, as will pharmacies and petrol stations.

Hairdressers, construction supply stores and laundromats will also keep operating, the government said.

Restaurants and cafes can stay open, but only until 6 pm daily.

Hotels will only be used for “essential and explicitly not for tourist purposes”, the government added.

Authorities had last week ordered schools shut, and regional trains have been curtailed in a bid to reduce travel.

Germany also from Monday re-introduced checks on its borders with Austria, France, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Denmark, turning back motorists without an essential reason to enter Germany.

With most of Europe now in lockdown, and stock markets in a tailspin, Berlin on Friday promised companies “unlimited” credit to keep them afloat.

The economic package is worth at least 550 billion euros ($614 billion) initially — the biggest in Germany’s post-war history.

(AFP)