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)

The White House on Monday urged all older Americans to stay home and everyone to avoid crowds and eating out at restaurants as part of sweeping new guidelines meant to combat an expected surge of coronavirus cases.

President Donald Trump and the Coronavirus Task Force released the guidelines as the US government moved to try to blunt the impact of the virus, racing to bolster testing and aid even as financial markets fell and Americans scrambled to reorder their lives.

The new recommendations included: over the next 15 days, Americans should not gather in groups of more than 10 people, schooling should be at home and discretionary travel and social visits should be avoided. If anyone in a household tests positive for the virus, everyone who lives there should stay home.

“If everybody in America does what we ask for over the next 15 days, we will see a dramatic difference,” Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, said at the White House briefing.

‘Crisis could pass by July or August’

When asked when the pandemic would subside, Trump said that “if we do a really good job” the crisis could pass by July or August, a far less optimistic take than in his earlier predictions that it could be over within weeks.

“We will rally together as one nation and we will defeat the virus,” the US president added. “We can turn the corner and turn it quickly.”

Trump also, for the first time, acknowledged that the virus, which has battered the global markets, may send the nation’s economy into a recession, a potentially brutal blow for an incumbent in an election year.

He also, without providing details, said of the administration, “We’re going to back the airlines 100 percent,” a note of reassurance for an industry crippled by travel bans and fears of spreading the virus.

Trump, who adopted his most somber tone yet when discussing the crisis, acknowledged that it was “not under control” in the United States or globally, but said he did not yet plan to call for domestic travel restrictions.

The administration did not immediately define what an an older American was in terms of the recommendation to stay home.

Trump may ask military for help

On Monday Trump also said he might ask the military to help build temporary hospitals to tackle the worsening coronavirus outbreak.

Asked if the Army Corps of Engineers would build emergency hospitals, Trump said, “We’re looking into it… we’re looking into it very strongly.”

Trump also said he felt that postponements of primary elections, like those announced in Ohio, Georgia, Louisiana and Kentucky, were generally unnecessary.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said on Twitter his administration was ordering polls closed on Tuesday in defiance of a state court ruling to the contrary.

The number of known coronavirus infections and deaths in the United States has paled in comparison with hot spots of the global pandemic, such as China, Italy or Iran.

But the tally of confirmed U.S. cases has multiplied quickly over the past few weeks, surpassing 4,600 and prompting fears American hospitals might soon be overwhelmed, as Italian medical centers have been strained to the breaking point.

At least 83 people in the United States had died of the virus, as of Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University and public health agencies, with the hardest-hit state, Washington, accounting for the bulk of the fatalities, including six more announced on Monday.

Restaurants, bars, cafes and casinos closed

The unprecedented wave of closures and restrictions, which began to accelerate last week, took on fresh urgency as New Jersey “strongly discouraged” all non-essential and non-emergency travel between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m., starting on Monday.

The states of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut struck a regional agreement to close all movie theaters, casinos and gyms as of 8 p.m. Monday (0000 GMT). Restaurants and bars in the three states – where more than 22 million people live – will serve takeout and delivery only.

Officials in six San Francisco Bay Area counties on Monday ordered residents to stay at home for all but the most crucial outings until April 7. That directive came a day after California Governor Gavin Newsom urged adults older than 65, and their caretakers, to remain indoors whether or not they have underlying health conditions.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said efforts by state and local governments were insufficient to confront the coast-to-coast crisis.

“This is a national problem. It cannot be done in a piecemeal method,” Cuomo said, calling for bold action involving the military and Army Corps of Engineers to quickly create excess hospital capacity.

In the nation’s capital, Washington, a deeply divided Senate was considering a multibillion-dollar emergency spending bill requiring sick leave for some workers and expanded unemployment compensation, while the Supreme Court postponed oral arguments for the first time in over a century.

(FRANCE 24 with AP, REUTERS)

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday said South African would close its borders from Wednesday to all foreigners from countries highly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Visas will be refused to anyone who has visited a high-risk country in the last 20 days, and 35 of the country’s 53 land ports will also be shut as of Monday.

“We are imposing a travel ban on foreign nationals from high-risk countries such as Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom and China from 18 March 2020,” Ramaphosa said in an address to the nation.

The president also announced the closure of schools for around three weeks from Wednesday.

Public gatherings of more than 100 people will be been banned and mass celebrations cancelled to limit contact. 

“Given the scale and the speed at which the virus is spreading, it is now clear that no country is immune from the disease or will be spared its severe impact,” said Ramaphosa, who declared a “national state of disaster”.

To date 61 people in South Africa have tested positive for novel coronavirus — the second-highest number of cases in Africa after Egypt, which has reported 110 so far.

The number of infections more than doubled over the weekend with 37 new cases announced.

Around 50 of South Africa’s coronavirus patients had recently traveled abroad. 

Most came from Europe, the new epicenter of the virus, while others had returned from the United States and the Middle East.

But Ramaphosa suggested the latest confirmed cases had contracted the virus in South Africa.

“Initially, it was people who had traveled out of the country, especially from Italy,” he said. 

“It is concerning that we are now dealing with internal transmission of the virus.”

Sub-Saharan Africa has so far escaped the worst of the pandemic, which has infected more than 160,000 people worldwide and killed over 6,000.

The region has recorded just over 100 cases in more than 20 countries, almost all of which were imported from the West.

But numbers have been creeping up fast, prompting several African leaders to roll out measures to limit infections.

Kenya blocked entry to all except citizens and residents on Sunday as the number of confirmed cases rose to three. 

Governments across the continent have banned public gatherings, shut schools and restricted travel from areas hit by the pandemic.

South Africa’s new measures are bad news for tourism, which is a major foreign exchange earner and contributes to 10 percent of GDP.

The industry already suffered a blow after Beijing blocked overseas tours from China, where coronavirus was first detected in December.

“These losses are still going to increase,” Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane warned last week, when travel bans had not yet been implemented.

“Whatever happens, the truth of this situation is the virus will have a negative impact on the tourism sector.”

More than half the tourists that visited South Africa from overseas in December came from Europe, according to government statistics, followed by the US and Asia. 

Source: Presstv