The world is in “uncharted territory” with the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak, head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.
“Never before have we seen a respiratory illness that is capable of community transmission but which can also be contained with the right measures,” Ghebreyesus said.
“Countries can stop transmission and save lives,” he added, if they take “early, aggressive measures”.
The virus has been detected in at least 70 countries with 90,000 cases and 3,100 deaths.
Epidemic slows down in China
In China, the count of new virus cases dropped again Tuesday, with just 125 new cases after a six-week low of 202 a day earlier.
It’s still by far the hardest-hit country, with 80,151 cases and 2,943 deaths.
The EU raised its risk assessment of the outbreak on Monday, warning there is now a moderate to high risk of sustained transmission in member states and the UK in the coming weeks.
The warning comes amid a surge in cases in Europe and across the world. At an EU Commission press conference, the commissioner for health Stella Kyriakidou announced The European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) had raised the risk level, as the bloc tries to co-ordinate efforts to halt the spread of coronavirus.
The EU now has more than 2,100 confirmed cases across 18 member states, with 39 people losing their lives so far. These figures also include cases in the UK, Monaco, San Marino and Switzerland.
“The risk of widespread sustained transmission of COVID-19 in EU/EEA and UK in the coming weeks is moderate to high, with more countries expected to report more cases and clusters,” ECDC said on its website.
477 new infections in South Korea
In South Korea, coronavirus cases rose further Tuesday, with 477 new infections reported, largely in and around the southeastern city of Daegu, where many cases were clustered around a local church.
In total, 4,812 in South Korea have tested positive for the virus.
The country’s death toll rose to 28 and President Moon Jae-in, calling the outbreak “a grave situation” said his government would push to inject more than 30 trillion won (22.4 billion euros) to fund clinics, aid for small businesses and other measures related to the virus. It requires parliamentary approval.
“The entire country has entered a war against an infectious disease,” he said.
In other COVID-19 updates:
- Total cases worldwide are now 90,000, with deaths over 3,100
- Portugal confirmed its first case on Monday
- Italy remains the worst-hit country in Europe with 2,036 cases and 52 deaths
- France confirms at least 191 cases and Germany 158.
- The family of jailed British woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe suspects she has coronavirus in Iran
- The US is banning any foreign national who has travelled to Iran in the last 14 days
- Iran’s health ministry said the death toll from the virus was now 54 from 978 infections
- Wall Street had its worst week since October 2008 due to coronavirus fears
- After China, countries with the highest death toll are Iran, Italy and South Korea.
- 45,000 cases across the world have recovered from the virus
Third death confirmed in France
France confirmed its third death from COVID-19 coronavirus on Wednesday.
An 89-year-old woman died from the disease in a hospital in Compiègne, about 80 kilometres north-east of Paris. Compiègne in the region of Oise, which has seen a cluster of cases and is one of France’s worst-hit areas.
She entered the hospital with respiratory problems and a COVID-19 link was only established after death, according to Jérôme Salomon, France’s director-general of health.
Advisor to Iran’s supreme leader dies
The disease has claimed the life of one of the advisors to Iran’s supreme leader, as the country announced a spate of new cases bringing the death toll there to 66, the highest in any country after China.
The 71-year-old member of the Expediency Council became the first top official to succumb to COVID-19, which continues to spread around the globe, threatening the global economy.
Iran’s judiciary chief, Ebrahim Raisi, said some people were stockpiling medical supplies for profit, and urged prosecutors to show “no mercy for hoarders”.
“Hoarding sanitizing items is playing with people’s lives and it is not ignorable”, Raisi said.
Travel restrictions in Italy
The death toll in Italy has risen to 52, amid a surge in cases in the most affected country in Europe. There have been 2,036 infections.
The rise in cases prompted travel restrictions against regions in the north, with the country linked to several new international cases.
Officials said it could take up to two weeks to know whether measures including quarantines in 11 northern towns were working.
While China, the source of the outbreak, reported on Sunday the lowest number of new cases in the country since January 21, there were sharp rises elsewhere, including South Korea. The death toll has now passed 3,000 worldwide.
Millions of Japanese children stayed home from school on Monday, with schools following through on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plan to close them for more than a month.
Indonesia confirmed its first cases on Monday, in two people who contracted the illness from a foreign traveller.
In the US, where two new deaths have been confirmed, airlines have taken drastic action, with Delta and American stopping direct flights from New York to Milan following the raising of travel advisories for the region.
There are eleven towns in Italy locked down to prevent further spread.
Meanwhile, the OECD warned on Monday the global economy will experience “a sharp slowdown” because of the virus, driving many affected countries into recession.
Sharp declines in tourism, supply chain disruptions, weak demand and falling consumer confidence have forced economists to revise 2020 growth projections down to only 2.4% — lower than in any year since the financial crisis.
France announced on Saturday strict prevention measures that include banning public gatherings of more than 5,000 people. Staff at Paris’ iconic Louvre Museum forced it to close on Sunday over fears of the virus outbreak.
Paris’ half marathon was cancelled as a result of the new measures after the number of cases in the country rose to 130 on Saturday following outbreaks in the department of l’Oise and in la Balme-de-Silligny in Haute Savoie.
“With the objective of limiting the spread of the virus through population mixing, the government has decided to adopt a stricter prevention policy with regard to gatherings,” said health minister Olivier Véran at a press conference on Saturday.
Véran previously warned people not to shake hands as cases mounted in Europe.
The Geneva Motor Show was cancelled after the Swiss government banned all public and private events involving more than 1,000 people in order to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
Global risk level at its highest
The World Health Organization (WHO) raised the global risk level from COVID-19 from “high” to “very high” on Friday as the virus continued to spread rapidly outside China, with 67 deaths in 49 countries.
The international body urged people not to travel at all if they have a fever or cough, and said the “window of opportunity” to contain the coronavirus was “slowly closing”.
“Very high” is the highest possible level of risk assessment, although it makes little practical difference in tackling the epidemic.
WHO health emergencies Executive Director Mike Ryan told the Geneva news conference that it was still possible to contain COVID-19 with “aggressive containment”.
“This thing can go in any direction [but] we can stop it,” he said. “That’s what we believe.”
He said his message to governments is: ‘Wake up! Get ready. You have a duty to the world to get ready’.”
“Every country must be ready for its first case, its first cluster,” WHO secretary-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference in Geneva earlier this week. “This virus does not respect borders.”
He added: “This virus is not influenza. With the right measures, it can be contained. This is not a time for fear, this is a time for taking action now to prevent infections and save lives. Fear and panic doesn’t help.”
Markets plummet as cases overseas rise
Global markets have taken a hit due to coronavirus fears, with Wall Street reportedly having its worst week since 2008.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 12% this past week, having dropped nearly 1,200 points on Thursday. The UK’s FTSE 100 fell 11.1% this past week.
European stocks were down significantly with both the French CAC 40 and the DAX falling roughly 4%, raising fears over slow global economic growth. The IMF said earlier this week that the monetary body would adjust their estimates for global growth.