The coronavirus outbreak outside China is deepening, but the WHO says the world’s understanding of the virus is growing.
Governments around the world are scrambling to contain the spread of COVID-19, which is growing globally even as transmission in China, where the virus originated at the end of last year, continues to show signs of slowing within the country.
There are more than 93,000 cases around the world – the overwhelming majority in China – but as deaths are reported in Italy, Iran and the United States, authorities are considering new quarantine zones and travel restrictions.
Wednesday, March 4
20:30 GMT – Italian sport to be played without fans
Professional football matches and other big sporting events will take place without fans present until April 3 said Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
The preventive measure is part of a new decree issued by the government hoping to prevent a further spread of the virus which has caused 3,089 infected cases and 107 fatalities in the country.
Conte posted a five-minute video on his Facebook page, reassuring viewers and saying that the decree was a way of assuring “responsible behaviour.”
He said banning crowds at sporting events would help “prevent further opportunities of infection.”
20:10 GMT – Iraq reports second death
Iraq reported its second coronavirus death in the capital Baghdad, the health ministry said in a statement published by the state news agency.
The health ministry added the patient had many chronic diseases.
19:35 GMT – Saudi Arabia confirms second case
A Saudi national travelling from Iran through Bahrain tested positive for coronavirus, the health ministry announced in a statement published by the state news agency.
It added that the man did not disclose at the border that he was coming from Iran and that he had interacted with the person who had the first case reported on Monday.
Saudi Arabia stops foreign pilgrims due to coronavirus
The ministry confirmed that the new patient is currently quarantined in hospital and all the people who interacted with him have been tested and the results will be announced once completed.
19:25 GMT – US Congress backs $8.3bn to tackle virus
US legislators reached a deal to provide $8.3bn in emergency aid to confront the novel coronavirus in a bipartisan effort, according to members of the House of Representatives.
“We must quickly enact this legislation – lives are at stake,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey who introduced the measure in the Democratic-controlled lower chamber of Congress.
Republicans in the Senate, the upper chamber, are also supporting the bill. US President Donald Trump already said that he would “spend whatever is appropriate”.
The House planned a vote later today to approve the emergency plan, sources told the New York Times newspaper.
19:05 GMT – Algeria reports 17 infected people
Algeria reported nine new confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday, bringing to 17 the total number of people tested positive for the virus, the health ministry said.
The cases include 16 people from the same family in Blida province, some 30 kilometres south of the capital Algiers and an Italian man.
18:40 GMT – Sweden confirms 16 new cases
The total number of cases in Sweden rose to 52 as new cases were registered in Stockholm.
“Sixteen additional patients were found infected with COVID-19 …The infected patients are being cared for in isolation to reduce the risk of further transmission,” Region Stockholm said in a statement.
The causes of four of the 31 confirmed cases in the Stockholm region remain under investigation, as – unlike the rest of the cases – no clear link to infection abroad or contact with people who had been infected abroad had been found, the authority said.
18:30 GMT – France jumps to 285 cases
France has 285 confirmed cases of coronavirus said the head of the public health service Jerome Salomon, which is an increase of 73 compared to a day earlier.
During a press briefing, he added the death toll from the disease was still at four and that 15 persons were in intensive care.
18:05 GMT – Macron and Trump ‘ready to coordinate’
French President Emmanuel Macron said he had an “excellent” discussion with his US counterpart Donald Trump.
The talk took place in order to better deal with the coronavirus. “We are ready to coordinate our scientific, health and economic response within the framework of the US G7 Presidency,” Macron wrote on Twitter.
17:50 GMT – Hungary confirms first two cases
Two Iranian students tested positive for coronavirus in Hungary said its Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
“We have the first infected individual, or rather two right away, whom we had to hospitalise because of the infection,” Orban said in a video on his Facebook page. “They have no symptoms yet but the fact of the infection has been confirmed”.
Italy: Coronavirus death toll to 107; 3,089 cases
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Governments around the world are scrambling to contain the spread of COVID-19, which is growing globally even as transmission in China, where the virus originated at the end of last year, continues to show signs of slowing within the country.
There are more than 93,000 cases around the world – the overwhelming majority in China – but as deaths are reported in Italy, Iran and the United States, authorities are considering new quarantine zones and travel restrictions.
As the number of deaths rose in Iran and Italy, Poland, Morocco, Andorra, Armenia and Argentina all confirmed their first cases of the virus in the past 24 hours.
Here are the latest updates:
Wednesday, March 4
20:30 GMT – Italian sport to be played without fans
Professional football matches and other big sporting events will take place without fans present until April 3 said Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
The preventive measure is part of a new decree issued by the government hoping to prevent a further spread of the virus which has caused 3,089 infected cases and 107 fatalities in the country.
Conte posted a five-minute video on his Facebook page, reassuring viewers and saying that the decree was a way of assuring “responsible behaviour.”
He said banning crowds at sporting events would help “prevent further opportunities of infection.”
20:10 GMT – Iraq reports second death
Iraq reported its second coronavirus death in the capital Baghdad, the health ministry said in a statement published by the state news agency.
The health ministry added the patient had many chronic diseases.
19:35 GMT – Saudi Arabia confirms second case
A Saudi national travelling from Iran through Bahrain tested positive for coronavirus, the health ministry announced in a statement published by the state news agency.
It added that the man did not disclose at the border that he was coming from Iran and that he had interacted with the person who had the first case reported on Monday.
Saudi Arabia stops foreign pilgrims due to coronavirus
The ministry confirmed that the new patient is currently quarantined in hospital and all the people who interacted with him have been tested and the results will be announced once completed.
19:25 GMT – US Congress backs $8.3bn to tackle virus
US legislators reached a deal to provide $8.3bn in emergency aid to confront the novel coronavirus in a bipartisan effort, according to members of the House of Representatives.
“We must quickly enact this legislation – lives are at stake,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey who introduced the measure in the Democratic-controlled lower chamber of Congress.
Republicans in the Senate, the upper chamber, are also supporting the bill. US President Donald Trump already said that he would “spend whatever is appropriate”.
The House planned a vote later today to approve the emergency plan, sources told the New York Times newspaper.
19:05 GMT – Algeria reports 17 infected people
Coronavirus in China: Reported cases continue to fall
Algeria reported nine new confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday, bringing to 17 the total number of people tested positive for the virus, the health ministry said.
The cases include 16 people from the same family in Blida province, some 30 kilometres south of the capital Algiers and an Italian man.
18:40 GMT – Sweden confirms 16 new cases
The total number of cases in Sweden rose to 52 as new cases were registered in Stockholm.
“Sixteen additional patients were found infected with COVID-19 …The infected patients are being cared for in isolation to reduce the risk of further transmission,” Region Stockholm said in a statement.
The causes of four of the 31 confirmed cases in the Stockholm region remain under investigation, as – unlike the rest of the cases – no clear link to infection abroad or contact with people who had been infected abroad had been found, the authority said.
Coronavirus how to stay safe
18:30 GMT – France jumps to 285 cases
France has 285 confirmed cases of coronavirus said the head of the public health service Jerome Salomon, which is an increase of 73 compared to a day earlier.
During a press briefing, he added the death toll from the disease was still at four and that 15 persons were in intensive care.
18:05 GMT – Macron and Trump ‘ready to coordinate’
French President Emmanuel Macron said he had an “excellent” discussion with his US counterpart Donald Trump.
The talk took place in order to better deal with the coronavirus. “We are ready to coordinate our scientific, health and economic response within the framework of the US G7 Presidency,” Macron wrote on Twitter.
9:03 PM – Mar 4, 2020
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17:50 GMT – Hungary confirms first two cases
Two Iranian students tested positive for coronavirus in Hungary said its Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
“We have the first infected individual, or rather two right away, whom we had to hospitalise because of the infection,” Orban said in a video on his Facebook page. “They have no symptoms yet but the fact of the infection has been confirmed”.
17:23 GMT – Italy closes schools and universities
All Italian schools and universities will be shut down from tomorrow until March 15 said Education Minister Lucia Azzolina.
The preventive measure comes as the death toll from the outbreak of the coronavirus has risen by 28 over the past 24 hours to 107 according to the Civil Protection Agency with the contagion showing little sign of slowing.
Italy struggles with virus ‘that doesn’t respect borders’
The head of the agency said also that of those originally infected, 276 had fully recovered versus 160 the day before.
16:53 GMT – Soju makers donate alcohol to curb spread of virus
As demand for ethanol-based sanitisers soars, producers of soju – South Korea’s national drink – are offering to help.
Soju is a distilled spirit with 17 to 20 percent alcohol by volume traditionally based on rice, but now often wheat and potatoes.
“Ethanol demand for disinfection has grown while supply is limited … we have decided to provide it,” an official from Daesun Distilling, based in the southeastern city of Busan, told Reuters news agency.
To banish the virus, the company has pledged to donate 32 tonnes of ethanol for use in disinfecting buildings and public places in Busan and southeastern Daegu, the city at the centre of South Korea’s outbreak.
Whether used for liquor or disinfection, both have the same chemical structure and can break apart the virus particle according to an expert.
16:27 GMT – Israel adds 5 countries to coronavirus air travel restrictions
Israel ordered travellers arriving from Germany, France, Spain, Austria and Switzerland to go into home quarantine over coronavirus concerns.
The same measure was already in place with regard to flights from Italy, China and Singapore.
Under the edict, the Health Ministry ordered all international conferences in Israel to be cancelled and banned gatherings of more than 5,000 participants.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also advised Israelis to stop shaking hands to help halt the spread of the virus.
16:10 GMT – Iran’s gov’t officials barred from travelling
Iran banned top officials from leaving the country until further notice, ramping up efforts to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Iran has the highest number of government officials sickened in the contagion, including the vice president, the deputy health minister and 23 members of parliament.
15:57 GMT – Two coronavirus strains identified by researchers
Scientists in China studying the coronavirus say they have found that two main strains are circulating in humans and causing infections.
However, the study looked only at a limited range of data. The researchers, from Peking University’s School of Life Sciences and the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said follow-up studies of larger data sets were needed to better understand the virus’ evolution.
The preliminary study found that a more aggressive strain of the new coronavirus associated with the outbreak in Wuhan accounted for about 70 percent of analysed cases, while 30 percent were linked to a less aggressive type.
The prevalence of the more aggressive virus type decreased after early January 2020, they said.
15:46 GMT – Third case in New York
A student in New York tested positive for COVID-19, marking the third case in the state.
Yeshiva University said it was cancelling all classes at one of its four New York City campuses as a “precautionary step” while it worked with authorities on how to best prepare and keep its students safe.
The university did not identify the student.
The latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed 108 confirmed and presumed cases in the US.
15:33 GMT – Pet dog confirmed positive for virus in Hong Kong
A pet dog of a coronavirus patient in Hong Kong was confirmed to be infected with the disease, in a likely case of human-to-animal transmission, local authorities said.
The city’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) said repeated tests suggest the dog has “a low-level of infection”. The canine, which belongs to a 60-year-old woman patient, was quarantined at an animal centre.
The AFCD said experts from universities and the World Organisation for Animal Health have unanimously agreed that “it is likely to be a case of human-to-animal transmission”.
All pets of people in Hong Kong infected with the coronavirus will be quarantined for 14 days, starting Friday. Two dogs are already in isolation.
Dogs wearing masks are seen at a main shopping area, in downtown Shanghai
As a dog tested positive in what experts believe to be a human-to-animal transmission, all pets of people infected in Hong Kong will be quarantined. [Aly Song/Reuters]
15:15 GMT – Egypt bars Qataris over coronavirus fears
Qataris will not be allowed to enter Egypt starting March 6 amid fears over the coronavirus, according to the Egyptian government. The ban includes those with a valid residency.
Qatar and Egypt are on opposite sides of a regional rift and Cairo said it was responding to a similar measure taken by the Gulf state.
“In light of what Qatar has decided regarding prohibiting entry for travellers holding Egyptian nationality … as part of the precautionary measures to face the coronavirus, [we have] decided to implement the principle of reciprocity,” the cabinet said, adding the measure would be in place until further notice.
Qatar imposed a temporary restriction on entry to its territory on visitors from Egypt via intermediate points because of the virus’ spread. The ban did not specifically mention Egyptian nationals.
15:02 GMT – 34 new cases in UK, raising total number up to 85
The number of people testing positive for coronavirus has jumped to 85 in the UK after 16,659 people were tested across the country, said the UK Department of Health and Social Care.
As the country is trying to curb the spread of the virus, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised measures for workers who need to self-isolate.
Speaking at prime minister’s questions, he said: “We will take every step we can to make sure that … no one whether employed or self-employed – whatever the status of their employment – is penalised for doing the right thing.”
14:40 GMT – Virus rumours ‘provocative fake stories’ from abroad: Putin
False rumours about the new coronavirus circulating in Russia are being directed from abroad, President Vladimir Putin said.
He told ministers the country’s FSB security service reported to him that false information was being planted to create panic, while in reality the situation is not critical.
“As for these provocative fake stories, the FSB reports they’re mainly organised from abroad … The aim of such fake stories is clear: to spread panic among the public”.
He said Russia had to fight this by releasing “timely, comprehensive and trustworthy information”. The official total of confirmed cases in Russia is six so far.
14:35 GMT – London Book Fair cancelled
The London Book Fair, one of the world’s biggest publishing trade fairs has been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“It is with reluctance that we have taken the decision not to go ahead with this year’s event,” read a statement published by the fair’s organisers, adding that the decision falls in line with the UK government guidelines and follows the advice of public health authorities.
14:22 GMT – Iran rejects US virus aid offer amid ‘vicious’ sanctions
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani dismissed a US offer to help the Islamic republic fight its coronavirus outbreak, charging that “vicious” American sanctions were depriving the country of medicine.
The US offer comes as the novel virus has affected almost all of Iran’s provinces, claiming 92 lives out of 2,922 confirmed infections in the past two weeks.
“Those who have deprived the people of even medicine and food through sanctions, who have done the most vicious things … they appear with a mask of sympathy and say that we want to help the nation of Iran,” Rouhani said, in a clear reference to the US.
US President Donald Trump had said on Saturday he was ready to aid Iran with the virus outbreak if the Islamic republic asked for assistance.
14:10 GMT – Paris museum reopens after virus fears
The most visited museum in the world reopened its doors after it closed on Sunday due to virus fears. However, workers voted overwhelmingly to resume work.
“The Louvre Museum is open” read the latest tweet from the French museum’s official account.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES