Beijing
The
number of cases from the new coronavirus topped 100,000 worldwide as
the US battled to contain an outbreak on board a stranded cruise ship
where 21 people have tested positive.
The
World Health Organization called the spread of the virus "deeply
concerning" as a wave of countries reported their first cases of the
disease -- which has now killed nearly 3,500 people and infected more
than 100,000 across 92 nations.
Twenty-one
people onboard a cruise ship stranded off the coast of San Francisco
have tested positive for the virus, including 19 crew members and two
passengers, after the California National Guard flew test kits out to
the ship earlier this week.
The
Grand Princess has been stranded off San Francisco since Wednesday --
when it was supposed to dock -- after it emerged that two people who had
been on the ship during its previous voyage had contracted the virus.
One later died.
US Vice President
Mike Pence said the ship will be brought to a non-commercial dock this
weekend and all 3,533 passengers and crew will be tested.
The Grand Princess belongs to Princess
Cruises, the same company which operated the coronavirus-stricken ship
held off Japan last month on which more than 700 people on board tested
positive.
Health authorities in Egypt also reported 12 new cases among workers aboard a Nile cruise boat.
The
World Health Organization has urged "that all countries make
containment their highest priority," director general, Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva.
The
influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a US pro-Israel
lobby group, said Friday that two people who attended its annual
Washington conference -- alongside dozens of lawmakers -- had tested
positive for coronavirus.
Slovakia,
Serbia, the Vatican, Peru, Cameroon and Togo all reported their first
cases on Friday while the Netherlands recorded its first death.
Cameroon is the first central African country to register a case of the deadly virus.
In
China -- where the virus first emerged late last year -- the number of
new cases reported Saturday nationwide was the lowest in weeks.
The
Chinese government has hinted it may soon lift the quarantine imposed
on Hubei province -- the locked-down epicentre where some 56 million
people have been effectively housebound since late January.
For the second consecutive day, there were no new cases reported in Hubei outside Wuhan, the province's capital.
But
the number of cases outside the epicentre rose for a third consecutive
day, fuelling fears about imported cases being brought into the country
from overseas.
There have now been 60 confirmed imported cases brought into the country.
The
epidemic has wreaked havoc on international business, tourism, and
sports events, with almost 300 million students sent home worldwide as
schools and universities close.
The
number of international tourist arrivals is expected to drop sharply
this year due to the virus, the World Tourism Organization said Friday,
reversing a previous forecast for a substantial increase.
The
South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas and the Ultra electronic
dance festival in Miami were among the latest events to be cancelled as
scrutiny grows on events that draw large crowds.
In India, the world's biggest film industry called off its equivalent of the Oscars that had been set for the end of the month.
The
holy city of Bethlehem was in lockdown after the first Palestinian
cases of the deadly coronavirus were discovered there Friday, leaving
tourists scrambling to find a way out.
Meanwhile,
in another measure to limit contagion during religious gatherings,
Saudi Arabia emptied Islam's holiest site in Mecca to sterilise it.
With
the elderly among the most at-risk groups, French President Emmanuel
Macron urged people to limit visits to the old and infirm as much as
possible to avoid further spread.
Meanwhile
in Switzerland, the authorities urged the over-65s to avoid travelling
at peak hours and banned meetings of more than 150 people.
Stock
markets and oil prices have collapsed as investors panic over the
expected devastating damage of the coronavirus to global economic
growth.
No comments :
Post a Comment