First deaths in Australia, Thailand
China reports 573 new infections, highest in a week; Iran cases jump by more than half
WASHINGTON/BANGKOK/MELBOURNE: Australia and Thailand reported their first fatalities from the novel coronavirus infection on Sunday as the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the window to contain the epidemic, which has killed 2,990 and affected over 87,000 people globally since its outbreak in China in December, was narrowing.
A 35-year-old Thai retail worker, who also had dengue fever, died from the infection in a Bangkok suburb, in the country’s first death from the disease, officially called Covid-19.
In Australia, a 78-year-old man who was evacuated from the virus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise liner in Japan died at a Perth hospital on Sunday, local officials said. The deaths came a day after the US recorded its first fatality: a man in his 50s in Washington state.
President Donald Trump announced more aggressive screening of travellers bound for the US in a tweet on Sunday. “In addition to screening travelers ‘prior to boarding’ from certain designated high risk countries, or areas within those countries, they will also be screened when they arrive in America.”
China on Sunday reported a slight uptick in new cases over the past 24 hours to 573, the first time in five days that the number exceeded 500.
They remain almost entirely confined to the hardest-hit province of Hubei and its capital Wuhan – the epicentre of the out
break. Chinese officials, however, reiterated that efforts to curb the outbreak are achieving positive results, with the number of daily new cases trending lower in recent weeks.
South Korea – which has the second largest number of infections outside mainland China --reported 210 additional cases and two more deaths from the virus, raising its total to 3,736 cases and 20 fatalities.
Authorities in the country scrambled to rein in public gatherings in the country while many churches remained closed, holding online services instead.
Iran’s death toll from Covid-19 climbed to 54 as the number of confirmed cases jumped overnight by more than half, to 978 people. The new figures represent 11 more deaths than reported a day before.
Italy is suffering the worst outbreak of the virus in Europe, registering more than 1,100 confirmed cases since the contagion came to light on February 20. There have been 29 confirmed
deaths and 105 people were receiving intensive care treatment in hospital - all of them in three adjacent northern regions near the business hub of Milan.
On Sunday, the Vatican quickly shot down speculation that the Pope himself had come down with Covid-19 after he was seen coughing a couple of times during his weekly Sunday appearance.
The spread of the virus also shut down France’s iconic Louvre Museum on Sunday, with workers who guard its famous trove of artworks fearful of being contaminated by the flow of visitors from around the world.
The chief of WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Riyadh on Sunday that the window is narrowing to contain the outbreak, but while countries need to prepare for a pandemic, facts show there’s no such threat yet.
“We shouldn’t abandon the containment strategy because we see it’s working in some countries,” he added.