Cases balloon, fear spreads
CORONA CRISIS Governments around the world mobilise to fight the pandemic; China eases lockdown measures in Hubei province as new cases fall in the country
WASHINGTON/BEIJING: As the rest of the world took unprecedented steps to fight the widening coronavirus pandemic on Saturday, China continued to ease up lockdowns in its hardest-hit region, where the number of new cases dwindled.
The virus that first emerged in central China late last year has in recent weeks spread exponentially in West Asia, Europe and North America, leading President Donald Trump to declare a state of emergency for the US on Friday.
Nearly 150,000 cases have been reported globally, with the death toll going past 5,500. Dozens of countries have imposed increasingly severe measures - shutting borders, closing school for tens of millions of children and ordering tens of thousands of businesses to close their doors.
New Zealand announced on Saturday that all incoming passengers, including New Zealand citizens, will be required to isolate themselves for 14 days. The Philippines announced a night curfew in the capital Manila.
The spread in China has slowed. The National Health Commission said on Saturday that there were 13 new deaths and just 11 new cases, including people who recently arrived in China from other affected countries like Italy.
In the US, which reported its 50th death from the outbreak on Friday, Trump said the new emergency decree opens up $50 billion for state and local governments to respond to the crisis.
Cases topped 1,700 across the US, where thousands of schools have been closed, concerts and sporting events cancelled and Broadway theatres shut down.
Iranian state TV said the coronavirus had killed another 97 people, pushing the death toll to 611 amid 12,729 confirmed cases.
In Africa, the virus is gaining steam. Rwanda confirmed its first case on Saturday, a day after Kenya, Guinea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Mauritania did so.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who met with Trump in the US less than a week ago, will be retested for the coronavirus following a negative test on Friday.
Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong warned on Saturday that the negative economic effects of the coronavirus outbreak will likely be deeper and more prolonged than the 2008 financial crisis.