QUARTER OF ITALIANS ON LOCKDOWN

Rome, March 8: A quarter of the Italian population was locked down on Sunday as the government takes drastic steps to stop the spread of the deadly new Covid-19 that is sweeping the globe, with Latin America recording its first fatality. Italy has seen the most deaths from the Covid-19 disease of any country outside China, where the outbreak that has now killed more than 3,500 people and infected over 100,000 worldwide began in December. The measures in place until April 3 bar people from entering or leaving vast areas of northern Italy without good reason, according to a decree signed by the prime minister and published online.

The quarantine zones are home to more than 15 million people and include the regions around Venice and financial capital Milan, while cinemas, theatres and museums will be closed nationwide.

No, I’m not concerned at all. No, I’m not. We’ve done a great job

— U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP (on whether Covid-19 is getting closer to the White House after the first Washington case was confirmed )

Bangladesh on Sunday confirmed its first three cases of Covid-19.

Argentina on Saturday became the first Latin American country to report a fatality.

A cruise ship, the Costa Fortuna, was turned away by Malaysia and Thailand over Covid-19.

Retired doctors are being recruited to bolster the Italian healthcare system.

Colombia, the Vatican, Peru, Togo, Slovakia, Costa Rica, Malta, the Maldives, Bulgaria and Paraguay announced their first cases.

The WHO revised the transmission classification of Iceland, Palestine and Cameroon from “imported cases only” to “local transmission”.

Hundreds of churches across South Korea closed their doors Sunday and held online services.