Virus cases top 100,000 in 90 nations

21 people with virus on cruise ship off California — with NZ crew, passengers

Crossing more borders, the new coronavirus hit a milestone yesterday, infecting more than 100,000 people worldwide.

The virus, which has killed more than 3400 people and emerged in more than 90 countries, edged into more US states yesterday and breached the halls of the Vatican. It forced mosques in Iran and beyond to halt weekly Muslim prayers, blocked pilgrims from Jesus’ birthplace in Bethlehem and upended Japan’s plans for the Olympic torch parade.

Off California’s coast, a Grand Princess cruise ship remained at sea with passengers confined to their cabins as Vice-President Mike Pence said 21 people on the ship — almost all crew — had tested positive for coronavirus.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was last night following up reports three crew members are New Zealanders.

Eight New Zealand passengers previously on board the cruise ship might have been in contact with a confirmed coronavirus case, the Ministry of Health said on Friday.

In Egypt, a clusters of cases was linked to a Nile River boat cruise and Thailand blocked a separate cruise ship from docking, worried because it carried dozens of passengers from Italy, whose deaths surged to 197, and with 4600 cases is the centre of

Europe’s epidemic.

In the US the number of cases surpassed 230, scattered across 18 states. At the White House, President Donald Trump signed a US$8.3 billion bill (NZ$13b) to fight the coronavirus a day after Italy said it would double its own spending to 7.5 billion euros (NZ$13.3b).

In Geneva, the UN health agency said it had received applications for 40 possible virus tests, had 20 vaccine candidates in development and reported numerous clinical trials of experimental drugs for the new coronavirus were under way.

The news wasn’t all bad: more than half of those who contracted the virus have now recovered. It’s retreating in China, where it first emerged, and in nearby South Korea.

But the Netherlands reported its first virus death, and Colombia, Togo, Serbia, Slovakia, Peru and Cameroon announced their first infections.

Questions swirled around whether Iran could control its outbreak, as the

number of reported infections jumped beyond 4700 yesterday, with 124 deaths.

The 100,000 figure of global infections is largely symbolic, but dwarfs other major outbreaks in recent decades, such as Sars, Mers and Ebola. The virus is still much less widespread than annual flu epidemics, which result in up to 5 million annual severe cases around the world and from 290,000 to 650,000 deaths annually, according to WHO.

But the epidemic’s economic impact has snowballed. World stocks and the price of oil dropped sharply again yesterday.

The head of the UN’s food agency, the World Food Programme, warned of potential for “absolute devastation” as the outbreak’s effects ripple through Africa, the Middle East and India.

European leaders held an urgent meeting to discuss the growing crisis there.