24-hour curfew in Makkah, Madinah
Five more deaths, 165 new cases in KSA COVID-19 hits Iran speaker 1 million infected globally
Saudi Arabia’s two holy cities, Makkah and Madinah, have been put under a 24hour curfew as a step to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus and to secure the health of citizens and residents.
The curfew — applicable to all parts of Makkah and Madinah — does not apply to those working in key occupations who were previously exempted.
Adult residents of the two cities are only allowed to leave their houses in dire emergencies, such as health care and food supplies and only around their districts from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. In case of going out in a four-wheeler, only the driver and another person are allowed out to limit human contact as much as possible.
The Health Ministry’s spokesperson, Dr. Mohammed Al-Abd Al-Aly, announced 165 new cases, which takes the number of confirmed cases to 1,885 — 1,536 of which are active.
The spokesperson announced five further deaths, bringing the total number to 21. The 64 recoveries makes the total number 328.
Iran’s parliament speaker Ali Larijani has contracted the coronavirus and is receiving treatment in quarantine.
Iraq has thousands of confirmed COVID-19 cases, many times more than the 772 it has publicly reported, according to three doctors closely involved in the testing process, a Health Ministry official and a senior political official.
The coronavirus has now infected 1 million people across the world, a milestone reached just four months after it first surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan
A total of 51,364 deaths have been recorded across the world, including 37,709 in Europe, with Italy registering 13,915, followed by Spain with 10,003, France with 5,387 and the US with 5,316.
The US disaster response agency FEMA has asked the American military for 100,000 body bags.
The virus and the measures taken to contain it have raised fears of the worst global downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The US Labor Department said that the figure of 6.65 million workers who filed for unemployment benefits last week was double the number registered in the previous week, and the most ever recorded. Economists are warning that US job losses could surge to the previously unimaginable range of 10 to 20 million in April.
The British government promised to increase testing for the coronavirus to 10 times the current level within the month, after political opponents, scientists and even usually supportive newspapers lambasted Prime Minister Boris Johnson over broken promises on COVID-19.
China has approved the use of bear bile to treat patients, angering activists and raising fears it could undermine efforts to stop the illegal animal trade which is blamed for the emergence of the new disease sweeping the globe.
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