World shuts borders,
COUNTRIES IMPOSE STRICT MEASURES TO CONTROL SPREAD OF VIRUS
>>PARIS: Countries around the world yesterday continued to close borders, impose strict entry and quarantine requirements and restrict large gatherings in efforts to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.
Apple Inc said it will close all its retail stores worldwide, outside Greater China, until March 27. Apple reopened all 42 of its branded stores in China on Friday as the spread of the virus on mainland China slowed dramatically.
Countries have shuttered museums, tourist attractions and sporting events to minimise the risk of coronavirus transmission, with more than 138,000 people worldwide infected and more than 5,000 dead.
Colombia said it will close its borders with Venezuela and stop visitors who have been in Europe or Asia.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says Europe has become the pandemic’s current epicentre after reporting more cases and deaths than the rest of world combined, apart from China where the coronavirus originated last December.
Saudi Arabia will suspend all international flights for two weeks, starting today, state news agency SPA said, Taiwan will require travellers from mainland Europe, Britain and Ireland to self-isolate for 14 days, while New Zealand implemented a similar measure for all those entering the country.
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera announced a ban on public events with more than 500 people on Friday, joining countries such as Australia where the ban will come into force tomorrow.
Britain will introduce emergency laws this week to ban mass gatherings, said a government source, an escalation of its crisis plan which critics had said was too relaxed.
The Philippines capital Manila, home to 12 million people, announced night-time curfews yesterday and urged shopping malls to close for one month.
“To limit the spread of the virus, we need to limit the movement of people.
We are slowing down the movement of people in Metro Manila,” said Jose Arturo Garcia, general manager of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.
While infections continue to climb around the world, in mainland China the number of new cases is falling.
The number of new coronavirus cases imported into mainland China from overseas surpassed the number of locally transmitted new infections for the first time on Friday, data released by the National Health Commission showed yesterday.
China had 11 new confirmed cases on Friday, up from eight cases a day earlier, but only four of those — all in the virus epicentre of Hubei province — were locally transmitted.
Hubei has now seen new infections fall for nine straight days. All four of the new cases on Friday, down from five a day earlier, were in provincial capital Wuhan.
The flu-like virus has infected 80,824 people in mainland China, the commission said.
Travel bans have hammered airlines and travel companies worldwide, while financial markets have been hit by panic selling last week.
The impact of the coronavirus on everyday life is also deepening.
In Paris, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre museum and the Moulin Rouge cabaret closed their doors. The Smithsonian museums in Washington were preparing to do so yesterday and Broadway theatres in New York went dark.