Coronavirus outbreaks gather speed

OUTBREAKS of the coronavirus covid-19 strain are gathering pace in the Middle East, Europe and South Korea. World Health Organisation (WHO) leader Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said outbreaks in South Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan are the agency’s greatest concern and that the virus is uniquely capable of community transmission but could be contained with the right measures.

In Europe, tens of thousands of students in coronavirus cluster zones have been sent home from school in France, with a smaller number in Germany and Poland facing quarantines or days without class.

French education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said around 120 schools have been ordered to close, most of them in Brittany and the Oise region north of Paris.

A handful of schools are closed or under quarantine in Germany and even in Poland, which has no confirmed cases of the disease so far. Meanwhile, Ukraine reported its first confirmed case of the new virus in a man who had recently arrived from Italy.

In Haugesund, southern Norway, a German cruise ship with 1200 passengers was waiting for the test results of two passengers who had been on land to be tested for the virus, broadcaster NRK said.

Travellers from northern Italy, South Korea and Iran, now face a ban in Singapore. Saudi Arabia also advised citizens and residents to postpone travel to Germany and France.

In South Korea, 477 new infections were reported, largely in and around the south-eastern city of Daegu. In total, 4812 people in South Korea have tested positive and the country’s death toll rose to 28.