World reaches critical point:
AMERICA last night confirmed its first coronavirus death yesterday as President Donald Trump banned all travel from Iran.
Speaking from the White House, Mr Trump said more cases were likely.
He said: “At the moment we have 22 patients in the US currently that have coronavirus. Unfortunately one person passed away overnight, a medically high-risk patient. Four others are very ill.”
The man was in his late 50s and had been living inwashington State.
Mr Trump said he hoped the virus is “not a major circumstance” and will meet pharmaceutical firms tomorrow to discuss a vaccine.
Last night the death toll in Iran and Italy continued to rise and the number of new cases of Covid-19 showed no signs of slowing.
US Vice-president Mike Pence said Americans should not travel to areas of Italy and South Korea most affected. Iran yesterday said nine more people had died, taking its virus death toll to 43 – the highest outside China.
Meanwhile it is feared Iranian-briton Nazanin Zaghariratcliffe may have contracted Covid-19 as she languishes inside the notorious Evin prison.
The Free Nazanin Campaign said at least one inmate has reportedly died but staff are refusing to test the mother of one, 42, who has complained her week-long symptoms of a severe sore throat, night chills, difficulty breathing, tiredness and muscle pain have “not felt like a normal cold”.
An Iranian official said new confirmed infections rose by 205 since Friday, taking the total to 593.
But with a death rate of seven per cent – far higher than other countries – experts at the World Health Organisation and elsewhere fear the regime may be under-reporting the number of cases.
Iran is at the epicentre of the outbreak in the Middle East, with countries in the region including Qatar, Azerbaijan and Georgia reporting cases stemming from it.
Australia banned foreign nationals who had been in Iran from entering the country for two weeks after a 63-year-old woman returning from there became ill. It now has 25 cases of the virus.
The death toll in Italy increased by eight yesterday to 29, and the number of new cases jumped by some 240 in 24 hours, taking the total confirmed cases to 1,128 – Europe’s worst outbreak.
In Lombardy and Veneto, 11 areas remain in lockdown while five Serie A football matches due to be played behind closed doors this weekend, including the key clash between Juventus and Inter Milan, were postponed.
Pope Francis cancelled official engagements for the third day in a row as he battled an apparent cold.
The Pontiff, 89, continued to work and receive private visits at his Vatican residence and is expected to start the week-long annual retreat to mark the start of Lent.
Luca Zaia, the governor of veneto, had to apologise after blaming poor standards of hygiene on the Chinese who he said eat live mice for spreading the virus to Italy.
Italy has been linked to infections in other countries, with Switzerland confirming a 21-year-old woman who recently returned from Milan tested positive while three cases in Mexico had been in Italy.
A case in the northern state of Coahuila last night took the number taken ill with the virus to four. France reported 27 new cases, taking its total to 100.
Today’s Paris half-marathon with 44,000 registered runners was called off after the French government ordered all “gatherings of more than 5,000 people” in enclosed areas as well as some external events to be cancelled.
Officials also recommended people should no longer greet each other with kisses on the cheek.
Germany, which has 79 confirmed cases, warned of an impending epidemic, with one Iranian woman testing positive in Hamburg and another in Bremen.
South Korea, the second hardesthit country, reported four more deaths and its highest daily jump, with 813 new cases in 24 hours.
Since confirming its first patient in late January there have been 17 deaths and 3,150 confirmed cases.
Vice-health minister Kim Kanglip warned of a “critical moment” in reining in the spread of Covid-19 as he urged people to “stay at home, refrain from going outside and minimise contact with other people”.
As many as 657 of the new cases
were from southeastern Daegu city, the site of a church at the centre of the outbreak, and 79 from the province of North Gyeongsang.
North Korean leader Kim Jong -un also called for stronger containment efforts as he warned of “serious consequences” if the illness spreads to his country.
The regime has shut down nearly all cross-border traffic, banned tourists, intensified screening at entry points, and mobilised tens of thousands of health workers to monitor residents and isolate those with symptoms.
Japan also saw its cases rise to 234 with five deaths – not including the 705 cases and six deaths from the quarantined cruise liner Diamond Princess, docked in Yokohama.
Baseball’s Yomiuri Giants and Tokyo Yakult Swallows played behind closed doors in Tokyo.
The virus has infected more than 82,000 people and killed about 2,800, mostly in China.
In the US, California health officials confirmed a second person in the state had tested positive despite not having travelled to a country where the virus was circulating or had close contact with a carrier. Two similar cases in Oregon and Washington are also suspected, but it is not known if the latter case is the patient who died.
Last night The Foreign and Commonwealth Office called on the Iranian authorities to “immediately allow” health officials to visit Mrs Zaghari-ratcliffe. A spokesman said: “We are urgently seeking information from the Iranian authorities on reports that coronavirus is spreading in Evin prison, including to British-iranian dual nationals.”