Scottish city sees virus ‘cluster’
Lockdown reimposed after 54 cases linked to Aberdeen bar
ABERDEEN, Scotland — Officials in Scotland ordered bars, cafes and restaurants in the city of Aberdeen to close Wednesday, reimposing anti-virus restrictions after a cluster of 54 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the area was linked to a single bar.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the new cases raised wider alarm of a “significant outbreak” of the coronavirus emerging in the northeastern port city.
Aberdeen officials published a list of 28 bars and restaurants, three golf clubs and a soccer club visited by about 200 people so far traced from the cluster.
Sturgeon said all hospitality venues in the city of about 229,000 residents need to be closed by the end of business Wednesday. Visitors were advised not to travel to the city, and residents should not travel more than 5 miles from their homes unless for work or essential trips.
Entering other people’s houses was also prohibited as part of the local lockdown.
In other developments:
■ The Netherlands’ two most populous cities — Rotterdam and Amsterdam — began ordering people to wear face masks in busy streets Wednesday amid rising coronavirus infection rates, but many people in the Dutch capital’s famous red-light district still did not wear them.
■ The United States and seven European countries marked Friday’s 12th anniversary of the conflict between Russia and Georgia with a call to Moscow to withdraw forces from Abkhazia and South Ossetia and allow medical evacuations and aid deliveries especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The western nations said after a closed briefing to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday by Assistant Secretary-general Miroslav Jenca that Russia’s continuing military presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and its recognition of “the so-called independence of the regions” violates Georgia’s territorial integrity.
■ A cruise ship carrying more than 200 people docked in a Norwegian harbor Wednesday and was ordered to keep everyone on board after a passenger from a previous trip tested positive for the coronavirus upon returning home to Denmark. Bodoe Mayor Ida Pinneroed told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that the Seadream 1’s 85 crew members would all be tested for the virus and that authorities were in contact with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health on whether the 123 passengers should be as well.
■ The Israeli military said Wednesday it was establishing a coronavirus task force aimed at cutting the chain of infection in the country. In a statement, the military said the new task force would begin operating next week and connect all the different bodies under one umbrella. The unit will operate a sampling center, a quarantine center, recovery hotels, an evaluation complex and an epidemiological investigations center.