AT A GLANCE
Spain became the latest country to impose stringent measures to combat the coronavirus.
DEATHS/INFECTIONS
■ Some 145,594 people have been infected by the coronavirus across the world and 5419 have died, according to a Reuters tally.
■ 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, according to data released by the National Health Commission.
EUROPE
■ The Spanish government draft measures say that from Monday all citizens must stay home except to buy food, go to the pharmacy, to the hospital, or to work or for other emergencies.
■ Spain is the second-hardest hit country in Europe after Italy, with 5753 cases recorded on Saturday, up by a third from Friday even as health authorities in Madrid, which has the highest number of cases, stopped testing people with only mild symptoms.
■ Italy agreed a series of measures to improve health controls in factories, offices and other workplaces that have been allowed to stay open during the country’s lockdown.
■ The British government will ban mass gatherings from next week, an escalation of its crisis plan that critics had said was too relaxed.
■ Germany urged people returning from Italy, Switzerland and Austria to self-isolate for up to two weeks. As of Friday, there were 3062 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Germany, with five deaths.
■ Several hundred anti-government “Yellow Vest” protesters demonstrated in Paris on Saturday, defying a ban on mass gatherings that aims to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
EVENTS CANCELLED, POSTPONED, PARED BACK
■ Walt Disney Co closed its theme parks in California and Florida and its resort in Paris from last weekend through the end of the month, the company said on Thursday.
■ The impact of the coronavirus on sport swept into the southern hemisphere, with the cancellation of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix adding to an unprecedented shutdown of elite events and competitions around the globe.
■ India suspended domestic soccer until the end of this month while domestic cricket was put on hold indefinitely.
■ The World Trade Organization’s major biennial meeting, due to be held in Kazakhstan in June, was cancelled, setting back its efforts to update the global rules of commerce.
■ All elite soccer matches in England, including the Premier League, were suspended until April 4 on Friday, English soccer’s governing bodies said in a joint statement.