Virus count tops 100,000
Crossing more borders, the new coronavirus hit a milestone yesterday, infecting more than 100,000 people worldwide as it wove itself deeper into the daily lives of millions, infecting the powerful, the unprotected poor and vast masses in between.
The virus, which has killed more than 3400 people and emerged in more than 90 countries, edged into more US states and even breached the halls of the Vatican.
It forced mosques in Iran and beyond to halt weekly Muslim prayers, blocked pilgrims from Jesus’ birthplace in Bethlehem, and upended Japan’s plans for the Olympic torch parade.
‘‘Who is going to feed their families?’’ asked Elias al-Arja, head of a hotel owners’ union in Bethlehem in the Israelioccupied West Bank, where tourists have been banned and the Church of the Nativity is shuttered.
In Geneva, the United Nations health agency said it had received applications for 40 possible virus tests, had 20 vaccine candidates in development, and that numerous clinical trials of experimental drugs for the new coronavirus were under way.
‘‘We’re all in this together. We all have a role to play,’’ said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, chief of the World Health Organisation, urging more global cooperation from the business world and solidarity with the poorest victims.
The news wasn’t all bad – more than half of those who contracted the virus have now recovered. It is retreating in China, where it first emerged, and in nearby South Korea.
China yesterday reported just 99 new cases, the first time it has had only a double-digit increase since January 20. It also reported another 28 deaths. Overall, China now has 22,177 patients currently in treatment, while it has released 55,404.
The virus continued popping up in new places, however, with countries like Colombia and Togo reporting their first confirmed cases.
Questions swirled around whether Iran could control its outbreak, as the number of reported infections jumped beyond 4700, with 124 deaths. Authorities set up checkpoints to limit travel and had firefighters spray disinfectant on an 18-kilometre stretch of Tehran’s most famous avenue.
The head of the UN’s food agency, the World Food
Programme, warned of the potential for ‘‘absolute devastation’’ as the outbreak’s effects ripple through Africa and the Middle East. India is scrambling to stave off an epidemic that could overwhelm its underfunded, understaffed health system, which lacks enough laboratories or hospitals for its 1.3 billion people.
‘‘We’re seeing more countries affected with lower incomes, with weaker health systems, and that’s more concerning,’’ Ghebreyesus said.
Nation after nation put travel restrictions in place, blocking visitors from hard-hit areas like China, South Korea, Italy and Iran. The United Nations’ top climate change official said her agency would not hold any physical meetings at its headquarters in Germany or elsewhere until the end of April.
French Health Minister Olivier Veran said children would be banned from visiting patients in hospitals and other health facilities across the country, and patients would be limited to one adult visitor at a time.
In the US, the number of cases surpassed 230, scattered across 18 states. Washington state has at least 70 confirmed Covid-19 cases, most in the Seattle area, and the highest US state death toll, at 13.
South Korea reported another 505 cases yesterday, down from earlier daily tallies.
But the numbers kept growing in Europe. Serbia threatened to deploy the army to keep the virus at bay, and Hungary used virus fears to tighten its doors against migrants.
In Switzerland, officials reported 210 new cases, up from 90 a day earlier, and the military was being readied to provide support services at hospitals.
The Netherlands reported its first death, while Serbia, Slovakia, Peru and Cameroon announced their first infections. Even the Vatican City was hit, with the tiny city-state confirming its first case.
WHO officials warned against having ‘‘false hopes’’ that the virus could fade away when warmer summer temperatures came to northern countries.