World facing desperate days
A HOTEL used to quarantine coronavirus patients in China collapsed yesterday, trapping 70 people.
A video showed rescue workers clambering over the rubble of the five-floor building in the south-east port city of Quanzhou.
Thirty-four people were reported to have been rescued within two hours.there was no news on deaths. A woman said relatives had been nearing the end of their 14-day quarantine in the hotel after returning from Hubei province, where the virus began. She said: “I can’t contact them, they’re not answering their phones.” Beijing has faced increased public anger over its handling of the epidemic.
Official figures however, suggest a quarter of China’s new cases and almost all of those outside thewuhan epicentre have come from outside the country, mainly Iran.
There were 99 new cases on Friday, down from 143 a day earlier. Italy’s daily death toll was reported as 36, compared with 49 on Friday.
The virus has claimed 233 lives there so far and new cases saw their biggest daily rise since the outbreak began a fortnight ago.
More than 1,200 people were confirmed as the total number of cases hit 5,883, prompting the Government to consider extending “red zone” quarantines to most of Lombardy, which includes Milan.
So far only a few limited areas of northern Italy have been quarantined, but in a dramatic escalation people will be told not to enter or leave Lombardy or 11 provinces in other regions.this is due to last until April 3.
Among those infected was Nicola Zingaretti, 54, the leader of Italy’s co-ruling Democratic Party. He put himself and his family in isolation, posting:
“No panic. Let’s fight.”
Pope Francis, 83, who is recovering from a cold, will deliver today’s blessing via video rather than from St Peter’s Square. A funeral in the Basque city ofvitoria-gasteiz was blamed for infecting at least 60 mourners.
Meanwhile, Greek politicians fist-bumped and undertakers wore face masks yesterday.
In the US, two people died from the virus in Florida. Iran’s 21 deaths took their toll to 145, with more than 1,000 new cases reported, taking those who have tested positive to 5,823.
France and South Korea each reported two new deaths while the Netherlands logged its first fatality, a man of 68, who died in a Rotterdam hospital on Friday. New cases rose by 60 to 188.
Cases increased tenfold within a week in Germany to reach 684.