S Korea on frontline as Coronavirus spreads

Daegu (South Korea): The deadly coronavirus epidemic spread further outside China on Monday with a surge of infections in South Korea making it the biggest hotspot abroad, while authorities in Europe and the Middle East battled worsening outbreaks.

The number of fatalities in China also continued to soar, with 150 more confirmed deaths taking the official death toll to nearly 2,600.

A rising number of new cases and deaths in other parts of the world have deepened fears about a potential pandemic, with South Korea, Italy and Iran emerging over the past week on the

frontlines.

Bahrain and Kuwait also announced on Monday their first cases of the virus, as authorities in the Middle East sought to clamp down on people travelling and spreading the disease following eight deaths in Iran.

South Korea has seen a rapid surge in infections since a cluster emerged from a religious sect in the southern city of Daegu last week.

Another 161 infections and two more deaths were reported in South Korea on Monday, bringing the total cases to more than 700 people - the most outside China.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in over the weekend raised the country's virus alert to the highest "red" level, as kindergarten and school holidays were extended nationally.

The start of the new K-league football season, scheduled for this weekend, was also postponed on Monday. At the main high-speed train station in Daegu, a normally bustling city of 2.5 million people, just a small trickle of commuters were seen.

A long line of cabs waited for passengers outside the station, and the streets were eerily still, with masks and gloves standard for the few out and about.

In Italy, where more than 150 people have been infected and three have died, several Serie A football games were postponed while the Venice Carnival was cut short and some runway shows were cancelled at Milan Fashion

Week.

More than 50,000 people in about a dozen northern Italian towns have been told to stay home, and police set up checkpoints to enforce a

blockade.

In Iran, authorities ordered the closure of schools, universities and cultural centres across 14 provinces following eight deaths -- the most outside East Asia.

Death toll crosses 2.5K

Beijing: China has partially eased restrictions in coronavirus-hit Wuhan, permitting people who are infected with the virus or stranded to leave for the first time after a month as the death toll climbed to 2,592 while the number of confirmed cases increased to more than 77,000, officials said Monday.

People who are not quarantined and seeking special treatment or stranded in Wuhan can leave in batches, according to the local authority in Wuhan, the city of 11 million, which is the epicentre of the

virus. China locked down the city on January 23, followed by the entire Hubei province with over 50 million people. Wuhan is the provincial capital of Hubei. Over 18 cities from the province have been sealed in the lockdown.

No residents were allowed to leave the city since then, including several hundred foreigners, mainly

students. India has evacuated 647 Indians and seven Maldivians by operating two special flights. India is awaiting permission to airlift over 100 more.

A number of countries have evacuated their nationals. Pakistan, which has over 1,000 nationals stuck there, is yet to respond positively to their pleas to evacuate

them.