1,00,000 virus cases, fear of 'devastation' for poor
Bangkok: The number of people infected with the new virus charged toward 100,000 Friday, with the global scare upending routines, threatening livelihoods and prompting quarantines in its spread.
Asian and European shares were down following a rough day on Wall Street and the consequences of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, were becoming clear to people around the world. Halted travel and a broader economic downturn linked to the outbreak threatened to hit already-struggling communities for months to come.
"Who is going to feed their families?" asked Elias al-Arja, the head of a hotel owners' union in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where tourists have been banned and the storied Church of the Nativity
shuttered.
The head of the UN's food agency, the World Food Program, warned of the potential of "absolute devastation" as the outbreak's effects ripple through Africa and the Middle East. Across the West, there was a sense of deja vu as the virus' spread prompted scenes that already played out in Asia, with workers foregoing offices, vigorous sanitizing in public places and runs on household basics. Even the spectacle of a cruise ship ordered to stay at sea off the California coast over virus fears replicated ones weeks ago on the other side of the globe.
"The Western world is now following some of China's playbook," said Chris Beauchamp, a market analyst at the financial firm IG. Signs of the virus' shift away from its origins in China were becoming clearer each day.
China reported 143 new cases Friday, the same as a day earlier and about one-third what the country was seeing a week ago. Just a month ago, China was reporting several thousand new cases a day, outnumbering infections elsewhere in the world about 120 to 1. The problem has now flipped, with the outbreak moving to Europe where Italy, Germany and France had the most cases and beyond. The second hardest-hit country, South Korea, was also registering a notable decline in new infections and the World Health Organization's leader said he was seeing "encouraging signs" there.
South Korea reported 505 additional cases Friday, down from a high of 851 on Tuesday. The country has touted its "remarkable diagnostic and treatment abilities" but its vice health minister, Kim Gang-lip, said, "It's not easy to make predictions about how the situation... would play out."
Cases were increasing in Germany and France, but Italy remained the centre of Europe's outbreak, particularly in its north. The country has had 148 fatalities, making it the deadliest site for the virus outside China. The Italian government restricted visits to nursing homes and assisted living facilities to protect older people who have been more vulnerable to succumbing to COVID-19. But with schools closed nationwide, many grandparents were called to duty as last-minute babysitters anyway.
Even Vatican City was hit by the virus, with the tiny city-state confirming its first case Friday but not saying who was infected. The Vatican has insisted Pope Francis, who has been sick, only has a cold.
The Vatican said it is working with Italian authorities to keep the coronavirus from spreading, with a suspension of Pope Francis' weekly audiences seen likely.
Iran's government planned to set up checkpoints to limit travel and urged people to stop using paper money as the country has counted more than 3,500 cases and at least 107 deaths.
Spokesman Matteo Bruni said that the person tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, and that non-emergency medical services at the walled city-state have now been closed for sanitizing, per the Associated Press.
Bruni did not disclose any further information regarding the identity or occupation of the infected person, whether they may be an employee, or among the "relatively few" clergy or guards who live at the home of the pope, Reuters reports.
