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BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Two immigration officers at Bangkok’s main airport have coronavirus and may have handled the passports of visitors to Thailand, a health official said Wednesday. The men, both working at Suvarnabhumi airport, fell ill on March 7 and 8 respectively and potentially came into contact with arriving passengers in the days before their diagnosis. One of the officers was among a team-leading health screening of Thai returnees from South Korea — which […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Some companies in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the new coronavirus outbreak emerged late last year, are to be allowed to return to work, provincial officials said Wednesday. Businesses involved in providing daily necessities can resume work and production immediately, as can those that are key to “global industrial chains” after getting approval, said the Hubei provincial government. Other companies are expected to resume production only after March 20. Similar rules […]
by Sean Chang and Amber Wang TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Behind the barbed wire-topped fences of Taipei Prison, a small group of inmates are hunched over clacking sewing machines, working overtime to churn out face masks and help ward off the new coronavirus. Usually, the men would be making prison uniforms in the bright-lit sewing factory in the city of Taoyuan. But after the coronavirus spread to Taiwan they switched to making masks, putting together […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China reported an increase in imported coronavirus cases Wednesday, fuelling concerns that infections from overseas could undermine progress in halting the spread of the virus. There were 22 more deaths and 24 new cases nationwide, according to the National Health Commission. China has made massive progress in its battle against the virus, prompting President Xi Jinping to visit Wuhan, the central city at the heart of the global epidemic, on Tuesday […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea announced its first rise in new coronavirus cases for five days on Wednesday, following a run of declines that have raised hopes the outbreak is coming under control. The South was the first country to report significant coronavirus numbers outside China, where the disease first emerged and remains one of the world’s worst-affected countries despite being overtaken by both Italy and Iran in declared cases. A total of […]
by Dmitry ZAKS ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italy prepared Tuesday to let families skip mortgage and some tax payments to help deal with a coronavirus outbreak that has killed 631 people and forced the government to restrict movement for its 60 million citizens. Ministers said they would also ask the European Union to allow Rome to raise its deficit spending to 10 billion euros ($11.3 billion) to help businesses hurt by a precipitous drop in […]
ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italy reported five more deaths Tuesday from prison riots linked to the new coronavirus that have now officially claimed 12 lives over three days. The justice ministry has blamed all the deaths on drug overdoses that occurred after prisoners broke into medical storage rooms. The claim was impossible to immediately verify through independent sources. Jails have been ordered to stop visits and limit day releases as part of broad government response […]
PANAMA CITY, Panama (AFP) — Panama’s health minister on Tuesday confirmed eight cases of the new coronavirus in the country, including one death, the first virus-linked death in Central America. “Of the eight patients we are reporting, one person is in intensive care, another unfortunately died,” Minister Rosario Turner said during a press conference in Panama City. According to the ministry, a 64-year-old man who was already suffering from diabetes complications associated with bacterial pneumonia […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday pledged to mobilize “all the tools” available to the bloc to lessen the economic impact of the coronavirus epidemic, which has roiled markets across the globe. After EU leaders held crisis talks by videoconference to try to coordinate their response to the epidemic, Von der Leyen sought to reassure businesses and governments spooked by the spread of the disease. Among the measures is […]
(Eagle News) — Health officials in the UK are now tracing all those who may have had interacted with British MP Nadine Dorries, a minister in the health department, who has tested positive for coronavirus and is currently on self quarantine. Dorries herself confirmed in a statement released on Tuesday that she had tested positive for the highly infectious coronavirus. “I can confirm I have tested positive for coronavirus… and have been self-isolating at home,” […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British MP Nadine Dorries, a minister in the health department, has tested positive for coronavirus, she said in a statement on Tuesday, raising concerns about whether senior government figures have been infected. “I can confirm I have tested positive for coronavirus… and have been self-isolating at home,” said the Conservative MP. Health officials are now trying to trace where she contracted the virus and who she has been in contact […]
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkey announced Wednesday, March 11, its first coronavirus case, a man who had recently travelled to Europe and is in good health. “The test of a patient suspected of carrying the coronavirus returned positive,” Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a television broadcast. He added that the man was likely to have contracted COVID-19 while travelling in Europe, but declined to say which country or where in Turkey the patient […]
