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by Caroline Taix and Juliette Collen with AFP bureaux PARIS, France (AFP) — France’s famed Louvre museum closed Sunday as coronavirus cases mounted across Europe and beyond, with the global death toll nearing 3,000 and Italy reporting a near doubling of cases in 48 hours. The virus has now infected more than 88,000 people and spread to more than 60 countries around the world, well beyond the epicenter in China where it first emerged late […]
ROME, Italy (AFP) — Infections by the new coronavirus has nearly doubled in the last 48 hours in Italy, the head of the country’s civil protection body said Sunday. Since the start of the epidemic, 1,694 people have tested positive for COVID-19 including those who have died and those who have recovered, Angelo Borrelli told a press briefing. As of Friday, the figure was 888. Five more people died on Sunday, bringing Italy’s death toll […]
by Jim MANNION WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday defended the US administration’s handling of the coronavirus epidemic after the first confirmed death on American soil and rising criticism of the state of US preparedness. Pence and Health Secretary Alex Azar made the rounds of Sunday talk shows with the message that risks from the disease remain low for most Americans, while promising to make up for testing shortfalls. “We […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The first death from the novel coronavirus has been confirmed on US soil, in Washington state, health officials said Saturday, after a handful of cases of unknown origin were detected, indicating the disease was spreading in the country. The fatality occurred in King county, the most populous in the state and home to Seattle, a city of more than 700,000 people, officials in the state told AFP. The victim […]
US health officials on Friday reported a third case of the new coronavirus transmitted to a person who did not travel overseas or come in contact with anyone known to be ill, indicating the disease was spreading in the country. Authorities said the new case concerned a person living in the western state of Oregon. The adult patient, who has been hospitalized, was known to have had contact with people at an elementary school. Oregon […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — A growing number of countries affected; a black week for the world’s stock exchanges; numerous events cancelled. Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis, whose risk assessment was on Friday classed by the World Health Organization (WHO) at the highest level. – First in sub-Saharan Africa – The new coronavirus has infected 84,117 people and killed 2,870 around the world, according to an AFP toll based on official sources […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea confirmed 594 more coronavirus cases on Saturday, the biggest increase to date for the country and taking the national total to 2,931 infections with three additional deaths. More than 90 percent of the new cases were in Daegu, the centre of the country’s outbreak, and its neighbouring North Gyeongsang province, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said in a statement. Three women in the Daegu […]
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — Two South Africans were contaminated by the new coronavirus while serving as crew members aboard a cruise ship that was quarantined for three weeks in Japan, officials said Friday. The pair, the first South Africans confirmed to have the virus, are being cared for in Japan but they do not show symptoms of the illness linked to COVID-19, South Africa’s health ministry said. The government was informed by Tokyo […]
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AFP) — Lithuania confirmed its first case of the novel coronavirus in a woman who returned from Italy, the government said on Friday. The 39-year-old, who returned from Verona, has been isolated in hospital in the Baltic state’s northern city of Siauliai and has mild symptoms. Her family members are being monitored. “We are putting all efforts to establish all people who contacted the infected person so that we can adopt preventive measures […]
MINSK, Belarus (AFP) — Belarus reported Friday its first coronavirus case, an Iranian student who arrived in the country from Azerbaijan last week. The health ministry said the patient was in a “satisfactory” condition. People the student had been in contact with since their arrival on February 22 had been placed in quarantine in the hospital for infectious diseases in the capital Minsk, it added in a statement. The ministry also said that there would […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand confirmed its first coronavirus case Friday, saying a recent arrival from Iran who traveled to Auckland via Bali had tested positive. Health officials said the person, aged in their 60s, was being treated in Auckland City Hospital. “They are in an improving condition in isolation, in a negative pressure room to prevent any spread of the disease,” the health department said in a statement. Officials said the person, […]
by Kyoko HASEGAWA / Karyn NISHIMURA TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s prime minister on Friday defended his call for schools across the country to close over the new coronavirus, an abrupt decision that stunned officials and parents alike. The move, announced Thursday, came as the country stepped up its response to the outbreak, and the operator of Tokyo’s Disney resorts said its two parks would close for around a fortnight — the latest in a […]
