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Coronavirus news: Austria and Croatia report first cases as Tenerife quarantines hotel – live updates Coronavirus news: Austria and Croatia report first cases as Tenerife quarantines hotel – live updates
(32 minutes later)
Outbreaks confirmed in new countries as Iran’s deputy health minister reportedly also tests positive for coronavirusOutbreaks confirmed in new countries as Iran’s deputy health minister reportedly also tests positive for coronavirus
Schools across the UK are sending pupils home as they struggle to comply with the latest official advice on Covid-19 for students and staff who spent last week’s half-term holiday in northern Italy.
Penair School in Truro this morning told parents to collect children who had been on a skiing trip to Ponte di Legno, which is near the Swiss border and well away from the towns currently under lockdown by the Italian authorities.
In a message sent to parents the Truro school said: “Following an announcement at 8am this morning, regarding the coronavirus, by the health secretary and having sought guidance from Public Health England (PHE) we are required to send all children and staff home who attended the ski trip, to self-quarantine for 14 days. Please be assured this is a precautionary measure.”
Meanwhile Brine Leas Academy in Nantwich said it was temporarily closing its sixth form after teachers and students also returned from a half-term trip to Italy. Cransley School, an independent school also in Cheshire, announced it would close for a week after some pupils reported feeling ill after a skiing trip to Bormio in Lombardy.
The decisions followed today’s updated advice from PHE for travellers returning from northern Italy – defined as north of Pisa, Florence and Rimini – to self-isolate if they felt symptoms of Covid-19, including fever or shortness of breath. PHE also said any travellers who had visited the 11 “specific lockdown areas” in northern Italy since 19 February should call 111 and avoid contact with others.
Other parents report being told to keep their children home from school after returning from family holidays in northern Italy over the half-term break.
We’ve got a video of schoolteacher Marzio Toniolo describing life under lockdown in San Fiorano, one of the northern Italian towns under quarantine as coronavirus cases rise.
Around 50,000 residents of 11 towns across Lombardy and Veneto have been quarantined for at least the next 15 days as Italian authorities scramble to contain the worst outbreak of the virus in Europe and the third worst in the world.
One British tourist at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace in Tenerife has told PA that she was enduring the “holiday from hell”.
Hannah Green, 27, from Hertfordshire, said she has been stuck inside with her boyfriend and one-year-old son twice since they arrived on Sunday- first because of a sandstorm that swept the Canary Islands, and now because of the positive coronavirus test at the hotel.
She described the communication from the hotel on Tuesday as “non-existent”, telling the news agency: “We woke up to a note under our door this morning saying for health reasons not to leave our room. I called downstairs to reception as soon as I saw it and they wouldn’t tell us anything.
“So I quickly got on my phone and Googled and saw a man had tested positive for coronavirus, so I basically assumed it was that. But since then we’ve had nothing from the hotel - no one has told us anything or what’s going to happen.”
She said that while some people were moving around the hotel, she was staying put, adding: “We’re in our room with the baby. We’re worried for the baby.”
She now hopes to leave as soon as possible, adding: “If we’re allowed to leave we’re going to go home, but I don’t think we’ll be allowed to leave. We don’t want to be here. We’re fed up now. We had the sandstorm earlier and now this. Holiday from hell, honestly.”
Here’s a map of where the hotel is in Tenerife.
The UK government has updated the advice it is giving to people who have recently been travelling.
The full advice is now as follows:
Based on the scientific advice of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) the UK chief medical officers are advising anyone who has travelled to the UK from mainland China, Thailand, Japan, Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia or Macau in the last 14 days and is experiencing coughing or fever or shortness of breath, to stay indoors and call NHS 111, even if their symptoms are mild.
We are carrying out enhanced monitoring of direct flights from these areas. Passengers will be told how to report any symptoms they develop during the flight, at the time of arrival, or after leaving the airport.
These areas have been identified because of the volume of air travel from affected areas, understanding of other travel routes and number of reported cases. This list will be kept under review.
If you have returned from these specific areas since 19 February, you should call NHS111 and stay indoors and avoid contact with other people even if you do not have symptoms:
Iran.
Specific lockdown areas in northern Italy as designated by the government of Italy.
Special care zones in South Korea as designated by the government of the Republic of South Korea.
Hubei province (returned in the past 14 days).
If you have returned from these areas since 19 February and develop symptoms, however mild, you should stay indoors at home and avoid contact with other people immediately and call NHS111. You do not need to follow this advice if you have no symptoms:
Northern Italy (defined by a line above, and not including, Pisa, Florence and Rimini).
Vietnam.
Cambodia.
Laos.
Myanmar.
If you’re staying in the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in Tenerife, which has been quarantined after an Italian guest tested positive for coronavirus, we’d like to hear from you. You can tell us about the situation by responding to this encrypted form or via WhatsApp by clicking here or adding the contact +44(0)7867825056.If you’re staying in the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in Tenerife, which has been quarantined after an Italian guest tested positive for coronavirus, we’d like to hear from you. You can tell us about the situation by responding to this encrypted form or via WhatsApp by clicking here or adding the contact +44(0)7867825056.
A school in Cheshire has been forced to close amid concerns that students returning to the UK from a ski trip to Italy could be infected with coronavirus.Cransley School, in Northwich, took the decision to close the school after NHS clinical services advised any staff or pupils who went on the trip to Bormio to self-isolate.A number of students are believed to be experiencing symptoms of the virus after visiting the area in the Lombardy region, where hundreds of residents have contracted the deadly infection.The school has closed to all pupils to undergo a “deep-clean” and has advised those returning from the excursion to self-contain regardless of whether they are showing symptoms.The headteacher, Richard Pollock, used the school’s official Facebook page to share his decision to close the school, adding that he would visit Warrington General hospital tomorrow.He said: “Regardless of the current Public Health England advice (that the school should remain open to all other pupils) I have decided, in discussion with the SMT and the chair and vice-chair of governors, to completely minimise possible spread of infection and close the school for the remainder of the week.“During this time, the school will be able to conduct a deep clean, and monitor the results of tests amongst those pupils who are currently showing flu-like symptoms.“I understand that there will be a variety of reactions to this decision amongst parents, and hope that all families will understand the developing situation and the changing and inconsistent advice given to the school. The staff, pupils and families of Cransley are our highest concern.”A second school in Cheshire, Brine Leas Academy in Nantwich, has also been affected by travel to Italy. The school said on Twitter it would remain open but that the sixth form college would close due to “staff shortages”.A school in Cheshire has been forced to close amid concerns that students returning to the UK from a ski trip to Italy could be infected with coronavirus.Cransley School, in Northwich, took the decision to close the school after NHS clinical services advised any staff or pupils who went on the trip to Bormio to self-isolate.A number of students are believed to be experiencing symptoms of the virus after visiting the area in the Lombardy region, where hundreds of residents have contracted the deadly infection.The school has closed to all pupils to undergo a “deep-clean” and has advised those returning from the excursion to self-contain regardless of whether they are showing symptoms.The headteacher, Richard Pollock, used the school’s official Facebook page to share his decision to close the school, adding that he would visit Warrington General hospital tomorrow.He said: “Regardless of the current Public Health England advice (that the school should remain open to all other pupils) I have decided, in discussion with the SMT and the chair and vice-chair of governors, to completely minimise possible spread of infection and close the school for the remainder of the week.“During this time, the school will be able to conduct a deep clean, and monitor the results of tests amongst those pupils who are currently showing flu-like symptoms.“I understand that there will be a variety of reactions to this decision amongst parents, and hope that all families will understand the developing situation and the changing and inconsistent advice given to the school. The staff, pupils and families of Cransley are our highest concern.”A second school in Cheshire, Brine Leas Academy in Nantwich, has also been affected by travel to Italy. The school said on Twitter it would remain open but that the sixth form college would close due to “staff shortages”.
Croatia’s prime minister, Andrej Plenković, has confirmed its first case of coronavirus infection, in a patient who is hospitalised in the capital.Croatia’s prime minister, Andrej Plenković, has confirmed its first case of coronavirus infection, in a patient who is hospitalised in the capital.
“The patient is in the Zagreb clinic for infectious diseases. It is a younger person and he has milder symptoms. He is in isolation and his condition is good at the moment,” Plenković told a news conference.“The patient is in the Zagreb clinic for infectious diseases. It is a younger person and he has milder symptoms. He is in isolation and his condition is good at the moment,” Plenković told a news conference.
The health minister, Vili Beroš, said the patient had stayed in Milan from 19 to 21 February.The health minister, Vili Beroš, said the patient had stayed in Milan from 19 to 21 February.
In Iran, it is being reported that the deputy health minister has tested positive for coronavirus. According to the semi-official news agency ILNA, the spokesman for Iran’s health ministry confirmed in an interview with state television that Deputy Minister Iraj Harirchi has been infected and is now under quarantine.In Iran, it is being reported that the deputy health minister has tested positive for coronavirus. According to the semi-official news agency ILNA, the spokesman for Iran’s health ministry confirmed in an interview with state television that Deputy Minister Iraj Harirchi has been infected and is now under quarantine.
Iraj Harirchi had been working as normal on Monday, and gave a news conference with journalists in Tehran about the virus during which he reportedly had been sweating and looking uncomfortable.Iraj Harirchi had been working as normal on Monday, and gave a news conference with journalists in Tehran about the virus during which he reportedly had been sweating and looking uncomfortable.
It appears that Austria has its first two cases of coronavirus, in the province of Tyrol. There’s no indication yet of the source of the outbreak, but Tyrol borders northern Italy where officials are struggling to contain a growing number of cases.It appears that Austria has its first two cases of coronavirus, in the province of Tyrol. There’s no indication yet of the source of the outbreak, but Tyrol borders northern Italy where officials are struggling to contain a growing number of cases.
Back in the City, the FTSE 100 index of leading blue-chip shares has fallen to a new four-month low.The small gains reported earlier didn’t last. Traders have been spooked again by the latest coronavirus cases in Iran, Italy and the Canary Islands, which have pushed down markets across Europe.The engineering group Meggitt and chemicals firm Croda are leading the FTSE 100 fallers, after they both warned shareholders this morning that Covid-19 will hit their businesses.Neil MacKinnon, a global macro strategist at VTB Capital, says investors are alarmed by the economic damage caused within China, and the rising infections in other countries.“Once travel restrictions inside China are lifted there is a risk of the virus increasing again and/or a reluctance of people to return to work. This looks like more of an ‘L-shaped recovery’ as far as the Chinese economy is concerned and full-capacity working is unlikely to happen before the third quarter.”“The ramifications are certainly global, given that China has accounted for a third of global GDP growth over the past decade. The disruption to global supply chains and disruption to trade and investment flows is considerable,” MacKinnon warns.The FTSE 100 is down 55 points, or 0.7%, at 7101 – its weakest level since 4 October. That’s on top of the 247 points lost in Monday’s rout. The Stoxx 600 index, which tracks Europe’s largest companies, has dropped by almost 1% today.Our business liveblog has more details:Back in the City, the FTSE 100 index of leading blue-chip shares has fallen to a new four-month low.The small gains reported earlier didn’t last. Traders have been spooked again by the latest coronavirus cases in Iran, Italy and the Canary Islands, which have pushed down markets across Europe.The engineering group Meggitt and chemicals firm Croda are leading the FTSE 100 fallers, after they both warned shareholders this morning that Covid-19 will hit their businesses.Neil MacKinnon, a global macro strategist at VTB Capital, says investors are alarmed by the economic damage caused within China, and the rising infections in other countries.“Once travel restrictions inside China are lifted there is a risk of the virus increasing again and/or a reluctance of people to return to work. This looks like more of an ‘L-shaped recovery’ as far as the Chinese economy is concerned and full-capacity working is unlikely to happen before the third quarter.”“The ramifications are certainly global, given that China has accounted for a third of global GDP growth over the past decade. The disruption to global supply chains and disruption to trade and investment flows is considerable,” MacKinnon warns.The FTSE 100 is down 55 points, or 0.7%, at 7101 – its weakest level since 4 October. That’s on top of the 247 points lost in Monday’s rout. The Stoxx 600 index, which tracks Europe’s largest companies, has dropped by almost 1% today.Our business liveblog has more details:
Italian authorities are investigating the skyrocketing online prices for hygienic masks and sanitising gels after the coronavirus outbreak in northern Italy, according to two senior magistrates.“We have decided to open an investigation after media reports of the insane prices fetched up by these products on online sales websites in the last two days,” the Milan deputy chief prosecutor, Tiziana Siciliano, told Reuters.The biggest outbreak in Europe has hit Italy, with more than 260 cases and seven deaths reported, most in the north of the country.Many pharmacists have run out of hygienic masks and hand sanitisers, with people going online to buy them. “The price of masks online has risen from one cent to €10 each and a one-litre bottle of disinfectant that last week was on sale for €7, was up to €39 yesterday,” Siciliano said.Italian authorities are investigating the skyrocketing online prices for hygienic masks and sanitising gels after the coronavirus outbreak in northern Italy, according to two senior magistrates.“We have decided to open an investigation after media reports of the insane prices fetched up by these products on online sales websites in the last two days,” the Milan deputy chief prosecutor, Tiziana Siciliano, told Reuters.The biggest outbreak in Europe has hit Italy, with more than 260 cases and seven deaths reported, most in the north of the country.Many pharmacists have run out of hygienic masks and hand sanitisers, with people going online to buy them. “The price of masks online has risen from one cent to €10 each and a one-litre bottle of disinfectant that last week was on sale for €7, was up to €39 yesterday,” Siciliano said.
As the emergency has spread, police have also issued warnings that criminals posing as health inspectors have been using false identity papers to try to gain access to people’s houses to steal money or other valuables.As the emergency has spread, police have also issued warnings that criminals posing as health inspectors have been using false identity papers to try to gain access to people’s houses to steal money or other valuables.
I will be passing over the live blog to my colleague shortly, so here is a summary of updates so far. There have now been 80,000 people hit by the virus.
A hotel in Tenerife, part of the Canary islands – where an Italian man who has tested positive for coronavirus was staying – has been put on lockdown. One thousand guests at the hotel have also been placed in isolation to halt any further spread of the disease. The H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel on the south of the island is under quarantine and it was reported that police were “ensuring that none of the customers staying at the hotel left or entered the hotel”.
Travellers returning to the UK from northern Italy may need to self-isolate as part of measures to stop the spread of coronavirus, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, said. He said that official advice, updated on Tuesday, had been changed to say that those who have been to northern Italy, north of Pisa, should self-isolate if they develop flu-like symptoms on their return to the UK.
Hancock also said Britons who have been in lockdown regions of Italy, including those in the Lombardy and Veneto region, should self-isolate at home for 14 days even if they have no symptoms.
In Iran, the death toll due to the coronavirus has reached 16, a health ministry official told state TV on Tuesday. Iran has the highest number of deaths from coronavirus outside China, where the virus emerged late last year.
Four new cases of coronavirus have been detected in Iraq in Kirkuk province, the health ministry said. This means there are now five cases in the country.
Italian authorities announced on Tuesday the first positive coronavirus case in the south of Italy. A woman from Bergamo, who was on holiday with her friends in Sicily, has tested positive for Covid-19. The patient, who is not in a serious condition, has been transferred to the Hospital Cervello in Palermo.
The holiday package firms Tui and Jet2holidays use the Tenerife hotel at the centre of the coronavirus scare.The H10 Costa Adeje Palace is a four-star seafront hotel with nearly 500 rooms, and has four pools and a gym. A letter sent by managers to guests says they must stay in their rooms after a man there was diagnosed with coronavirus.
A spokesman for the firm Jet2, which has its headquarters in Leeds, said in a statement to the PA Media news agency:
Irish authorities are expected to announce more stringent measures against coronavirus on Tuesday in an effort to delay what is considered its almost inevitable arrival in Ireland.
The national public health emergency team (NPHET) is to meet this afternoon to review preparations and recommendations related to travel and mass gatherings.
The outbreak in Italy has significantly increased the chance of a coronavirus case reaching Ireland, the health minister, Simon Harris, said on Monday. Ryanair shares tumbled 13% on the ISEQ index of Irish shares on Monday.
A Pro 14 rugby game between Ulster and Benetton, which was due to take place in the northern Italian city of Treviso on Saturday, has been postponed.
Ireland’s Six Nations game against Italy at Dublin’s Aviva stadium on 7 March – which is expected to draw up to 5,000 Italian visitors - is still scheduled to go ahead. That may change depending on whether Italy manages to contain its outbreak.
Organisers of an international James Joyce symposium in June in Trieste, northern Italy, told the Times they planned to go ahead in hope that by then the outbreak will be contained.
Closing borders, blanket travel bans and more extreme government policies will not stop the spread of coronavirus, according to the head of the World Travel and Tourism Council.
It comes as travel companies face huge economic losses amid fears about the virus. In the UK, the biggest faller in the FTSE 100 was EasyJet, which sank 16.7%, while Tui and British Airways owner IAG were both down by more than 9% at the close.
Gloria Guevara, the president and chief executive of the World Travel and Tourism Council, called for governments and authorities worldwide not to overreact with disproportionate measures in a bid to control Covid-19.
She said: “Governments and those in authority must not seek to choke travel and trade at this time. Closing borders, imposing blanket travel bans and implementing extreme policies are not the answer to stopping the spread of coronavirus.
“Past experience shows that taking such extreme action has been ineffective at best. We urge governments to explore fact-based measures which don’t affect the vast majority of people and businesses for whom travel is essential.”
As infection numbers continue to grow, the World Health Organization spokesman said on Tuesday that many countries have pandemic plans ready, and some may act on them depending on their situation but WHO itself does not plan “a big announcement”. He added that countries have to be prepared “literally knocking at every door”.
People could be banned from gathering in large numbers to contain coronavirus, Scotland’s chief medical officer has said.Dr Catherine Calderwood looked to how cases have been dealt with in Italy, with football matches called off and church services in the affected regions cancelled .Speaking on BBC Good Morning Scotland, she said the government and NHS were working on “containment first” and then – if coronavirus was discovered in this country – a range of measures to try to limit the number of people infected.“If we do have a cluster, as has happened in Italy, then we move into delaying the spread,” Dr Calderwood said.“Delaying the spread would mean some of the measures that have happened already in Italy – stopping people coming together in large groups so that one or a few individuals do not spread to many, many more around them.”
Singapore will ban visitors with recent travel history to Cheongdo and Daegu in South Korea amid fears over the virus.
The country has stepped up its “maximum measures” to contain the coronavirus with plans to test around 200,000 members of a secretive church believed to be at the centre of the country’s outbreak.
Two more people infected with the new coronavirus have died, taking the toll in Iran to 16, a health ministry official told state TV on Tuesday. Iran has the highest number of deaths from coronavirus outside China, where the virus emerged late last year.
Rory Stewart, the former international development secretary and independent candidate for mayor of London, has criticised the World Health Organisation for being “far too slow” to describe the new coronavirus outbreak as a global pandemic.
At an event in London, run by Christian Aid on Monday night, Steward said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the WHO was “not getting this response right.”
“They have been far too slow to declare a public health emergency of international concern, a month too late, and they have been far too slow to declare a global pandemic,” he said.
On Tuesday, he told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the WHO’s failure to declare the outbreak a global pandemic, was “big problem” as it held up World Bank funds to developing countries and thus had increased the chance of the virus spreading to countries like Britain.
Stewart said: “Tedros has been unbelievably slow, firstly to declare a world health emergency and then a global pandemic.”
“And that’s a big big problem, because until the pandemic’s declared, you can’t release the World Bank’s funds, so that poorer countries can put the processes in place to be able to deal with the virus and that increases the chance of it spreading to countries like Britain. And that was purely for political reasons, the desire not to offend the Chinese government.”
He said that “huge amounts” of pressure should be placed on the WHO, to ensure they do not make the same mistakes they made with Ebola.
“So we are a member of the World Health Organisation I was actually there when Tedros was appointed, huge amounts of pressure needs to be put on the WHO to sort this out. They made the same mistake with Ebola, they are making it again at the moment with coronavirus.”
He said the second thing needed was to “reassure people”.
“What you don’t want is conspiracy theories spreading because we are not communicating clearly enough and regularly enough, that this is well understood, that actually the Chinese situation is unusual because of the way it was handled in China. And that we have good procedures in place to make sure we handle it better in Britain and that we are thinking about what we can do about transport, about policing, in a worse case scenario.”
A Turkish Airlines plane flying from Iran has been diverted to Ankara at the request of the government, an aviation source said.
An aviation news website said one passenger was suspected of being infected by coronavirus. Turkey’s Demiroren news agency broadcast video showing ambulances lined up beside the plane, with personnel wearing white protective suits on the tarmac.The plane was flying from the Iranian capital, Tehran, and had been scheduled to land in Istanbul. Turkey shut its borders to Iran on Sunday and cut flights due to the spread of the virus in that country.
The Guardian’s Madrid correspondent, Sam Jones, reports on the latest below.
The Tenerife hotel where the Italian man who has tested positive for coronavirus was staying has been put on lockdown and its thousand guests placed in isolation to halt any further spread of the disease.
A well-placed source on the island confirmed to the Guardian that the hotel, theH10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel on the south of the island, was under quarantine.The Diario de Avisos, a Tenerife-based newspaper, said that strict protocol was being followed at the hotel.
It reported that police were “ensuring that none of the customers staying at the hotel left or entered the hotel”.Spain’s national health ministry declined to comment, referring queries to the regional health ministry, which could not be contacted for comment.