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North Korea ends quarantine of some foreigners in virus move As virus cases near 100,000, fear of ‘devastation’ for poor
(about 1 hour later)
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Friday it has released about 220 foreigners from a quarantine imposed as part of its vigilant prevention efforts to avoid an outbreak of the coronavirus that has spread around the world. 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.
The country has not publicly disclosed any cases of COVID-19, but outsiders are skeptical it escaped the virus that erupted in its neighbor and closest ally China and has infected more than 98,000 people globally. Asian 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.
About 380 foreigners in North Korea had been placed under medical surveillance, state radio had previously reported. The Korean Central News Agency said Friday that 221 of them were freed from “strict confined medical observation.” It gave no further details. “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.
Some foreign media outlets including Russia’s state-run Tass news agency have reported some foreigners in Pyongyang were to be evacuated soon. The head of the U.N.’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.
North Korea has said at least 7,000 of its people were in medical surveillance as well. It has said it was strengthening its screening of those who came back from overseas trips or had contacts with foreigners. Across the West, there was a sense of déjà 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.
COVID-19 has proven challenging to identify, contain and treat in well-off countries, and experts worry an outbreak could be devastating in impoverished North Korea, which has a malnourished population and a chronic shortage of medical supplies. “The Western world is now following some of China’s playbook,” said Chris Beauchamp, a market analyst at the financial firm IG.
The country has banned foreign tourists, virtually closed off its borders, delayed the school year and mobilized tens of thousands of government workers every day for disease-prevention efforts. It has closed a liaison office with South Korea indefinitely. Signs of the virus’ shift away from its origins in China were becoming clearer each day.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered a stronger quarantine campaign and warned of “serious consequences” if the illness spreads to the North. KCNA said North Korea was taking “top-class anti-epidemic measures” in response to recent Politburo decisions. 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.
South Korea has the world’s second-biggest outbreak, with 6,284 cases. Most are in the southeastern city of Daegu, where a cluster was connected to a local church. Escalating outbreaks around the world prompted the World Health Organization chief to call on governments to pull out “all the stops” to slow the epidemic. 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.
“Countries have been planning for scenarios like this for decades. Now is the time to act on those plans,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva. 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.”
Italy, the epicenter of Europe’s outbreak, restricted visits to nursing homes and urged the elderly not to go outside unless absolutely necessary. Italy has the world’s second-oldest population after Japan. Research in China has shown COVID-19 to be more severe in the elderly. Cases were increasing in Germany and France, but Italy remained the center of Europe’s outbreak, particularly in its north. The country has had 148 fatalities, making it the deadliest site for the virus outside China.
Iran also closed schools and universities and introduced checkpoints to limit travel between major cities. President Hassan Rouhani urged state television to offer “happier” programs to entertain those stuck at home. 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.
Palestinian officials closed the storied Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem indefinitely, weeks ahead of the Easter holiday. And virus fears may dull India’s vibrantly colorful spring festival of Holi. Japan on Friday canceled this year’s memorial for victims of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami. The Vatican said it was working with Italian authorities to keep the coronavirus from spreading in its tiny city-state, with a suspension of Pope Francis’ weekly audiences seen likely.
In the United States, where 12 have died from COVID-19, hundreds of people were in self-quarantines due to infections in a New York suburb. A cruise ship off California was ordered to stay put until its passengers and crew could be tested for the virus after four cases were confirmed in previous travelers. 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.
China still has more than 80% of the world’s cases, though its outbreak is steadying. On Friday, it reported 143 new infections and 30 new deaths, almost all in the epicenter city of Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province. China now has 3,042 deaths and 80,552 cases. And in the United States, more than 230 cases were stirring anxiety around the country, nowhere more than its northwestern corner in Washington state, where officials are so concerned about having space to care for the sick they were expected to close a $4 million deal Friday to take over a roadside motel.
More and more patients are being released from the virus-dedicated hospitals hastily built at the peak of its crisis. It has released 53,726 people who were declared cured, while about 6,000 virus patients are still hospitalized in serious condition. The plan to turn the 84-room EconoLodge into a quarantine facility was not sitting well with everyone, including the police chief in the town where it’s located, who called it “ill-advised and dangerous” and warned security would be needed to keep people from leaving the hotel and infecting others.
To the south, on the Pacific coast, California National Guard paratroopers were hoisted down from a military helicopter to deliver virus test kits to the bow of the Grand Princess cruise ship.
The vessel, with 3,500 aboard, was ordered to stay at sea after a traveler from its previous voyage died of the coronavirus and at least four others were infected. The cruise line said samples were collected from 45 passengers and crew members and results were expected later Friday.
The Grand Princess is operated by the same line as the Diamond Princess, which was quarantined at a Japanese port last month. More than 700 people on board were infected.
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Contributing to this report were Kim Tong-Hyung and Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea; Aya Batrawy and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Nicole Winfield in Rome; Gene Johnson in Seattle; Olga Rodriguez in San Francisco; and Mohammed Daraghmeh in Bethlehem, West Bank.
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The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.