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Coronavirus latest updates: UK warns over-70s will have to self-isolate as many countries increase measures
Coronavirus latest updates: flight bans and lockdowns increase across the world as deaths in Spain double
(32 minutes later)
UK also not ruling out closure of bars, restaurants and non-essential shops while flight bans and lockdowns increase across the world
UK not ruling out closure of bars, restaurants and non-essential shops while other countries introduce new measures
The government of Hong Kong will extend compulsory self-quarantine to arrivals who have been to the UK, Ireland, the USA and Egypt, regardless of whether they are Hong Kong citizens, as of 19 March.
The UK government is being urged to block book hotel rooms to enable rough sleepers to self-isolate amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Cyprus has said it will tighten its borders to only allow persons into the country with medical clearance, and place those who do arrive in compulsory quarantine for two weeks to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Grassroots volunteer network Streets Kitchen and the Museum of Homelessness (MoH) have said that hotel bills could be covered by the £500million coronavirus hardship fund announced in chancellor Rishi Sunak’s budget on Wednesday.
It also announced a suspension in operations of private businesses, including retail stores, nightclubs, hotels and malls.
The MoH tweeted:
Thousands of Cypriot students currently abroad would be offered a 750 euro benefit to stay in the country of their study, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said.
“This would mean people are safer, cross infection rates likely in shared shelter spaces are minimised … This plan would reduce hospital admissions and stop people being turfed out of shelters onto the streets and concentrate community efforts.”
Cyprus presently has 26 coronavirus cases reported.
The groups said volunteers could deliver food and supplies in a safe and managed way.
Iran recorded the highest number of deaths in a single day from coronavirus on Saturday, Iran’s ministry of health announced on Sunday.
The call comes more than a week after homelessness charity Crisis raised concerns that the government has no clear strategy in place to protect homeless people from catching the coronavirus.
The number of people killed in the 24 hours to Saturday lunchtime was 113 people, raising the country’s death toll to 724. The number of infected people had reached 13,938, a rise of 1,209, a small drop on the size of the previous 24 hour increase.
Glass Door, one of London’s biggest night shelter operators, revealed on Friday it refused to admit a rough sleeper it feared might be carrying the virus amid a lack of guidance.
Health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told state TV that 4,590 of those infected had recovered.
A Public Health England spokeswoman said the advice is being coordinated by the ministry of housing and will be released within days.
The figures came as public authorities continued to disagree over measures to stem the flow of new cases. Some of the worst affected areas called for a quarantine of their cities, but the Mayor of Tehran said the measure was not practicable. He has advised all people aged over 60 to stay home, but he is not imposing a closure of shops or offices. Officials are relying on citizens to show self-restraint.
The British Foreign Office is now advising against all but essential travel to Myanmar due to the risk of quarantine for British nationals arriving in country.
A claim by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps on Friday that they were set to clean the streets, roads and shops over the weekend did not materialise with large numbers still out in Tehran shopping and acting as normal. The army instead started screening drills in a small number of provinces.
Myanmar has announced that travellers who have recently visited France, Italy, Iran, Spain and Germany will be placed in government quarantine facilities for 14 days on arrival.
The President Hassan Rouhani said he opposed curfews, and also rejected plans for fines to be imposed on anyone found to be driving while infected. He said it would be a sufficient punishment to turn people back, and gave the go-ahead for roadside checks in 11 provinces. He also announced a 3-month grace period for hard pressed businesses to pay tax, electricity, water and gas bills and banking loans.
Recent travellers to the US will be put under surveillance for 14 days, while people who have visited China or the Republic of Korea will not be allowed to enter.“This list of countries, and the nature of the restrictions, could change without warning,” the Foreign Office warned. Myanmar has recorded no cases of the coronavirus.
The death toll remained concentrated with the most 251 dying in the capital Tehran, 84 in Qom city and 143 in Khorazan and 72 in Mazandaran province. The vast majority are aged over 60 or more.
A spokesperson for the president’s office said recently that “the lifestyle and diet of Myanmar citizens” had helped protect the country.
On Saturday cabinet spokesman Ali Rabiee denied all rumours about a lockdown in Tehran.
Myanmar’s preference for paper currency over credit cards was also cited as a factor. “[In other nations] The person handling credit cards at the counter would be in close contact with hundreds of different people in a day. This is avoided by Myanmar’s predominant use of paper currency,” U Zaw Htay told a press conference.
Kate Connolly, our correspondent in Berlin reports that Germany is to close its borders to France, Switzerland and Austria, the government has just announced.
Bulgaria will ban incoming flights from Italy and Spain as of midnight on 17 March in measures to contain the spread of coronavirus, its transport minister said.
5,072 people were confirmed to have the coronavirus by early afternoon today, with the western state of North Rhine Westphalia, which borders the Netherlands and Belgium, the worst affected area with 2,100 cases. The 9th and 10th deaths from the virus in Germany were announced today. Last week a German man died in Egypt from the virus.
Rosen Zheliazkov said on Sunday that Bulgarians who wanted to return home from these countries would have Monday and Tuesday to do so and would face 14 days’ quarantine.
German doctors have warned that they face a personnel shortage, which should be of far greater concern than the oft-cited potential lack of ventilators in case of a mass outbreak. Michael Pfeiffer, president of the German Respiratory Society (DGP) said intensive care wards were already understaffed. He urged decision-makers to train extra staff as a matter of urgency.
He said the Balkan country, on the gateway between Asia and Europe, will ensure the free transport of goods and escort heavy trucks that need to pass through its territory.
Uwe Janssens, general secretary of the German Society for ICU Medicine and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), said the recommendations given by the Robert Koch Institute, the leading German public health advisory body, that every medical carer who has been in close, unprotected contact with confirmed coronavirus cases should self-isolate, was “quite simply not practical”. Janssens said it could lead to the collapse of Germany’s health system.
The Philippines recorded four more coronavirus deaths and 29 new cases, bringing the domestic tally of infections to 140, as authorities placed the entire capital, Manila, under “community quarantine” for about a month beginning on Sunday.
In the southern state of Bavaria, which is the third worst affected state, with 681 confirmed cases, local elections are taking place today, despite coronavirus fears, with people advised to bring their own pens, and soap, water and disinfectant on hand for voting station staff. The number of people who chose to vote by postal vote in the last few days, is said to have been considerably higher than in previous years.
The latest deaths include an 86-year-old American male with travel history from the US and South Korea, the Department of Health said in an advisory.
As authorities ordered the closure of pubs and bars in Berlin, on top of the widespread closure of cultural venues, and all gatherings of 50 people or more, the city’s police urged the public not to call emergency services if they spotted a venue that had yet to close. “The order is still very new and word still needs to get around,” the police said in a tweet. “There is no need to ring our emergency number if you see pubs and bars which are still open.”
The other three are Filipinos, including the latest fatality. In total, 12 people have died from the virus in the country, according to the health department.
Gatherings of more than 50 people have been banned on the island of Montserrat.
The number of deaths in Spain from the coronavirus have more than doubled in a day, to 288, with the number of infections near 8,000, Associated Press reports.
The government also advised that all schools would be closed from 16 March-3 April, and hospital visits would be restricted until further notice.
In Wales, 34 more people have tested positive for the coronavirus, taking the country’s number of confirmed cases to 94.
The action curtailed St Patrick’s Week festivities and saw other events cancelled.
Public Health Wales said it was working with partners in the Welsh government and the wider NHS in Wales now that the country had entered the “delay” phase.
The move came after a passenger on a flight from the UK to Antigua tested positive for Covid-19 and it transpired that more than 80 Montserrat-bound passengers had travelled on the same flight. The passengers have been advised to self-isolate.
Eleven new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Northern Ireland, bringing the total number of known cases there to 45.
There are no confirmed cases on the island.
The Department of Health said people with mild symptoms – new persistent cough and/or fever – should stay at home and self-isolate for seven days and that they will not require testing.
Georgia will temporarily shut its border with Russia for travellers from 16 March in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus, the government has said.
Argentina is planning a 10-day lockdown with a nationwide quarantine, President Alberto Fernández has said in a radio interview.
“This decision would not apply accordingly to the citizens of the Russian Federation and Georgia who wish to return to their home country,” the government said on its website. Restrictions will not apply to freight traffic.
“Everything that can be done to stop people circulating, better be done,” the president said. “If you can stay at home, stay.” An official announcement that may include the general self-isolation order and the suspension of classes is expected this evening.
The ex-Soviet country of 3.7 million people has 30 cases of coronavirus, the highest number in the South Caucasus region.
Known cases of coronavirus have reached 45, after authorities announced 11 new cases Saturday, the highest day-to-day jump since the crisis began. The new cases include a four-year-old child and a man recently returned from the UK. Two people have died so far.
Earlier this month, Georgia elections officials delayed the state’s presidential primary set for 24 March until 19 May in an effort to slow the spread of the pandemic.
Argentina has closed its main nature tourist attractions, including Argentina’s side of the Iguazú waterfalls, the largest in the world when combined with their Brazilian side. The falls draw about 5,000 daily visitors this time of year.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc has confirmed to staff its first two cases of coronavirus, Bloomberg News reports, citing internal memos.
Argentina last week suspended all flights from the US, UK, Europe, Iran, South Korea, Japan and China and police checks are in place at hotels and the homes of new arrivals to ensure they are obeying the two-week self-isolation period mandated by the government.
The investment bank informed its staff that an employee from its London office had tested positive and was at home in isolation, the report said.
The Lebanese president Michel Aoun has said his country is in a state of “medical emergency” because of the threat of coronavirus.
The London case followed an earlier memo to staff in its Sydney office that an employee working in its Governor Phillip Tower site had a confirmed case of coronavirus, the report added.
The president called for citizens to work from home and avoid socialising to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Hungary has confirmed its first death of the new coronavirus, state news agency MTI reported.
“Each of us is called upon to continue his work, from home, in the way he sees appropriate,” he said in a televised address at the start of a cabinet meeting that was expected to declare measures to deal with the outbreak.
A 75 year-old Hungarian national died shortly after being hospitalised with severe pneumonia and a suspected coronavirus infection.
Lebanon’s health ministry said on Sunday that it had recorded 99 cases of coronavirus.
Hungary has 32 confirmed coronavirus cases and 159 people in quarantine, according to government data. The government closed all schools and introduced restrictions on public gathering this week.
The University of Law has also temporarily suspended face-to-face teaching.
Thousands of runners have taken part in the Bath Half Marathon, despite concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.
Liverpool John Moores University has suspended all face-to-face teaching for the rest of the semester with immediate effect, as concerns continued to grow about the coronavirus outbreak.
Organisers faced calls to postpone or cancel the event, including from Bath’s MP, they but said it would go ahead as planned.
A total of 6,200 runners took part in the 13.1 mile race, about half the usual number expected.
Almost 1,000 people joined a Virtual Bath Half group on Facebook instead – running the distance in their own communities and posting about it online.
Organisers said they had “carefully considered, listened and consulted” before deciding that the it would continue as planned. They said the risk of infection from outdoor events remained low and there was “no epidemiological or medical evidence” to suggest it should be restricted.
“Even if we were to cancel at this late stage on the eve of the event, we anticipate that thousands of runners would still turn up to run the route, and we feel we would owe a duty of care to those runners, given that our resources are ready and waiting to support them.”
The move proved controversial after the postponement of other major events, including the London Marathon.
Morocco has suspended all international passenger flights to and from its airports as a protective measure against the spread of coronavirus, the foreign ministry said.
The country has confirmed 28 cases, including one death and one recovery.
