Covid-19 pandemic ‘once in 100 year-type event’

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is calling for more “aggressive” action to curb the coronavirus in Southeast Asia, after the European Union, now at the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, moved to seal off its borders.

Southeast Asia is facing a wave of infections that originate from an event at a mosque on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur attended by some  16 000 people. Malaysia now has the biggest outbreak in the region.

Europe has moved to close its external borders as hard-hit Italy reported an additional 345 deaths from the virus, and France imposed a draconian lockdown unseen during peacetime. In the United States, meanwhile, the virus has now spread to all 50 states.

Globally, the virus has infected 184 976 people and killed just more than 7 500, according to the WHO. Almost 80 000 people have recovered from the infection, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.

Al Jazeera has called on the Egyptian government to release Mahmoud Hussein, an Al Jazeera journalist held in Egypt for more than three years, citing deep concerns about his health amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Germany could be dealing with 10 million coronavirus infections in the coming months if its citizens do not adhere to measures aimed at slowing the spread of the virus, the country’s top disease control official said. “We have an exponential development in the epidemic,” Lothar Wieler, president of the Robert Koch Institute, said in Berlin.

He appealed to Germany’s 80 million people to limit contact with others.   

Iran reported 147 more deaths from the coronavirus, its single biggest jump. The 15 percent spike raised the death toll to   1 135 people nationwide.

The rise in deaths comes as the number of infections continues to grow each day, with some 17 361 people infected, according to Iran’s deputy health minister, Alireza Raisi.

The coronavirus can survive up to four hours on copper, up to three days on plastic, stainless steel and a day on cardboard, according to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

Indonesia announced 55 new coronavirus cases, taking the total to 227, marking the biggest daily rise in positive cases.

Achmad Yurianto, a health ministry official, also told a news conference that the number of deaths from the disease rose to 19, with deaths recorded in seven different provinces, while 11 patients had recovered.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has called upon his countrymen “not to panic” amid a spike in coronavirus cases in the country, warning that the spread of Covid-19 was inevitable and that Pakistan cannot currently afford the economic cost of shutting down its cities.

A total of 276 Indians abroad have tested positive for coronavirus to date, an Indian government minister said.

A number of US embassies worldwide will suspend routine visa services, the US Embassy in South Korea said. The suspension will affect visa services at embassies in countries with a US State Department travel advisory level of 2, 3, or 4, the statement said.

According to the US State Department website, as of yesterday the list includes around 100 countries.

France could hope to see the number of coronavirus infections to slowdown in about eight to 12 days following the government’s decision to lock down the country, health minister Olivier Veran said.

Italy reported 345 new coronavirus deaths in the country over the last 24 hours taking its total death toll to 2,503 — an increase of 16 percent.

The total number of cases in Italy rose to 31 506 from a previous 27 980, up 12.6 percent —the slowest rate of increase since the contagion came to light on February 21. Italy is the European country hardest hit by coronavirus.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has described the coronavirus pandemic as the “defining global health crisis of our time”, and urged countries to test all suspected cases of COVID-19.

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