Coronavirus: Latest updates from across the world
Covid-19 has infected hundreds of thousands of people across the globe.
Here are the latest updates:
– KOSOVO
Kosovo authorities have reported the first Covid-19 death in the country.
The Infectious Clinic said the fatality was an 82-year-old man from the village of Dumnica, Podujeva, 20 miles (30km) north of the capital, Pristina.
The patient was admitted to hospital a week ago with “mass pulmonary and pneumonia indications” and was also suffering from other cardiac and lung chronic diseases. He contracted the virus from his son and daughter.
As of Sunday, Kosovo had 28 cases. It is in total lockdown with all its air and land border crossing points shut. Authorities have closed schools, cafes and restaurants and all shops except those offering food and medical supplies.
– JAPAN
Japan has issued a travel warning for its nationals, urging not to make unessential trips to the United States because of the rapidly expanding coronavirus outbreak there, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Japan has taken similar steps to most European countries and banned trips to China, South Korea, Iceland, San Marino and parts of Italy, Switzerland and Spain.
As of Saturday, the US had 15,219 confirmed cases and 201 deaths, the ministry said, citing the US Centre for Disease Control.
The US has urged Americans not to make non-essential trips to Japan, and Japanese nationals entering the US are required to undertake a 14-day self-imposed quarantine.
– SINGAPORE
Singapore said it will fully shut its borders from Tuesday after recording its first two deaths.
The city-state has banned visitors from several countries and requires all short-term visitors to observe a 14-day home quarantine. But the government said that from Tuesday all short-term visitors will be barred from entering or transiting through the country.
It said in a statement on Sunday that this will reduce the risk of imported cases and free up resources to focus on its citizens. Singapore citizens, permanent residents and foreigners with a long-term work permit can return but must undergo a 14-day self-quarantine.
The city-state of nearly 6 million people has recorded 432 cases so far. On Saturday, it reported that a 75-year-old Singaporean woman and an Indonesian visitor, 64, have succumbed to the virus.
– AUSTRALIA
Australia has unveiled a 66.4 billion Australian dollar (£33 billion) stimulus package in a bid to ward off a recession and safeguard employment from the coronavirus pandemic.
The package includes cash payments for eligible small businesses and welfare recipients. The total economic assistance packages so far total almost 10% of the country’s GDP.
Australia has recorded more than 1,000 cases of the virus as fears grow that it is heading for its first recession in nearly three decades.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said: “We want to help businesses keep going as best they can or to pause instead of falling apart. We want to ensure that when this crisis has passed Australia can bounce back.”
He said more draconian social distancing measures would be considered during a Cabinet meeting on Sunday.
Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach was closed on Saturday after thousands of people flouted regulations that prohibit more than 500 people gathering.
– SOUTH KOREA
South Korea reported 98 more cases of the new coronavirus on Sunday, taking the total to 8,897.
Deaths increased by two to 104, according to the state-run Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
– RUSSIA
The Russian Defence Ministry said it is ready to fly its mobile medical teams and disinfection equipment to Italy to help it deal with the new coronavirus.
The ministry’s statement followed a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Saturday in which the Russian leader offered to send military medical personnel and equipment to help Italy contain the outbreak of the new coronavirus.
The Russian Defence Ministry said its transport planes stand ready to airlift eight mobile medical teams along with various medical equipment and aerosol disinfection trucks to Italy.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had a call with his Italian counterpart Lorenzo Guerini, who said Italy was ready to receive Russian planes with medical personnel and equipment starting on Sunday.
– MIDDLE EAST
The Palestinian Health Ministry has announced the first two cases of the coronavirus in the Gaza Strip.
The ministry said early on Sunday that the cases were two people who returned recently from Pakistan.
The discovery increases fears of a potential outbreak in the crowded enclave, amid an overstretched healthcare system that struggles under years of an Israeli-Egyptian blockade and Palestinian political division.
– CZECH REPUBLIC
A giant transport plane landed in the Czech Republic late on Saturday, loaded with more than 100 tons of much-needed supplies for the medical sector to combat the outbreak of the coronavirus. The transport was part of a Nato programme.
The Czech Defence Ministry said the plane was flying from the city of Shenzhen in south-eastern China with more than 106 metric tons (117 tons) of equipment.
The Czech Republic has 995 people infected with Covid-19.
The flight was made possible by the Strategic Air Lift International Solution (Salis), whose goal is to provide participating Nato allies with a capability to transport heavy and outsized cargo.
– AFRICA
As the coronavirus infects more people around the world, conservationists are warning of the risk to another vulnerable species: Africa’s mountain gorilla.
Congo’s Virunga National Park said it is barring visitors until June, citing advice from scientific experts indicating that primates, including mountain gorillas, could be susceptible to Covid-19 complications.
The park is home to about a third of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas.
Rwanda has announced similar measures.
Tourist revenue that helped to fund anti-poaching efforts is now expected to drop.
