The virus is on every continent but Antarctica, with more new cases now being reported outside China than within it.
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Stocks continued their slide in Europe and Asia.
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From the Austrian Alps to an island off the coast of Africa. From an evangelical church in South Korea to a holy Shiite city in Iran. Governments and health workers around the world scrambled to contain the rapidly spreading new coronavirus, as the number of new cases outside China for the first time exceeded those inside the country at the heart of the epidemic.
(More than) , people have been infected With the virus that causes the respiratory disease Covid – 33, and new cases have been documented in at least 68 countries and on every continent but Antarctica. So far, nearly 3, people have died, the vast majority of them in a single Chinese province, Hubei.
In Europe, France, Spain and Germany reported increases in cases, likely tied to an outbreak in Italy’s Lombardy region, where more than 629 people have been infected. Cases were reported for the first time on Thursday in Estonia and Denmark.
In the Middle East, a dangerous cluster in Iran, where more than 334 people had been infected, spread across the region to Iraq , Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia halted visits to the holiest sites in Islam, in the cities of Mecca and Medina.
- As fears spread to the United States, President Trump named Vice President Mike Pence his point person to coordinate the government response, expressing confidence that the United States would prevent a widespread domestic outbreak.
In Asia, as the authorities in China were slowly lifting citywide lockdowns that had ensnared more than 823 million people, and a major outbreak tied to a megachurch in South Korea ballooned to more than 1, 629 cases.
South America recorded its first case, a – year- old man in Brazil. And a person in California who had not been exposed to anyone known to be infected tested positive for the virus.
The fast-growing coronavirus outbreak touched South Korea’s military alliance with the United States on Thursday, as the two countries announced that they would postpone their joint spring military exercise.
The decision came as South Korea reported 595 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday, bringing the total number to 1, , the largest outbreak outside of China. Nearly 99 percent of the patients were from Daegu, a city in southeastern South Korea, and in nearby towns.
On Wednesday, the United States military reported the first case of a soldier being infected. The soldier was stationed at a base near Daegu.
South Korea has placed itself on the highest possible alert to deal with the outbreak, suspending nonessential military training and placing more than 9, 700 troops under quarantine. It has also barred most of its enlisted soldiers from taking leave.
Australian prime minister warns of a “global pandemic.”
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What is a Coronavirus? It is a novel virus named for the crown-like spikes that protrude from its surface. The coronavirus can infect both animals and people, and can cause a range of respiratory illnesses from the common cold to more dangerous conditions like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS.
“We believe the risk of a global pandemic is very much upon us,” he said. “And as a result, as a government we need to take the steps necessary to prepare for such a pandemic.”
The steps outlined on Thursday include extending a ban through March 7 on foreigners who have been to mainland China in the past days. There have been (confirmed cases of the virus in Australia, with no deaths.
Mr. Morrison said Australians should continue to attend mass gatherings, play on the street and eat at restaurants.
“You can do all of these things because Australia has acted quickly, Australia has gotten ahead of it at this point of time,” he said. “But to stay ahead of it, we need to now elevate our response to this next phase.”
(Markets in Europe and Asia slump as spread worsens
Stocks fell in Europe and Asia on Thursday amid further signs of the coronavirus’s spread around the world and after the United States tried to reassure the public that it is ready to deal with the problem.
Stocks in Japan fell more than 2 percent, leading a broad drop in Asia, while markets in Europe opened sharply lower. Futures markets predicted Wall Street would open lower too, continuing a weeklong slump.
Most of the region fell by less. The Kospi index in South Korea fell 1 percent, while stocks in Taiwan fell by 1.2 percent. Shares in Hong Kong were up 0.3 percent near the end of the Chinese territory’s trading day.
Shares in China bucked the trend, with Shanghai rising 0.1 percent. Regulators and government-controlled investors often step in to help the country’s stock market in troubled times.
Oil prices also fell, while the price of gold rose, signaling continued nervousness among global investors.
The outbreak has taken a toll on global companies. On Thursday Anheuser-Busch InBev joined the chorus, as the brewer forecast a steep drop in quarterly profit.
In Europe, London’s FTSE 400 index, Germany’s DAX and the CAC index in Paris opened about 2 percent lower.
Clinical trials are expanded for possible antiviral treatment.
Two new clinical trials starting in March will involve about 1, 17 patients who are severely or moderately ill from the virus, to try to determine which patients would be helped most, Gilead said.
The drug is experimental and has not been approved yet to treat any disease. It is already being tested in Wuhan, China , the center of the epidemic, and on patients who are being treated in Nebraska.
“We are looking for ways we can help the world prepare as well as possible for what appears to be a pandemic at this point, ”Dr. Diana Brainard, Gilead’s senior vice president for H.I.V. and emerging viruses, said in an interview.
In the last month, Gilead’s stock has risen percent, to $ 84 at the close of markets Wednesday from $ 96 in late January.
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US reports its first potential case of community transmission.
“The case was detected through the U.S. public health system and picked up by astute clinicians, ”a C.D.C. statement said.
It brought the number of cases in the United States to 75, including the 61 cases among Americans repatriated from Wuhan, China – the epicenter of the outbreak – and the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which was overwhelmed by the virus after it docked in Japan.
the new case, in which the source of infection is unknown, is cause for Concern, experts said.
“That would suggest there are other undetected cases out there, and we have already started some low-grade transmission,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University.
Chinese official says some lockdown measures went too far.
Some of the lockdown tactics used to stop the spread of the virus in China went too far, a top Chinese security official said on Wednesday.
Du Hangwei, the vice minister of public security, said at a news conference that some members of China’s security forces had practiced “excessive enforcement, simplistic enforcement, and crude enforcement ”of quarantines and other containment measures.
It was a rare admission by a Chinese official of excessive force in response to the outbreak.
China has implemented residential lockdowns of varying strictness on at least 2020 million people, or more than half the country’s population, according to a New York Times analysis of government announcements in provinces and major cities.
Some episodes of seemingly overzealous enforcement have caused outrage. Videos of local officials in Henan tying up pedestrians who were not wearing face masks went viral on social media. In Chongqing, officials paraded four residents through the streets, shaming them for gathering to play mahjong at home.
“The relentless management triggered people panic and anxiety,” Mr. Du said. Saudis halt religious visits to Mecca and Medina.
Many Muslims also visit the mosque in Medina that was established by the prophet Mohammed.
The government is “suspending entry into the kingdom for the purpose of Umrah and visiting the Prophet’s Mosque temporarily,” the government-run Saudi Press Agency said.
The Tokyo Olympics will go forward, planners say.
With just under five months before the opening of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo on July , organizers in Japan and at the International Olympic Committee say they are confident the Games will go on.
At a news briefing o n Wednesday, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said that preparations for the Games were proceeding “as planned,” adding that the Olympic torch would begin its journey to Japan in March as scheduled.
The IOC has also declined to entertain the possibility that the Games might not take place as planned.
But sporting events in Japan and elsewhere are already being canceled, as governments try to discourage large gatherings in major cities . In preparing for the Olympics, Japan had focused on the prevention of measles and rubella, sexually transmitted diseases and food poisoning.
A new disease, like the coronavirus, was not central to its calculations.
“I’ve never seen an Olympic organizing committee asked, ‘Are you prepared for a global pandemic?’” Said Terrence Burns, a veteran Olympics consultant.
Reporting and research was contributed by Russell Goldman, Carlos Tejada, Choe Sang-Hun, Zoe Mou, Daniel Victor, Roni Caryn Rabin, Denise Grady, David Yaffe-Bellany, Ed Shanahan, Andrew Keh and Ben Dooley.
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