GOVERNMENTS around the world have ordered sweeping travel bans to isolate people at home in an attempt to slow the unfolding coronavirus pandemic.
US President Donald Trump, who had downplayed the virus for weeks, delivered a sombre Oval Office address, announcing strict rules on travel from much of Europe after accusing governments there of failing to respond quickly to the threat.
The European Union quickly hit back, condemning Trump’s “unilateral” decision, saying the virus is a “global crisis, not limited to any continent and it requires co-operation rather than unilateral action”.
Coronavirus has produced crippling outbreaks in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, ignited global financial panic and has seen developments by the hour.
Those include an official designation of “pandemic” from the World Health Organisation (WHO), a halt to much travel between the US and 26 European countries and regular announcements of infections by Hollywood celebrities, sports stars and political leaders as well as ordinary people.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Second-worst day in history for FTSE 100
Canada’s Justin Trudeau is quarantining himself at home after the prime minister’s wife showed flu-like symptoms.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau returned from a speaking engagement in Britain and had mild flu-like symptoms, including a low fever, late on Wednesday night, Trudeau’s office said.
She is being tested for the Covid-19 disease and is awaiting results, however her symptoms have since subsided.
In Italy’s Lombardy region, hospitals were overwhelmed with both the sick and the dead.
More than 127,000 people in more than 110 countries have been infected, the vast majority in just four of them: China and South Korea – where new cases are now declining – and Iran and Italy, where they are not.
There have been more than 4700 deaths around the world.
In Italy, new restrictions closed restaurants, cafes and shops yesterday after the prime minister imposed a nationwide lockdown on personal movement earlier in the week. Grocery stores, pharmacies and outdoor markets were allowed to operate.
Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Lithuania, Algeria and Slovakia all joined the growing list of countries shutting down their school systems.
Europe’s most successful football team, Real Madrid, put all its players into quarantine after one tested positive.
Even Mount Everest closed for business when Chinese officials cancelled spring climbs from their side of the mountain.
On the other side, in Nepal, operators said cancellations were pouring in.
Europeans were adjusting to the US travel restrictions, which hit some of the world’s most-travelled routes and threw travel plans into chaos.
Britain and Ireland were exempt, despite imposing fewer restrictions in response to the virus than many EU countries, raising questions about the coherence of the US policy.
Trump accused Europe of not acting quickly enough to address the “foreign virus” and claimed that US clusters were “seeded” by European travellers. Cases in the US now number more than 1300.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who heads the WHO, urged countries not to give up.
He also announced a four-point strategy aimed at tackling the virus: prepare and be ready; detect, prevent and treat; reduce and suppress transmission; and innovate and improve.
Ghebreyesus said: “We’re all learning and we must all find new ways to prevent infections, save lives and minimise impact.
“All countries have lessons to share.”
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