Coronavirus live updates: US cases pass 1,000 and UK health minister tests positive - MW
US reaches 1000 confirmed cases
With those new figures out of Florida and Michigan, the US has now reached more than 1000 confirmed Covid-19 cases.
A total of at least 1,004 people – across 38 states – have been confirmed to have the new coronavirus, according to the New York Times database. Washington state has the most (279), followed by California (178) and New York (173).
The coronavirus outbreak began to cause widespread disruption in the United States when the country recorded the 1,000th case, Democratic presidential candidates canceled campaign protests and the two states another emergency declaration.
At least 35 US states and the District of Columbia reported Covid-19 infection on Tuesday night, bringing the total number of countries to more than 1,030. The number of global cases has increased to nearly 120,000.
As the White House and Congress sought to break an agreement to try to reduce the economic impact of the nationwide recession, Democratic rivals Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden both canceled campaign protests. in Ohio on Tuesday night.
The Sanders Campaign said it was paying close attention to warnings from Ohio officials about the organization of major indoor events and added that all future Bernie 2020 events will be assessed on a case by case basis. specific match.
Large gatherings are likely to be scaled back elsewhere in the country. Washington Governor Jay Inslee on Wednesday will declare banning all gatherings of more than 250 people in the greater metro area of Seattle, the Associated Press reported, as he stepped up measures to prevent the spread. lan in this state is the strongest so far with at least 23 deaths.
On the east coast, New York state called on the National Guard to scrub public places and deliver food in the New Rochelle suburb of New York City, the center of the famous infection cluster. most countries. The New Jersey neighborhood reports its first death.
In Michigan, where Biden won the Sanders in an important competition on Tuesday, the governor declared a state of emergency after noting the first two cases. Massachusetts, of which 92 positive cases were thought to be, according to CNN, later did.
AP also reported that Major League Baseball, which is due to begin the new season on 26 March, was holding talks about rescheduling of games if host cities are shut down because of bans on large crowds.
Around the world, 119,120 people have contracted the coronavirus since it surfaced in China late last year, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. More than 4,000 people have died. Other developments around the world include:
- Italy, which has the highest death toll outside of China, began a lockdown of its entire population of 60 million on Tuesday.
- In the UK, junior health minister Nadine Dorries went into self-isolation after testing positive for the virus. She was thought to have come into contact with hundreds of people in the past week, including the prime minister Boris Johnson.
- Sport continued to feel the impact with Arsenal placing some of their players in self-isolation and postponing their Premier League match with Manchester City set for Wednesday night. The move came after it emerged that the unspecified number of players met the chairman of Greek club Olympiakos on 27 February week. He has since tested positive.
- In South Korea, where authorities had hoped a severe outbreak was being contained, cases spiked again on Wednesday by 242 compared with fewer than 100 the day before.
- Japan reported 59 new cases on Wednesday, its biggest one-day rise since the outbreak began. The nation was also forced to scale back ceremonies to mark the ninth anniversary of the triple disaster of tsunami, earthquake and Fukushima nuclear meltdown in March 2011.
The rapid spread of the virus through the world’s biggest economy contributed to another rocky day on Asian share markets. Although Wall Street rallied on Tuesday on the hope of a Trump administration stimulus package, the lack of details and the mounting number of cases in the US sent stocks falling.
In Sydney the ASX200 slumped 3.6% and the Nikkei in Tokyo was off 2.2% and futures trading points took a dive of more than 3% when US markets open later on Wednesday.
Eleanor Creagh, economist at Saxa Capital Markets in Sydney, said the drip-drip of information about the spread of coronavirus from around the world each day was creating a climate of uncertainty in financial markets, adding to volatility.
“As coronavirus spreads around the globe, the economic ramifications are only just beginning,” she said. “The longer it takes, the more aggressive the measures by governments will become and that drags on the economy and risks a meltdown.”
And as the UK wakes up, here are some of today’s front pages on the news that health minister Nadine Dorries tested positive for Covid-19.
The health minister Nadine Dorries has become the first MP to be diagnosed with coronavirus, prompting concerns about the potential spread of the illness at Westminster and even at Downing Street, where she attended a reception last week.
The Department of Health and Social Care DHSC confirmed that Dorries, the Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire since 2005 and a bestselling author of fiction, had tested positive for the infection.
The identity of the individual who infected her is unknown. Focus will now fall on tracking down and testing the potentially hundreds of people Dorries will have been in contact with in the past week, both in parliament and at the health department.
She also attended a Downing Street reception last week for International Women’s Day where the prime minister, Boris Johnson, and his fiancee, Carrie Symonds, were among guests present.
A DHSC spokeswoman said Dears, who started his career as a nurse, has isolated himself at home since Friday. She is understood to be recovering.
In a ministry statement, she said: I can confirm that I have tested positive for coronavirus. As soon as I was informed, I took all the recommended precautions and isolated myself at home.
British public health has begun tracking the contact details and my ministry and parliamentary office are following their advice. I would like to thank the PHE and the great NHS team for giving me advice and support.
After the news was announced, she tweeted:
Thanks for so many good wishes. It’s been pretty rubbish but I hope I’m over the worst of it now. More worried about my 84yo mum who is staying with me and began with the cough today. She is being tested tomorrow. Keep safe and keep washing those hands, everyone.
Matt Hancock, health secretary, tweeted: It's a shame to hear Nadine tested positive for coronavirus. She did the right thing by isolating herself at home, and both the NHS and PHE staff were excellent. We all wish her well when she recovered.
There has been speculation that parliament may be suspended to limit the spread of coronavirus among parliamentarians, colleagues and staff, but Downing Street has yet to embody this idea.
A spokesman said there was no plan to suspend parliament to prevent the spread of the virus. We are following Public Health England (PHE) guidelines to deal with the situation and have been reassured that the measures we are taking are adequate and appropriate, he said.
There are currently no plans to suspend parliament. Changes in the way parliament operates will be a matter of consultation between Speakers, government and parliamentary bodies.
A government source told PA Media that officials and parliamentarians should continue to work in Whitehall and parliament unless otherwise told, saying the advice of the medical director is that no one needs to isolate themselves or be checked unless requested by the PHE monitor. Who is working around the clock.
There is no immediate response to the anxiety diagnosis from number 10.
Door locks in China are partially removed
As reported earlier, China today reported only 24 new cases of Covid-19 and 22 deaths nationwide, as well as a record low of new cases in Wuhan.
From Agence France-Presse:
New cases in Wuhan have dropped to new lows, with 13 cases reported on Wednesday, while only one other non-import case was recorded elsewhere in the country.
Wuhan and neighboring provinces, Hubei, have been locked since late January. But with Hubei reporting no cases outside Wuhan for several consecutive days, the province announced on Tuesday that it would allow healthy people in low-risk areas to travel within the province. .
A state of emergency is declared in Michigan
Michigan, who is holding their Democratic base tonight, has now confirmed their first case of Covid-19.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer confirmed that the two men tested actively at a news conference and also declared a state of emergency to slow the spread.
Farther south, eight new cases have been reported in Florida today, according to the state state health department. That gives the state a total of 20 people.
In Australia, the number of cases in New South Wales has risen to 65. Three of the newly diagnosed people are women who returned from Italy together, and one is a man who had contact with a resident of the Dorothy Henderson Lodge – an aged facility where two people have died from the virus.
Australia today announced a travel ban on people passing through Italy.
4 more cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed, bringing the number of confirmed cases in NSW to 65.
New cases:
•Three women who have returned from Italy together.
•A man (70s), who is a contact of a resident from Dorothy Henderson Lodge.
Read more: health.nsw.gov.au/news/Pages/202…
In New Zealand, there now have been four straight days without a new case of Covid-19, and prime minister Jacinda Ardern has rejected the need for an economic stimulus.
From AAP:
Five Kiwis, with links to Iran or Italy, have contracted the disease, with a further two New Zealand nationals with family ties to those cases listed as ‘probable’ cases.
All are in self-isolation and do not require hospitalisation. Arden said it would be“ more likely we can keep containment.”
Ardern said New Zealand would invest in “ongoing public health campaigns” but was well-stocked in relevant supplies.
“We have 9 million surgical masks,” she said. “We have the capacity within our intensive care units and our tertiary health care.
“When we see wider community transmission ... that’s when we start moving into the phase where you (ban) mass gatherings. That’s not where New Zealand is presently.”
MW
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