Europe now epicentre of virus pandemic

The World Health Organization yesterday warned that Europe was now the "epicentre" for the global coronavirus pandemic that has spread to more than 120 countries and killed more than 5,000 worldwide.

"Europe has now become the epicentre of the pandemic," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a virtual press conference. He said the continent had now "more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from China.

In another development, US President Donald Trump announced a national state of emergency yesterday, freeing up $50 billion in federal funds for the battle against  the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic, reports AFP.

"To unleash the full power of the federal government, I'm officially  declaring a national emergency," Trump said in a statement on the White  House lawn.

Maria Van Kerkhove, who heads the WHO's emerging diseases unit, meanwhile warned it was "impossible for us to say when this will peak globally."

"We hope that it is sooner rather than later."

Their comments came as countries in Europe and beyond introduced dramatic measures to halt the spread of the virus, including imposing unprecedented travel bans, shutting borders and internal movements, closing schools and restricting public events, sports.

Since the novel coronavirus first emerged in late December in China, 140,720 cases have been recorded in 124 countries and territories, killing 5,347 people, according to an AFP tally compiled at 1300 GMT yesterday based on official sources.

The worst affected countries are mainland China, with 3,176 deaths, Italy, 1,016 deaths, and 514 in Iran, the three countries with the highest death rates.

Spain yesterday declared state of emergency as more countries announced nationwide or partial lockdowns to prevent the spread of virus.

Governments and central banks readied more emergency measures to tackle the economic impact of the coronavirus, helping financial markets spare some of their steep losses, while more major events were cancelled or postponed.

Meanwhile, US lawmakers and the White House neared agreement on a coronavirus economic aid package, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying she hoped to announce a deal later yesterday.

Bloomberg, citing sources, yesterday reported that President Donald Trump would declare a national emergency over the fast-spreading coronavirus, opening the door to providing more federal aid to fight the disease.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.

The WHO warning came as global experts yesterday warned that health authorities around the world are underprepared to face the challenges ahead.

US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib Thursday warned that between 70 to 150 million people in the United States could eventually be infected with the novel coronavirus. She made the remarks during a hearing of the House of Representatives with members of the president's coronavirus task force, confirming earlier reports by US media outlets including Axios and NBC News.

Earlier, a government report in UK said up to 10,000 people might have been infected in the country so far. On Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that up to 70 percent of Germans risk being infected.

Meanwhile, France yesterday said the G7 will hold an extraordinary meeting via videoconference next week to bolster the international response to the coronavirus outbreak. The meeting of the Group of Seven nations will seek to coordinate action against the virus in the spheres of health, economy, finance and research, the presidency said.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez yesterday said Spain would declare a 15-day state of emergency from Saturday. He said the number of cases could top 10,000 by next week - more than double the current level - and asked citizens to play their part.  Spanish media said authorities has decided to close bars and shops - apart from supermarkets and pharmacies - in the capital and the surrounding region from Saturday.

Spain has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in Europe after Italy. The current Spanish tally stands at 4,209, up by about 1,000 cases from Thursday and seven times as much as on Sunday. About 120 people have died.

Schools have already closed across Spain, as have cinemas, theatres and playgrounds. Several regions have also suspended trials.

Switzerland, France, Belgium, Portugal yesterday joined the list of countries closing their schools to tackle the pandemic. Ireland too closed all schools and universities.

In South Asia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka took more drastic measures to halt the epidemic.

India, which has reported 85 cases so far, yesterday reported its second death linked to the virus. A 68 years old woman, who had high blood pressure and diabetes, died in New Delhi, reported our New Delhi correspondent.

India on Wednesday suspended all tourist visas until April 15 and said it would quarantine travellers arriving from seven virus-hit countries. Several states have shut schools, public buildings, and cinemas.

The Indian Premier League, the world's most lucrative cricket competition, yesterday postponed the start of this year's tournament amid mounting anxiety in India over the coronavirus pandemic.

Pakistan too yesterday shut all its schools and land borders and decided to limit international flights and discourage large gatherings to try to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

Pakistan borders China and Iran, both of which have been hit hard by the virus. Pakistani authorities has reported 21 cases of the coronavirus but no deaths.

In Sri Lanka, which has reported 4 cases, government on Thursday shut schools as a precautionary measure.

In Latin America, Venezuela and Bolivia suspended flights to and from Europe for a month. Paraguay ended them until further notice, as does Peru. Argentina suspended flights from the most hard hit countries for a month.

Meanwhile, Iran yesterday said the security forces will clear the streets nationwide within 24 hours so all citizens can be checked for coronavirus -- its toughest measure yet to combat the outbreak.

In china, the outbreak has slowed markedly amid strict transport curbs on movement and lockdowns.

Just five new cases were reported on Friday in the provincial capital of Wuhan, where the virus was first detected in December, and no locally transmitted infections were reported in the rest of China. AFP later put the total cases in China at 20 without giving any breakdown.

In Italy, where the death toll passed 1,000 in Europe's deadliest outbreak, the government imposed a blanket closure of restaurants, bars and almost all shops except food stores and pharmacies.

By contrast, South Korea - where an outbreak surged at around the same time as Italy's - reported the number of people recovering from the virus outpaced new infections for the first time, raising hopes that Asia's biggest epidemic outside China may be slowing.

Despite the positive news from China and South Korea, global markets took another battering with Japan's Nikkei closing down 6% after Wall Street stocks slumped about 10% on Thursday, their worst day since the 1987 "Black Monday" crash.

But Asian markets were off lows for the day as policymakers stepped in to help ease a liquidity squeeze as cratering stock markets triggered a rush for cash.

Japan's central bank pledged to buy 200 billion yen ($1.90 billion) of five- to 10-year Japanese government bonds and also to inject an additional 1.5 trillion yen in two-week loans.

The US Federal Reserve on Thursday offered a hefty $1.5 trillion in short-term loans to stimulate the economy and stabilize the financial system.

Australia's central bank followed suit, pumping an usually large amount of cash into the system on Friday as panic selling across global markets threatened to drain liquidity and push up borrowing costs.