Coronavirus Pandemic: Doors get shut

More and more countries, led by US, yesterday shut their borders over the coronavirus pandemic that has sparked unprecedented lockdowns, widespread panic and another financial market meltdown.

The virus has already spread to 116 countries and territories forcing countries to impose widespread travel bans and movement restrictions. But since US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a shock 30-day ban on travel from mainland Europe, a slew of countries around the world announced similar measures.

Slovakia yesterday announced it would close its borders to all foreigners except Poles. The government also said it was closing schools for two weeks starting Monday and shutting down all international airports.

The Czech Republic declared a 30-day state of emergency and closed its borders to people from 15 "risk countries". Gatherings of more than 30 people were also barred in the country, which has so far confirmed 96 cases and no deaths. Schools, theatres, cinemas and galleries have already been closed across the country.

In Latin America, Argentina, Colombia and Peru said travelers from China, Italy, Spain and France would be isolated on arrival. El Salvador went further, with President Nayib Bukele announcing late Wednesday the Central American country would ban entry to all foreigners for a period of 21 days.

In Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday announced plans for a halt to all transport in and out of the capital Manila and a quarantine to contain the spread of the virus. In a nationally televised address, Duterte also approved a month of school closures, ban on mass gatherings and a prohibition on the entry of foreigners from places where the contagion is spreading.

The virus has so far infected more than 131,460 people globally and killed over 4,923, according to an AFP tally.

Since 1700 GMT on Wednesday, India, Algeria, Austria, Azerbaijan, Guyana and Poland announced their first deaths, while Cuba and Jamaica confirmed the first coronavirus cases on their territory.

B Sriramulu, health minister for Indian Karnataka state, said a 76-year-old man who recently died tested positive for the novel coronavirus, marking the country's first fatality from the virus.

The World Health Organization has classified the outbreak as a pandemic, but its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus yesterday assured the outbreak was "controllable", even as cases and fatalities surged in Iran and Spain.

Meanwhile, EU yesterday reacted strongly to the US announcement of travel ban on the block. European Union chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel swiftly rebuked Washington's "unilateral action" without consultation, calling for cooperation to fight the pandemic.

Trump's unexpected move -- which excludes the United Kingdom and Ireland -- pummelled stock markets as traders fretted about the economic impact of the outbreak that is on a seemingly relentless march across the planet.

Trump, who has been criticised for his response to the outbreak in the US, blamed the EU for a lacklustre response to the virus.

"This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history," he said.

Europe is struggling to keep a lid on the virus, which has killed 1,182 people and infected 27,741 on the continent, with Spain registering nearly 3,000 cases and 84 deaths yesterday.

Italy is in the grip of a lockdown never before seen in peacetime, shutting all stores except pharmacies and food shops in a move that has emptied world-famous tourist sites in Rome, Venice and Florence.

Other European nations have rolled out a host of measures to control the virus, with Ireland becoming the latest country to close schools and ban gatherings after reporting its first death on Wednesday.

Britain yesterday said up to 10,000 people in the UK could be infected with the novel coronavirus. Government chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance said there were currently 590 confirmed cases but it was "much more likely we've got somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 people infected".

Vallance was speaking after Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the outbreak, which has so far killed 10 people in Britain, "the worst public health crisis for a generation" and warned it would get worse.

Following similar stimulus measures taken globally, Trump announced steps aimed at inoculating the world's top economy from the pandemic, including deferring tax payments for some individuals and businesses -- a move he said amounted to $200 billion in liquidity.

Even after the White House clarified that the Trump travel ban did not apply to goods or cargo, the markets still took fright.

"Travel restrictions equal slower global economic activity, so if you need any more coaxing to sell, sell, sell after a massively negative signal from overnight trading in US markets it just fell in your lap," said AxiCorp's Stephen Innes.

The carnage on stock markets spread to Europe, with London, Frankfurt and Paris all losing almost six percent approaching the half-way mark.

The European Central Bank yesterday unveiled fresh stimulus measures in bid to ease the economic fallout from the worsening coronavirus crisis.

As the crisis deepened in Europe, China appeared to be making headway against the outbreak, which has infected and killed more people in the country than anywhere else in the world.

Another 11 people died in China yesterday, bringing their toll to 3,169 deaths -- but it was the lowest daily increase since late January.

In outbreak epicentre Wuhan, just eight new cases were recorded yesterday, the first time it has been in single figures since figures started to be reported in January.

"The peak of the epidemic in China has passed," said National Health Commission spokesman Mi Feng.

WHO chief Tedros also sounded a warning, urging countries not to give up the fight to stop the virus spreading.

"We are deeply concerned that some countries are not approaching this threat with the level of political commitment needed to control it," he said in Geneva yesterday.

"The idea that countries should shift from containment to mitigation is wrong and dangerous."

Hotspots have rapidly emerged elsewhere including in South Korea and Iran, which announced 75 new deaths yesterday bringing the total to 429 with more than 10,000 infections.

Hollywood superstar Tom Hanks yesterday announced that he and his wife Rita Wilson had tested positive for the virus, joining the ranks of politicians and sports stars that have come down with the infection.

The Hollywood pair were in isolation in a hospital in Australia, where Hanks was shooting a film.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife announced they were self-isolating yesterday as she undergoes tests for the new coronavirus after returning from a speaking engagement with "mild flu-like symptoms."

The pandemic also continued to disrupt cultural and sporting events.

The NBA on Wednesday suspended the season after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for the virus, while spectators were banned from Ancient Olympia in Greece to witness the lighting of the Olympic flame for the 2020 Tokyo Games, which are due to begin in July.

Spain suspended top flight football matches for two weeks as Real Madrid went into quarantine.

This weekend's opening Formula One race in Melbourne is still on although McLaren have withdrawn after a team member tested positive.