Coronavirus latest: first deaths reported in Singapore, Bondi Beach closed

Singapore on Saturday recorded its first two deaths from Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, as the Chinese epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak reported no new cases, giving hope to the rest of the world battling the pandemic.

The city of Wuhan registered no new cases of Covid-19 for a third day in a row – after reporting its first case in December in an outbreak that has gone on to infect more than 250,000 people around the world and kill about 11,000 people.

Here are the latest developments:

Singapore’s first coronavirus deaths

The Singapore Ministry of Health confirmed that two patients had died from complications due to Covid-19 infection on Saturday morning, including an Indonesian national.

The first patient, a 75-year-old Singaporean woman, had a history of chronic heart disease and hypertension. She had been admitted to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) on February 23 for pneumonia, and tested positive for Covid-19 infection that day.

“She developed serious complications and eventually succumbed to the infection after 26 days in the ICU on March 21 at 7.52am,” the ministry said.

The Indonesian man was admitted in critical condition to the ICU at NCID on March 13, and was confirmed to have Covid-19 the following day. He developed complications and died after spending nine days in ICU. “Prior to his arrival in Singapore on March 13, he had been hospitalised in Indonesia for pneumonia, and had a history of heart disease,” the ministry statement said.

Singapore Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong said the ministry and NCID were extending assistance to the families. “I understand that Singaporeans will be affected by this news. But we must take courage and continue to play our part to fight this virus,” he said.

Later on Saturday, Singapore confirmed 47 new cases, taking its total number of infections to

China’s latest figures

Mainland China on Saturday reported no new domestic infections of coronavirus for a third day in a row.

The National Health Commission said all 41 new infections reported on Friday are imported cases. There are now a total of 269 imported cases.

There were also no new infections in Hubei province, where the outbreak was first reported.

It said seven new deaths were reported, bringing the total number of death to 3,255 as of Friday. Total number of infections stood at 81,008, and 71,740 patients had recovered.

Australia closes Bondi Beach after crowds defy order

Australian officials closed Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach on Saturday after thousands of people flocked there in recent days, defying social distancing orders to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, amid an unusually warm autumn spell.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said the crowds on the country’s most famous strip of sand were “unacceptable” as he reported the number of infections across Australia had risen to 874. The death toll was seven, unchanged from a day earlier.

New South Wales state police minister David Elliott announced Bondi’s closure, warning “this is going to become the new norm” if people did not comply with regulations that prohibit more than 500 people gathering at a non-essential event.

“This is not something we are doing because we are the fun police,” Elliott said in a televised news conference. “This is about saving lives. We will be closing down the type of iconic activities that unfortunately we’ve come ... to love and adore about our lifestyle.”

Another Diamond Princess death

Japan’s health ministry said a Canadian man in his 70s who was a passenger infected with the coronavirus while on board the cruise ship Diamond Princess died of Covid-19 on Saturday.

The ship that had carried an infected passenger early in its voyage returned to its home port Yokohama near Tokyo in early February. The 3,711 on board remained on the ship for a two-week quarantine that was much criticised as ineffective as allegedly making the vessel “an incubator”.

The Canadian is the eighth confirmed death from among those on the ship, where 712 people were infected and transferred to hospitals during the quarantine. A total of 551 have recovered and left hospitals, the ministry said. Of about 1,000 passengers who were allowed to return home after the 14-day on-board quarantine, seven later tested positive.

Biggest daily increase in cases in Thailand

Thailand reported its largest daily increase in coronavirus infections on Saturday, with 89 new cases taking the national tally to 411.

Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a Public Health Ministry spokesman, said the new cases were linked to earlier infections from a boxing match, an entertainment complex and a religious gathering in neighbouring Malaysia.

Of those infected, 366 are currently being treated, while 44 have recovered. Thailand has reported one death in the outbreak.

Meanwhile, confusion over Thailand’s new coronavirus curbs left travellers scrambling on Friday as Thai citizens queued at embassies abroad to get special travel papers and foreigners faced the challenge of producing a negative test for the disease.

The official pronouncement said Thai citizens needed a medical certificate saying they were “fit to fly” but also a letter from a Thai embassy certifying they were citizens if they planned to return from abroad.

Jack Ma donates more masks, test kits

Jack Ma, Asia’s richest man, pledged 1.8 million face masks and 210 million coronavirus test kits to some of the continent’s poorest nations, the latest step in an ongoing effort from his foundation to push back against what’s become a global pandemic.

Ma joined Twitter on Monday to announce that the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation were shipping a donation of emergency supplies to the US. He also aided virus-fighting efforts in Japan, Iran and Italy, and said he would send thousands of testing kits and masks to countries in Africa.

In his latest tweet, Ma said that Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, the Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka would all receive help that includes protective suits, ventilators and thermometers.

No decision yet on Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

A senior official of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics organising committee said on Saturday it is not at the stage of deciding whether or not to postpone or cancel the event.

The committee member was responding to a request from Norway’s Olympic committee not to host the event until the coronavirus spread is under control.

“The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is the one making the final decision. We will firmly continue our efforts to host the event in July,” Toshiaki Endo, vice president of the committee, told Kyodo news. The Games are set to being on July 24.

Rise in new cases in South Korea

South Korea reported 147 new infections and eight more deaths on Saturday, bringing its totals to 8,799 cases and 102 deaths.

South Korea’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said 327,509 people have been tested for Covid-19 and 2,612 people have been discharged from hospitals.

The country’s infections have slowed from early March, when it reported around 500 new cases per day, mostly from the worst-hit city of Daegu and surrounding areas. On Friday the country recorded 87 new cases.

Possible local outbreak in New Zealand

For the first time in New Zealand, health authorities say there might be a local outbreak. The country

on Saturday announced 13 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 52. Two of the cases cannot be linked immediately to overseas travel, as has been the situation for all the previous cases.

In a rare address to the nation, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern urged people aged over 70 to stay home and all other New Zealanders to avoid non-essential travel. She introduced a new alert system, placing the country at 2 on a scale where 4 is the highest. The country has already closed its borders to everybody but citizens and residents and placed restrictions on public gatherings. Ardern said most schools will remain open, for now.

US stocks plummet

US stocks sank to their worst week since the financial crisis of 2008 as traders went into full retreat out of fear that the coronavirus will plunge the US and other major economies into deep recessions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 900 points, extending weekly losses to 17 per cent. The S&P 500 lost 104.47 points, or 4.34 per cent, to 2,304.92 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 271.06 points, or 3.79 per cent, to 6,879.52.

The price of US crude oil also took another nosedive as investors anticipate a sharp drop in demand for energy as manufacturing, travel and commerce grind nearly to a halt.

WHO hopeful

News that the Chinese city of Wuhan had registered no new cases of Covid-19 for a third day in a row was welcomed by the World Health Organisation.

“Wuhan provides hope for the rest of the world that even the most severe situation can be turned around. Of course, we must exercise caution; the situation can reverse. But the experience of cities and countries that have pushed back this coronavirus gives hope and courage to the rest of the world,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual news conference in Geneva.

The WHO also said it was now using the term “physical distancing” rather than “social distancing” to describe the need to maintain space between people to avoid the virus passing.

It said the change of emphasis was to stress that though people may need to go into physical isolation, they did not need to become socially isolated, saying it was important to maintain good mental health during the crisis.

“We can keep connected in many ways without physically being in the same space,” Maria Van Kerkhove, who heads the WHO’s emerging diseases unit, said. “We want people to still remain connected.”

Trump puts wartime powers ‘in gear’, Pence staffer tests positive

US President Donald Trump announced on Friday he had put the wartime Defence Production Act into action to aid the fight against coronavirus after saying earlier this week he would invoke the measure when needed.

The measure is meant to allow the US government to speed production of masks, respirators, ventilators and other needed equipment.

Trump said he put the measure into action on Thursday evening. He and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer spoke about the issue in a phone call on Friday.

Meanwhile, the White House said a member of Vice-President Mike Pence’s staff had tested positive for coronavirus. The staffer, who is not being identified, did not have “close contact” to either the vice-president or Trump.

A spokeswoman said contact tracing was being conducted in accordance with guidelines issued by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Trump turns combative during stormy coronavirus press conference

US and Mexico limit travel across border

The US and Mexico announced plans on Friday to sharply limit travel over their busy shared border as part of efforts to control the spread of the disease.

US President Donald Trump and Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said the two governments agreed to prohibit recreational and tourist travel, similar to the restrictions announced earlier this week along the US and Canadian border.

Coronavirus fears, Luzon lockdown hits Singapore maid agencies

There would be no ban on people travelling for work or other essential activities and there would be no halt to commercial traffic, Ebrard said.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the restrictions would take effect at midnight on Friday.

The US, Mexico and Canada have also worked out a new agreement to immediately return some people trying to illegally cross the borders, officials said.

Illinois on lockdown, New York workers told to stay home

In the US, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker issued a “stay at home” order for the entire state starting Saturday at 5pm through April 7.

Residents can still go to the grocery stores, put petrol in their cars, take walks outside and make pharmacy runs, the governor said at a Friday afternoon news conference.

All local roads, including the interstate motorways and tollways, will remain open to traffic, as well.

Earlier the same day, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered a ban to keep all non-essential workers in the Empire State from commuting to their jobs, up from 75 per cent of workers just a day ago.

“Only essential businesses can have workers come in,” said Cuomo, whose state has about 20 million residents. Businesses not affected by the ban include grocery stores, food deliveries, pharmacies, internet providers and utilities.

“For the rest of the businesses, 100 per cent of the workforce must stay home,” Cuomo said, emphasising that these measures are legal provisions that will be enforced.

Italy death toll passes 4,000

Italy on Friday reported a record 627 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, taking its overall toll past 4,000 as the pandemic gathered pace despite government efforts to halt its spread.

The total number of deaths was 4,032, with the number of infections reaching 47,021. The country has the most coronavirus fatalities in the world.

The government is considering even further restrictions on its already locked-down population as the country reels under the continued spread of the coronavirus.

Coronavirus: China expert lambasts Italy’s ‘lax’ response to pandemic

“In the next 24 to 48 hours, new restrictions are possible,” Italy’s minister of regional affairs Francesco Boccia said Friday, citing the possibility of banning open-air activities.

The presidents of regions in the north – Italy’s richest and the most devastated by the virus – have been pressing Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to clamp down even harder on the movement of people, calling for the deployment of the army to help enforce the measures.

“Unfortunately, even today the statistics aren’t going in the right direction, neither in terms of new infections or in terms of deaths,” Lombardy’s president Attilio Fontana told a press conference on Friday.

Britain closes all pubs and restaurants

The British government is ordering all pubs, restaurants, cinemas and gyms to close in sweeping new restrictions to fight the spread of coronavirus.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said those venues, as well as nightclubs, theatres and leisure centres, should close on Friday and not reopen until further notice. His advice to anyone considering one last trip out on Friday night: “Please don’t.”

Johnson said the situation would be reviewed every month to see if the measures can be relaxed.

Restaurants can continue to serve takeaway food.

EU wants to trigger crisis clause for virus spending

The European Union’s executive arm on Friday proposed easing the bloc’s budget policies so member countries can spend what they need to address the coronavirus pandemic without being subject to deficit limits and other fiscal requirements.

If approved by the leaders of the 27 nations, the move would be the first time the EU activated an escape clause that allows for “a coordinated and orderly temporary deviation” from normal requirements “in a situation of generalised crisis caused by a severe economic downturn,” the European Commission said.

The EU adopted the escape clause in 2011 in the wake of the global financial crisis. The European Commission said that since it forecast a week ago that the virus would lead to a 1 per cent reduction in GDP this year, “more adverse scenarios, linked to a deeper impact of the pandemic” had become likely.

US visa service suspension expands to all embassies

The State Department said on Friday that all US embassies and consulates around the world will temporarily suspend routine visa services, expanding a previous decision to halt such services in many countries due to the spread of the new coronavirus.

Embassies and consulates will cancel all routine immigrant and non-immigrant visa appointments as of Friday. As resources allow, they will continue to provide urgent and emergency visa services, the department said.

“Our overseas missions will resume routine visa services as soon as possible but are unable to provide a specific date at this time,” it said. Services to US citizens will not be affected.

Wrenching choice for Chinese students in US: stay or return home

300,000 EU citizens stranded abroad

As many as 300,000 European Union citizens are seeking repatriation due to the coronavirus outbreak, with Latin America and Southeast Asia two regions from where it is proving tough to get people home, the EU’s top diplomat said on Friday.

While efforts to return Europeans in North Africa have been swift, the EU has been hampered in some other countries, in part because of a lack of information on how many Europeans are overseas and a reliance on commercial airlines.

“We are coordinating the operations to repatriate thousands of Europeans who are stranded abroad. We are talking about 100,000 who are registered [with embassies], but there are many more, maybe close to 300,000,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters by telephone.

Italy-bound ship had 36 cases

An Italian cruise ship bound for the Italian harbour of Savona had 36 people on board infected with the coronavirus when tests were undertaken on passengers during a stop in the French port of Marseille, French authorities said on Friday.

A Marseille area prefecture official said he could not comment on how many of those infected had disembarked and how many were still on the ship, which was due to leave Marseille on Friday evening to sail to Savona.

On Thursday and Friday, the Costa Luminosa disembarked 639 of its 1,421 passengers in Marseille, while French medical staff tested passengers and crew members who had shown symptoms of coronavirus infection.

Diamond Princess virus outbreak spread through food workers, study finds

Among those allowed to disembark on Thursday and Friday were 235 Americans and 77 Canadians, who were taken by bus to Marseille airport, from where they flew to Atlanta. Five of the passengers on that flight had symptoms of coronavirus, according to the prefecture.

Ten Spanish nationals were taken to the airport for a flight to Barcelona, while 187 French nationals were taken home by bus.

Cuba closes borders

Cuba announced on Friday the closure of its borders to non-residents due to the coronavirus pandemic, having previously tried to remain open to keep its key tourism industry alive.

“We’re going to regulate the entry at the country’s borders, allowing only Cuban residents to enter,” said President Miguel Diaz-Canel after updating Cuba’s number of confirmed cases to 21, with one Italian tourist having died.

Economically crippled by US sanctions, Cuba is largely dependent on its tourism revenue.

Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Kyodo