With the introduction of strict restrictions in India, at least a quarter of the planet’s 7.8 billion people have been placed under some form of quarantine. Meanwhile, Spain has broken its record for coronavirus-related deaths, Italy has again tightened its disease control measures, and the British Parliament will suspend its work for a month. The BBC has compiled the latest news on the global outbreak.
Rwanda, California, New Zealand, New York – factories and cafes are closing all over the planet, and the number of people on the streets of cities is shrinking. On Thursday at midnight, quarantine measures will be introduced in South Africa. Most residents will not be able to leave their homes for 21 days. Similar measures have already been introduced in India. Quarantines are also planned in those American states where they have not yet been implemented.
The UN has set up a fund for donations to poor countries. Members of the organization are being asked to donate two billion dollars each to help the most vulnerable regions cope with the Covid-19 outbreak. In Great Britain, the heir to the throne, Prince Charles, was found to be infected with coronavirus. The infection was detected by tests. Buckingham Palace said the 71-year-old prince has mild symptoms and is in good spirits. Meanwhile, London is stepping up its fight against passengers who use public transport when it is not absolutely necessary.
Last week, pubs, restaurants and many tube stations were closed in Britain. After photos of subway trains packed with people went viral on Tuesday, Mayor Sadiq Khan called for reduced passenger flows. On Wednesday, London Underground introduced social distancing measures, partially disabled escalators and turnstiles, and closed platforms. Khan said on Wednesday that the number of passengers had fallen by a third, but that was not enough.
A force of 500 British Transport Police officers has been deployed at tube and suburban train stations. According to the head of the unit, Sean O’Gallaghan, they will remind citizens of the need to comply with the government’s recommendations. The British Parliament is expected to adjourn on Wednesday evening after passing several emergency laws related to the pandemic. In the capital of Great Britain there are about three thousand infected, and in the whole United Kingdom – over eight thousand. Members of the House of Commons hope to resume work on April 21. The closing of the British Parliament because of an epidemic is an unprecedented measure. In the three hundred years that Parliament has met regularly, it has never suspended its work, except for regular holidays, election periods, and prorogation – a pause for the preparation of the government’s program. The British Parliament continued to function during both World Wars.
Andrew Cuomo, Governor of the state of New York, which accounts for more than half of the cases in the U.S., held a press conference on Wednesday. More than five thousand cases of infection have been reported in the state in the last 24 hours. Cuomo said he has asked President Trump and the White House to provide additional equipment and personnel to the state’s hospitals. He promised that once the peak of the epidemic has passed in the state, his authorities will immediately transfer the equipment to the state most affected by the coronavirus at that time. He criticized the decision of Congress to approve a gigantic financial aid package of two trillion dollars. According to Cuomo, New York will receive about $1.3 billion from this package, and the state has already spent $3.8 billion to fight the coronavirus.
Cuomo urged young people to be careful and “not to play superheroes,” and also announced that certain roads in New York would be closed to traffic as part of the quarantine measures. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump said at a press conference that he sees “light at the end of the tunnel” and believes the country will be rid of the coronavirus by Easter, in mid-April. In the past day, 738 people died of Covid-19 in Spain, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to 3434. Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 47,000 people in the country have been infected with the coronavirus. Italy, the country hardest hit by the pandemic, has increased penalties for violating quarantine rules. People who violate the self-isolation regime after being diagnosed with the coronavirus face fines of several thousand euros and imprisonment for up to five years.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that the assumptions about extending the quarantine until July were wrong and that it would be ended as soon as possible. The number of deaths in Italy decreased slightly over the past day compared to the previous day. On Wednesday, it was announced that another 683 people had died, bringing the total number of deaths from the coronavirus in the country to 7,503. 5,210 new cases of infection have been identified. France has become the fifth country in the world where the number of deaths from Covid-19 has exceeded one thousand. According to the head of the country’s General Directorate of Health, Jérôme Salomon, there may be more deaths because the official statistics only include those who died in hospitals. Scientists are recommending that the government extend the quarantine for another month and a half.
The quarantine in India is unprecedented in its severity and scope, and will hit the poor hardest: people who work as domestic servants, street vendors, and construction workers. They make up the majority of the country’s workforce and have no health insurance or paid sick leave. Several states – including Uttar Pradesh, the most populous and one of the poorest states in the country – have announced direct financial assistance.
According to Wednesday’s data, there are more than 400,000 cases of coronavirus infection worldwide, and the number of deaths is approaching 20,000. Meanwhile, Asian financial markets reacted positively to the news that President Donald Trump and the U.S. Senate approved a $1.8 trillion economic aid package for people and businesses. On Wednesday, Japan’s Nikkei rose 7.9%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 3.4% and Australia’s ASX rose 5%.
After a long period of concern in the financial markets, investors are expressing hope that the massive financial aid package passed in the U.S. will help mitigate the economic impact of the global quarantine.
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The foreign ministers of the G7 countries hold a video conference to discuss the plan to combat the coronavirus pandemic. A similar format will be used on Thursday for the G20 summit. According to BBC correspondent Jonathan Marcus, the global economy is under unprecedented pressure due to the crisis, and therefore the response of the international community should be coordinated. However, according to him, in the past, in exceptional situations, the United States has shown itself as a world leader in resolving the situation, which is not happening now, and it seems that China is taking advantage of this, striving to take the lead.
The Canadian Parliament has approved the allocation of 82 billion Canadian dollars (57 billion US dollars) to the country’s government to combat the effects of the pandemic and support the country’s economy. The initiative was supported by all political parties. The decision will take effect after approval by the Senate. In the capital of Russia, two elderly patients with positive tests for coronavirus have died, they also had pneumonia and comorbidities. The number of people infected with coronavirus in the country increased by 163 people in one day – to 658. On Thursday, President Vladimir Putin made a televised address to the nation. He announced a package of measures to combat the coronavirus. The next week has been declared off, and the vote on constitutional amendments scheduled for April 22 will be postponed to another date.