The deadly coronavirus , which has spread to more than 70 countries, is wreaking havoc globally, killing over 3,000 people and infecting almost 90,000 people since first detected in China in December last year. While Australia and the US reported their first deaths yesterday, Iran reported the death of 66, Italy 34 and South Korea 22.

India today reported two fresh cases of the deadly coronavirus— one in Delhi and another in Telangana. The person from Delhi had travelled to Italy, and he is being diagnosed at RML (Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia) Hospital. The other person with the deadly infection has a travel history to Dubai, the Indian government said.

China, the epicenter of the outbreak, today reported 42 new fatalities from the deadly virus, taking the death toll in the country to 2,912, China National Health Commission said.

South Korea reported nearly 500 new coronavirus cases today, sending the largest national total in the world outside China past 4,000. Four more people had died, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, taking the toll to 22.

Meanwhile, in an official report on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) released jointly by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and China's National Health Commission identified the infection as a zoonotic virus, meaning an infectious disease caused by bacteria, viruses, or parasites that spread from animals to humans.

With new infections reported around the world now surpassing those in China, WHO director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has asked nations to be prepare for pandemic.

The WHO said the virus appears to particularly hit those over the age of 60 and people already weakened by other illness.

Here are the latest updates on coronavirus and its global impact:

WHO team arrives in Iran with kits, garments

A World Health Organization (WHO) team arrived in Iran today with sufficient kits to test 100,000 people for the coronavirus and protective garments for 15,000 health-care workers.

Iran, the hub of the outbreak in the Middle East, said that the number of confirmed cases surged by 523 to 1,501. So far 66 people there have died from the infection, the health ministry said.

Tedros Adhamon Ghebreyesus, the head of the WHO, urged countries not to give up on containment as a strategy, saying it will help buy time to develop a vaccine and prepare health systems.

“It’s not influenza, and it’s not behaving like influenza," said Michael Ryan, the director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Program, at the WHO’s daily briefing. He said the death rate is 2% or possibly higher. That would be at least 20 times more than for seasonal flu, which typically has a death rate of about 0.1%.

Polish govt seeks emergency powers to fight coronavirus

Poland’s government proposed legislation to give itself sweeping powers in cases of national emergencies, such as a looming outbreak of the coronavirus.

The bill envisages giving more powers to the prime minister and his representatives in Poland’s 16 regions, which won’t be subject to the normal appeals process. It also lengthens quarantine periods to 21 from 14 days and prepares the ground for allowances for parents who need to take care of children if schools close.

Poland has no confirmed cases of the virus yet, but Health Minister Lukasz Szumowski said on Monday that infections are expected “soon." The opposition has voiced concern that bill undermines due process, doesn’t clearly define what marks an emergency and how long the special rules can last.

Trump to attend health conference in Orlando

President Donald Trump is scheduled to attend a global health event on 9 March in Orlando, Florida, according to a US official, as his administration seeks to demonstrate it’s doing a good job responding to the coronavirus.

The conference, called HIMSS20 Global Health Conference & Exhibition, brings together about 45,000 health-information technology professionals, clinicians and others, according to its website.

Italy coronavirus death toll jumps to 52

Italy reported today a jump in the death toll from the coronavirus to 52, with more than 2,000 people infected, most of whom were in the country's northern Lombardy region.

The civil protection agency said 18 people had died since Sunday -- including three in Emilia Romagna -- all of whom were either elderly or had serious pre-existing medical conditions.

France reports 3rd death from coronavirus virus

A third person has died in France of the new coronavirus, sources in northern France said on Monday, confirming the death of an elderly woman in a town that already lost a schoolteacher to the disease.

The woman, who was in her eighties, lived in Crepy-en-Valois, 70 kilometres northeast of Paris, where a 60-year-old teacher who died last week had been working.

CDC teams race to catch up to spread of coronavirus in US

The experts from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention huddled in a room with Bela Matyas, health officer of Solano County, California. They had a raft of questions about a milestone case in the spread of the coronavirus: the first US victim with no known connection to travel in Asia.

“Did she go to the spa?" they wanted to know late last week. “Did she go to church? Did she go to a playground?"

Now, the CDC is sending another team to Washington state, where the first U.S. virus death was reported Saturday after a potential outbreak at a King County health facility that cares for the elderly. The county reported a second death late Sunday, and there were at least two other confirmed cases in Washington, two in Florida, three in California and the first in New York and Rhode Island.

Coronavirus outbreak will spread, British PM Johnson says

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said today that the country needed to be prepared for the new coronavirus to spread further.

"I think it's very important to stress that this is a problem that is likely to become more significant for this country in the course of the next days and weeks," Johnson said.

"We'll be making every possible preparation for that and this country is very, very well prepared."

The United Kingdom so far has 36 confirmed novel coronavirus cases. Johnson said the government would announce its main action plan for responding to the outbreak on Tuesday.

"We've also agreed a plan so that, as and when, if and when, it starts to spread, as I'm afraid it looks likely that it will, we are in a position to take the steps that will be necessary ... to contain the spread of the disease as far as we can," Johnson said.

Italian tourist tests positive for coronavirus in Rajasthan

An Italian tourist tested positive for coronavirus Rajasthan and his blood samples are being sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for confirmation, Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma said.

The first sample collected Saturday tested negative but his condition deteriorated. The minister said a second sample was them collected and he tested positive for the virus.

“Since there is variation in the test reports, samples have been sent to NIV-Pune for testing," he said.

Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma: A passenger landed in Jaipur from Italy on Feb 29. He was admitted to the isolation ward at a hospital after he showed symptoms of COVID-19 in the screening. He had tested negative. However, he tested positive in second testing. pic.twitter.com/lIc2aGnHgM — ANI (@ANI) March 2, 2020

An official for Jaipur's SMS Hospital has said that a man showing symptoms of coronavirus has been kept under observation at the hospital. Blood samples were sent for testing to the SMS medical college laboratory.

Earlier today, India reported two more cases of coronavirus, taking the number of people who have tested positive in the country to five. The two positive cases of the coronavirus is— one in Delhi and another in Telangana.

The person from Delhi had travelled to Italy, it said adding he is being diagnosed at RML hospital. The other person with the coronavirus infection has a travel history to Dubai, the Indian government said in a statement.

Coronavirus to have 'substantial' impact on trade: WTO

The head of the World Trade Organization said on Monday that he expected the coronavirus epidemic to have a "substantial" impact on the global economy, but that plans for a June ministerial meeting were going ahead, a Geneva trade official said.

View Full Image Photo: Reuters

"The effects on the global economy are also likely to be substantial and will start to show up in the trade data in the weeks to come," Roberto Azevedo told heads of delegations in a closed-door meeting in Geneva on Monday.

India expand airport screening of passengers from Italy, Iran

The Indian Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) today said in order to prevent spread of coronavirus in India, it has been decided to expand the universal screening of all passengers arriving in flights from Italy and Iran besides the flights from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam & Malaysia.

DGCA: In order to prevent spread of #Coronavirus in India, it has been decided to expand the universal screening of all passengers arriving in flights from Italy and Iran besides the flights from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam & Malaysia pic.twitter.com/g6bn9eDiWA — ANI (@ANI) March 2, 2020





UK ready to use 'all levers' to prepare for coronavirus

Britain will use all levers at its disposal to prepare for the spread of coronavirus, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman said today.

The spokesman said that Britain's finance minister Rishi Sunak and the Treasury had been in discussions with the Bank Of England about the virus but that the budget would go ahead on 11 March.

"The government is stands ready to use all levers at its disposal to ensure we are as prepared as we can be," the spokesman said.

Prepare for coronavirus to spread, British PM Johnson says

British PM Boris Johnson said today that the country needed to be prepared for the new coronavirus to spread further.

View Full Image Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson

"I think it's very important to stress that this is a problem that is likely to become more significant for this country in the course of the next days and weeks," Johnson said.

"We'll be making every possible preparation for that and this country is very, very well prepared."

China’s Xi urges faster development of vaccine

Chinese president Xi Jinping called for accelerating research and the development of medicines targeting the new coronavirus and combining medical measures in both China and the western countries, China Central Television reported.

View Full Image Chinese President Xi Jinping

Russia confirms 1st coronavirus case in Moscow

Russian authorities today confirmed the first case of coronavirus in Moscow, saying the patient had recently returned from Italy.

The anti-coronavirus task force said in a statement quoted by Russian news agencies that the "young man" had fallen ill on February 21 while on vacation to Italy.

The man, who resides outside Moscow, returned to Russia on February 23, and started showing signs of a respiratory viral infection, it said.

He sought medical help and was hospitalised on February 27. Testing confirmed the infection on Monday and his symptoms were not severe, the statement said.

Pakistan reports 4 confirm cases, Karachi shuts schools for two weeks

Pakistan's southern province of Sindh extended the closure of all educational institutions following the confirmation of a second coronavirus case in Karachi, the country's largest city.

Pakistan has confirmed four cases of coronavirus, three of them involving people who had traveled to neighboring Iran, one of the countries hardest hit by the outbreak that began in China in December.

While two of the confirmed cased were in Karachi, the other two were in the capital Islamabad.

Schools in Sindh have been closed since Thursday, after the first case in Karachi was confirmed.

"The Sindh government has decided to keep the schools closed till 13 March, so the isolation period of the suspect cases could be completed," Saeed Ghani, provincial education minister told Reuters today. "We don't want to take any risk."

Washington state confirms 2nd US death, New York reports 1st case

Health officials in Washington state said late Sunday that a nursing home resident had died after contracting coronavirus, while New York's governor confirmed his state's first positive case, as the virus moved out of its West Coast foothold.

Florida late Sunday declared a public health emergency as it confirmed its first two cases.

The total number of confirmed cases in the United States is more than 75 with two reported deaths, both in Washington state.

Japan confirms 15 new coronavirus cases, tally rises to 976

Japan today confirmed at least 15 new coronavirus cases, bringing the number of cases in the country to 976 including passengers infected by the pathogen on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, Kyodo newswire reported.

View Full Image Cruise ship Diamond Princess (Photo: AP)

Infections were reported around the country, including five on the northern island of Hokkaido and five others in a nursing home in Kanagawa prefecture near Tokyo, Kyodo said.

WHO sends first medics, supplies to Iran to fight coronavirus

The WHO today sent its first planeload of assistance to Iran to help fight coronavirus, dispatching six medics with tonnes of medical equipment and test kits aboard a UAE military aircraft.

"Today's flight will carry 7.5 tonnes of medical equipment and supplies, primarily the critical items needed for infection prevention and control to support health care workers in Iran," said Robert Blanchard from the WHO in Dubai.

View Full Image Tehran Municipality workers clean a metro train to avoid the spread of the COVID-19 illness

As the supplies worth more than $300,000 — including gloves, surgical masks and respirators — were loaded onto the United Arab Emirates military transport plane in Dubai, Blanchard warned that global supplies were running low.

"What we see now is that demand has greatly exceeded our available stocks... and we are struggling to get access to more supplies."

India's Punjab state makes 'flu corners' mandatory in all hospitals

The government in India's Punjab state today approved setting up of "Flu Corners" in all government and private hospitals.

These centers will screen all suspected cases of respiratory tract infections at the earliest and ensure that movement of such cases is restricted in order to prevent the spread of the disease.

View Full Image A file photo of Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh (Photo: Mint)

The Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by state chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, took stock of the situation as one confirmed case each was reported from Delhi and Telangana.

The state cabinet approved the Punjab Epidemic Diseases, COVID-19 Regulations, 2020 under the ambit of section 2, 3 & 4 of the Epidemic Diseases Act. 1897, to combat the menace of COVID-19 (Corona Virus Diseases 2019), said an official spokesperson after the meeting.

A notification to this effect will be issued soon, he added.

EU raises coronavirus risk level to 'high' from 'moderate'

The European Union's disease control agency has increased its risk level for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 from moderate to high, EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said today.

View Full Image A file photo of European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen (Photo: Reuters)

"The ECDC has announced today that the risk level has risen from moderate to high for people in the European Union. In other words, the virus continues to spread," she said.

India reports two more cases of coronavirus, taking tally to five

India reported two more cases of coronavirus today, taking the number of people who have tested positive in the country to five. The two positive cases of the coronavirus is— one in Delhi and another in Telangana.

The person from Delhi had travelled to Italy, it said adding he is being diagnosed at RML hospital. The other person with the coronavirus infection has a travel history to Dubai, the Indian government said in a statement.

View Full Image Both the patients are stable and being closely monitored, India said

"Both the patients are stable and being closely monitored," the Indian government said.

The Indian health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan advised citizens to avoid non-essential travel to the worst affected countries, including China, South Korea, Iran and Italy. The minister said depending on the global evolving scenario, travel restrictions could be imposed as a precautionary measure.

Asking people to not panic, the Indian health minister advised people to the approach the government helpline numbers regarding the doubts related to symptoms of the deadly disease. "The situation is being monitored at the highest level. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi is himself keeping a close eye on the situation," the health minister added.

As many as 25,738 people are under community surveillance across India and 37 people are currently hospitalised to avail treatment for the deadly virus.

The Indian minister said that so far 3,217 samples have been tested out of which five tested positive for COVID-19 while reports of 23 are awaited.

Coronavirus pushes global economy toward contraction

Global economic growth will sink to levels not seen in more than a decade, challenging central banks and governments to respond to a fast-changing situation, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said.

View Full Image OECD cut its full-year growth to 2.4% from 2.9%, which would be the weakest since 2009.

As central banks around the world try to calm a market panic, the Paris-based group also warned of a possible global contraction this quarter. It cut its full-year growth to 2.4% from 2.9%, which would be the weakest since 2009.

Portugal records first confirmed case, RTP says

Portugal recorded the country’s first confirmed coronavirus case at a hospital in the northern city of Oporto, state-owned broadcaster RTP said, without saying how it obtained the information.

Germany reports 31 new confirmed cases today, tally rise to 150

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has risen to 150 today from 129 on Sunday, the Robert Koch Institute for disease control said, adding that the risk from the virus in Germany is now "moderate".

More than half of the cases, 86, are in the western region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, where several schools and day care centres will be closed today to try to prevent the spread of the virus after staff members tested positive.

Lothar Wieler, president of the Robert Koch Institute, said that of the 150 cases in Germany, the authorities had traced the origin of 140.

Indonesia confirms first coronavirus cases

Indonesia today reported its first confirmed cases of coronavirus. Indonesian health minister Terawan Agus Putranto said a 64-year-old woman and her daughter, 31, tested positive for the virus at a Jakarta hospital.

"This morning I received the test results and they were positive," he told reporters in the capital.

View Full Image Indonesia health minister Terawan Agus Putranto (Photo: Reuters)

"Both are in good condition...they don't have serious breathing difficulties." Officials said that the pair may have been in close contact with a Japanese national who has since tested positive after returning to neighbouring Malaysia.

Iran council member dies from the deadly virus infection

A member of Iran's Expediency Council that advises country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, died today after falling sick from the new coronavirus, state radio reported, becoming the first top official to succumb to the illness that is affecting members of the Islamic Republic's leadership.

The death of Mohammad Mirmohammadi came as Iran today announced that the virus had killed 66 people among 1,501 confirmed cases in the country.

Iran has the highest death toll in the world after China, the epicenter of the outbreak.

Mirmohammadi died at a north Tehran hospital of the virus, state radio said. He was 71.

Nearly 500 new coronavirus cases send South Korea total past 4,000

South Korea reported nearly 500 new coronavirus cases today, sending the largest national total in the world outside China past 4,000, AFP reported.

Four more people had died, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, taking the toll to 22.

View Full Image Army soldiers in protective suits spray disinfectant to prevent the spread of new coronavirus in Daegu, South Korea (Photo: AP)

Infection numbers have surged in the world's 12th-largest economy in recent days and the country's central bank has warned of negative growth in the first quarter, noting the epidemic will hit both consumption and exports, while scores of events have been cancelled or postponed over the contagion.









Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

Share Via

Click here to read the Mint ePapermint is now on Telegram. Join mint channel in your Telegram and stay updated