Rome, Monday

Italy on Sunday recorded 368 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, its highest one-day increase to date, taking the total to 1,809, the most outside China, official data showed.

The development came even as the virus infections outside China hit over 87,000, surpassing the 80,860 cases reported in the Asian country where Covid-19 originated.

In Italy, the number of infections  has reached 24,747, a count released to the media by Italy’s civil protection service said.

The northern Lombardy region around Milan remained the European epicentre of the pandemic, officially reporting 1,218 deaths, or 67 per cent of the Italian total.

But Sunday also saw the number of deaths in the southeastern Puglia region around the city of Bari double from eight to 16. The Lazio region that includes the Italian capital Rome has officially recorded 16 deaths in all—up from 13 on Saturday—and 436 infections.

Spain had on Monday registered nearly 1,000 new infections over the past 24 hours, raising the total number of cases to 8,744, the health ministry said. Over the same period, the number of deaths rose by nine to 297, the ministry’s emergencies coordinator Fernando Simon said.  Madrid remains the worst-affected region, with 4,665 cases.

In order to rein in the virus, Spain has declared a state of alert, shutting all but essential services and ordering its population of 46 million people to stay at home. People are only authorised to go out to buy food or medicine, to go to work or to get medical treatment. 

Economic slowdown

In the United States, nightlife capitals New York and Los Angeles ordered bars and restaurants to close or go take-out only Monday as the US scrambled to contain the coronavirus pandemic and the Federal Reserve slashed rates to stem the fallout.

The fast-spreading outbreak has claimed almost 70 lives in the US, disrupting every walk of life as Americans panic-buy essentials and brace for what may come.

Faced with an economic slowdown, the Fed announced emergency measures to shore up confidence and keep the financial sector running, including cutting the key interest rate to 0-0.25 per cent.

President Donald Trump, in a now-daily briefing to his virus task force, praised the Fed’s “phenomenal” action and sought to strike a reassuring tone even as he pleaded with Americans to stop stripping store shelves bare. “Relax. We’re doing great. It all will pass,” he said.

But Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading expert on infectious diseases, was blunt in telling Americans to prepare for hard times.

“The worst is ahead for us,” he told the briefing. “We have a very, very critical point now.”

Schools, museums and sports arenas have already been shut in many US states. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that gatherings of 50 people or more be cancelled or postponed, not including day-to-day education or business activities.

In the strongest measure yet on American soil, the US territory of Puerto Rico imposed a 9pm to 5am curfew, along with the closure of malls, movie theatres, gyms and bars.

As a number of states imposed shutdowns, the governor of Illinois, announced that all bars and restaurants would close until March 30.

Germany introduced border controls with Austria, Denmark, France, Luxembourg and Switzerland in a bid to stem the coronavirus spread.

Only those with a valid reason for travel, like cross-border commuters and delivery drivers, are allowed through. 

China tightened quarantine measures for international arrivals as the country worries about a rise in imported cases of the deadly coronavirus. -Agencies