Measures world has taken to slow down Covid-19 spread
By People Daily, March 16, 2020London, Sunday
France and Spain joined Italy in imposing lockdowns on tens of millions of people, Australia ordered self-isolation of arriving foreigners, and Argentina and El Salvador extended entry bans as the world sought to contain the spreading coronavirus.
The United States extended a European travel ban to include the United Kingdom and Ireland, while acknowledging that some domestic travel curbs were also being considered.
President Donald Trump has decided to “suspend all travel from the United Kingdom and Ireland” effective midnight Monday, Vice President Mike Pence told a White House news conference.
“Americans in the UK or Ireland can come home. Legal residents can come home,” Pence said, adding that such people would be “funneled through specific airports and processed.”
Trump spoke to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Saturday about the new restrictions, according to the White House press office.
And in the UK, every person over the age of 70 will be told “within the coming weeks” to stay at home for an extended period to shield them from coronavirus, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Sunday.
He said the advice will not come into force just yet, but when it does it will last “a very long time”.
The government has faced pressure to do more to tackle the epidemic after the UK death toll rose to 21.
All deaths so far have been of people over 60 or with underlying health conditions.
Panic buying in Australia, the US and Britain saw leaders appeal for calm over the virus that has infected over 150,000 people globally and killed more than 5,000.
Several countries imposed bans on mass gathering, shuttered sporting, cultural and religious events, while medical experts urged people to practice “social distancing” to curb the spread.
Pope services
All of Pope Francis’ Easter services next month will be held without the faithful attending, the Vatican said on Sunday, a step believed to be unprecedented in modern times.
The services, four days of major events from Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday, usually draw tens of thousands of people to sites in Rome and in the Vatican.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said from midnight Sunday international travelers arriving in the country would need to isolate themselves for 14 days and foreign cruise ships would be banned for 30 day.
Australia’s latest restrictions mirror those announced by neighboring New Zealand on Saturday. Australia has recorded more than 250 coronavirus cases and three deaths.
Trump declared a national emergency on Friday. The United States has recorded more than 2,000 cases and 50 deaths.
China tightened checks on international travelers arriving at Beijing airport on Sunday, after the number of imported new coronavirus infections surpassed locally transmitted cases for a second day in a row.
Anyone arriving to Beijing from abroad will be transferred directly to a central quarantine facility for 14 days for observation starting March 16, a city government official said.
Spain put its 47 million inhabitants under partial lockdown on Saturday as part of a 15-day state of emergency to combat the epidemic in Europe’s second worst-affected country after Italy.
France will shut shops, restaurants and entertainment facilities, with its 67 million people were told to stay home after confirmed infections doubled in 72 hours. -Agencies