Coronavirus Update: Italy Expands Lockdown, New Cases in China Fall Dramatically, Austria Restricts Access at Italian Border
A vintage streetcar in Vienna, Austria, last week
TODAY’S FACTS AND FIGURES
The worldwide number of cases of Covid-19 stands at 116,359. The global death toll from the virus is 4,091. Of the current active cases, which total 47,621, 12% or 5,788 are serious, while the other cases are mild.
Italy, which has effectively quarantined its entire population as of Tuesday morning – now has 9,172 of the world’s cases and more than 463 of at least 4,000 deaths.
The United States has at least 729 cases in 35 states including the District of Columbia. Four of them – California, New York, Oregon, and Washington – have declared states of emergency due to the outbreak. The death toll there is 27.
Meanwhile, China reported only 26 new infections and 17 deaths.
IN BRIEF
Italy imposed a nationwide lockdown. Austria is restricting access at its border with Italy. The coronavirus is now present in every country in the European Union.
CORONAVIRUS NEWS
03-10 Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz banned travelers coming from Italy who could not produce a certificate of health, showing they did not have the novel coronavirus.
03-10 Italy expanded its lockdown to the entire country. The move imposes severe travel limits. Almost all public assemblages from conferences to religious services to sporting events to funerals are prohibited, although churches will remain open, and the government is asking citizens to use vacation days and remain at home.
03-10 Passengers on the cruise ship Grand Princess, which was held for several days off the coast of California and was yesterday permitted to dock at the Port of Oakland, were expected to begin to disembark. Twenty-one people on the ship have tested positive for the coronavirus.
03-10 Wearing a blue face mask, Xi Jingping, the general secretary of the Chinese communist party, toured Wuhan, the city at the center of the outbreak, on Tuesday. The visit is pat of an effort by China to show that the worst of the outbreak there is over.
03-10 Airlines are reducing capacity and parking aircraft. Delta announced an up to 25% cutback in flying and said it would park some planes. On Monday, Lufthansa said it might reduce capacity by as much as 50% and park its fleet of Airbus A380 superjumbos.
03-10 Australian flag carrier Qantas said it will downgauge aircraft used for long-haul flights and ground eight of its 12 Airbus A380s. The CEO, Alan Joyce, said he will forego his salary for the next three months and other executives will take a 30% pay cut. In addition, it is temporarily suspending flights from Brisbane and Melbourne to San Francisco and delaying the start of its new Brisbane-Chicago route from April to September.
03-09 Japan Airlines said that a flight attendant who worked a flight from Chicago to Tokyo on February 25 has tested positive for the coronavirus and is now in isolation. Twelve crewmembers who worked with her have been asked to self-isolate.
03-09 Several members of Congress including Rep. Mark Meadows, who on Monday was named President Trump’s new chief of staff, and Senator Ted Cruz, said they are self-isolating after coming into contact with a suspected carrier of the coronavirus at the Conservative Political Action Conference in suburban Washington late last month. One congressman, Matt Gaetz, flew back with Trump on Air Force One on Monday, and said that the president tried to coax him into his office despite knowing his status.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
