COUNTRIES AROUND THE world are taking measures to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
It has infected more than 170,000 people across the globe and thousands with the virus have died.
Here are the latest updates from countries around the world.
Italy now has over 23,000 cases of Covid-19, according to figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). 1,811 people have died so far from the disease.
Some Italian Riviera beaches and promenades around the northern city of Genoa were closed yesterday after crowds filled them over the weekend in violation of coronavirus lockdown rules.
The country has imposed a nationwide ban on public gatherings to slow the pandemic.
However, many Italians have second homes in holiday hotpots across the country, such as the mountainside port of La Spezia.
A local decree published yesterday closed access to La Spezia’s historic walkways and staircases until 3 April, the same day the country’s overall ban on public gatherings is due to end.
The Italian ANSA news agency said similar bans were imposed for the beaches in the nearby towns of Lerici and Porto Venere.
The French government is pledging €45 billion in aid for small businesses hurt by the spreading coronavirus.
That is in addition to tens of billions already promised for French employees forced to stop working because of store and restaurant closures and strict new confinement measures.
French finance minister Bruno Le Maire announced the new aid after another bad day for French markets. The makers of Renault, Peugeot and Citroen cars suspended all production and other companies were forced to sharply curtail activity to stem the spread of the virus.
The aid will include tax breaks and a “solidarity fund” for struggling small businesses across the economy.
France now has more than 5,400 cases of the virus, including 127 deaths.
A third Australian government politician has tested positive for the coronavirus ahead of the planned resumption of parliament next week following a scheduled two-week break.
New South Wales state senator Andrew Bragg said that he had suffered flu-like symptoms and tested positive for the virus after attending a friend’s wedding on 6 March.
Authorities said at least six wedding guests have contracted the virus.
Queensland state senator Susan McDonald said she tested positive yesterday after becoming unwell on Friday evening. Home affairs minister Peter Dutton, who is also from Queensland, tested positive after showing symptoms a day earlier.
Dutton has since been discharged from the hospital but remains in isolation at home.
McDonald was admitted to a hospital on Monday, which is standard procedure in Queensland regardless of the severity of symptoms. Bragg is expected to self-isolate at home.
Politicians have been told to bring the minimum number of staff back to the national capital, Canberra, when parliament resumes to legislate an economic stimulus package meant to stave off a recession due to the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Also, Australia’s highest court has decided not to sit as a full bench to hear cases until at least August because of the coronavirus.
The High Court announced today that hearings that were to be heard by what is known as a full bench of seven or five judges will be postponed starting next week.
South Korea has further postponed the beginning of the new school year by two weeks to protect students from the spread of the coronavirus.
Education minister Yoo Eun-hye said that schools nationwide would now reopen on 6 April, which is five weeks later than usual. It was the third time the country has delayed the start of new school terms amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
The Education Ministry is also looking closely into the rise of infections among people under the age of 19, which rose from 379 on 7 March to 505 on 14 March.
Wuhan, the city at the centre of China’s coronavirus outbreak, recorded just one new case today as officials said they believed the country was over the worst of the crisis.
Another 20 cases were recorded around the country, including nine in Beijing. All were reported among people who arrived from overseas.
Beijing has required all arrivals to undergo 14 days of quarantine but has not closed its borders. Other Chinese cities have adopted similar measures, even as authorities work to restart industries that are key to global supply chains.
With foreign universities closing classes, thousands of Chinese people studying overseas are seeking to return home, shifting the focus from domestic containment to preventing infected people from bringing the virus back with them.
Wuhan has closed emergency field hospitals and state broadcaster CCTV today reported the nation is now counting down to its final domestic cases.
With the infection still growing overseas, China has sent personal protective gear and medical experts to Italy, Iran and other nations grappling with the epidemic.
Sri Lanka said it will add more quarantine centres to help fight coronavirus in the Indian Ocean island nation.
Army commander Lt Gen Shavendra Silva said that 23 army vacation bungalows will be used as quarantine centres for a group of travellers who arrived recently from London.
The government, meanwhile, said it has imposed new measures to limit gatherings.
Sri Lanka has confirmed 28 cases of the virus, with no deaths so far.
Ohio’s top health official halted the state’s presidential primary over concerns about the coronavirus, hours before voting was to begin.
Governor Mike DeWine announced the decision after failing to persuade a judge to delay in-person voting because crowds at polling places could put people at unacceptable risk of catching and spreading the virus.
DeWine’s office later confirmed Dr Amy Acton had issued the order.
Officials in Arizona, Florida and Illinois felt they had done enough to ensure the safety of voters, even though there may be too few poll workers and some poll locations have changed. Georgia, Kentucky and Louisiana have postponed their scheduled primaries.
Turnout is already expected to be light as only the Democrats have a contested primary, between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.
India said it will ban all passengers — including Indian citizens — from entering the country on flights from the European Union, Turkey and the UK beginning tomorrow.
According to a statement issued by India’s aviation regulator, travellers coming from or transiting through the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar will be required to undergo a 14-day quarantine when they arrive.
Arrivals from China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, France, Spain and Germany are already subject to similar restrictions, while many border points with neighbouring Pakistan, Bangladesh and Burma have been shut.
India’s tourist ministry announced this week that it is shutting down the Taj Mahal, its famous “monument of love”, to visitors.
With reporting by Orla Dwyer and AFP.
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