Countries around the world are stepping up efforts to close borders, impose strict entry and quarantine requirements and restrict large gatherings in efforts to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.
One of the most dramatic developments came in Madrid, where the government of Spain confirmed that all Spaniards would be ordered to stay home except to buy food or drugs, go to hospital, go to work or other emergencies.
The total lockdown is part of state of emergency measures meant to combat the coronavirus, media outlets including El Mundo and Cadena Ser reported.
The Interior Ministry will take over responsibility for all police forces, including local and regional ones, as part of the state of emergency, the reports said.
In the Philippines, Manila announced nighttime curfews on Saturday and urged shopping malls in the city of 12 million to close for one month.
“To limit the spread of the virus, we need to limit the movement of people. We are slowing down the movement of people in Metro Manila,” said Jose Arturo Garcia, general manager of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.
Countries worldwide are shuttering museums, tourist attractions and cancelling nearly all sporting events to minimise the risk of transmission. Countless companies are telling their employees to work from home.
Some countries are considering more draconian lockdowns similar to those imposed earlier in China, which prevented infections there from spiralling totally out of control, commentators now acknowledge. Many believe such steps could only be carried out by authoritarian governments, but other countries are now looking to see how far they can go in making their citizens comply with curbs on daily activity.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says Europe has now become the centre of the pandemic after reporting more cases and deaths than the rest of world combined, apart from China where the coronavirus originated last December. In any case, governments everywhere are taking tougher steps to protect their citizens.
Norway on Saturday advised its citizens not to travel to any foreign country for the next month, while Norwegians currently abroad should consider returning home as soon as possible, the foreign ministry said.
Vietnam is suspending tourist visas for travellers who have been in the United Kingdom and the 26 Schengen countries of Europe for 14 days prior to their planned arrival starting Sunday at noon.
Saudi Arabia says it will suspend all international flights for two weeks starting on Sunday, Taiwan will require travellers from mainland Europe, Britain and Ireland to self-isolate for 14 days.
NEW ZEALAND GETS TOUGH
New Zealand has announced some of the toughest measures taken by any country, saying that all those entering the country — including citizens and residents — will face a two-week quarantine.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also called on cruise ships, a major source of infections in some countries, not to come to New Zealand until June 30.
The country has just six confirmed cases and has had no deaths, but Ardern said that number inevitably would rise.
“That is why ultimately, we must go hard and we must go early,” she said.
While infections continue to climb around the world, in mainland China the number of new cases is falling. The number of new coronavirus cases imported into mainland China from abroad surpassed the number of locally transmitted new infections for the first time on Friday.
Travel bans have hammered airlines and travel companies worldwide, while financial markets have been hit by panic selling this week. The impact of the coronavirus on everyday life is also deepening.
The Czech government shut most shops and restaurants on Saturday, with exceptions including food stores, pharmacies and petrol stations.
Chile announced a ban on public events with more than 500 people, joining countries such as Australia where the ban will come into force on Monday.
In Paris, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Moulin Rouge cabaret closed their doors. The Smithsonian museums in Washington were preparing to do so on Saturday and Broadway theatres in New York went dark.
The global sporting calendar has also been left in tatters with major tournaments cancelled, postponed or forced to continue without spectators. The Premier league is the latest high-profile casualty, with some saying the season might have to be abandoned.
But sport’s biggest showpiece, the Olympics, will still proceed as planned, Tokyo organisers insist.
In other developments:
Although Myanmar remains one of the rare countries without a single confirmed case of Covid-19, the national economy has not been immune to the impact of the coronavirus, according to a report by Frontier Myanmar.
Thousands of workers have been laid off as factories close or suspend operations, and the country faces the grim prospect of more big job losses, a further decline in trade, a fall in tourist arrivals, and a general downturn in the economy.
Raw materials supplied from China have been affected by factory closures there as well as supply chain disruptions, and demand for garments has slumped in Europe, the United States and other markets.
U Soe Myint, chair of the Myanmar Garment Entrepreneurs Association, told Frontier Myanmar that 20 factories, all owned by Chinese investors, had already closed, leaving more than 10,000 workers jobless.
In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said there is no need to declare a state of emergency yet, while pledging to support an economy reeling from the spread of the disease.
The infection rate in the country remains lower than in other major nations, he said, while warning Japan cannot let down its guard over the virus.
Japan is set to increase virus-testing capacity to about 8,000 a day by the end of the month from the current 6,000. The aim is to prevent an explosive increase in infections and avoid overburdening the healthcare system, he said.
Abe spoke just hours after US President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency. Trump this week suggested that Japan may want to delay the Olympics by a year. Japan and the International Olympic Committee have said they are going ahead with the games as planned. Abe told the news conference the Olympic torch relay will go ahead as planned in the country from March 26.
Chinese President Xi Jinping sent his condolences to other nations for the first time since the global outbreak began, offering them to South Korea, Iran and Italy.
He later extended the condolences to the European Commission and European Council. China is willing to actively provide help for Europe to conquer the virus, Xi said.
In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has faced criticism for his country’s light touch, is preparing to review its approach and ban mass gatherings, government sources said on Saturday.
Emergency legislation is due to be passed next week in parliament and the ban would come into force from next weekend.
The legislation could see the cancellation of events such as the Wimbledon tennis tournament and the Glastonbury music festival, due to begin at the end of June, as well as major horse races including Royal Ascot and Grand National.
The government’s current plan is to delay the peak of the outbreak until the weather becomes warmer to cushion the blow on the health services, and the advice so far is for people who show symptoms to self-isolate for a week.
The ultimate hope is that the country develops “herd immunity” to the virus, but World Health Organization (WHO) spokeswoman Margaret Harris on Saturday warned that not enough was known about the bug to justify such an approach.
In the United States, the House of Representatives passed an aid package that would provide free testing and paid sick leave, as reported deaths neared 50.
President Donald Trump remains without coronavirus symptoms, the White House said in a statement, citing the president’s physician.
Trump said the next eight weeks would be critical as he declared a national emergency.
QUACK ‘CURES’
In India, a Hindu group hosted a cow urine drinking party on Saturday as they believe it wards off the coronavirus.
Experts have repeatedly asserted that cow urine does not cure illnesses like cancer and there is no evidence that it can prevent coronavirus.
The “party”, hosted by Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha (All India Hindu Union) at its headquarters in New Delhi, was attended by 200 people, and organisers hoped to host similar events elsewhere in India.
“We have been drinking cow urine for 21 years, we also take baths in cow dung. We have never felt the need to consume English medicine,” said Om Prakash, a person who attended the party.
Leaders from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party have advocated the use of cow urine as medicine and a cure for cancer.
In the United States, authorities have warned Alex Jones, the conservative radio host and conspiracy theory peddler, about claims on his website that his diet supplements and toothpaste could be used to fight the coronavirus.
The New York state attorney general has issued a cease-and-desist order in response to two of Jones’s claims: That his products could act as a “stopgate” against the virus, and that his Superblue brand of toothpaste “kills the whole SARS-corona family at point-blank range.”
Jones has accumulated much of his wealth from the sale of health-enhancement and survivalist merchandise on his website Infowars, a platform he has used to disseminate conspiracy theories, including the false narrative that the Sandy Hook school massacre was a hoax.