WORLD – Global Lockdowns & Entry Bans In Place. The Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 is wreaking havoc across the globe. Stock market all over the world are in crash while economist are fearing an inevitable global recession.
France and Spain joined Italy in imposing lockdowns on tens of millions of people. Australia ordered self-isolation of arriving foreigners. Other countries also extended entry bans as the world sought to contain the spreading coronavirus.
US and Britain saw leaders appeal for calm over the virus. It has infected over 156,000 people globally and killed more than 5,800. 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.
Austria’s chancellor urged people to self-isolate and announced bans on gatherings of more than five people. The services usually draw tens of thousands of people to sites in Rome and in the Vatican. Australia’s latest restrictions mirror those announced by neighbouring New Zealand on Saturday.
TRAVEL BANS, AIRLINE CUTBACKS
Travel restrictions and bans, and a plunge in global air travel, saw further airline cutbacks. With American Airlines Inc planning to cut 75% of international flights through May 6. China tightened checks on international travellers arriving at Beijing airport on Sunday. This comes after the number of imported new cases 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. Meanwhile, China, where the epidemic began in December, appears to now face a greater threat of new infections from outside its borders as it continues to slow the spread of the virus domestically. Global Lockdowns & Entry Bans In Place.
China has reported 80,984 cases and 3,203 deaths. The country imposed draconian containment policies from January, locking down several major cities.
LOCKDOWNS, STAY HOME
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. Meanwhile, streets in Madrid and Barcelona were empty on Sunday. All major newspapers carried a front-page wrapper emblazoned with a government-promoted slogan: “Together we’ll stop this virus.”
Britain is preparing to ban mass gatherings and could isolate people aged over 70 for up to four months as part of plans to tackle coronavirus, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said. Meanwhile, Argentina banned entry to non-residents who have been to any country highly affected by coronavirus in the last 14 days, while Colombia said it would expel four Europeans for violating compulsory quarantine protocols, hours after closing its border with Venezuela.
Starting Sunday, South Korea began to subject visitors from France, Germany, Britain, Spain and the Netherlands to stricter border checks, after imposing similar rules for China, Italy and Iran which have had major outbreaks. Visitors from those countries now need to download an app to report whether they have symptoms. Meanwhile, South Korea has been testing hundreds of thousands of people and tracking potential carriers using cell phone and satellite technology.