- by Emily Straton and Biodun Iginla, BBC News Analysts
- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he's prepared to take action if part-time workers and people on insecure contracts suffer financially if they have to self-isolate.Trade unions have warned that gig economy workers may not receive statutory sick pay, raising concerns that people with coronavirus would carry on working in order to pay the bills."We are working across government to prepare for all eventualities and are ready to take further action if needed," the prime minister's spokesperson said, adding that ministers were "very alive" to the potential problem.
- The first case of coronavirus in Senegal has been confirmed by the country's health minister, Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr.The patient is a French man who lives in Senegal and flew back from France on 26 February, Mr Sarr told a press conference in the capital, Dakar.The patient reported to a private hospital on 27 February with symptoms including a headache.The authorities are monitoring everyone who travelled on the same flight as well as the patient's family.The minister said the country was prepared to deal with the virus, pointing out that Senegal had the facilities to test for the coronavirus.This is the second case in sub-Saharan Africa after one was confirmed in Nigeria last week.
- The organisers of this year's Eurovision Song Contest say plans to host the event in Rotterdam in The Netherlands remain unchanged despite the outbreak."It is too early to comment on possible scenarios, which will depend on what happens in the coming months, and for now we are going ahead with our plans for the event in Rotterdam," a spokesperson for the European Broadcasting Union told Efe news agency.The contest begins on 12 May.
- Tunisia has confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus, the country's health minister told journalists on Monday.Abdelatif el-Maki said the patient was a 40-year-old Tunisian man, who arrived in the country by boat from Italy on 27 February.He and the other passengers had been advised to monitor themselves. When his fever spiked, he contacted emergency services.In Africa, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and Nigeria have all confirmed cases of the virus.
- All nations in sub-Saharan Africa should be able to test for the coronavirus "within a couple of weeks".The World Health Organization's (WHO) regional director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, told us at the BBC that 33 countries in the region now have the necessary facilities in place.A month ago only Senegal and South Africa were able to carry out proper testing.
- After British tourists were given the opportunity to return home following a week quarantined inside their hotel rooms in Tenerife, BBC correspondent Dan Johnson took to the skies to report on the atmosphere in the area.
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- The total number of cases in Italy has risen to more than 2,000, and the death toll has risen from 18 to 52, officials say.Today's figure is up from 1,694 confirmed cases yesterday.Italy has had the highest number of deaths outside China.The head of Italy's Civil Protection Agency said that 149 of those originally infected had since recovered.
- BBC One is broadcasting a special programme this evening in which leading public experts and BBC reporters answer questions on the coronavirus outbreak.If you want to know the latest health advice, what you should do if you are planning a trip abroad, or what impact the outbreak could have on businesses, join us here from 19:30 GMT. We'll be streaming the programme live at the top of this page and reporting on the main points in text and video.
- British Airways has become the latest airline to cancel flights over the coronavirus outbreak.In a statement sent to the BBC, BA said it was cancelling some flights between the UK and US, as well to some European countries including Italy, France and Germany."To match reduced demand due to the continuing coronavirus issue, we are merging a number of flights between 16 March and 28 March," the airline said."We will be contacting customers on cancelled flights so we can discuss their travel options, including rebooking onto other carriers where possible, full refunds or booking with BA for a later date of travel."Ryanair and Lufthansa also announced today that they'd be cancelling and reducing flights to and from affected countries.
- Senegal's health ministry has confirmed the country's first case of coronavirus, Reuters news agency reports.
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have said they're ready to help member countries address the human and economic challenges posed by the coronavirus.This could include emergency funding, policy advice and technical assistance, the two organisations said.They added that their efforts would be particularly focused on poorer countries that don't have the healthcare infrastructure to deal with the outbreak.
- The government in Kenya has warned the public about an audio recording circulating on WhatsApp, which talked of 63 cases of the coronavirus in the country. It stressed there were no cases currently, and that the recording had been part of a training exercise on how to handle communications. It’s not clear how the recording became public.You can read the Kenyan Health Ministry's statement here.
- Ryanair says its routes in and out of Italy will be reduced by 25% for three weeks because of a significant fall in bookings.The Irish airline said in a statement on Monday that it was "too early to speculate what impact the Covid-19 outbreak will have" on its business.
- Northern Ireland's Health Minister, Robin Swann, says authorities there are "well prepared" to deal with the coronavirus.In a statement to the Stormont Assembly, Mr Swann said the primary aim was "containment" and that "premature actions" could be damaging.He said 150 tests for the virus had been carried out in Northern Ireland, with just one positive result, which was announced on Thursday.The minister said the confirmed case came as a result of travel to an infected area of Italy.
- Influential think tank the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says that if the outbreak is prolonged, it could have a heavy detrimental impact on the global economy.A "longer lasting and more intensive" outbreak of the virus - if it continues to spread throughout Asia, Europe and North America - could halve growth forecasts; from 2.9% in November to 1.5%, the OECD says.
- The death of a second patient infected with coronavirus in the US state of Washington has sparked fears of a serious outbreak.The Covid-19 deaths on US soil prompted the northwestern state to declare a state of emergency.New cases have been reported in US states from coast to coast, in Washington, California, Oregon, Illinois, Florida, New York and Rhode Island.On Monday, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said he suspected the virus would spread in the state, which has just had its first case confirmed.Mr Cuomo told a news conference that the patient was a 39-year-old Manhattan resident who had been working in Iran and had recently returned to New York City.The woman, a healthcare worker, did not use public transport, and officials said they did not believe she was contagious on the plane or while travelling in a private car from the airport to her residence.The governor said that people on the flight, and the driver of the car, would be contacted."She took precautions that turned out to be advantageous," he added.
- On the outbreak in Iran, which is struggling to deal with a growing number of coronavirus cases, Dr Tedros said that WHO had sent a support team."A WHO team has arrived in Iran to deliver supplies and to support the government in its response," he said.
Biodun Iginla, BBC News
Monday, March 2, 2020
ANALYSIS: EU raises virus risk as world cases grow
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