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Saturday, March 14, 2020

BREAKING: Coronavirus: Quebec leader asks seniors to stay in, 'snowbirds' to fly back to Canada

Issued on: 14/03/2020 - 21:04Modified: 15/03/2020 - 01:03 GMT/ZULU

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Ottawa

by Kathy DiNuzzo and Biodun Iginla, France24 News Analysts

Quebec's premier told seniors Saturday to stay home to avoid contracting the new coronavirus, and urged "snowbirds" -- retired Canadians who spend winters in sunny US states -- to fly back to Canada now.

"The elderly are much more at risk of serious consequences. As a society, we have to do everything to protect older people," Premier Francois Legault told a news conference.

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His administration declared a public health emergency a day after Ottawa announced aggressive new measures and money to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus, including asking Canadians to avoid all but essential foreign travel.

The federal government, however, has so far resisted growing calls to limit incoming travelers after the United States banned flights from Europe.

"If I were them, I'd come home as soon as possible," Legault also said about more than 300,000 Canadian "snowbirds" who live up to six months each year in the United States. He said they risked being stranded as fewer international flights are likely to be available in coming weeks.

Florida, California, Arizona, Hawaii, and Texas are the most popular US destinations for Canadian "snowbirds."

As of 1300 GMT Saturday, said Health Canada, 193 cases of the COVID-19 virus have been confirmed in Canada, including one death.

Quebec, with 21 cases but 853 people under investigation, has taken among the strongest measures in the country to try to prevent the spread of the illness, as of Saturday closing schools, banning visits to hospitals and seniors residences, and asking all persons over 70 to stay home.

Other Canadian political leaders, meanwhile, urged against panic shopping and hoarding as Canadians rushed to empty store shelves of groceries, toilet paper, and over the counter cold and flu medicines.

Saturday, March 7, 2020

A person fumigates a church in Naples, Italy, 06 March 2020 — Image captionChurches have been fumigated in Naples

by Elodie Bagnol and Biodun Iginla, BBC News Analysts, Rome

The death toll from the new coronavirus in Italy has risen to 197 after the largest daily increase in fatalities there since the outbreak began.

Officials said 49 people had died in 24 hours, while more than 4,600 cases have been reported in total.

The country has now reported the most deaths outside of China, where the virus emerged in December.

The World Health Organization says nearly 100,000 people worldwide have contracted the coronavirus.

More than 3,000 people have died - the majority in China.

As it happened: Coronavirus infections near 100,000 globally

WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the spread of the virus "deeply concerning" and urged all countries to make containment "their highest priority".

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What is happening in Italy?

Officials announced the record daily death toll in a statement on Friday.

They said the number could not be officially confirmed until health officials had "established the actual cause of death".

The national health institute said the average age of those who have died was 81, with the majority suffering from underlying health problems. An estimated 72% of all those who have died were men.

According to government data, 4.25% of individuals confirmed to have the coronavirus have died, the highest rate in the world.

Italy has one of the world's oldest populations.

The government this week ordered the closure of all schools for 10 days as it battles to contain the outbreak.

All professional sport, including Serie A football matches, will also be played behind closed doors for a month.

The BBC's Rome correspondent Mark Lowen tweeted that a resident in the quarantined Italian town of Codogno told him the most upsetting thing for many people there is that funerals are not being permitted for coronavirus victims because of the need to limit gatherings.

"Priests are saying a couple of prayers - and that's it," he wrote.

Meanwhile, the Vatican - which reported its first case of the virus on Friday - said it was considering having the Pope deliver his Angelus address on Sunday via video, rather than from a window at the Vatican, to avoid drawing a large crowd. The Pope, who has been suffering from a cold, recently tested negative for the coronavirus, Italian media reported.

Only China, South Korea and Iran have reported more coronavirus cases than Italy.

As of Saturday, South Korea has had 7,041 cases and 46 deaths. Iran has had about 3,500 cases and 124 deaths though these figures are believed to be underestimated.

What are the latest updates?

Florida reported two deaths on Friday, taking the US death toll to 16 with more than 200 confirmed cases. The other fatalities have been in the west-coast states of California and Washington State.

It came as US President Donald Trump signed an $8.3bn (£6.4bn) emergency bill to try to combat the outbreak.

In California, 21 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed on the Grand Princess cruise ship that is being held off the coast near San Francisco. The cruise liner is a sister ship of the Diamond Princess, which was the scene of a major coronavirus outbreak while moored in Japan.

US Vice President Mike Pence said the Grand Princess would be sent to a non-commercial dock over the weekend where all its 3,533 passengers and crew would be tested.

Also in the US, the South by Southwest (SXSW) music and tech festival in Austin, Texas has been cancelled over growing concerns related to the outbreak.

In other developments:

Serbia, Slovakia, Peru and Togo reported their first cases of the virus
A man in his 80s became the second person in the UK to die after testing positive for the coronavirus
The impact of the virus on China's economy and global supply chains was made clear by new figures showing Chinese exports fell by 17.2% in January-February from the same period in 2019
Scotland Women's Six Nations match with France at Glasgow's Scotstoun Stadium has been postponed after a home player contracted coronavirus.
France became the latest country to announce school closures, which will affect the worst-hit areas in the country
Canada confirmed its first "community" case of a person who had not recently left the country and had no known contact with someone infected
A cruise ship was forced to turn away from Malta after doctors threatened industrial action if it docked amid coronavirus concerns