South Korean President Moon Jae-in yesterday placed his nation under a red alert, the highest level, allowing for “unprecedented, powerful steps” to stem the COVID-19 outbreak, as officials in Europe and the Middle East scrambled to limit an outbreak that showed signs of stabilizing at its Chinese epicenter, but posed new threats far beyond.
Worldwide, the number of people sickened by the coronavirus topped 79,000, and wherever it sprung up, officials rushed to try to contain it.
“The past few weeks has demonstrated just how quickly a new virus can spread around the world, and cause widespread fear and disruption,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
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In Italy, where 219 people have tested positive for the virus and seven have died, authorities set up roadblocks, called off soccer matches and shuttered sites, including La Scala opera house. Police also manned checkpoints around a dozen quarantined northern towns.
In the Middle East, a health crisis that flared in Iran was reported to have spread for the first time to Kuwait, Bahrain and Afghanistan.
Clusters of the virus continued to emerge, including a possible one in Qom, an Iranian city where the country’s semiofficial ILNA news agency cited a lawmaker in reporting a staggering 50 people had died of COVID-19, although the health ministry insisted the death toll remained at 12.
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In South Korea, more than 600 police officers in Daegu fanned out in search of hundreds of members of a church that has been identified as a source for hundreds of infections.
Health workers said they planned to test every citizen in Daegu who showed cold-like symptoms for the coronavirus, estimating about 28,000 people would be targeted.
The country’s National Assembly was temporarily closed as workers sterilized its halls, while at shops and food stalls in the capital of Seoul, a misty fog surrounded crews in protective suits who sprayed disinfectants.
South Korean officials recommended that courts consider postponing trials of cases not deemed urgent, while Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon threatened tough penalties for those who defy a ban on rallies in major downtown areas.
China yesterday reported 409 new cases of the virus, raising its total to 77,150. It also announced 150 new deaths for a 2,592 total.
It also announced it would postpone the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress, scheduled for next month.
The head of a visiting WHO delegation said that China’s “incredibly difficult measures” in tackling the coronavirus had probably prevented hundreds of thousands of cases in the country.
Bruce Aylward, speaking at a joint press briefing with officials from China’s National Health Commission, said multiple data sources supported the general downward trend in the number infections being reported by the commission, despite some statistical issues observed in recent weeks.
Additional reporting by Reuters
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
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