As millions of people in Europe, the US and beyond began holing up at home, stocking up on supplies and keeping a wary eye on how close they get to friends and neighbors, the COVID-19 outbreak marked a distinct shift in focus yesterday, with China’s total infections reported at less than half of the rest of the world’s.
However, while the outbreak appears to be moving away from its original epicenter, many in Asia, where the virus has been a brutal fact of life for months, continue to urge vigilance against anything that might hurt hard-won gains.
“If we loosen our grip on the quarantine, it could be a matter of time for the embers of small-scale cluster infections to be revived,” South Korean newspaper Dong-a Ilbo newspaper said in an editorial yesterday.
Photo: AP
Around the globe, societies inched toward a shutdown of much of public life — bars, restaurants, school, work. Resorts closed on the Las Vegas strip. Many restaurants offered only takeout, if they were open at all. Schools, concerts, sporting events — even small-scale St Patrick’s Day parties — were canceled.
China, where the virus was first detected in December, now accounts for less than half of the world’s 169,000 cases, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. China has also been surpassed in number of deaths.
A shutdown of public gatherings and a quarantine of the hardest-hit central region has steadied China’s caseload as the virus spreads rapidly elsewhere. Most of the world’s 77,000 recovered patients are in China.
Photo: AP
Traffic has begun returning to Beijing. However, office buildings enforced strict screenings for fever, and many restaurants only offered take-out. Children usually snowed under with classes and homework found themselves glued to screens, shopping, chatting and watching video clips.
As the world inched toward a shutdown of much of public life — bars, restaurants, school, work — Asian cities have become increasingly worried about importing cases of the virus from abroad after making inroads containing its spread at home.
Starting yesterday, travelers arriving in Beijing from overseas would be quarantined for 14 days in designated facilities at their own expense. Previously, people without symptoms could self-quarantine at home.
In the latest tally, China’s National Health Commission reported 16 new cases of COVID-19 in the previous 24 hours. Twelve of them were imported from overseas, including four in Beijing. China now has 80,860 confirmed cases.
The commission said that 67,749 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals. Fourteen more deaths were reported in the past 24 hours, raising the toll to 3,213.
Though China still has the most infections, a dozen other countries have more than 1,000 cases, mostly in Europe.
Religious leaders gave sermons to empty pews or to the faithful watching online Sunday after public worship was curtailed in many places. The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City was being closed indefinitely, and the Vatican closed off next month’s Holy Week services to the public. Still, 83-year-old Pope Francis ventured out of the Vatican to visit two churches in Rome to pray for the sick.
In the US, health officials recommended a limit to groups of 50 or more people and a government expert said a 14-day national shutdown might be needed.
Americans returning from abroad encountered chaotic airport health screenings and closed-down communities.
There are also signs that the outbreak in South Korea is slowing down, but officials are still scrambling to prevent infections from exploding again.
South Korea yesterday reported 74 more cases over the past 24 hours, a day after it announced 76 new cases. The figures are the lowest daily increase in new infections in about 25 days. That was a stark contrast with the more than 900 new cases reported on one day late last month.
There are still worries that new infections might surge again from those returning from Europe or from locals who are reportedly resuming attending mass gatherings like church services. There have been calls for authorities to further postpone the new school year, which was to begin on March 23 after two rounds of delays.
South Korean Prime Minister Chung Se-kyun said the nation’s decline in virus cases was a “hopeful sign,” but urged caution over widening outbreaks across Europe and the US.
Chung said South Korea should “never loosen its guard.”
On the first day of Spain’s quarantine, long lines formed for food as police patrolled. Austria planned to limit people’s movement, and Lebanon was put on lockdown, closing down Beirut’s famed seaside corniche.
As the public curtailed their daily lives, governments also adjusted.
The prime ministers of Australia and Singapore yesterday announced that they would meet by video conference after Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) canceled an Australian visit.
“Business and governments can carry on even through the midst of all this,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told Seven Network television.
Several Australian states declared public health emergencies that create punishments for failing to comply with self-isolation orders. Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, has suspended new jury trials because of the virus.
In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government secured a law allowing him to declare a state of emergency in case things worsen, though he said it still has not reached that point.
For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, and those with mild illness recover in about two weeks. However, severe illness, including pneumonia, can occur, especially in the elderly and people with existing health problems, and recovery could take six weeks in such cases.
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