SEOUL (REUTERS, AFP) – South Korean officials warned against prematurely calling the peak of the coronavirus outbreak while expressing hope on Monday (March 9) that the country was nearing a“turning point” in the crisis, as the pace of new infections trended lower.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 69 new coronavirus cases on Monday, although a more complete figure would be provided in another update later on Monday.

The new cases brought South Korea’s total infections to 7,382, while the death toll rose by one to 51, the KCDC said.

The rate of increase in new infections fell to its lowest in 10 days on Sunday in one of the countries most severely affected outside mainland China.

“I’m still extremely cautious, but there’s hope we can reach a turning point in the near future,” Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on Monday before returning to Seoul from the hard-hit southeastern city of Daegu.

Health authorities say the number of new infections being identified has dwindled as most of the roughly 200,000 followers of a fringe Christian church at the centre of the epidemic in Daegu have now been tested.

Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said it was premature to say the crisis was over, as new cases continued to emerge from smaller clusters.

“There are still many patients arising from Daegu and nearby regions … and sporadic infections continue to emerge elsewhere, though they’re not spreading as fast,” Kim told a briefing.

“In fact, now is the time to concentrate all our capabilities to bring a clear reduction in infections.”

South Korea started rationing surgical masks on Monday after imposing an export ban amid panic buying.

Mutual travel restrictions imposed by South Korea and Japan also took effect, an issue that rekindled a diplomatic and economic feud between the old foes.

South Korea suspended visas and visa waivers for Japan on Friday, after Tokyo announced travel restrictions, joining more than 100 other countries limiting arrivals from South Korea.

The spat, together with oil price swings, sent South Korean shares and the won sharply lower and prompted the finance ministry to issue a verbal warning against disorderly market movement.

South Korea was the first country to report significant coronavirus numbers outside China, where the disease first emerged.

But in recent days the focus of global concern has been moving towards Italy and Iran, a quarter of Italy’s population in lockdown Sunday as Rome announced infections soaring past 7,000 and deaths spiking to 366.

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/south-korea-reports-69-new-coronavirus-cases-bringing-total-7382

The post South Korean PM says ‘turning point’ near in coronavirus fight first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The Vatican has reported its first coronavirus case, saying it had suspended outpatient services at its health clinic after a patient tested positive for Covid-19.

The clinic inside the city-state – which has around 1,000 residents – will be deep cleaned, while the emergency room will remain open, spokesman Matteo Bruni said.

The patient tested positive yesterday.

The clinic is used by priests, residents, and employees – including those now retired – as well as their relatives.

Mr. Bruni said the Vatican was getting in touch with all those who had passed through the clinic, as per protocol.

He gave no details on whether the person who tested positive was such an employee or among the relatively few clergy or guards who live inside its walls.

The Vatican has said Pope Francis, who canceled a Lent retreat for the first time in his papacy, is suffering only from a cold that is “without symptoms related to other pathologies.”

China’s central province of Hubei, excluding the provincial capital Wuhan, has reported zero new cases of coronavirus over 24 hours for the first time during the outbreak, as authorities continued to contain imported infections in other parts of the country.

Wuhan, the centre of the epidemic, reported 126 new confirmed cases yesterday but there were no new infections in the province apart from those, the National Health Commission said this morning.

Elsewhere in China, schools in provinces reporting no new cases for a number of days started to set their opening dates in a sign of the country returning to normal.

Outside of Hubei, there were 17 new confirmed cases, bringing the total new infections in mainland China to 143 yesterday, up from 139 cases a day earlier.

The overall accumulated number of confirmed cases in mainland China stood at 80,552, with the death toll at  3,042.

China’s financial centre of Shanghai reported three new coronavirus infections today, in Chinese nationals who caught the virus abroad, the official People’s Daily of the ruling Communist Party said.

All three were students studying abroad in Iran, it added

Ireland has confirmed 13 cases of Covid-19, including one patient who had not traveled to an affected area.

Japan is canceling an annual ceremony marking the anniversary of a deadly tsunami and nuclear disaster as the country steps up efforts to curb the new coronavirus, officials said.

For the past eight years, the prime minister, politicians, and family members who lost loved ones in the disaster have attended the nationally-televised ceremony.

The move comes a day after Tokyo and Beijing confirmed a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping has been postponed, and Tokyo said the country will quarantine people coming from China and South Korea for two weeks on arrival.

More than 18,500 people were killed or left missing after the massive tsunami triggered by a 9.0-magnitude underwater quake on 11 March 2011.

People walk through an ‘EM Auto Sanitizing Gate’ outside a shopping centre in Bangkok

Bhutan confirms the first case of Covid-19

The isolated Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has reported its first case of the coronavirus after a US tourist tested positive, the prime minister said.

The tiny, landlocked country, famous for measuring Gross National Happiness has emerged as a popular tourist destination in recent years.

But the government immediately shut borders to foreign visitors for two weeks in an effort to limit the impact of a disease that has wreaked havoc in more developed countries around the world.

The 76-year-old man arrived in Bhutan from India on 2 March and was admitted to hospital on 5 March with a fever, where he tested positive for COVID-19, the office of Prime Minister Lotay Tshering said in a Facebook post.

The post added that there would be “two weeks’ restriction on all incoming tourists with immediate effect”.

A sign at a chemist in the suburb of Chatswood in Sydney

South Korea protests Japanese travel curbs 

South Korea issued a strongly worded protest against Japan’s decision to quarantine South Korean visitors for two weeks, as coronavirus containment measures ignited a fresh diplomatic row between the Asian nations.

Japan joined the list of almost 100 countries that have imposed restrictions on South Korean travelers, barring arrivals from highly affected areas starting tomorrow and ordering a two-week quarantine for those from other regions.

The South Korean foreign ministry said Japan’s ambassador would be summoned to explain Tokyo’s decision and receive a formal complaint. Seoul has previously summoned ambassadors from Vietnam and Singapore over similar travel restrictions.

The row came as the number of new cases in South Korea, the country with the biggest outbreak of the flu-like virus outside China, fell to 196 from 760 the previous day, for a total of 6,284 infections.

The death toll rose by seven to 42, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said.

The US Forces Korea reported a new case for a total of seven among soldiers, employees or people related to the roughly 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.

Source: https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2020/0306/1120536-coronavirus-world/

The post Vatican Confirms First Case of Coronavirus first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

South Korea has raised its coronavirus alert to the “highest level” as confirmed case numbers keep rising.

President Moon Jae-in said the country faced “a grave turning point”, and the next few days would be crucial in the battle to contain the outbreak.

Six people have died from the virus in South Korea and more than 600 have been infected.

Meanwhile, Italy and Iran have announced steps to try to contain worrying outbreaks of the virus.

In Italy, strict quarantine restrictions are in force in two northern “hotspot” regions close to Milan and Venice.

Around 50,000 people cannot enter or leave several towns in Veneto and Lombardy for the next two weeks without special permission. Even outside the zone, many businesses and schools have suspended activities, and sporting events have been canceled including several top-flight football matches.

• South Korean sect identified as coronavirus hotbed
• What you need to know about the virus
• A visual guide to the outbreak
• Pregnant nurse ‘propaganda’ sparks backlash

Amid the growing restrictions, the last two days of the Venice Carnival, on Monday and Tuesday, were canceled.

Italy has seen two deaths and the number of confirmed cases has risen to more than 100 – 89 of them in Lombardy.

“The contagiousness of this virus is very strong and pretty virulent,” said Lombardy’s health chief, Giulio Gallera.

---

Iran’s outbreak of coronavirus has significantly worsened, with the death toll rising to eight on Sunday. The government has acknowledged 43 confirmed cases although officials have warned the virus may have spread to “all cities”.

Schools, universities and cultural centres across 14 Iranian provinces have been closed from Sunday.

The new strain of coronavirus, which originated last year in Hubei province in China, causes a respiratory disease called Covid-19. China has seen more than 76,000 infections and 2,442 deaths.

On Sunday, China’s President Xi Jinping described the outbreak as the “largest public health emergency” in the country’s recent history.

He acknowledged “shortcomings” in China’s response and said lessons must be learned.

World edges closer to coronavirus pandemic

Analysis by Fergus Walsh, medical correspondent

The combined situation in South Korea, Iran, and Italy points to the early stages of pandemic. This means a global outbreak, with the coronavirus spreading in the community in multiple parts of the world.

In each of these countries, we are seeing the spread of the virus with no connection to China. The lockdown efforts in Italy mirror those that have happened in China.

The situation in Iran is especially worrying because the health authorities have reportedly said the virus has spread to multiple cities, and it appears the first case in Lebanon is linked to a traveller from Iran.

If we have a pandemic, it will still be important to limit the speed of the spread of the virus. If countries could hold it somewhat at bay until the end of winter, there is a hope that warmer temperatures will reduce the time the virus can survive in the air, as we see with seasonal flu. But this may not be certain.

What’s happening in South Korea?

On Sunday, health officials revealed a further leap in the number of coronavirus cases with a cluster of infections linked to a hospital and to a religious group near the south-eastern city of Daegu.

The sixth death was confirmed at the Daenam Hospital, in Cheongdo, which treats the elderly and people with mental health issues. The hospital has seen more than 110 people infected including nine medical staff.

South Korea has seen the largest number of confirmed cases after China. An outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan has also seen more than 600 cases.

“The Covid-19 incident faces a grave turning point,” President Moon said following a meeting with ministers and experts.

“The next few days will be crucial. The government will raise the alert level to the highest level of ‘grave’ according to experts’ recommendations and drastically strengthen our response system.”

Of the 169 new cases announced in South Korea on Sunday, 95 of them are linked to a Christian sect in Daegu called the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said. The total number of cases connected to the church stands at 329.

In a video statement, a church spokesman expressed “deep regret” that many of its followers and citizens of South Korea had been infected. The spokesman added that the church had advised about 250,000 members to minimize their outside contact and take precautions.

What is the Shincheonji?

Shincheonji founder Lee Man-hee says he is “the promised pastor” -Getty Images

• Religious organization founded in 1984 by South Korean national Lee Man-hee
• Lee, now in his 80s, describes himself as “the promised pastor” mentioned in the Bible
• Followers are taught to believe that Lee is the second coming of Jesus Christ
• Shincheonji is the abbreviation from Korean of “New Heaven and New Earth”
• Reportedly has more than 120,000 members around the world
• Accused of being a cult, and has been involved in controversies in several countries

In other developments:

• Israel refused to allow non-Israelis to disembark from a Korean Air plane at Ben-Gurion Airport on Saturday. It had announced a ban on South Koreans and Japanese visitors, sparking an official protest from Seoul
• Dozens of evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have begun their two-week quarantine in the UK

What’s the wider situation?

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has expressed concern at the number of new cases with no clear link to China or other confirmed cases.

In a briefing to the African Union on Saturday, he said the greatest concern now was countries with weaker health systems, particularly in Africa.

Dr. Tedros said the WHO was working with African governments to train thousands of health workers and to provide equipment to identify and treat infected people.

“Our biggest concern continues to be the potential for Covid-19 to spread in countries with weaker health systems,” he said. “We are working hard to prepare countries in Africa for the potential arrival of the virus.”

Dr. Tedros said some countries, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, were using experience gained from testing for the Ebola virus to test for the new coronavirus.

“This is a great example of how investing in health systems can pay dividends for health security,” he added.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51603251

The post Coronavirus: South Korea declares highest alert as infections surge first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.