Corona cripples the world

By Sibte Arif *** Noor Aftab

PARIS/RIYADH/DUBAI/ ISLAMABAD/ LONDON/NEW DELHI/BEIJING/WASHINGTON: The global system has paralysed as the novel infection has killed 5,764 people around the world and affected over 150,000 on Saturday. The outbreak of the coronavirus has disrupted supply chains around the globe and impacted the global economy.

The number of coronavirus cases worldwide passed 150,000 driven by a spike in infections in Italy, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources.

Italy announced 3,497 new cases on Saturday, bringing the global total to 151,797, with 5,764 deaths across 137 countries and territories. Italy, the worst-hit country outside of China where the outbreak began in December, has now registered a total of 21,157 cases and 1,441 deaths.

Saudi Arabia said Saturday it would suspend international flights for two weeks in response to the coronavirus outbreak. "The kingdom´s government decided to suspend international flights for two weeks (starting from Sunday March 15th) as part of its efforts to prevent the spread of #CoronaVirus," the foreign ministry tweeted.

The halt applies to all but "exceptional cases," the official Saudi Press Agency said, quoting an official source in the interior ministry. Citizens and expatriates who are unable to return due to the suspension or who go into quarantine after returning will be granted an "exceptional official holiday," it added. Saudi Arabia has recorded 86 cases of the virus so far, but no deaths, according to the health ministry. The kingdom had already halted flights to some countries and closed schools and universities as part of measures to contain the disease.

The UAE has announced it will ‘temporarily suspend’ issuing the new visas except to foreign diplomats from Tuesday March 17. The decision does not apply to those who already have their visas issued prior to the aforementioned date, according to the authorities.

In a statement released on Saturday, the UAE Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) said, "The move comes as part of the precautionary measures taken by the UAE in response to the World Health Organization’s declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic, a development which reflects the high risks now associated with travel under the current circumstances."

Moreover, the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) also announced the suspension of all inbound and outbound flights with Lebanon, Turkey, Syria and Iraq with effect from March 17 and until further notice. The aviation authorities advised passengers affected by the suspension of flights to contact their respective air carriers to reschedule their flights and ensure their safe return to their final destinations.

The UAE authorities have already intensified pleas to the population to avoid gatherings and are carrying out campaigns to sanitize public places.

In line with precautionary measures to ensure the health and safety of visitors, the Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi decided to temporarily close cultural sites in the Emirate, starting from Sunday March 15 until March 31, 2020.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of the UAE, CBUAE, has launched a Dh100 billion (Rs4,272 billion) comprehensive targeted economic support scheme for retail and corporate customers affected by COVID-19. These measures will enter into force with immediate effect, according to a CBUAE statement issued Saturday.

"Given that the World Health Organisation has declared COVID-19 virus as a global pandemic, the Central Bank of the UAE has adopted a number of measures in an effort to support the economy and protect consumers," reads the statement.

"The UAE banking system is adequately capitalized and banks maintain significant voluntary capital buffers in addition to the minimum prudential requirements. The draw-down of those voluntary buffers is not considered for the purposes of calculating the overall size of the targeted economic support scheme," added the statement.

Despite heightened bilateral tensions with India, Pakistan has decided to participate in a video conference to be held on the proposal of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to chalk out a strong strategy to fight outbreak of coronavirus.

Spokesperson of Foreign Office Aisha Farooqui, confirmed in her Twitter post on Saturday stating "The threat of #COVID-19 requires coordinated efforts at global and regional level. We have communicated that SAPM on Health will be available to participate in the video conference of Saarc member countries on the issue."

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza would represent Pakistan in a video conference that would also be attended by health ministers of seven other Saarc countries.

According to the official sources, the agenda of the video conference would solely focus on the ways and means to tackle the outbreak of the coronavirus in the Saarc countries. “All the countries will share their experiences and also float proposals in the video conference to chalk out a joint strategy to combat this viral disease,” the sources said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi through his twitter post had said "I would like to propose that the leadership of Saarc nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is preparing to follow other European countries in banning mass gatherings, media reported Saturday as the country registered a jump in its number of coronavirus cases and deaths.

Johnson, who has faced criticism for his country´s light-touch approach to tackling the outbreak, is expected to introduce emergency legislation next week with the ban coming into force from next weekend, government sources told British media.

Britain´s death toll from the disease nearly doubled on Saturday, as health officials announced 10 more people had died, bringing the total number of fatalities to 21. Official figures released Saturday showed the country has 1,140 confirmed cases -- an increase of 342 from the day before.

But a senior health official has estimated that the number of infected people is more likely to be between 5,000 and 10,000.

The government´s new legislation could see the cancellation of events such as the Wimbledon tennis tournament and the Glastonbury music festival, due to begin at the end of June, as well as major horse races including Royal Ascot and Grand National.

But many events such as Premier League football matches, the London Marathon and the May local elections have already been suspended or postponed.

Queen Elizabeth II has postponed a number of engagements scheduled for next week "as a precautionary measure", according to Buckingham Palace. Her eldest son, Prince Charles, has postponed a trip to Bosnia, Cyprus and Jordan, scheduled to begin next week.

Meanwhile, Jordan said Saturday it would halt flights, close its land borders and shut down schools, places of worship and public gatherings to stop the spread of novel coronavirus.

Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz told official news agency Petra that "all flights into and out of the kingdom will be suspended from Tuesday until further notice". He said exceptions would be made for cargo flights and those carrying diplomats and staff of international organisations, providing they follow health ministry guidelines -- including a two-week quarantine. "All land and sea crossings and airports are closed except for cargo," he added, saying Jordanians in neighbouring countries who needed to return could do so but would also face quarantine.

Meanwhile, dozens of Hindu activists held a cow urine party in the Indian capital Saturday to protect themselves from the new coronavirus, as countries around the world struggle to control the deadly pandemic.

Members and supporters of All India Hindu Mahasabha staged fire rituals and drank from earthen cups to fight COVID-19 at the gathering in New Delhi dubbed a "gaumutra (cow urine) party".

Many in the Hindu-majority nation of 1.3 billion consider cows sacred and in recent years have made several assertions about the liquid being an elixir, claims that critics have rejected as quackery. "Whoever drinks cow urine will be cured and protected," Hari Shankar Kumar, one of the volunteers at the event, told AFP as he served the "remedy" in brown clay cups.

Members draped in saffron clothes chanted Hindu hymns at the fire ritual as devotees sang paeans for the sacred animal. "We have gathered here and prayed for world peace and we will make an offering to the corona (virus) to calm it," Chakrapani Maharaj, the group´s leader, told reporters before gulping down a cup of urine. He then offered a glass to a devil-shaped caricature of the virus to "pacify" it.

Meanwhile, Chinese officials have sidestepped questions about whether Beijing blames Washington for the coronavirus outbreak after a foreign ministry spokesman suggested it could have been planted by the US Army, reported British wire service on Saturday.

"When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan,” Zhao Lijian tweeted in both Chinese and English on Thursday. “Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!"

His post was accompanied by a video of Dr Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, saying that some Americans who had seemingly died from influenza later tested positive for the new coronavirus.

Zhao, who was based at the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan before moving to the foreign ministry in February, is a prolific social media user; a hashtag referring to his posts was trending on the Chinese social media platform Weibo on Friday with more than 89,000 mentions. He is known for being outspoken and for his sometimes outrageous comments.

His post came shortly after his boss and the ministry's top spokesperson Hua Chunying, retweeted the same video of Redfield, alongside a post which read: "It is absolutely WRONG and INAPPROPRIATE to call this the Chinese coronavirus."

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has taken a coronavirus test but said on Saturday that his temperature was “totally normal”, and his administration extended a travel ban to Britain and Ireland to try to contain a pandemic that has shut down much of the daily routine of American life.

After White House officials took the unprecedented step of checking the temperatures of journalists entering the briefing room, Trump told reporters he took a test for the virus on Friday night and that he expects the results in “a day or two days.” He met with a Brazilian delegation last week, at least one member of which has since tested positive.

On Saturday, his administration was expected to extend to Britain and Ireland a ban on travel from Europe that would go into effect on Monday night, US and airlines and officials said.

Meanwhile, President Hassan Rouhani said Iran’s fight against the coronavirus was being “severely hampered” by US sanctions, as state television reported that the death toll from the illness rose on Saturday to 611, up nearly 100 from a day earlier.

State media said Rouhani wrote to a number of world leaders, without naming them. “In (a) letter to counterparts @HassanRouhani informs how efforts to fight #COVID19 pandemic in Iran have been severely hampered by US sanctions, urging them to cease observing them,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter. “It is IMMORAL to let a bully kill innocents,” Zarif said.

The Palestinian Authority suspended prayers in mosques and churches in the occupied West Bank on Saturday to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

The Authority’s Religious Affairs Ministry asked Palestinians to worship at home. “In light of the Health Ministry’s recommendation to minimize contact between people and to reduce gatherings as much as possible we call upon our Muslim people in Palestine to hold their prayers at home,” a ministry statement said.

In Ramallah, a prayer leader reciting the Muslim call to prayer at one mosque in the early evening added the words: “Pray at home, pray at home.”

French security forces fired teargas and clashed with anti-government “Yellow Vest” protesters who were demonstrating in Paris on Saturday in defiance of a ban on mass gatherings that aims to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

“It’s Saturday, demonstration day. Some people think that the coronavirus won’t touch them and refuse to respect the advice,” said a riot police officer in front of a heavily armed vehicle blocking the road that leads to the presidential palace.

Hundreds of protesters, some wearing protective medical masks, had marched early on Saturday from Montparnasse train station, chanting anti-Macron slogans. By mid-afternoon, tension had grown.