Coronavirus Updates

NYC Urges Self-Isolation for Visitors to 5 Nations: Virus Update

Bloomberg News

‎March‎ ‎5‎, ‎2020‎ ‎5‎:‎49‎ ‎AM Updated on ‎March‎ ‎6‎, ‎2020‎ ‎4‎:‎51‎ ‎AM

The number of coronavirus cases in the Seattle area surged by 20, and 11 more New York state residents were confirmed to have the infection. New Jersey reported its first two cases, one a health-care worker.

The Trump administration won’t be able to meet its goal to have a million coronavirus tests available by the end of the week, senators said. The U.K. and Switzerland reported their first fatalities.

The head of the World Health Organization threatened to name countries that aren’t doing enough to fight the outbreak. Fatalities moderated in China, and cases appeared to slow in South Korea. Infections surged in Iran.

Key Developments:
Global cases 97,426; death toll 3,345
Airlines fall most since 2011 on ‘gut punch’
Italy pledges 7.5 billion euros; cases surge to 3,858
U.S. mortgage rates sink to record low on virus fears

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-05/cdc-expands-testing-more-infections-in-nyc-suburb-virus-update

Coronavirus live updates: Italy under lockdown as WHO says threat of pandemic ‘very real’

UK and US had worst days trading since 2008 GFC; Global cases near 110,000; Grand Princess passengers disembark. Follow the latest news.
Cruise ship carrying at least 21 with coronavirus docks in California
US pledges more testing as Trump hints at aid for workers
Quarantined US congressman flew with Trump on Air Force One
Global stock markets post biggest falls since 2008 financial crisis
Italian PM extends lockdown to entire country
Coronavirus sufferers symptom-free for five days on average – study

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/mar/10/coronavirus-update-latest-italy-shutdown-lockdown-who-pandemic-outbreak-quarantine-uk-cases-usa-america-australia-live-news-updates

WHO labels coronavirus a ‘pandemic’ as Europe scrambles to contain it



AFP – The World Health Organization called the new coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on Wednesday, issuing a grim warning that the global spread and severity of the illness was due to “alarming levels of inaction”.

The call came as Europe faced a mounting number of cases — including a slew of new countries clocking first deaths — prompting governments to roll out increasingly tough measures to slow the rapid spread of the virus.

The number of cases across the globe has risen to more than 124,000 with 4,500 deaths, including a jump in fatalities particularly in Iran and Italy, according to an AFP tally.

The majority of cases have been in China where the outbreak first emerged in December, but as the number of new infections has steadied in the country, hotspots have emerged elsewhere — namely Italy, Iran and Spain.

The head of the UN’s top health body for the first time characterised the outbreak as a pandemic, meaning it is spreading in several regions through local transmission.

“We have never before seen a pandemic sparked by a coronavirus,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday, adding that the declaration would not change the organisation’s response to the outbreak.

“We’re deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction.”

He did not single out any nations for not doing enough — or what further measures were needed. He instead called on “countries to take urgent and aggressive action”.

– ‘No clients ‘ –

Signs of a widening European crisis emerged Wednesday, with Ireland, Albania, Belgium, Sweden and Bulgaria registering their first deaths, while Italy clocked more than 2,300 new cases in the last 24 hours and infections in Spain jumped by a quarter to more than 2,100.



See Also


Sri Lanka stocks plunge at open on Coronavirus



Facing the COVID19 threat: It is up to you



Stocks, crude plungs as Trump Europe ban fans recession fears



Sri Lanka's SEC seeks proposals to boost stock market



Sri Lanka regulatory sandbox open for fintech experiments: Central Bank













The surge brought Europe’s total number of cases to more than 22,000, with 930 deaths, and the US said it was considering issuing a ban on travellers from the continent.

Millions of people in Italy are grappling with a nationwide clampdown that has emptied streets, shuttered shops and disrupted train and air travel.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Wednesday that Italy would shut all stores except for pharmacies and food shops to curb the disease.

Factories and other big businesses can remain open as long as they adopt “appropriate security measures to prevent contagion,” Conte said

His government vowed to spend up to 25 billion euros ($28 billion) to help contain fallout from the pandemic, including cash injections for hard-hit hotels and restaurants and allowing families to suspend some mortgage payments.

Even places with no significant outbreaks like Poland and Ukraine announced school closures and other restrictive measures. Austria said it would shut museums and halt train services to and from Italy.

In the Middle East, hard-hit Iran reported 63 new deaths, its highest single-day toll which brought total fatalities to 354. It has yet to impose quarantines but has closed schools, universities and hotels and called on people not to travel.

WHO’s Tedros said the country, which has 9,000 cases, was “doing its best” to control the spread of the virus, but that it needed more supplies to cope.

Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait said it was suspending all commercial flights in and out of the country, after it and other Gulf nations had already adopted travel restrictions.

– Sliver of hope –

Offering a sliver of hope to the rest of the world, China again announced negligible new daily infections and only a relatively small number of deaths.

Some businesses in China’s Hubei province — where the virus was first detected in December — were told they could restart work, reducing fears of a prolonged disruption of supply chains.

But China remains the worst-affected country with more than 80,000 confirmed cases and over 3,000 deaths.

Although Panama confirmed its first death Tuesday, Latin America — along with Africa and Oceania — has so far reported only small numbers of cases.

And the United States saw its first signs of an emergency footing with the New York city government forming a containment zone around a suburb at the centre of an outbreak.

Wall Street stocks suffered another brutal rout Wednesday, pushing the Dow into a “bear market,” or 20 percent from its peak, after the latest series of event cancelations and company warnings rattled investors.

– Trump primetime address –

Disruption to supply chains from China, flagging demand and wildly fluctuating stock markets have sparked a series of profit warnings from companies and pushed governments into action.

The UK promised a $39 billion fiscal stimulus and the central bank slashed its main interest rate to 0.25 percent following a similar move by the US Federal Reserve last week, intended to make borrowing cheaper and boost economic activity.

US President Donald Trump will make a primetime address Wednesday on the coronavirus crisis, his latest attempt to counter criticism of his response to the growing health and economic fallout from the pandemic.

While markets remain uneasy, COVID-19 continued to rip up the schedules of musicians, sports stars and cultural figures as governments around the world banned large gatherings.

England’s top-flight football league saw its first cancellation with Wednesday’s match between Arsenal and Manchester City postponed, while E3, the world’s premier video game trade show, due to be held in June in Los Angeles, was called off.

In an unprecedented move, NCAA officials on Wednesday closed the US national college basketball tournament to paying fans. The first games will be played on Tuesday.

ලෝකය ඉදිරියේදී වුහාන් නගරයක් බවට පත්වේවි
කොරෝනා වෛරසය පැතිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් චීනයේ ප්‍රකට වෛද්‍ය විශේෂඥයා අනතුරු අඟවයි


කෝවිඩ් -19 හෙවත් කොරෝනා වෛරසය මුල් අවධියේදී වුහාන් නගරයට ඇති කලාක් මෙන් දරුණු තත්ත්වයක් ලෝකය පුරා ඉදිරියේදී ඇතිවීමේ අවධානමක් තිබෙන බව චීනයේ කොරෝනා වෛරසය සම්බන්ධ යෙන් සිටින ප්‍රවීන වෛද්‍ය විශේෂඥවරයා අනතුරු අඟවා සිටිනවා.

වෛරසය පාලනය කර ගැනීමේ ක්‍රියාවලියේ අසමත්කම් දක්වන රටවල් වල තත්ත්වය බෙහෙවින් දරුණු වනු ඇති බවයි කොරෝනා වෛරසය සම්බන්ධයෙන් විශේෂඥවරයෙක් වෛද්‍ය Zhong Nanshan සඳහන් කර සිටියේ.

" චීනයෙන් පිටත මේ වන විට වාර්තා වන කොරෝනා වෛරසයේ පැතිරීම් රටාව චීනයේ වුහාන් නගරයේ සිදුවූ රටාවට සමානකම් දක්වනවා. මේ නිසා වෛරසය පාලනය කිරිමට ගත හැකි උපරිම දේ සිදුකළ යුතුයි" වෛද්‍ය Zhong Nanshan වැඩිදුරටත් සඳහන් කර සිටියා.

චීනයෙන් පිටත මේ වන විට කොරෝනා වෛරසය සම්ප්‍රේෂණය වූ රෝගීන් සංඛ්‍යාව 40,000 ඉක්මවන බවත් මරණ අනුපාතය සාමාන්‍ය වශයෙන් 3:2ක් බව ඔහු කියා සිටියා.

" පවතින තත්ත්වය දෙස විමසා බැලුවහොත් වෛද්‍යවරුන් මෙන්ම සමස්ත ලෝකවාසී ජනතාව කොරෝනා වෛරසය ගැන අවධානයකින් සිට නොමැති බව පැහැදිලි වනවා. ඔවුන් තවමත් සිතන්නේ ලොව පුරා සංචාරය කරමින් තමන්ගේ දෛනික කටයුතු පෙර පරිදි සිදුකර ගෙන යාමට බාධාවක් නැති බවයි.

නමුත් මේ වෛරසය දැන්ම පාලනය නොකළහොත් ඉදිරියේදී එය මිට වඩා දරුණු ආකාරයෙන් නැවත හිස එසවීමේ අවධානමක් තිබෙනවා.

කොරෝනා වෛරසයට එරෙහිව ඉදිරි මාස කිහිපය තුලදී ප්‍රතිජීවක ඖෂධයක්‌ නිපදවන්න හැකියාවක් ලැබේවි කියා සිතිය නොහැකි. ඒ නිසා ලොව සියලු රටවල් කොරෝනා වෛරසයේ පැතිරී යාම වලක්වා ගැනීමට දැඩි ක්‍රියා මාර්ග ගත යුතුයි.

ලොව සියලු රාජ්‍ය නායකයින් චීනය සමග සම්බන්ධකම් පැවැත්වීම වැදගත්. කොරෝනා වෛරසය පාලනය කිරිමේ කටයුතු සම්බන්ධයෙන් අදහස් හුවමාරු කර ගැනීමට හැකියි" වෛද්‍ය Zhong Nanshan ප්‍රකාශ කර සිටියා.

Now Sri Lanka has 3 confirmed cases. Its growing rapidly.

Now Sri Lanka has 3 confirmed cases. Its growing rapidly.

Now Sri Lanka has 3 confirmed cases. Its growing rapidly.

Another 2 Corona positive cases have been identified making the total count to 5. One came from Italy and the other from Germany .

Confirmed Cases and Deaths by Country, Territory, or Conveyance

The coronavirus COVID-19 is affecting 145 countries and territories around the world and 1 international conveyance (the Diamond Princess cruise ship harbored in Yokohama, Japan). The day is reset after midnight GMT+0.




Search:



Country,
Other

Total
Cases

New
Cases

Total
Deaths

New
Deaths

Total
Recovered

Active
Cases

Serious,
Critical

Tot Cases/
1M pop


China 80,832 +18 3,189 +12 65,543 12,100 4,020 56.2
Italy 17,660 +2,547 1,266 +250 1,439 14,955 1,328 292.1
Iran 11,364 +1,289 514 +85 3,529 7,321 135.3
S. Korea 8,086 +217 72 +6 714 7,300 59 157.7
Spain 5,232 +2,086 133 +47 193 4,906 272 111.9
Germany 3,675 +930 8 +2 46 3,621 9 43.9
France 3,661 +785 79 +18 12 3,570 154 56.1
USA 2,289 +592 50 +9 41 2,198 10 6.9
Switzerland 1,139 +271 11 +4 4 1,124 131.6
Norway 996 +196 1 1 994 27 183.7
Sweden 814 +127 1 1 812 2 80.6
Netherlands 804 +190 10 +5 2 792 45 46.9
Denmark 804 +130 1 803 2 138.8
UK 798 +208 11 +1 18 769 20 11.8
Japan 734 +43 21 +2 118 595 29 5.8
Diamond Princess 696 7 325 364 32
Belgium 559 +160 3 1 555 2 48.2
Austria 504 +143 1 6 497 1 56.0
Qatar 320 +58 320 111.1
Bahrain 210 +13 44 166 1 123.4
Singapore 200 +13 97 103 11 34.2
Australia 199 +43 3 26 170 1 7.8
Canada 198 +56 1 11 186 1 5.2
Malaysia 197 +39 32 165 4 6.1
Greece 190 +73 1 2 187 2 18.2
Finland 155 +46 1 154 28.0
Brazil 151 +74 1 150 2 0.7
Israel 143 +34 4 139 3 16.5
Czechia 141 +25 141 2 13.2
Slovenia 141 +45 141 4 67.8
Iceland 134 +17 134
Hong Kong 132 +1 4 +1 78 50 4 17.6
Portugal 112 +34 1 111 1 11.0
Iraq 101 +18 9 +1 24 68 2.5
Kuwait 100 +20 5 95 4 23.4
Romania 95 +36 7 88 1 4.9
Egypt 93 +13 2 27 64 0.9
Ireland 90 +20 1 89 6 18.2
Saudi Arabia 86 +41 1 85 2.5
UAE 85 20 65 2 8.6
India 82 +8 2 +1 10 70 0.1
San Marino 80 +8 5 2 73 3
Estonia 79 +52 79 59.6
Lebanon 77 +9 3 1 73 3 11.3
Thailand 75 +5 1 35 39 1 1.1
Indonesia 69 +35 4 +3 5 60 0.3
Poland 68 +17 2 +1 66 3 1.8
Philippines 64 +12 6 +1 2 56 1 0.6
Taiwan 50 +1 1 20 29 2.1
Russia 45 +11 8 37 0.3
Vietnam 44 16 28 0.5
Chile 43 +10 43 2.2
Luxembourg 38 +12 1 +1 37
Peru 38 +16 38 1.2
Brunei 37 +12 37
Serbia 35 +11 35 1 4.0
Palestine 35 +4 35 6.9
Argentina 34 +3 2 +1 32 1 0.8
Albania 33 +10 1 32 11.5
Croatia 32 +5 1 31 7.8
Slovakia 32 +11 32 5.9
Bulgaria 31 +8 1 30 4.5
Pakistan 28 +7 2 26 0.1
Panama 27 +13 1 26 6.3
Belarus 27 +6 3 24 2.9
Algeria 26 2 10 14 0.6
Georgia 25 25 1 6.3
South Africa 24 +8 24 0.4
Ecuador 23 +6 1 +1 22 1 1.3
Costa Rica 23 23 1 4.5
Senegal 21 +11 2 19 1.3
Oman 19 +1 9 10 3.7
Hungary 19 +3 19 2.0
Bosnia and Herzegovina 18 +7 18 5.5
Latvia 17 +1 1 16 9.0
Tunisia 16 +3 16 2 1.4
Colombia 16 +7 16 0.3
Azerbaijan 15 1 3 11 1.5
Mexico 15 +3 4 11 1 0.1
North Macedonia 14 +5 1 13 6.7
Cyprus 14 +4 14 11.6
Malta 12 +3 1 11
Macao 10 10 0
Bolivia 10 +7 10 0.9
Maldives 9 +1 9
Armenia 8 +2 8 2.7
Jamaica 8 +6 8 2.7
Morocco 7 +1 1 1 5 1 0.2
Afghanistan 7 7 0.2
Cambodia 7 +2 1 6 0.4
Lithuania 6 +3 6 2.2
New Zealand 6 +1 6 1.2
Sri Lanka 6 +3 1 5 0.3
French Guiana 6 6
Moldova 6 6 1.5
Paraguay 6 6 1 0.8
Dominican Republic 5 5 0.5
Réunion 5 +1 5
Turkey 5 +4 5 0.1
Cuba 4 +1 4 0.4
Kazakhstan 4 +4 4 0.2
Liechtenstein 4 4
Uruguay 4 +4 4 1.2
Ukraine 3 1 +1 2 0.1
Bangladesh 3 1 2
Channel Islands 3 3
Faeroe Islands 3 +1 3
French Polynesia 3 +2 3
Martinique 3 3
Puerto Rico 3 +3 3 1.0
Monaco 2 2
Nigeria 2 2
Aruba 2 +2 2
Burkina Faso 2 2 0.1
Cameroon 2 2 0.1
DRC 2 +1 2
Ghana 2 2 0.1
Honduras 2 2 0.2
Saint Martin 2 2
Venezuela 2 +2 2 0.1
Guyana 1 1 0
Sudan 1 +1 1 +1 0
Andorra 1 1
Jordan 1 1 0 0.1
Nepal 1 1 0
Antigua and Barbuda 1 +1 1
Bhutan 1 1
Cayman Islands 1 +1 1
Ivory Coast 1 1
Curaçao 1 +1 1
Ethiopia 1 +1 1
Gabon 1 +1 1 0.4
Gibraltar 1 1 0
Guadeloupe 1 +1 1
Guatemala 1 +1 1 0.1
Guinea 1 +1 1 0.1
Vatican City 1 1
Kenya 1 +1 1
Mauritania 1 +1 1 0.2
Mongolia 1 1 0.3
St. Barth 1 1
Saint Lucia 1 +1 1
St. Vincent Grenadines 1 1
Suriname 1 +1 1
Togo 1 1 0.1
Trinidad and Tobago 1 1 0.7

Total: 145,640 11,063 5,436 454 72,528 67,676 6,082 18.7


Highlighted in green

= all cases have recovered from the infection


Highlighted in grey

= all cases have had an outcome (there are no active cases)


The "New" columns for China display the previous day changes (as China reports after the day is over). For all other countries, the "New" columns display the changes for the current day while still in progress.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

US President Donald Trump declares national emergency over COVID-19 as WHO chief calls Europe new epicentre of pandemic.

United States President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic, opening the door to providing what he said was about $50bn in federal aid to fight the disease.

On Friday, the World Health Organization warned that Europe has now become the "epicentre" for the pandemic, called COVID-19, reporting more daily cases than China did at the height of its outbreak.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/stocks-collapse-coronavirus-global-pandemic-live-200312235606108.html

Another two cases with coronavirus infection identified making total count to 7 in Sri Lanka. Also there are several others very likely to be diagnosed with coronavirus.

කොරෝනා රෝගීන් ගණන 10 ක් දක්වා ඉහලට (UPDATE)
2020-03-14

කොරෝනා වෛරසය වැළදුණු තවත් රෝගීන් දෙදෙනෙක් හමුවූ බව සෞඛ්‍ය අධ්‍යක්ෂක ජනරාල් වෛද්‍ය අනිල් ජාසිංහ සඳහන් කර සිටිනවා. මේ වන විට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවෙන් හමුවී ඇති මුළු කොරෝනා රෝගීන් ගණන 10 ක් වනවා.

මෙලෙස හඳුනාගෙන ඇති 09 වන රෝගීයා 56 හැවිරිදි කාන්තාවක් වන අතර ඇය ඉතාලියේ සිට මෙම මස 07 වනදා මෙරටට පැමිණ ඇති අතර ඇය දැනට IDH රෝහලේ ප්‍රතිකාර ලබනවා.

මිට අමතරව කොරෝනා වෛරසය වැළදුණු 10 වන රෝගියා 17 හැවිරිදි තරුණියක් වන අතර ඇය කලින් තහවුරු කර ගත් රෝගියෙකුගේ ඥාතියෙක් බවයි වෛද්‍ය අනිල් ජාසිංහසඳහන් කලේ.

ඒ අනුව ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුලදී පුද්ගල සම්ප්‍රේෂණය වීමෙන් කොරෝනා වෛරසය ආසාධිතවූ පළමු රෝගියා වන්නේ මෙම 17 හැවිරිදි තරුණිය බවයි සෞඛ්‍ය අංශ සඳහන් කරන්නේ.

All are coming from people entered from Italy. We wont be in this situation if the authorities act promptly and banned all flights at the early stage of the virus start spreading throught Italy. Now too late. The virus may have transmitted to many from the people came from Italy. I am not a fortune teller but my gut feeling is that the infected count can reach more than 50 within next two weeks.

Coronavirus Lecture With Dr. Amesh Adalja, Johns Hopkins Senior Scholar, Tepper Alumnus

No of coronavirus cases in Sri Lanka rose to 18 with another 8 new identified cases. Seven were returnees from Italy and one who was coming back from Germany.

Sri Lanka COVID19 cases jump to 18

The number of people infected with COVID19 in Sri Lanka has jumped to 18, after seven more people quarantined in the Kandakadu centre tested positive Health officials said.

The Director-General Health Services Dr Anil Jasinghe said that all seven new patients are male and had arrived in Sri Lanka from Italy.

Most of the COVID19 positive cases found in Sri Lanka are “made in Italy,” Jasinghe said.

These seven are being treated at the Polonnaruwa hospital.

Two other men who were at the same quarantine centre and had returned from Italy tested positive on Friday.

They are also at the same regional hospital in Polonnaruwa.

Sri Lankan health authorities are still convinced that all the patients are those who contracted the disease while overseas or had contact with someone who had recently returned.

Aggressive measures are now in place to prevent local community transmission with schools and cinemas shut down, religious services curtailed and public gatherings banned.

Police have warned that they have the power to charge people who are infected and are not in quarantine or in isolation. They also warn that those who help the infected to evade quarantine can also be charged.

Sri Lanka Coronavirus toll rises triggering new containment measures



ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka restricted flights from more countries, tightened quarantine as a total confirmed cases of Coronavirus went up to 19, and the World Health Organization declared the island to be a country with community transmission, officials said.

Sri Lanka reported eight new infections Saturday taking those in hospital to 18, and the total with the first Chinese patient to 19.

Among those confirmed over the weekend was the teenage daughter of a previously confirmed patient who become infected due to contact with foreigners.

“The World Health Organization has declared Sri Lanka to be a country with community transmission,” Director of Sri Lanka ‘s health service Anil Jasinghe told reporters Saturday.

Sri Lanka had restricted travel from UK, Belgium and Norway asking carriers not to board anyone destined for the island who was from or had been in the three countries adding to France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden and Austria.

Related

Sri Lanka Coronavirus toll rises to 19, UK, Belgium Norway quarantine advanced

Similar restrictions are in place for Korea and Iran. Sri Lanka’s foreign missions in the countries said they were cutting down services. A group of diplomats are also in self-quarantine after a relative of an officer was found to have the virus.

Sri Lanka’s immigration chief Sarath Rupasiri said visa approvals had been tightened and more countries would be added if necessary.

Sri Lanka had already closed schools, universities, cinemas and zoological gardens. Jasinghe said expected mothers and child vaccinations should delay clinic visits unless they are 08 months pregnant or have a complication that needs a response.



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Sri Lanka President proposes unified South Asia Coronavirus response, Modi starts COVID19 fund



Sri Lanka Coronavirus toll rises to 19, UK, Belgium Norway quarantine advanced



Sri Lanka COVID19 cases jump to 18



Sri Lanka cardinal seeks UN probe on China's Coronavirus













“It is the practice of a mother to come with a family member and child, which leads to crowded conditions,” he said.

South Asia Response

Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in an online conference with South Asian leaders had called for a common regional response.

“Our biggest challenge is to stop or minimize the virus entering into Sri Lanka and control the spreading of the virus within Sri Lanka,” President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was quoted as saying in a statement from his office.

“For this purpose, we have banned tourists and other people from about 12 countries, especially some EU countries, entering into Sri Lanka, following the guidelines and statistics relating to the spread of the virus, issued by the WHO.

The biggest source of infections were Sri Lankans returining from infected countries.

“We have a large number of Sri Lankans working in Italy and South Korea,” President Rajapaksa was quoted as saying.

“We cannot stop these Sri Lankans coming back to their home country.”

Related

Sri Lanka President proposes unified South Asia Coronavirus response, Modi starts COVID19 fund

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi had set up a 10 million US dollar Coronavirus fund for which others could also contribute.

Economic Hit

Sri Lanka’s economy has been hit by the crisis, with tourism taking the brunt. Stocks plunged last week as fears of the bigger fallout from the crises loomed ahead.

Sri Lanka has also made a large liquidity injection with central bank credit raising fears over the currency as the country runs a pegged exchange rate, though private credit is expected to fall.

Sri Lanka declared Monday a holiday and a gazette notice said there could be further holidays if necessary which would further dampen economic activity.

Public Administration Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon in a Gazette notification on Sunday said the special public and bank holiday was aimed at supporting the quarantine efforts underway.

“This holiday will be extending (sic) if necessary,” he said.

Related

Sri Lanka mulls extending holiday to battle virus

Sri Lanka wholesale and retail, external trade will operate Monday

Information Minister Bandula Gunewardene said the holiday did not apply to external trade or domestic retail and wholesale trade.

“There is the export industry and a lot of goods have also been imported for the New Year season,” Minister Gunewardene said.

“The Pettah wholesale trade and retail shops will also operate.

“Goods will continue to be supplied.”

Sri Lanka’s supermarkets have seen panic buying.

Gunewardene said Sri Lanka had ample stocks of foods and prices would come down further on Wednesday.

Quarantine

Sri Lanka brought forward quarantine rules from UK, Norway and Belgium, telling airlines that passengers disembarking in Colombo would quarantined earlier than previous informed.

Due to the very rapid spread of the covid-19 virus a very high level decision has been made ” to quarantine passengers earlier than previously informed, Sri Lanka’s Civil Aviation Authority said.

“Accordingly steps will be taken to quarantine passengers arriving from the United Kingdom, Belgium and Norway with effect from 0000hrs on 16th March 2020 till 2359hrs on 16th March 2020.”

Sri Lanka is also chasing down returnees from countries like Italy who arrived in the country before quarantine began.

Sri Lanka’s military intelligence is helping police track them down Army chief Shavendra Silva said.

Silva said over 1700 persons are in quarantine centres run by the military mostly from Italy.

Some returnees had refused to go to quarantine centres but Silva said they the army was providing them with facilities as required by health authorities while military medics were monitoring them multiple times a day, with some being monitored more.

Many of the 18 persons in hospital came from the quarantine centres.

Global Response

Across the world economic activity is also falling as countries go into lockdown and international and domestic travel is restricted.

The Fed has cut rates and other central banks with floating exchange rates have opened liquidity taps.

Economic activities in many countries have fallen.

The UK also has stayed back from frenzied controls on public life.

The National Health Service is asking Britons with Coronavirus to stay at home and self-isolate for 7 days when a large majority of patients had been seen to get better.

Read: UK NHS Stay at home advice for Coronavirus patients

The NHS is asking people to with suspected Coronavirus to drink plenty of water, sleep alone ‘if possible’ and stay away from older people with health complications.

They told asked not to go outside and delivery people to leave items outside the door.

Those with symptom are asked not to call hospital unless symptoms persist beyond 7 days.

Hospital care is only reserved for people with complications. In many countries including China and Italy, hospital services were overwhelmed. (Colombo/Mar16/2020)

Fed cut rates, key floating central banks to open taps on Coronavirus pandemic



AFP – The US Federal Reserve and other central banks announced on Sunday a bold set of measures to shore up confidence hit by the new coronavirus pandemic, as the number of deaths around the world passed 6,000.

Faced with a growing economic shutdown from the pandemic, the US Federal Reserve said it was slashing the key interest rate to virtually zero, at a range of 0-0.25 percent.

It also announced massive asset purchases, opened its discount lending windows to banks and urged them to use it to help businesses and households.

The European Central Bank (ECB) said the main central banks around the world would pour money into the economy to help resist the financial shocks caused by the outbreak.

Other central banks coordinating their action include the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the ECB and the Swiss National Bank, said an ECB statement from Frankfurt.

The news came as Italy recorded its biggest daily death toll — up by 368 to 1,809 — which has now claimed more than 6,000 lives worldwide, forcing European governments to further tighten controls.

The Vatican cancelled Easter week celebrations as officials in northern Italy warned they were running out of beds and artificial respirators.

Pope Francis left Vatican City Sunday “on foot, as if on a pilgrimage” to pray in one of Rome’s cathedrals for victims of the pandemic, the Vatican said.

Across France and Spain, which have also become European virus hotspots, cafes, shops and restaurants closed.

While France ordered the closure of all non-essential businesses, Spain went further, banning people from leaving home except to go to work, get medical care or buy food.



See Also


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Sri Lanka President proposes unified South Asia Coronavirus response, Modi starts COVID19 fund



Sri Lanka Coronavirus toll rises to 19, UK, Belgium Norway quarantine advanced



Sri Lanka COVID19 cases jump to 18



Sri Lanka cardinal seeks UN probe on China's Coronavirus













Cases also spiked in Germany which will introduce border controls with France, Austria, Switzerland, Luxemburg and Denmark from Monday.

In Switzerland, where cases nearly doubled to 2,200 Sunday, Geneva residents applauded, whistled and rang bells from their balconies and windows to thank health workers on the frontline.

– Chaos at US airports –

The United States imposed a travel ban on countries in Europe’s Schengen free-movement area last week, and has since added Britain and Ireland to the list.

The new restrictions threw airports into disarray. Passengers complained of massive queues as staff battled with the new entry rules and stipulations on medical screening, but US government officials said Sunday the problem had been fixed.

US President Donald Trump tested negative for the disease, after coming into contact with several members of a Brazilian presidential delegation who have since tested positive.

The number of officially recorded novel coronavirus cases globally stood at 163,930 with 6,420 deaths, across 141 countries and territories at 1700 GMT Sunday, according to a tally compiled by AFP from official sources.

The death toll in Europe passed 2,000 on Sunday.

The disease has now hit all global regions, ripping up sporting and cultural calendars, shaking the stock markets and businesses — particularly airlines — and prompting often contradictory responses from governments.

– China to quarantine international travellers –

China — excluding Hong Kong and Macau — where the epidemic was declared in late December, has to date declared 80,844 cases, with 3,199 deaths and 66,911 people recovered.

The country announced 20 new cases and 10 new fatalities between Saturday and Sunday, a fraction of the latest Italian figures.

China is now imposing its own crackdown on international travellers — all will be put into quarantine on arrival — after linking most of its new infections to those coming from abroad.

In Iran, where the overall death toll stands at 724, the world’s third-worst toll after China and Italy, officials urged people to avoid public gatherings.

Britain cancelled local elections and hinted that it would follow most other affected European nations and ban mass gatherings.

On the other hand, France allowed municipal elections to go ahead on Sunday even as officials imposed a drastic nationwide shutdown on all non-essential businesses and promised to progressively restrict long-distance travel.

– More cases in Africa –

Many European countries have announced bans on foreigners entering their countries and imposed internal restrictions from limiting gatherings to closing schools and other public spaces.

The spread of the virus has worried even those countries without significant outbreaks. Australia and New Zealand have said that anyone arriving from overseas must self-isolate for two weeks.

In Africa, which has been spared the worst of the disease, half a dozen countries announced new infections over the weekend.

The announcements sparked restrictions on gatherings in Rwanda, panic-buying in the Seychelles and furious recriminations in Zimbabwe — a country yet to register a single case.

“Coronavirus is the work of God punishing countries who imposed sanctions on us,” Zimbabwe’s defence minister Oppah Muchinguri said on Saturday.

Kenya unveiled a series of measures, blocking entry to the country from all except citizens and residents, and shutting schools as the number of confirmed cases rose to three.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the closure from Wednesday of the country’s borders to all foreign nationals from countries hit badly by the outbreak.

Latin America has also recorded only small clusters of infections, but Colombia shut its border with Venezuela over a rise in cases there.

Sri Lanka mulls extending holiday to battle virus

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka is mulling an extended holiday for the public sector as the authorities struggle to contain the spread of the Coronavirus that has infected at least 11 people and sent over 1,700 people into quarantine.

Public Administration Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon in a Gazette notification on Sunday said the special public and bank holiday was aimed at supporting the quarantine efforts underway.

“This holiday will be extending (sic) if necessary,” he said.

Official sources said the government was debating whether to have a week-long holiday that would amount to a partial shut down or have a shorter break.

The government has not declared Monday as a mercantile holiday, but urged employers to use their discretion. (COLOMBO, March 15, 2020)

As per now the number of infections has gone up to 20.

Live updates: Coronavirus deaths pass 6,500 worldwide
By Ben Westcott, Helen Regan and Adam Renton, CNN

Updated 4:09 a.m. ET, March 16, 2020


What you need to know


Death toll rises: The novel coronavirus has killed more than 6,500 worldwide, according to an estimate from Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking cases reported by the World Health Organization and additional sources.
Italy cases spike: Italy on Sunday announced 3,590 new cases and 368 deaths in just 24 hours amid the worst outbreak outside China.

https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-outbreak-03-16-20-intl-hnk/index.html

තවත් කොරෝනා ආසාදිතයින් තිදෙනෙක් හඳුනාගනියි - ලංකාවේ කොරෝනා රෝගීන් ගණන 21ක් දක්වා ඉහලට

ශ්‍රී ලාංකික කොරෝනා ආසාදිත රෝගීන් තිදෙනෙක් තහවුරු කරගෙන ඇති බව සෞඛ්‍ය සේවා අධ්‍යක්ෂක ජනරාල් විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍ය අනිල් ජාසිංහ තහවුරු කරනවා. ඒ අනුව ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුළ වන රෝගීන් සංඛ්‍යාව 21ක් දක්වා ඉහල ගොස් තිබෙනවා.

වයස අවුරුදු 13 ක් ගැහුණු දරුවෙක් සහ පිරිමි පුද්ගලයින් දෙදෙනෙක් ඒ අතර සිටින බවයි වෛද්‍යවරයා කියා සිටියේ.

මේ වන විට එම රෝගීන් කොළඹ IDH රෝහලේ ප්‍රතිකාර ලබමින් සිටිනවා

Now the count has gone up to 28. Also there are chances that the Royal-Thomian big match can be a breeding ground for coronavirus. I pray it won't be the case at any moment.

Sri Lanka Coronavirus battle stepped up, travel bans, holidays extended as infections rise



ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka stepped up its battle against Coronavirus (COVID19) asking only food supply, transport, banks health and essential state services to operate for three days in bid to prevent new infections while travel bans were slapped on more countries as infections climbed.

The government declared three holidays asking all non-essential businesses not to operate on March 17, 18 and 19 while asking some key government services and private businesses in banking, food transport and distribution to operate.

“Do not consider these Public Holidays (government agencies),’ Director of Government Information Nalaka Kaluwewa said in a statement.

“Except for health, food supply, transport, essential services, banks, District Secretary and other divisional secretary offices, the holiday would apply to all ministries, departments, corporation and state agencies.

“The government is asking the holiday be given to the private sector as well. Monitoring the transmission of the COVID19 virus the government may or may not extend this holiday.”

On Monday Sri Lanka’s confirmed coronavirus patients jumped by 10 to 29 patients including the first Chinese tourists were confirmed . There were 203 persons under investigations at 18 hospitals as of Monday.

Related

Sri Lanka Coronavirus count goes up to 29 – Updated

Sri Lanka’s stock market would be closed on Tuesday, a spokesman for the stock market regulator said.

Sri Lanka had closed schools, universities, museums, zoos in a bid to keep people at home and stop the spread of the virus. Court hearings and exams have been postponed. Church services have been closed until the end of the month.



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“The idea is to prevent gathering of people in one place,” Information Minister Bandula Gunewardene told reporters Monday.

“Many religious leaders are also asking people to engage in religious activities at home. The senior theros of Sripada (a popular seasonal pilgrimage location) is also asking the same.”

On Monday Sri Lanka added Qatar, Bahrain, and Canada to the list of countries from which travelers would not be allowed in.

Qatari, Canadian or Bahraini nationalities or any passenger who has a travel history in the last 14 days will not be permitted to land in Sri Lanka from midnight March 17 for two weeks, Civil Aviation Authority Chairman Upali Dharmadasa said in a statement carriers.

Carriers were also asked not to board anyone with a travel history in Iran, South Korea, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Austria, Netherlands and Denmark would for the last 14 days.

Infections confirmed so far have been among mostly from Sri Lankans returning from infected countries, who were either working or on holiday.

Sri Lanka also asked anyone who bad arrived from Europe, Italy or Iran to register with police or risk punishment under the provisions of a Quarantine Ordinance as confirmed cases went up.

Sri Lanka asks returnees from Europe, Korea to register or risk punishment



ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s defence ministry asked all returnees from Europe, South Korea who had arrived in the country from March 1 to 15 to register at the nearest police station or call 119 as new Coronavirus hotspots emerged elsewhere.

Sri Lanka began quarantining arrivals from Italy, Korea and Iran on March 10 as well as a about dozen European countries from March 15.

The defence ministry said anyone who does not comply can be punished under the Quarantine Ordinance, a law drawn up by British Colonial rulers.

Sri Lanka’s count of confirmed cases went up to 28 Monday.

Sri Lanka has stopped public events and also postponed court hearings in a bid to cut down gathering of people while trying to track down arrivals particularly from Italy that had come before quarantining began.

But infected persons are turning up from new countries.

Sri Lanka will designate new countries for quarantine if required, Director General of Health Anil Jasinghe said in a television interview.

On Monday, a returnee from India Kerala tested positive, the government said.

Large numbers of Sri Lankans go to India on pilgrimages. Sri Lanka had asked for pilgrimages to be halted.

New hostpots are also coming up.



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Malaysia has reported 428 cases over the weekend, about half linked to a major event at a mosque.

“Of the 428 cases, 243 are participants from the religious event in Sri Petaling mosque,” Noor Hisham Abdullah, director-general of the health ministry, told AFP, a news agency.

Malaysia has said it is going to close borders.

Many countries are trying varying methods to contain the Coronavirus.

Vietnam has quarantined about 30,000 travellers including foreigners in multiple centres and has confirmed 61 cases.

On Monday Vietnam began to test for Coronavirus at Hanoi airport using a locally made testing kit that gives a result in two hours, Vietnamnet.vn, an online portal said.