Health

PARIS, March 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — France drastically stepped up its measures against the spread of the coronavirus, announcing the closure of all non-essential public places including restaurants and cafes from midnight (2300 GMT).

“I have decided on the closure until further notice from midnight of places that receive the public that are non-essential to the life of the country,” Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told reporters.

“This includes notably cafes, restaurants, cinemas and discos.”

WASHINGTON, March 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Donald Trump has tested negative for the novel coronavirus, his physician said, following concerns over his exposure to a disease that has paralyzed the globe.

Trump agreed to the test after coming in contact with several members of a Brazilian presidential delegation visiting his Florida resort who have since tested positive for the virus.

“This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative,” the president’s physician Sean Conley said in a memo.

BEIJING, March 15 (NNN-Xinhua) — A total of 1,370 patients of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were discharged from the hospital Saturday on the Chinese mainland, according to the National Health
Commission.

Altogether 66,911 patients had been discharged from hospital after recovery by the end of Saturday, the commission said in its daily report.

As of Saturday, a total of 80,844 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 had been reported on the mainland, and 3,199 people had died of the disease.

SYDNEY, March 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Australia on Sunday announced anyone arriving into the country will face mandatory 14-day self-isolation, in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

“We are going to have to get used to some changes in the way we live our lives,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, adding the measure will come into effect from midnight (1300 GMT Sunday).

Australia will also ban cruise ships from foreign ports from docking in Australia for 30 days, with the order to be renewed on a rolling basis, Morrison said.

JAKARTA, March 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Indonesia reported 21 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 117, CNN Indonesia reported on Sunday, citing health ministry official Achmad Yurianto.

Of the new cases, 19 were detected in Jakarta and two in the Central Java province, Yurianto reportedly said.

Indonesia’s transport minister is in intensive care after testing positive for the novel coronavirus, an official said.

PARIS, March 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The number of coronavirus cases worldwide passed 150,000 on Saturday driven by a spike in infections in Italy.

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.

14 Mar 2020; MEMO: The death toll from the novel coronavirus outbreak in Iran rose to 611, state TV reported on Friday, Reuters reports.

Authorities said 97 people died in the last 24 hours, while 1,365 new cases emerged, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 12,729, Iran’s state TV quoted Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour as saying.

A total of 4,339 people have been discharged from hospitals after recovering from the virus, Jahanpour added.

Jerusalem, Mar 14 (PTI) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested Narendra Modi to approve and allow the export of masks and pharmaceutical raw materials to Israel during his telephonic conversation with his Indian counterpart this week, according to a media report.

Israel's Channel 13 on Friday reported that Netanyahu made the request after India decided to stop the export of these items to meet its own domestic requirements in view of the rapid spread of coronavirus.

New Delhi, Mar 13 (PTI) Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday that the novel coronavirus outbreak was at the "containment stage", adding that the Centre and the Delhi government had been working together to deal with it.

Kejriwal urged the people to not hoard sanitisers and masks, which is he said was not needed for those who are healthy as COVID-19 was not an airborne disease.

Mumbai, Mar 13 (PTI) Forty-four Indian nationals who returned to Mumbai from Iran on Friday were shifted to a quarantine facility set up by the the Western Naval Command (WNC) here, a defence release said.

The Navy has set up a 100-bed quarantine camp in suburban Ghatkopar.