World battles coronavirus outbreak - BBC News

The

world

must prepare for a possible

coronavirus

pandemic, as warned by the head of the World Health Organization. In recent hours, new cases have been confirmed in countries around the

world

. The number of cases of the new

coronavirus

around the world exceeds now at 80,000 in 36 countries China has 77,000,658 confirmed cases and two thousand eight hundred and twenty-four additional suspects, but significant clusters have developed in South Korea Japan and Iran South Korea plans to test 200,000 members of a religious sect in the center of the

outbreak

there, while 11 people have died from the virus in the country and the number of confirmed infections approaches 1,000 in the last hour, Iran's Deputy Health Minister has tested positive for the virus in Europe, Austria and Croatia They have reported their first cases in Italy, Japan. and Singapore our correspondents have the latest, let's start with our correspondent Bethany Bell in Italy, the scene of the continent's largest

outbreak

here in Milan, you can feel the impact of coronavirus fears, the Duomo, the cathedral behind me has been closed to tourists.

Masses are being held, there has been an impact on Milan Fashion Week at the moment and in Venice, which should be celebrating the climax of the famous Venice Carnival, those celebrations have also been stopped due to fear that the virus spreads to a group of cities. in Lombardy and also a couple in Veneto involving about 50,000 people have been quarantined and this is an area where they had an increase in the number of cases, the authorities hope that if they can try to prevent people from leaving those cities. In the meantime, they may try to stop the spread of this disease, although it appears to be spreading to other countries in Europe just over the border in Austria.

Officials have confirmed the first two cases that we understand occurred in Austria itself, two people in the state of Tyrol this is something that is certainly causing a lot of concern here in Italy. We just arrived from the area near the quarantine zones and the people there are nervous. Some people say that the government has not reacted quickly enough and They say that it is very important that people adhere to these measures. Other people say that this is perhaps an overreaction and that panic is what people fear the most. Well, authorities here are increasingly concerned about the rising number of cases.

Until now, the picture in Japan has largely focused on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which is even closer to shore in the port of Yokohama, although the vast majority of passengers have already disembarked after more than two weeks quarantined but separated from the Approximately 700 cases linked to that ship, Japanese authorities now say that there are about one hundred and fifty cases reported in other parts of the country, they are spread everywhere and the real concern for health authorities here is that they really are struggling like they are. Of course, many foreign governments are trying to figure out how and where those people became infected.

It is a growing problem. It's a big headache, of course, for the Japanese authorities because in five months Tokyo will host the 2020 Olympic Games. The Health Ministry here has said it's too early to start talking about cancellations, but they are worried and now they say that the next two weeks will be crucial in determining whether the outbreak can be contained here and, of course, they are testing the water in South Korea in a situation that the South Korean president described this morning as very serious; in fact, he was visiting the southern city of Daegu, which is at the epicenter of the outbreak there, so, as I say, there's a lot of alarm here in Tokyo.

I'll notice people wandering the street behind me, most of them starting to wear face masks now after the Japanese government today announced guidelines for people who start to feel sick telling them they should stay home trying to close schools if there is an infection and it is revealed there and I really think they are preparing for the preliminary stages of trying to control what they fear could be a much larger outbreak. Asian markets had mixed luck on Tuesday, but seed heavyweights like Japan's Nikkei fell more than 3% at the close because investors there and, frankly, across the region are worried about what could be a prolonged impact. of the coronavirus now that it says that cases appear to be spreading around the world and I think it would be fair to say that a new reality has been established for many investors who are We are now beginning to realize that the increase in the number of deaths and infections from The virus has spread outside of China and it is increasingly looking like this could be a global epidemic.

Until this moment there had been the feeling that China could keep the virus down. contained within its own borders, then yes, of course, the economic impact would be serious, but it could also be contained; Supply chains would be affected, of course, because so much of the world's products are made in China, but most analysts I spoke to said, "look." This will be a short term problem and the expectation was that when China returned to what then things should start to recover, but now and here is the concern that with cases appearing elsewhere and containment measures including quarantines are beginning to be implemented, it means that people do not leave their homes, they do not go to the stores, so consumption, the arrival of visitors, all that could be affected, these concerns add to the nervousness of many Asian investors who They are already very worried about this disease, which is why we saw some sharp falls in the markets in the main indices of the region this Tuesday with Krishna the Swanee finishing the updates of our correspondents around the world while in South Korea President Moon Jae -in has been visiting the city of Daegu now, of course, that's where more than half of the confirmed cases in the country have been found.

He advised residents to stay home but vowed to avoid the restrictions China had imposed on its coronavirus epicenter, Wuhan, while the situation is very serious and hence the declaration of a special disaster. area is not general enough the important thing is time and speed there should be a clear turning point as witnessed this week in the upward trend in the number of infections. Well, let's talk now to our correspondent Nora Becca, who is in Daegu, the center of the outbreak in the south. Korea and that tranquility, Laura, but it's difficult, right? Because, of course, there are a large number of people who could have the virus.

I've been here for three or four days and all I've heard is The staff is trying to assure me that they are trying to control this outbreak, but today is the first day I've heard a doctor look at me and say we're not sure. We can do it, the reason is because This is becoming much more common now, when the president arrived this afternoon he went to thank the doctors and said that they had been doing a hard job, but just as he did so there were not only a number of protesters outside yelling at him to save him.

Daegu, a letter from a prominent doctor in the region asked for more doctors and asked the region's 5,700 doctors to come to hill hospitals treating parents of coronavirus patients to try to help them find out the reason why which says that many of its staff are being quarantined after becoming infected or at least getting close to an infected patient and said that its staff were fainting from exhaustion, so there is a clear need for more doctors to help second place when it comes to the spread of this yes. About half of those infected belonged to a secret sect known as Shin chon G, Search for Jesus.

He has now begun the race to find all of these people, but there are other areas of concern. A cabin crew member close to Korea now has the virus. Another megachurch shares. which is based in Seoul, the largest Presbyterian Church in the world, two of its members now have the virus, there are certain areas and hotspots, including the military, where 13 soldiers have it in different provinces, so while these cases continue to increase, it means that the authorities here have to move forward. track them down and try to find out where the source of the outbreak is okay Laura Beckett, thank you very much indeed