Covid-19 has infected hundreds of thousands of people across the globe. Here are the latest updates:
– JAPAN
Japan has issued a travel warning for its nationals, urging not to make unessential trips to the United States because of the rapidly expanding coronavirus outbreak there, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Japan has taken similar steps to most European countries and banned trips to China, South Korea, Iceland, San Marino and parts of Italy, Switzerland and Spain.
As of Saturday, the US had 15,219 confirmed cases and 201 deaths, the ministry said, citing the US Centre for Disease Control.
The US has urged Americans not to make non-essential trips to Japan, and Japanese nationals entering the US are required to undertake a 14-day self-imposed quarantine.
– SINGAPORE
Singapore said it will fully shut its borders from Tuesday after recording its first two deaths.
The city-state has banned visitors from several countries and requires all short-term visitors to observe a 14-day home quarantine. But the government said that from Tuesday all short-term visitors will be barred from entering or transiting through the country.
It said in a statement on Sunday that this will reduce the risk of imported cases and free up resources to focus on its citizens. Singapore citizens, permanent residents and foreigners with a long-term work permit can return but must undergo a 14-day self-quarantine.
The city-state of nearly 6 million people has recorded 432 cases so far. On Saturday, it reported that a 75-year-old Singaporean woman and an Indonesian visitor, 64, have succumbed to the virus.
Shoppers queue at a supermarket in Singapore (Ee Ming Toh/AP)
– COLOMBIA
Colombia has reported its first death from the new coronavirus.
Officials said he was a 58-year-old taxi driver who had driven tourists from Italy, one of the countries worst hit by the virus.
Colombia’s Ministry of Health said the man had previous health issues, including untreated diabetes.
President Ivan Duque has prohibited all non-resident foreigners from entering the country and has decreed a mandatory quarantine starting on Tuesday.
Colombia has confirmed 210 cases of the coronavirus.
– SRI LANKA
Police said they have detained 291 people for breaching a three-day curfew which has been imposed as part of strict measures designed to contain the spread of the coronavirus on the Indian Ocean island.
Officers said the detentions were made during patrols to ensure that people stay in their homes. The curfew was imposed on Friday and will end on Tuesday.
Some people were arrested for drinking in a playground, while others were loitering in streets during the curfew.
The government is urging people to stay at home as the number of positive cases has risen to 77.
Sri Lankan government soldiers spray disinfectant at a railway station in Colombo (Eranga Jayawardena/AP)
– AUSTRALIA
Australia has unveiled a 66.4 billion Australian dollar (£33 billion) stimulus package in a bid to ward off a recession and safeguard employment from the coronavirus pandemic.
The package includes cash payments for eligible small businesses and welfare recipients. The total economic assistance packages so far total almost 10% of the country’s GDP.
Australia has recorded more than 1,000 cases of the virus as fears grow that it is heading for its first recession in nearly three decades.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said: “We want to help businesses keep going as best they can or to pause instead of falling apart. We want to ensure that when this crisis has passed Australia can bounce back.”
READ MORE: Coronavirus Bill: why new measures need closer scutiny, by Joanna Cherry
He said more draconian social distancing measures would be considered during a Cabinet meeting on Sunday.
Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach was closed on Saturday after thousands of people flouted regulations that prohibit more than 500 people gathering.
A woman wearing a face mask walks along a nearly empty shopping street in Seoul, South Korea (Ahn Young-joon/AP)
– SOUTH KOREA
South Korea reported 98 more cases of the new coronavirus on Sunday, taking the total to 8,897.
Deaths increased by two to 104, according to the state-run Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
– HAWAII
Hawaii’s governor instituted a mandatory 14-day quarantine starting on Thursday of all people travelling to the state as part of efforts to fight the spread of the coronavirus, Hawaii News Now reported.
The order applies to returning residents as well as visitors.
“We need to come together as a community to fight this virus,” said Governor David Ige. “This mandate is the first of its kind in the nation. We want this action to send the message to visitors and residents alike that we appreciate their love for Hawaii but we are asking them to postpone their visit.”
The state announced 11 new cases of people with the coronavirus, taking Hawaii’s total to 48, according to Hawaii News Now. Three of them are in hospital.
The US Army announced a soldier with the 25th Infantry Battalion based in Hawaii tested positive for the coronavirus, the first case linked to the Army community in the state, Hawaii News Now reported. The soldier is in isolation.
Yellow caution tape wrapped across Waikiki in Honolulu (Marco Garcia/AP)
– CHINA
The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the global pandemic was first detected, went a fourth consecutive day on Sunday without reporting any new or suspected cases of the virus.
Elsewhere, the country reported 46 new cases over the previous 24 hours, 45 of them coming from overseas. The health ministry did not say where the domestic case was found.
Another six deaths were also reported, one in Wuhan, four in the surrounding province of Hubei and one elsewhere.
China has now recorded a total of 81,054 cases and 3,261 deaths. A total of 72,244 people have been declared cured and released from hospital.
Wuhan must go 14 straight days without a new case in order for draconian travel restrictions to be lifted and the city remains isolated from the rest of the province, which is itself closed off to the rest of the country. Even while social distancing and quarantines for new arrivals remain the norm, China is striving to restore activity in the world’s second-largest economy.
Wuhan is a centre of China’s crucial auto industry and a special train carrying more than 1,000 employees of Dongfeng Motor Corporation arrived in the city on Saturday for the first time since the outbreak. All were sent directly by bus to factories or residential communities.
– RUSSIA
The Russian Defence Ministry said it is ready to fly its mobile medical teams and disinfection equipment to Italy to help it deal with the new coronavirus.
The ministry’s statement followed a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Saturday in which the Russian leader offered to send military medical personnel and equipment to help Italy contain the outbreak of the new coronavirus.
The Russian Defence Ministry said its transport planes stand ready to airlift eight mobile medical teams along with various medical equipment and aerosol disinfection trucks to Italy.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had a call with his Italian counterpart Lorenzo Guerini, who said Italy was ready to receive Russian planes with medical personnel and equipment starting on Sunday.
– MIDDLE EAST
The Palestinian Health Ministry has announced the first two cases of the coronavirus in the Gaza Strip.
The ministry said early on Sunday that the cases were two people who returned recently from Pakistan.
The discovery increases fears of a potential outbreak in the crowded enclave, amid an overstretched healthcare system that struggles under years of an Israeli-Egyptian blockade and Palestinian political division.
Soldiers unload a cargo plane after its arrival at the airport in Pardubice, Czech Republic (Josef Vostarek/CTK/AP)
– CZECH REPUBLIC
A giant transport plane landed in the Czech Republic late on Saturday, loaded with more than 100 tons of much-needed supplies for the medical sector to combat the outbreak of the coronavirus. The transport was part of a Nato programme.
The Czech Defence Ministry said the plane was flying from the city of Shenzhen in south-eastern China with more than 106 metric tons (117 tons) of equipment.
The Czech Republic has 995 people infected with Covid-19.
The flight was made possible by the Strategic Air Lift International Solution (Salis), whose goal is to provide participating Nato allies with a capability to transport heavy and outsized cargo.
A silverback mountain gorilla in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park (Felipe Dana/AP)
– AFRICA
As the coronavirus infects more people around the world, conservationists are warning of the risk to another vulnerable species: Africa’s mountain gorilla.
Congo’s Virunga National Park said it is barring visitors until June, citing advice from scientific experts indicating that primates, including mountain gorillas, could be susceptible to Covid-19 complications.
The park is home to about a third of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas.
Rwanda has announced similar measures.
Tourist revenue that helped to fund anti-poaching efforts is now expected to drop.
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