Latest on global spread of coronavirus -sharenews
The world's wealthiest countries have poured cash into the global economy as coronavirus cases ballooned in Europe and waned at its original epicentre, China.
DEATHS, INFECTIONS
* The virus has infected more than 245,000 people across the world and the death toll exceeds 10,028.
EUROPE
* Italy's death toll from coronavirus overtook that of China, where the virus first emerged.
* A total 427 deaths were registered in Italy over the past 24 hours, bringing the total nationwide tally to 3405 since the outbreak surfaced on February 21.
* The Spanish government on Thursday ordered the closure of all the country's hotels and promised to implement special measures in nursing homes. Officials reported deaths had jumped by more than a third on Thursday to 767, while the number of cases rose by one quarter to 17,149.
* French health authorities reported 108 new deaths from coronavirus on Thursday, taking the total to 372 or an increase of almost 41 per cent.
* Greece is ready to inject 10 billion euros ($A18.8 billion) to support its economy, as it confirmed 46 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, bringing its total to 464.
* The United Kingdom put 20,000 military personnel on standby as dozens of underground train stations closed across London and Queen Elizabeth left the city for Windsor Castle.
* Serbia on Thursday closed its airport and said it will shut all road and rail borders other than to freight traffic, as well as halt all internal passenger transport.
* Restrictions imposed by some European Union countries at their borders are disrupting food supplies, industry representatives and farmers said on Thursday.
* NATO is scaling down military exercises in Europe but alliance missions are continuing, including the drawdown of the US-led force in Afghanistan following a peace agreement last month.
* The EU's chief negotiator for Brexit, Michel Barnier, said on Thursday he had tested positive for COVID-19.
AMERICAS
* More than 13,000 people across the United States have been diagnosed with the illness and 200 have died, with the largest numbers so far in Washington state, New York and California.
* California's governor on Thursday issued an unprecedented statewide "stay at home order" directing the state's 40 million residents to hunker down in their homes for the foreseeable future.
* Already more than 1000 Californians have been confirmed as infected and 18 have died, the third largest death toll in the United States behind only Washington state and New York.
* Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday that he expects the closure of the United States-Canada border to come into effect overnight on Friday.
* The United States and Mexico are working on travel restrictions to curb the spread of the virus. The US could announce restrictions on travel across the US-Mexico border as soon as Friday
* Venezuelan utilities have hiked fees and the government plans to raise taxes as the economy deteriorates further due to the spread.
* Brazil's government on Thursday unveiled a 10 billion reais ($A3.4 billion) aid package for some 11 million low-wage workers.
* Brazil's tourist hotspot Rio de Janeiro reported its first two coronavirus deaths on Thursday, bringing the country's toll to six.
ASIA
* Mainland China reported zero locally transmitted cases of the coronavirus for the second straight day. China reported 39 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, all of which had arrived from abroad. The total number of confirmed imported infections has reached 228.
* Thailand reported 50 new coronavirus infections, taking its tally to 322, a health official said on Friday.
* South Korea reported 87 new coronavirus cases on Friday, bringing the total national infections to 8,652. The death toll stood unchanged at 94.
* China's Jiangsu to quarantine travellers who visited 24 coronavirus-infected countries.
* Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to citizens to stay home and avoid panic buying, even as India outlined plans to halt all international flights.
* Japan has had 970 domestically transmitted cases of coronavirus and 34 deaths excluding cases from a cruise ship moored near Tokyo last month.
* Indonesia likely has far higher numbers of cases than reported due to limited testing and needs to consider tougher measures like lockdowns, the Red Cross told Reuters.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Saudi Arabia has so far confirmed 274 infections and no deaths, and it suspended all domestic flights, buses, taxis and trains for 14 days starting Saturday.
* Coronavirus is killing one person every 10 minutes in Iran, the health ministry spokesman tweeted on Thursday, as its death toll climbed to 1,284.
* Egypt will shut all cafes, malls, sporting clubs and nightclubs until March 31 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the government said in a statement.
* Civil liberties activists asked Israel's Supreme Court on Thursday to suspend mobile phone monitoring put in place under emergency regulations.
* Turkey has sent 500,000 test kits to the United States at their request.
* Jordan's army on Thursday sealed off the capital from the rest of the country as the kingdom puts its ten million inhabitants under a lockdown, witnesses and officials said.
* Africa will likely see cases rise in coming weeks as some cases escape detection, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control said on Thursday, when Chad confirmed its first case.
* South African authorities announced on Thursday they would erect a fence along its border with Zimbabwe to prevent illegal immigrants from entering and spreading the virus.
EVENTS
* A plane carrying the Olympic torch from Greece arrived on Friday on Japan's northwestern coast, but the welcome ceremony will have no spectators.
* The coronavirus has dealt a blow to NASA's plan to return Americans to the moon by 2024, as the space agency chief on Thursday ordered the temporary closure of two rocket production facilities after an employee tested positive for the illness.
* All rugby competitions in Fiji have been shut down until further notice after the first case of coronavirus was confirmed in the Pacific island nation.
* The Cannes Film Festival has been postponed from May to the end of June.
* The 36th ASEAN summit scheduled in Vietnam early next month has been postponed until end-June.
© RAW 2020
