Live COVID-19 updates: Israeli PM in quarantine, Portugal to enter "the most critical month"
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E-mail Xinhua, March 30, 2020
BEIJING, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The world is now in a battle against COVID-19, a disease caused by a previously unknown coronavirus that has spread to over 200 countries and regions.
The following are the updates on the contagious illness.
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JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will go into quarantine as one of his advisors was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, the prime minister's office said on Monday.
It was not immediately clear if Netanyahu was in close contact with his advisor, Rivka Paluch, during the last two weeks. However, "to remove any doubts," his office said, Netanyahu and his close team will stay in quarantine "until the epidemiological investigation is concluded."
Netanyahu was leading efforts to halt the coronavirus spread in Israel while struggling to finalize a new coalition government with his former opponent, leader of the centrist Blue and White party Benny Gantz.
He is also facing a criminal trial set to begin on May 24. He is charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases.
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MADRID -- Fernando Simon, director of the Center for the Coordination for Health Emergencies at the Spanish Health Ministry, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the ministry confirmed on Monday.
According to the ministry, Simon, 57, developed symptoms late on Sunday night and he has been self-isolating at home.
As of Monday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has risen to 85,195 with 7,340 deaths in the country.
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LISBON -- Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa warned Monday that Portugal will enter "the most critical month" of the pandemic COVID-19, Lusa News Agency reported.
After visiting several new hospital support units in Lisbon, the prime minister promised that his government spares no effort to get prepared for the worst scenario.
According to the daily bulletin of the Directorate-General for Health on Monday, 446 new cases of infection and 21 new deaths associated with COVID-19 were reported in the past 24 hours, bringing Portugal's total number of confirmed cases to 6,408, and deaths to 140, respectively.
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TOKYO -- The 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed last week over novel coronavirus concerns, will be held from July 23 to Aug. 8 next year, local media reported Monday.
Several officials from Tokyo Metropolitan Government told public broadcaster NHK that the Tokyo Olympics will open on July 23, 2021, while the Paralympic Games will open on Aug. 24 of the same year.
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WASHINGTON -- As of Sunday night, the United States has registered more than 142,000 confirmed cases, with 2,479 deaths, according to the data by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE).
U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that the national social distancing guidelines aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus will be extended to April 30.
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ADDIS ABABA -- The death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic on the African continent has reached 146 as confirmed cases topped 4,760 as of Monday, the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.
Ahmed Ogwell, deputy director of Africa CDC, told Xinhua that the infections were reported 46 African countries have reported confirmed cases.
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BERLIN -- Confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Germany increased by 4,751 within one day to 57,298, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Monday.
The number of deaths from the new coronavirus increased from 253 on Friday to 455 on Monday, according to RKI, the federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention.
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JAKARTA -- Indonesia's government said on Monday the country's death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic rose to 122, the highest in Southeast Asia, with 74 of them reported in the national capital of some 10 million people.
Meanwhile, the number of confirmed cases jumped to 1,414, according to Achmad Yurianto, the government spokesman for coronavirus-related affairs.
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COLOMBO -- Some 6,850 people have been arrested in Sri Lanka for violating a nationwide curfew which has been in place since March 20, the police said in a statement on Monday. Of the total, 850 were arrested over the past 24 hours.
Police said they defied the curfew by loitering on roads, gathering and consuming alcohol in public places, and travelling by vehicles on roads, among other activities.
Sri Lanka has so far reported 120 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
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ABUJA -- Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the halting of all non-essential movements and activities in the capital Abuja and commercial hub Lagos over the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
The lockdown for an initial period of two weeks, which takes effect from Monday, will also affect the southwestern state of Ogun, the nation's industrial hub, and neighboring state to Lagos, the president said in his latest broadcast to Nigerians over the coronavirus pandemic.
Official data showed 111 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the country.
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VIENNA -- People have to wear a face mask before entering supermarkets, announced the Austrian government as part of the additional measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak on Monday.
"I am fully aware that masks are something foreign to our culture," said Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz at a press conference with other government officials on Monday morning. "It will be a learning phase."
The COVID-19 situation in Austria at the moment is only "the calm before the storm," warned the chancellor.
The number of confirmed cases in Austria exceeded 9,000 on Monday with 108 deaths, showed official data. Enditem
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