South Korea on high alert on corona virus, as cases increased

AFP / Miguel MEDINA
Italy became the first European country to report one of its nationals had died from the virus

South Korea went on high alert Sunday following a sharp jump in coronavirus cases, while Italy and Iran took their own drastic containment steps as an epidemic that has killed nearly 2,500 people in China continued a relentless global expansion.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also warned Africa's poor health systems left it vulnerable to the COVID-19 disease, which has spilled out of China to more than 25 countries.

South Korea is raising the nation's alert to its "highest" level, President Moon Jae-in said Sunday after the number of infections nearly tripled over the weekend to 602.

Led by an outbreak cluster in a religious sect in the southern city of Daegu, South Korea now has the most infections outside of China -- apart from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan.

"The next few days will be crucial," Moon said following a government meeting on the virus.

"The government will raise the alert level to the highest level according to experts' recommendations."

Moon did not specify what those measures may include.

South Korea reported 169 new cases and three deaths on Sunday, taking the countrywide fatality toll to five. Yonhap news agency later reported a sixth death.

More than 300 cases have been linked to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus sect in Daegu with some 9,300 members either quarantined or asked to stay at home, according to the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some 1,240 have reported symptoms.

The new cases also included a Samsung Electronics employee at a plant in Gumi city, leading the tech giant to suspend operations there until Monday.

- 'Extraordinary measures' -

Elsewhere, Italy and Iran began introducing the sort of containment measures previously seen only in China, which has put tens of millions of people under lockdown in the epicentre province of Hubei.
AFP / Haidar HAMDANI
Authorities in Iraq tested people arriving from Iran


More than 50,000 people in about a dozen northern Italian towns near the business hub of Milan were told to stay home, while shops and schools were shuttered.

The number of cases in the country rose to more than 100, the president of the northern Lombardy region said Sunday.

Italy became the first European country to report one of its nationals had died from the virus on Friday, followed by a second death on Saturday. Both were elderly.

The government was weighing "extraordinary measures" to halt further infections, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said.

China reported another 97 deaths in its daily update Sunday, taking its total to 2,442, plus 648 new infections. Nearly 80,000 people have been infected worldwide, the vast majority in China.

President Xi Jinping described the epidemic as the country's "largest public health emergency" since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949.

The outbreak in China remains concentrated in the city of Wuhan -- locked down exactly one month ago -- where the virus is believed to have emanated from a live animal market in December.

China's infection rate has slowed, but flip-flopping over counting methods has sowed confusion over its data.
AFP / VIVEK PRAKASH
Airports like Hong Kong have been screening passengers

There also was growing concern over the difficulty of detecting the virus.

Japan confirmed Sunday a woman who tested negative and disembarked from the Diamond Princess later tested positive. Similar instances have been reported elsewhere.

A third passenger from the ship died Sunday, the health ministry said, without specifying if it was as a result of the virus.

Japan has been criticised over its handling of cases aboard the cruise ship.

Many passengers were allowed to disembark without being properly tested or despite having close contact with infected people.

More than 1,000 crew remain on board and are expected to serve a 14-day quarantine.

- Fears for Africa -

Iran ordered the closure of schools, universities and cultural centres across 14 provinces from Sunday following eight deaths in the Islamic Republic -- the most outside East Asia.
AFP / NICOLAS ASFOURI
China's infection rate has slowed sharply from earlier in the epidemic


Iran's outbreak surfaced Wednesday and quickly grew to 43 confirmed infections.

"The concern is... that we have seen... a very rapid increase (in Iran) in a matter of a few days," said Sylvie Briand, director of the WHO's global infectious hazard preparedness department.

Iraq on Thursday clamped down on travel to and from Iran, and flag carrier Kuwait Airways has suspended flights to the country.

Israel's education ministry announced Sunday 200 Israeli pupils would be quarantined after encountering South Korean tourists who contracted the coronavirus.

Although Egypt is the only African country with a confirmed case, the WHO warned the continent was vulnerable, urging more African Union cooperation.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said necessary treatment tools such as respiratory support machines were "in short supply in many African countries and that's a cause for concern".

The US State Department said anxiety was being stoked by a coordinated effort by thousands of Russia-linked social media accounts spreading conspiracy theories that the outbreak was a US-orchestrated ploy to damage China, officials said.

Russia's foreign ministry dismissed the allegation as "deliberately false".

burs-dma/fox
23 Feb 2020
AFP/File / Paul Ratje
Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders waves as he leaves the stage with his wife Jane Sanders after speaking during a rally in El Paso, Texas on February 22, 2020

Bernie Sanders' landslide victory in Nevada's Democratic nominating contest has scattered his moderate challengers and injected his White House campaign with a fresh burst of momentum as he drives into the next crucial battlegrounds.

With his strong result Saturday, the Vermont senator demonstrated an ability to broaden a coalition beyond the narrow limits of leftist voters, undercutting the argument from several moderates that he would not be able to bridge the divide between progressives and centrists.

"He showed last night that he can energize our core base," Howard Dean, a former presidential aspirant himself and former head of the Democratic National Committee, told CNN.

By early Sunday, Sanders was comfortably ahead in Nevada with 60 percent of precincts reporting.

The 78-year-old senator was leading the Democratic pack with 46 percent of the vote, followed far behind by former vice president Joe Biden at 19.6 percent and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, at 15.3 percent.

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar trailed at, respectively, 10.1 percent and 4.8 percent.

- 'Incredibly impressive' -

Sanders was quick to claim victory, saying his "multi-generational, multi-racial coalition" was "going to sweep this country."

Dean said the senator's result in a state far more typical of America's demographic variety than the two earlier-voting states was "incredibly impressive."

But he quickly added that a more definitive result will come only after voters in 14 states cast ballots on March 3, or "Super Tuesday."

Before that comes South Carolina, which votes on February 29.

Biden's once-strong prospects had faded sharply for weeks, but he said Saturday that he felt "really good" about his second-place showing in Nevada and shouldn't be counted out.

His team is banking on a strong showing in South Carolina, where Biden has enjoyed support among a majority-black Democratic electorate.

But after Sanders came in virtually tied for first in Iowa and then won last week in New Hampshire, his undeniable victory in Nevada places him squarely in the driver's seat, at least for now.

He leads national polls by an 11 point margin over Biden and by 13 points over Mike Bloomberg, the former New York mayor who skipped the early voting states to focus on Super Tuesday.

- Some Democrats worry -

Sanders's progressive policies, including universal health care, higher taxes on the wealthy and an increase in the minimum wage, have struck a chord with millions of Americans.

But they have raised alarm among some Democrats that he will make an easy target for President Donald Trump as a radical leftist, and that if he heads the Democratic ticket in November the party could face sweeping losses.

Trump on Saturday issued a sarcastic-sounding congratulations on Twitter to the man he calls "Crazy Bernie."

Asked if the Democrats' majority in the House of Representatives might be threatened if Sanders turned out to be Trump's rival in November, one powerful South Carolina Democrat said that it might.

It "would be a real burden for us in these states or congressional districts that we have to do well in," said James Clyburn, the House Democratic whip.

"In those districts, it's going to be tough to hold onto these jobs if you have to make the case for accepting a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist."

Buttigieg, while congratulating Sanders on his Nevada victory, offered a stern warning against picking someone who he said sees "capitalism as the root of all evil" to go up against the populist president.

Pressure seems certain to grow on some of the lower-polling Democratic moderates to withdraw to allow others to coalesce around a centrist who might fare better against Trump.

Republican campaign advisor Mark McKinnon, speaking on CNN, predicted that the lower polling candidates will be flushed out of the race after Super Tuesday.

But the centrist alternatives face steep challenges, he added: Bloomberg performed notably poorly in Wednesday's Democratic debate, and "Biden does not have the resources."

Progressive candidate Elizabeth Warren, speaking late Saturday in Washington state, which votes March 10, vowed to stay in the race despite a third straight mediocre showing.

She renewed her attacks on Bloomberg, accusing him of trying to "buy this election."

Bloomberg, co-founder of the Bloomberg LP media company, has plowed a record $438 million of personal funds into his campaign.

McKinnon said, meantime, that if Sanders compiled a large enough lead after Super Tuesday it would make it hard for other Democrats to oppose his nomination at the national convention in July, even if he has not won a clear majority of delegates.

"There's something going on here that defies the conventional wisdom," he said: a 78-year-old man attracting highly energized young voters.

Sanders, he said, "is creating a passion among voters."
23 Feb 2020
AFP / FAYEZ NURELDINE
G20 held a two-day meeting in the capital of Saudi Arabia, the first Arab nation to hold the grouping's presidency

The deadly coronavirus epidemic could put an already fragile global economy recovery at risk, the IMF warned Sunday, as G20 financial chiefs discussed ways to contain its economic ripple effects.

Global growth was poised for a modest rebound to 3.3 percent this year, up from 2.9 percent last year, International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva said after a two-day meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Riyadh.

"The projected recovery... is fragile," Georgieva said.

"The COVID-19 virus -- a global health emergency -- has disrupted economic activity in China and could put the recovery at risk," she said in a statement.

Alarm has been growing over the new virus as Chinese authorities lock down millions of people to prevent its spread, with major knock-on effects economically.

The virus has now claimed 2,442 lives in China, cutting off transportation, disrupting trade and fanning investor alarm as businesses are forced to close their doors.
AFP / FAYEZ NURELDINE
International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva at the Murabba Palace in Riyadh


Georgieva told the Riyadh gathering that the outbreak would shave about 0.1 percentage points from global growth and constrain China's growth to 5.6 percent this year.

"I reported to the G20 that even in the case of rapid containment of the virus, growth in China and the rest of the world would be impacted," she said.

The IMF projects a "V-shaped, rapid recovery" for the global economy, but given the uncertainty around the spread of the virus, Georgieva urged the financial leaders to "prepare for more adverse scenarios".

At the meeting in Saudi Arabia, the first Arab nation to hold the G20 presidency, financial leaders also discussed ways to achieve consensus on a global taxation system for the digital era by the end of 2020.

But at the core of the discussions was an action plan to shield the world economy -- already facing a slowdown -- from the impact of the outbreak.

The gathered financial leaders vowed to "enhance global risk monitoring" of the outbreak, according to the G20 final communique.

"We stand ready to take further action to address these risks," it said.

Paris on Friday announced several measures to assist French companies affected by the fallout from the epidemic.

"We are ready to take any additional measures if necessary to cope with a possible worsening of the impact on the global economy," said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who attended the G20 talks.

"The risk is now confirmed, and so is the impact on the global economy, and it is a real concern for all G20 members."

Georgieva warned the global economy faced other risks including rising debt levels in some countries as well as climate change, but in particular urged G20 nations to cooperate to contain the spread of the virus.

"COVID-19 is a stark reminder of our interconnections and the need to work together," Georgieva said. "In this regard, the G20 is an important forum to help put the global economy on a more sound footing."

AFP