Page 21 - HOH

A2 UP FRONT
Thursday 12 March 2020

WHO declares virus crisis a pandemic

Continued from Front Underscoring the mounting economic shocks from the
challenge: The case count coronavirus, its latest efforts
The WHO said Iran and Italy outside China has multi- to adjust to the fast-evolv-
are the new front lines of plied 13-fold over the last ing crisis that silenced the
the battle against the virus two weeks to over 118,000, usually bustling heart of the
that started in China. with the disease now re- Catholic faith, St. Peter's
"They're suffering but I guar- sponsible for nearly 4,291 Square.
antee you other countries deaths, WHO said. In Iran, by far the hardest-
will be in that situation With officials saying that hit country in the Middle
soon," said Dr. Mike Ryan, Europe has become the East, the senior vice presi-
the WHO's emergencies new epicenter, Italy's cas- dent and two other Cabi-
chief. es soared again, to 12,462 net ministers were reported
He added that the agen- infections and 827 deaths to have been diagnosed
cy thought long and hard — numbers second only to with COVID-19, the illness The cruise ship Aidamar is docked at the Port of Zeebrugge,
about labeling the crisis a China. caused by the virus. Iran Belgium, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. Associated Press
pandemic — meaning a "If you want to be blunt, Eu- reported another jump in
new virus causing sustained rope is the new China," said deaths, by 62 to 354 — be- Tuesday. Lombardy wants come at the expense of
outbreaks in multiple re- Robert Redfield, the head hind only China and Italy. to shut down nonessen- civil liberties, suggesting
gions of the world. of the U.S. Centers for Dis- In Italy, Premier Giuseppe tial businesses and reduce that that Italy is unlikely
The risk of employing the ease Control and Preven- Conte said he would con- public transportation. to adopt the draconian
term, Ryan said, is "if peo- tion. sider requests from Lom- These measures would be quarantine measures that
ple use it as an excuse to Italy weighed imposing bardy, Italy's hardest-hit on top of travel and social helped China push down
give up." even tighter restrictions on region, to toughen the al- restrictions that imposed new infections from thou-
But the benefit is "potential- daily life and announced ready extraordinary anti- an eerie hush on cities and sands per day to a trickle
ly of galvanizing the world billions in financial relief virus lockdown that was towns across the country. now and allowed its manu-
to fight." Wednesday to cushion extended nationwide Police enforced rules that facturers to restart produc-
customers stay 1 meter (3 tion lines.
feet) apart and ensured China's new worry is that
that businesses closed by 6 the coronavirus could re-
p.m. enter from abroad. Bei-
Milan shopkeeper Claudia jing's city government an-
Sabbatini said she favored nounced that all overseas
the stricter measures. Rath- visitors will be quarantined
er than risk customers pos- for 14 days. Of 24 new
sibly infecting each other cases that China reported
in her children's clothing Wednesday, five arrived
store, she closed it. from Italy and one from
"I cannot have people the United States. China
standing at a distance. has had over 81,000 virus
Children must try on the infections and over 3,000
clothes. We have to know deaths.
if they will fit,'' she said. For most, the coronavirus
Still, the effectiveness of causes only mild or mod-
such measures as travel re- erate symptoms, such as
strictions and quarantines fever and cough. But for a
will likely drop substantially few, especially older adults
and be called into ques- and people with existing
tion as COVID-19 spreads health problems, it can
globally, making it impos- cause more severe illness-
sible for countries to keep es, including pneumonia.
the virus out. Health offi- More than 121,000 people
cials will also need to be have been infected world-
more flexible in their coor- wide and over 4,300 have
dinated response efforts, died.
as the epicenters are likely But most people recover.
to shift quickly and dramat- People with mild illness re-
ically — as the recent erup- cover in about two weeks,
tions in Iran and Italy have while those with more se-
demonstrated. vere illness may take three
Conte emphasized fight- to six weeks to recover, the
ing the outbreak must not WHO says.q