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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 26 February 2020

6 European nations report virus

cases with Italy link

BERLIN (AP) — Six Europe-
an countries announced
cases of COVID-19 disease
Tuesday in people who
had recently traveled from
northern Italy, where the
virus emerged as a fast-
growing cluster last week.
For Switzerland, Austria
and Croatia it was the first A man holds up a banner reading, ''They pay us little and they
confirmed new corona- charge us more. If we are united they will can no longer. With-
virus cases in those coun- out fields there is no life'' during a protest in Pamplona, northern
tries. Germany, France and Spain, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020.
Spain, which had previously A health worker takes notes at the infectious disease clinic in Associated Press
reported cases, confirmed Zagreb, Croatia, where the first coronavirus case in Croatia is
new infections in people hospitalized, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020. Spain tries to appease
who were from or had vis- Associated Press
ited northern Italy. protesting farmers over
A 70-year-old man from had driven to Austria in which was temporarily or-
Switzerland's southern can- their private car on Friday, dered closed. unfair prices
ton (state) of Ticino, which the same day the corona- Herbert Kickl of Austria's op-
borders Italy, tested posi- virus cases in Italy spiked. position far-right Freedom
tive after returning from a The woman fell ill Satur- Party immediately called MADRID (AP) — The Span- tractors and burning boxes
trip to Milan, the head of day and developed a fe- for border crossings to be ish government has intro- of agricultural produce.
the Swiss Federal Office for ver Sunday, said Guenter "reduced to a minimum." duced new regulations Spain's 2-month-old gov-
Public Health said. Weiss, a senior doctor at "Everything must be done on the pricing of food in ernment has faced almost
The man is being isolated Innsbruck's university hospi- to stop the virus from supermarkets, in response daily protestsfor the past
at a clinic in Lugano while tal. The woman's boyfriend spreading further in Aus- to weeks of country-wide month by farmers who
authorities try to trace any- got a fever and a sore tria," said Kickl, who also farmers' protests over plum- complained that what they
one he had contact with, throat Sunday. called for illegal immigrants meting incomes. get paid for their products
Pascal Strupler said. It is the The couple reported them- and asylum-seekers to be Under the new rules, ad- is often below their produc-
first case in Switzerland, but selves to authorities late put in quarantine. opted under a royal de- tion costs.
Strupler said it was likely the Monday. Both are in a sta- But Italy's health minister, cree Tuesday by ministers Agriculture Minister Lluis
country would see more in ble condition with only mild Roberto Speranza, said in Spain's left-wing govern- Planas said the new regula-
future. symptoms but will be kept late Tuesday after meet- ing coalition, contracts tions represent a response
Croatia also confirmed its in isolation until the week- ing with counterparts from between farmers and the to "the legitimate concerns
first case Tuesday in a man end, said Weiss. "We have neighboring countries in- companies distributing by farmers and cattle
who had traveled to Milan. to work on the assumption cluding Austria, Switzerland vegetables, fruit and meat breeders."
Prime Minister Andrej Plen- that due to the proximity to and Croatia that they had will have to reflect the costs "A great part of those con-
kovic said it's a "younger Italy, one or the other case agreed closing borders of production and require cerns were reasonable
man, with a mild form of may still come," he added. would be "inappropriate." that the final retail prices and had to be addressed,"
the disease" and that he Franz Katzgraber, the head Yet even as European can't be lower than those. he told reporters at a regu-
has "been isolated and his of the Tyrol state health de- countries tried frantically to The changes, which don't lar briefing following the
condition is good." partment, said authorities coordinate their response, need parliamentary ap- weekly Cabinet meeting.
Authorities in the western are currently tracing pos- Italy reported a spike in the proval, came on another One exception to the new
Austrian state of Tyrol said sible contacts the patients number of confirmed cases day of protests as thou- rules relates to the promo-
the country's first two cas- may have had in Austria. of the virus Tuesday to 322 sands of farmers took to the tional sale of food products
es involved a woman and Local daily Tiroler Tageszei- — 100 more than a day streets around the southern with looming expiration
a man, both 24-years-old tung reported that the earlier — and four more province of Jaén and in dates, in line with the coun-
and from the Bergamo woman worked at a hotel deaths, bringing the total Alicante, in eastern Spain, try's long term goals to cut
area in Lombardy. They in the center of Innsbruck, to 11.q blocking highways with on food waste.q