New Delhi: Amid a new spate of coronavirus scare with fresh cases being reported from many countries apart from China, including South Korea, Iran and Italy, the World Health Organisation has assured that Covid-19 can be contained as it’s different from seasonal flu. “But we are in uncharted territory,” WHO chief has said.
Scare in India, Delhi on Alert
With seven confirmed cases in India, the centre has called an emergency meeting on Wednesday. Two schools in Noida has been shut after a parent was tested positive. India has suspended all regular visas or e-visas granted to the nationals of Italy, Iran, South Korea, Japan issued on or before March 3.
About 1.21 lakh passengers have been screened for coronavirus at the Delhi airport between January 15 and March 3, as per data collated by the Delhi government’s health department.
119 new cases in china
As on March 3, China reported 119 new confirmed cases, 38 deaths and 2,652 hospital discharges.
South Korea
South Korea has confirmed 142 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the total number of infections to 5,328, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Spike in Singapore
A Singapore Minister has warned of spikes in the novel coronavirus cases in the country as the health ministry reported two new cases of the fast-spreading disease. “We will be exposed to new waves of infection and increasingly it will not be possible to stop the virus at our borders. We also cannot isolate Singapore and shut ourselves from the world,” the Health Ministry said.
The World Health Organization has voiced concern that the masks, goggles and other protective equipment used by health workers is running out amid panic buying, reports said. “We are concerned that countries’ abilities to respond are being compromised by the severe and increasing disruption to the global supply of personal protective equipment … caused by rising demand, hoarding and misuse,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva.
“We can’t stop Covid-19 without protecting our health workers,” he said. The prices of surgical masks have increased six-fold, while the cost for ventilators had tripled, he added.