'Do not let this fire burn': WHO warns Europe over

coronavirus
theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/13/european-countries-take-radical-steps-to-combat-coronavirus

Jon Henley, Sam March 13,

Jones 2020

The World Health Organization has stepped up its calls for intensified action to fight the
coronavirus pandemic, imploring countries “not to let this fire burn”, as Spain said it
would declare a 15-day state of emergency from Saturday.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director general, said Europe – where the virus
is present in all 27 EU states and has infected 25,000 people – had become the centre of
the epidemic, with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined
apart from China.

Across the continent and beyond, governments on Friday closed schools, sealed borders,
cancelled top-flight cultural and sporting events and imposed tough social distancing
measures. Some declared a state of emergency.

Maria van Kerkhove, head of the WHO’s emerging diseases unit, said it was impossible to
say when the pandemic would peak globally. Tedros stressed countries must take a
comprehensive approach.

“Not testing alone,” he said. “Not contact tracing alone. Not quarantine alone. Not social
distancing alone. Do it all. Find, isolate, test and treat every case, to break the chains of
transmission … Do not just let this fire burn.”

As the number of confirmed cases in Spain passed 4,200 and the death toll rose to 120,
the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said the government would “mobilise all resources”,
including the military, to contain the outbreak. “This is an emergency that affects the life
and health of all,” he said.

Sánchez said the cabinet would on Saturday activate article 116 of the constitution,
allowing it to limit the movement of people and vehicles, requisition goods, take over
factories and businesses and ration the consumption of basic items.

But he added that victory over the virus would depend not just on decrees but on “each
and everyone of us, in our homes, in our workplaces, with our families and with our
neighbours. Being a hero is also about washing your hands, staying at home, and
protecting yourself in order to protect others.”

Madrid’s regional government announced that all shops, cafés, bars, restaurants,
cinemas, gyms and non-food shops would be closed for two weeks from Saturday.

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The Catalan president, Quim Torra, announced plans to close off the northeastern
Spanish region and called on the central government to assist by authorising the closure
of ports, airports and railways.

“The evolution of the contagion calls for most drastic action,” Torra said on Friday night.
“We need to restrict entry and exit to protect ourselves.”

Denmark said it would close its borders to all except its own nationals and legal residents
at midday on Saturday until 13 April. “All tourists and foreigners who cannot prove they
have a credible reason to be in Denmark will not be allowed to enter,” the prime minister,
Mette Frederiksen, said.

France, which has reported 3,600 confirmed cases and 79 deaths, on Friday restricted all
gatherings to a maximum of 100 people, hours after President Emmanuel Macron said
the country faced its worst public health crisis in a century. France would do “all it takes”
to preserve its economy, jobs and businesses, he said.

Following Belgium’s example, Austria on Friday closed all shops except food stores,
supermarkets and pharmacies, ordered bars and restaurants to close at 3pm, and told
employers to allow home working, while Switzerland closed schools, banned public
gatherings of more than 100 and restricted bars and restaurants to 50 customers.

Italy, by far the hardest-hit European country, with 17,660 confirmed infections and
1,266 deaths, is already in a nationwide lockdown, with all travel banned unless certified
necessary on professional or health grounds and the 62 million population expected to
stay mainly at home.

The Covid-19 pandemic has infected more than 135,000 people and killed just over
5,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, disrupting travel, closing
schools, shutting factories and cancelling sporting, cultural and political events.

In the US, Donald Trump declared a national emergency, freeing up federal funds for
testing and treatment as well as help individuals and businesses struggling with the
economic impact. But he refused to take the blame for the sluggish US response to the
crisis. “I don’t take responsibility at all,” he said.

In other developments:

Jair Bolsonaro’s son denied local media reports that the Brazilian president had
tested positive.

The Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau governed remotely from home , in self-
imposed quarantine after his wife tested positive following a visit to the UK.

Iran said its Revolutionary Guards will clear streets, shops and public places of
people within the next 24 hours, in a dramatic escalation of the country’s
containment efforts. Its death toll rose to 514, with 11,364 confirmed cases.

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 India and Norway announced their first deaths, while Ghana, Kenya and Ethiopia
confirmed their first infections.

France joined Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and others in cancelling professional
football. The Champions League was postponed.

The Louvre, the world’s most visited museum, closed until further notice.

The Portuguese government put the country on a state of alert and the Bulgarian
parliament voted unanimously to declare a state of emergency.

The entire Romanian cabinet went into quarantine after coming into contact with a
senator who has tested positive.

The Czech government banned all foreign travellers from entering and all Czechs
from leaving the country from 16 March.

Hungary’s nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, said foreigners and migration
were to blame for the emergence and spread of the virus in Hungary.

Germany reported 3,634 confirmed infections on Friday, and eight deaths. In a brief
press conference, Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged government support for the
economy and for society “on all levels”.

She described the widespread closure of schools, the announcement of a massive credit
programme for businesses and a work reduction programme to support workers and
employers as far-reaching measures that would help ease the burden.

In contrast to the financial crisis of 2008/9, she said, “the opponent – if I may put it like
that – is a virus that we don’t know, we don’t know how to combat it either, through
vaccines or medicine. And that’s why we have to act where we can do so in the most
vigorous way we can.”

In Asia, meanwhile, evidence grew that in China the outbreak has passed its peak and in
South Korea it is easing. For the second day in a row Wuhan, the Chinese city at the
centre of the outbreak, reported a single-digit tally of new cases, while surrounding
Hubei province has recorded no new infections for eight days.

South Korea, once the biggest centre of coronavirus cases after China, on Friday
reported more recoveries than new infections for the first time: 177 people were
released from hospital, while 114 new cases were confirmed.

Officials said new clusters of infections remained a concern and warned the epidemic
was not yet over. “We’ve managed to turn the corner, but there are concerns about
overseas inflows, as well as possible infections around call centres, computer cafes and
karaoke rooms,” the prime minister, Chung Sye-kyun, said.

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