Coronavirus latest: California declares state of emergency

March 05, 2020

More than 95,000 cases globally with more than 3,200 dead, mostly in China
California declares a state of emergency after its first death
US Congress approved an $8 billion aid package

Read more: What you need to know about the coronavirus

01:58 Australia has confirmed its second death. A 95-year-old woman succumbed to the virus after contact with an infected care worker in New South Wales.

01:34 South Korea reported 438 more coronavirus cases on Thursday, bringing their total number of cases to 5,766. They have the most confirmed cases of any country apart from China.

00:43 China reported 31 more deaths, bringing its death count to more than 3,000. The National health Commission also reported 139 new cases, bringing the total number in China to 80,409.

00:34 US Vice President Mike Pence will fly to Florida to meet with cruise ship businesses to discuss the spread of COVID-19 aboard cruises.

Pence was put in charge of challenging the crisis by President Donald Trump. “The risk of contracting the coronavirus remains low,” he wrote on Twitter.

00:25 California has declared a state of emergency after the US state saw its first death from COVID-19 on Wednesday.

Governor Gavin Newsom told reporters that the state has 53 confirmed cases. The patient reportedly contracted the virus on a cruise.

Read more: How does testing for the coronavirus work?

00:15 Welcome to our rolling updates on another busy day regarding the global coronavirus outbreak.

At the beginning of Thursday, over 95,000 cases have been recorded globally, with 3,285 dead. The vast majority — over 80,000 — cases are within China, most in Hubei province where the city of Wuhan is located. This is where the outbreak began in December 2019.

To find out how things developed on Wednesday, you can look back on our live updates here: Coronavirus latest: Italy closes schools and universities as death toll surpasses 100

Cultural events affected by the coronavirus

London Book Fair

Due to take place March 10-12, the book fair was cancelled “with reluctance,” said organizers, after several major publishers such as HarperCollins and Penguin Random House pulled out of the event to avoid exposing their staff to the virus. The London Book Fair usually draws more than 25,000 authors and book industry insiders.

Cultural events affected by the coronavirus

Musikmesse Frankfurt

Europe’s biggest trade fair for the music industry also announced that it was postponing the event, which was set to celebrate its 40th anniversary on April 2-4. While it was deemed to be “the only responsible and right decision to take,” the cancellation is bound to affect many small businesses in the music industry, said Christian Höppner, secretary general of the German Music Council.

Cultural events affected by the coronavirus

Leipzig Book Fair

Change of plans for book fans: The Leipzig Book Fair, scheduled to be held March 12-15, was cancelled due to the spread of the new coronavirus, a spokesperson for the fair announced on Tuesday. The second-largest book fair in Germany expected to draw 2,500 exhibitors from 51 countries.

Cultural events affected by the coronavirus

ITB Travel Trade Show Berlin

Preparations for the world’s largest travel fair were already in full swing when the organizers cancelled it at the last minute. Due to the ongoing virus threat, participants to the Berlin fair had to prove they had not been to one of the defined risk areas. With 170,000 visitors from all over the world, this proved to be an impossible task and the fair couldn’t open on March 4 as planned.

Cultural events affected by the coronavirus

The Louvre

For many tourists, a trip to Paris is incomplete without a visit to the Louvre museum. The historic art museum was closed for three days, after museum staff went on strike on the grounds that keeping it open would be a public health hazard. On Wednesday afternoon, they accepted to resume work after management set up a series of preventive measures.

Cultural events affected by the coronavirus

Milan Design Week

Each April, thousands of design professionals, artists and companies visit Milan to check out the latest in furniture and interior design. This year, however, organizers have announced it will be moved to June due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Milan is the capital of the Lombardy region, which has seen the lion’s share of Italian coronivirus cases. Some airlines have even suspended their flights.

Cultural events affected by the coronavirus

La Scala opera house

There is perhaps no venue more symbolic of Italy’s rich operatic tradition than the La Scala opera house in Milan. Now, its seats will remain empty until March 8. Italy’s Prime Minister called for the suspension of cultural events and the venue is sticking to the rules. At the time of writing, Italy has more cases of the new coronavirus than any country outside of Asia.

Cultural events affected by the coronavirus

K-Pop concerts

The reigning K-Pop boy band BTS does big business with each concert, but in the wake of the virus in South Korea, the group cancelled four April dates at the Seoul Olympic Stadium, which seats 69,950 people. “It’s impossible to predict the scale of the outbreak,” said the group’s management. On Tuesday, cases in South Korea reached 5,100 with the majority of infections in the city of Daegu.

Cultural events affected by the coronavirus

‘Mission Impossible’

No, we aren’t describing the task of containing the new coronavirus, but rather the new movie starring Tom Cruise which was supposed to have a three-week shoot in Venice. The film has been postponed, movie studio Paramount Pictures said Monday. Venice’s cultural events have been hard hit by the outbreak. The final two days of lagoon city’s annual Carnival festival were also cancelled.

Cultural events affected by the coronavirus

Paris Fashion Week

Paris fashion week, which ended March 3, also took a hit. While attendees avoided cheek kisses during the high-profile event, several designers, including five from China and one from France, did not put on their shows, and many popular events were called off. Chanel had already cancelled a show in China. Rakuten Fashion Week in Tokyo, Japan’s largest fashion gathering, was also called off.

Cultural events affected by the coronavirus

Concerts in Switzerland

On February 28, the Swiss government imposed a ban on events of more than 1,000 people until March 15, making it the first European country to do so as a preemptive measure to fight against the spread of the illness. As a result, many concerts and events were called off, including concerts by Carlos Santana (pictured) and Alice Cooper at the 15,000-person Hellenstadion in Zürich.

Cultural events affected by the coronavirus

The Hamburg Ballet

The Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier cancelled guest performances in Macau and Singapore due to the coronavirus outbreak. On the program were “The Lady of the Camellias,” which tells the story of a famous Parisian courtesan and “Nijinsky.” Whether the tour will take place at another point in time is still in the air. In spring 2021 the Hamburg Ballet plans to tour in Japan.

Author: Sarah Hucal