Coronavirus latest: Italy orders shutdown of non-essential firms

• The global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has surpassed 11,000 people with more than 286,000 infected

• Nearly 1 billion people around the world were confined to their homes as countries and regions restrict movement

• Italy had ordered all non-essential production to shut down in what the prime minister called the country’s “gravest crisis since World War II.”

Updates in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC/GMT)

02:25 Everyone traveling to Hawaii will be subject to a 14-day quarantine starting Thursday, the state’s governor said on Saturday. The state currently has 48 confirmed coronavirus cases.

”We need to come together as a community to fight this virus,” Governor David Ige said. ”This mandate is the first of its kind in the nation. We want this action to send the message to visitors and residents alike that we appreciate their love for Hawaii, but we are asking them to postpone their visit.”

As of Thursday, travelers arriving on Hawaii will face a two-week quarantine

02:06 Amazon on Saturday announced a raise in overtime pay for employees working in the Internet company’s warehouses. 

The raise comes as the online retail giant tries to meet the shopping demand from customers who are at home because of widespread lockdowns put in place to combat the spread of the coronavirus. 

The employees will get double pay — up from 1.5 times — after 40 hours of overtime for the period of time between March 15 and May 9. This is the second increase in pay for Amazon workers after the company increased the minimum hourly rate for associates to $17 from $15 early this week.

02:12 The Philippines reported 73 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of confirmed infections in the country to 380. The death toll stands at 25, with six more deaths reported by the Health Ministry. 

01: 52 India has begun its 14-hour curfew to combat the spread of COVID-19. The curfew has been imposed from 7 a.m. (local time) until 9 p.m. Many modes of public transport were suspended, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens to “stay indoors and stay healthy.”

01:45 North Korea on Saturday said that it received a letter from US President Donald Trump, in which the president praised North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for his efforts “to defend his people” from coronavirus.

A senior official from the Trump administration confirmed to Reuters news agency that a letter had been sent. 

North Korea said the letter was indicative of “the special and very firm personal relations” shared by the leaders, adding that Trump had “expressed his intent to render cooperation in the anti-epidemic work.”

This comes soon after North Korea launched two short-range missiles earlier on Saturday.

01:30 South Korea reported 98 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, increasing the total number of coronavirus infections in the country to 8,897. While there was a small bump in the numbers on Saturday, the overall downward trend continued in the country.

01:32 Mexico reported 251 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country on Saturday, up by 48 infections from the day earlier. The country has created a comic superhero to remind people to observe social distancing guidelines.

01:20 Walt Disney will delay the launch of its streaming service, Disney+, in France by two weeks. The decision was taken at the request of the French government.

Disney+ will be launched in other major European markets on March 24, but the quality of video offered will be degraded to “ensure the smooth functioning of the broadband infrastructure.” The company plans to lower “overall bandwidth utilization by at least 25%” at the time of the launch.

01:05 Coronavirus tests for US Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, have come back negative, the VP’s press secretary said on Twitter.

Both were tested for COVID-19 after a member of Pence’s staff tested positive for the virus earlier this week. 

00:40 Mainland China reported 46 new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday, 45 of which were imported. Six deaths were reported.

China’s Hubei province, which has been the COVID-19 epicenter in China, reported no new cases of infection on Saturday. Five deaths were reported in the province.

00:52 Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison may announce the second economic rescue package for the country on Saturday amid coronavirus fears. With a value of AUD 66 billion (€35 billion, $38.2 billion), this economic stimulus package is not expected to be the last.

“We want to help businesses keep going as best they can or to pause instead of falling apart,” he told the Sun-Herald newspaper Sunday. “We want to ensure that when this crisis has passed Australia can bounce back. There is a lot of pain coming but we’re going to cushion the blow as best we can.”

The package is aimed at allowing small businesses to stay afloat, with 100,000 Australian dollars being transferred to such enterprises so that they can keep their staff and not pack up.

The PM also added that the country may also look at implementing draconian measures to ensure social distancing during this health crisis.

00:22 The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first rapid coronavirus test on Saturday. The new test has a detection time of approximately 45 minutes.

Currently, getting results can take days, as the samples are sent to a centralized lab. As the US attempts to meet the increasing demand for testing, the new diagnostic test has been developed by Cepheid, a California-based molecular diagnostics company. 

It will be shipped to hospitals and emergency rooms starting next week, the company said in a statement.

00:12 Panama recorded two more coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday, bringing the total number of fatalities to three. The Central American country has 245 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

00:09 UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that it could take just two weeks for the country’s National Health Service (NHS) to be “overwhelmed” by the COVID-19 pandemic, like the Italian health care system. The death toll in the UK hit 233 on Saturday after 53 people died after being infected.

“Unless we act together, unless we make the heroic and collective national effort to slow the spread — then it is all too likely that our own NHS will be similarly overwhelmed,” he was reported saying in multiple Sunday newspapers, as he called on citizens to stay home as much as possible. 

“The Italians have a superb health care system. And yet their doctors and nurses have been completely overwhelmed by the demand,” Johnson added.

00:07 The Gaza strip announced its first two cases of COVID-19 on Sunday. The Palestinian Health Ministry said both people had recently traveled from Pakistan and were currently in isolation at a medical facility in the southern city of Rafah.

This has raised new fears about the spread of the pandemic in the strip, where the health care system is trying to contain the threat of COVID-19 despite the Israeli-Egyptian blockade. 

00:05 After closing Sydney’s Bondi Beach to tourists, 11 beaches south of Bondi were also closed on Sunday in line with Australia’s social distancing decree. 

The country has banned gatherings of over 500 people and asked everyone to maintain a 1.5-meter distance from each other to avoid the spread of coronavirus.

Bondi beach in Sydney was closed after people failed to follow social distancing rules

00:02 Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Saturday ordered a nationwide closure of all non-essential factories and companies until April 3.

“The decision taken by the government is to close down all productive activity throughout the territory that is not strictly necessary, crucial, indispensable, to guarantee us essential goods and services,” he said on TV.

Essentials like groceries and pharmacies will stay open as will postal and banking services, he stressed, adding that the country is living through “its gravest crisis since World War II.”

“We are slowing down the country’s production engine, but we are not stopping it,” Conte said.

Italy reported close to 800 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday, taking the death toll to 4,825. The total number of infections rose by 4,800 to 53,578. 

00:00 Catch up on yesterday’s coronavirus developments here: Italy suffers through highest daily death toll

see/sms (AP, Reuters, dpa, AFP)

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