Spain overtakes China virus toll

738 deaths in past 24 hours | Day 11 on 15-day lockdown

Madrid, March 25

Spain registered an overnight jump of 738 deaths from coronavirus on Wednesday, pushing the death toll above that of China, where the disease originated, for the first time as the country struggles to cope with soaring numbers of infections.

With 3,434 fatalities, Spain now has the second-highest number of deaths globally after Italy’s 6,820, in an outbreak that has seen a Madrid skating rink turned into a makeshift morgue and dozens dead in overwhelmed nursing homes across the country.

Spanish medical staff, who themselves account for thousands of infected cases, have taken out lawsuits against the government complaining of the lack of basic protective equipment like masks, scrubs and gloves.

The Spanish army has asked NATO for ventilators, protective gear and testing kits, Armed Forces Chief Miguel Villarroya said on Wednesday.

Spain is on Day 11 of a 15-day nationwide lockdown which is likely to be extended to 30 days. Schools, bars, restaurants and most shops are shuttered. Social gatherings are banned. People are confined to their homes.

“We have achieved a near total reduction in social contact,” health emergency chief Fernando Simon told a news conference, adding that Spain was nearing the peak of the epidemic.

The number of coronavirus cases increased by a fifth to 47,610 on Wednesday.

In Madrid, authorities started to carry out mass testing for coronavirus in a requistioned fairground in a city park.

Aside from the devastating health impact, the lockdown has dealt a punishing blow to the Spanish economy, with tens of thousands of workers temporarily laid off as sectors like retail, tourism and manufacturing grind to a halt.

The Bank of Spain said on Wednesday that there had been severe disruption on the economy since early March and a sharp contraction in consumer spending.

Meanwhile, infections were climbing rapidly in the United States and had passed the 55,000 mark, with deaths at more than 800. Top White House aide Eric Ueland announced the massive economic agreement in a Capitol hallway shortly after midnight after days of haggling. AP

Prince Charles has ‘mild’ symptoms

Prince Charles, the 71-year-old heir to the British throne, is showing mild symptoms of COVID-19 and is self-isolating at a royal estate in Scotland, his office said, adding that his wife, Camilla, has tested negative. Charles “has been displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual,” it said.

In brief

160-yr-old Vatican newspaper succumbs

VATICAN CITY: The Vatican daily L’Osservatore Romano, which Pope Francis has jokingly called “the party newspaper”, suspended printing for only the third time in nearly 160 years on Wednesday due to the coronavirus. The paper, which was founded in 1861, will continue publishing online and most of its staff of about 60, including 20 journalists, will work from home, editor Andrea Monda said. “A newspaper and the paper on which it is printed are inextricably intertwined so it sad that this is happening but the reality is that we are all facing a crisis,” Monda said.

WHO back in hot seat

GENEVA: The UN’s health agency has faced criticism in the past for overreacting and for moving too slowly in fighting epidemics, but it has rarely faced as much scrutiny as with the coronavirus pandemic. The World Health Organization was deemed too alarmist when it faced the H1N1 epidemic in 2009 but five years later it was accused of dragging its feet in declaring an emergency over the Ebola outbreak in west Africa, which would go on to kill more than 11,000 persons. After that debacle, the WHO reformed and created a rapid response unit that has since helped to tackle two Ebola outbreaks in Democratic Republic of Congo. And yet, the organisation is once again under fire, with critics saying it did not react quickly or strongly enough to the new coronavirus, which emerged in Wuhan, China, late last year.

Tony award-winning playwright McNally dies

LOS ANGELES: Acclaimed playwright Terrence McNally has died of complications due to coronavirus. According to Deadline, McNally, 81, was a lung cancer survivor with chronic pulmonary disease and died Tuesday at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota, Florida. The death of the author of “Master Class” and “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune” was confirmed by his spokesperson Matt Polk. The four time Tony winner is survived by his husband, Broadway producer Tom Kirdahy.

Quarantine dodgers may face 7-yr jail

Moscow: Russian lawmakers have proposed imposing severe punishments — including up to seven years in prison — for people breaking coronavirus quarantine rules. Legislation due to be discussed on Wednesday foresees fines of between 500,000 rubles ($6,400) and two million rubles ($25,700) for violating a quarantine. If a quarantine dodger were found guilty of causing a person’s death or intentionally infecting many people, they would face up to five years in prison, and up to seven years if two or more people died.

Diamond Princess leaves Yokohama

YOKOHAMA: The Diamond Princess, a coronavirus-hit cruise ship off Japan that saw 712 passengers and crew contracting the disease with 10 deaths, left its moorings in Yokohama Wednesday, a city official said. The ship, which originally carried some 3,700 passengers and crew members, dominated international headlines as Japan’s clumsy handling of its quarantine made it at one point the biggest cluster of coronavirus carriers outside China. “Disinfection work has been finished. Quarantine confirmed that the work has been finished,” a Yokohama city official said.

Pak suspends domestic flights

Islamabad: Pakistan has suspended all domestic flight operations until April 2 to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus after the country reported over 1,000 cases and seven deaths from the COVID-19 infection. The nationwide tally of COVID-19 patients touched 1,037 with 413 cases in Sindh; 115 in Balochistan; 296 in Punjab; 117 in K-P; 80 in Gilgit-Baltistan; 15 in Islamabad; and one in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The National Disaster Management Authority has said that so far 7 people have died due to the novel coronavirus and 18 recovered. In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the country has halted its domestic flights operations.