COVID-19 outbreak: Here's what's happening around the world Saturday
South Korea reports 813 new cases while Japan prepares an emergency package
The latest:
- Iran says 'tens of thousands' may get tested for coronavirus.
- Bahrain threatens 'legal proceedings' against those who return from Iran without being tested.
- Total accumulated number of confirmed cases in Italy has risen to 1,128.
- South Korea reports 813 new cases.
- Japan's Abe announces $3.3B package to help fight virus.
- More than 85,000 people worldwide contract COVID-19, with deaths topping 2,900.
- Ontario reports a 8th case, a man in his 80s with travel history to Egypt.
- Read more about how Canada is preparing.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday announced a 270 billion yen ($3.3 billion Cdn) emergency economic package to help fight the coronavirus as he sought the public's support for his government's fight against the outbreak.
Abe told reporters Japan is at critical juncture to determine whether the country can keep the outbreak under control ahead of this summer's Tokyo Olympics.
Abe, whose announcement this past week of a plan to close all schools for more than a month through the end of the Japanese academic year sparked public criticism, said the emergency package includes financial support for parents and their employers affected by the school closures.
The economic package also includes measures to amplify medical preparedness in case of an escalation of the outbreak, and help in the development of vaccines and more efficient virus testing kits.
Japan has at least 940 confirmed cases of the virus that causes the respiratory illness COVID-19, including 705 from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, whose quarantine in Yokohama led to international criticism that the containment was ineffective.
Iran prepares for widespread testing
The coronavirus has killed 43 people amid 593 confirmed cases in Iran, the Islamic Republic's health ministry said Saturday.
Ministry spokesperson Kianoush Jahanpour urged people to stay away from mass gatherings, including funerals for those who succumb to the virus, and to limit their travel. He said Iran is preparing for the possibility of "tens of thousands" undergoing tests for the virus.
Iran has the world's highest death toll outside of China, the epicentre of the outbreak that began late last year. The new figures from Iran this pushes the total cases in the Middle East to over 720.
Iraq has detected five new cases of coronavirus, four in Baghdad and one in Babel province, the health ministry said on Saturday, taking the total number of cases there to 13. The patients were placed in quarantine, the ministry said in a statement.
More than 85,000 people worldwide have contracted the illness, a large majority in China, with deaths topping 2,900.
The novel coronavirus emerged at the end of 2019 in the Chinese city of Wuhan where scientists believe it might have passed to humans from animals at a local market where bats, snakes and other wildlife were sold. China temporarily shut down all such markets in January.
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