Blogroll

When Congo announced its first coronavirus case, all the details from the health ministry about the patient were wrong, drawing a rebuke from the president and highlighting the challenges the huge African country will face if the virus spreads.

The United States will suspend travel from certain European countries for 30 days beginning at midnight on Friday as part of an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

The mayor of the southern Spanish city of Seville said on Saturday Holy Week processions would be canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The coronavirus is not as bad as the seasonal flu. President Donald Trump is not worried about having had direct exposure to the virus. The United States is in far better shape than other countries.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi will deliver a statement on the coronavirus economic relief bill currently under consideration in her chamber at 2 p.m. (1800 GMT), her office said.

Namibia is the latest in a growing list of sub-Saharan African countries to report their first cases of coronavirus.

The number of new coronavirus cases imported into mainland China from overseas surpassed the number of locally transmitted new infections for the first time on Friday, according to data released by the National Health Commission.

Indonesia's capital city will close all schools and order remote teaching for at least two weeks to curb the spread of coronavirus, Jakarta's governor said on Saturday, as the first cases were also reported in other parts of the archipelago.

The death toll from coronavirus infections in Iran rose on Saturday to 611, state TV said, citing a health ministry official who put the total number of those diagnosed with the disease at 12,729.

Vietnam on Saturday confirmed five more cases of the coronavirus, including a British, a Czech and three Vietnamese citizens, bringing the country's total cases to 53.

Manila announced nighttime curfews on Saturday and urged shopping malls to close for one month, in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus, as the Philippines reported its eighth death and the largest single-day increase in confirmed cases.

Beijing's city government said on Saturday that patients with imported coronavirus will have to cover all treatment fees if they are not enrolled for basic health insurance.

Norway advised its citizens on Saturday not to travel abroad for the next month and urged Norwegians outside the country to consider returning home as soon as possible due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Corporate America joined the fight against the spread of coronavirus on Friday, as President Donald Trump and executives announced that Google would offer a website to help people determine whether they needed tests and retailers would set up drive-through testing in parking lots.

Apple Inc said late on Friday it will close all its retail stores, except those in Greater China, for the next two weeks to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission.

The number of coronavirus cases in Japan has risen to 1,423 as of mid-morning on Saturday, with western Nagasaki prefecture reporting its first case, public broadcaster NHK said.

Mainland China had 11 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday, the country's National Health Commission said on Saturday, up from eight cases a day earlier, but the number of new infections in epicenter Hubei fell for a ninth straight day.

The Philippines health department on Saturday confirmed one new fatality from the coronavirus outbreak, bringing the total number of deaths to six, a day after the country raised its health emergency status to the highest level.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday approved Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc's coronavirus test, which would allow the firm to increase capacity to 1.4 million tests a week, a Trump administration official said.

Guatemala will from Monday widen travel restrictions to fight the spread of coronavirus, banning arrivals from the United States and Canada, President Alejandro Giammattei said on Friday.