BEIJING (AP) — The coronavirus epidemic has spread through Iran’s parliament, and some countries are including parts of Europe in travel warnings as the epidemic strengthens its hold worldwide.
Workers wearing protective face masks pack food orders for customers outside a restaurant only offering take-out business to prevent people gathering following the coronavirus outbreak in Beijing, Sunday, March 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
The mushrooming outbreaks in the Mideast, Europe and South Korea — which prepared to pump billions into relief efforts Tuesday — contrasted with optimism in China, where thousands of recovered patients are going home.
China reported an encouraging number in the virus epidemic, with a daily tally of 125 new cases. That’s even lower than the six-week low reported a day earlier.
Over 100 cases have been confirmed in the U.S., with six deaths reported. More U.S. cases are likely with thousands of test kits going out and new guidelines on screening.
The growing outbreak in the U.S. has led schools and subways to sanitize and quickened a search for a vaccine.
President Donald Trump met with pharmaceutical executives on Monday to push the search for a vaccine while lawmakers on Capitol Hill neared an agreement on emergency funding for virus relief.
Virus spread prompts Fed to slash rates in surprise move
In a surprise move, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a sizable half-percentage point in an effort to support the economy in the face of the spreading coronavirus.
Chairman Jerome Powell noted that the coronavirus “poses evolving risks to economic activity.”
It was the Fed’s first rate cut since last year, when it reduced its key short-term rate three times.
It is also the first time the central bank has cut its key rate between policy meetings since the 2008 financial crisis and the largest rate cut since then.
Stock market averages, which had fallen sharply after the opening bell, swung almost 700 points into positive territory after the Fed announcement.
Seven major economies had earlier on Tuesday pledged to use “all appropriate tools” to deal with the spreading coronavirus but announced no immediate actions.
The group of major industrial countries, referred to as the G-7, said Tuesday that it was “ready to take actions, including fiscal measures where appropriate, to aid in the response to the virus and support the economy.”
The joint statement from the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada was issued after a conference call among the finance ministers and central bank presidents, led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
The G-7 has issued similar statements during periods of market turmoil, such as the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Schools close in French, German virus cluster zones
Tens of thousands of students in virus cluster zones are home from school in France, with a smaller number in Germany and Poland facing quarantines or days without class.
France’s education minister says around 120 schools are closed, most in Brittany and a region north of Paris hit hard by the COVID-19 virus.
A handful of schools are closed or under quarantine in Germany and Poland as well.
As the new coronavirus takes hold in Europe, the continent is facing the same complications seen in Asia weeks ago, including a cruise ship with hundreds of passengers now trapped in Norway.
Iran on war footing against coronavirus as outbreak kills 77
Iran’s supreme leader has put the Islamic Republic on war footing against the new coronavirus by ordering its armed forces to assist health officials in combating the spreading outbreak that Iranian officials say has killed 77 people there.
Iran stands alone in how the virus has affected its government, even compared to hard-hit China, the epicenter of the outbreak.
A report Tuesday said that an Iranian lawmaker told his colleagues 23 parliament members have the new virus and that they should avoid contact with the public.
The illness the virus causes has already killed a member of a top government council and a former Iranian diplomat.
The head of Iran’s task force on the coronavirus also has fallen ill with the infection.
North Korean swagger may conceal brewing virus disaster
As a new and frightening virus closes in around it, North Korea presents itself as a fortress, tightening its borders as cadres of health officials stage a monumental disinfection and monitoring program.
That image of world-defying impregnability, however, may belie a brewing disaster. Among the worrying signs: North Korea shares a porous, nearly 900-mile border with China, where the disease originated and has since exploded.
U.N. officials and experts document widespread hunger in a nation with a horrendous medical infrastructure and a long history of ultra-secrecy when it comes to anything that could hurt the ruling elite, including reports on infectious disease.
Copyright 2020 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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