Coronavirus continues to halt travel around the world
While outbreak containment measures are ramping up in the Western world, China has reported its first day of no new domestic cases
Globally, there have now been over 248,600 cases of Covid-19, and more than 10,000 deaths. While China remains the worst affected in terms of total number of detected cases, Italy has now become the country with the highest number of deaths, which rose to more than 3,400 in the last 24 hours.
The number of cases in Italy, Germany, Iran and Spain have now also risen to more than 15,000 each (over 33,000 active in Italy); and as the number of deaths reached 200 in California in the US, the state was put into lockdown.
In Iran, which is one of the hardest-hit regions, officials are urging the US to lift sanctions against the country so that it can import much-needed medicine and medical equipment.
And case numbers are slowly increasing in Africa, as South Africa reports 52 new cases, bringing the total up to 202 ,and Cape Verde has reported its first case.
Indonesia, which is due to suspend its visa-on-arrival policy for a month from Friday in order to stem the spread of the virus, is concerned that the move will have an irreversible effect on the island of Bali, where tourism accounts for three-quarters of the island’s economy.
Ross Taylor, President of the Indonesia Institute explained that about 80 per cent of Bali’s GDP is based on tourism, with much of the locals working in the industry, or else selling their land to developers. He added that most people in Bali live from day-to-day of month-to-month, earning only a couple of hundreds of dollars a month. The result of taking away tourism will be ‘catastrophic’, he warned: “Without tourists, Bali will die.”
Light at the end of the tunnel for China
But, it’s also worth noting that while there have been many deaths, over 86,000 people globally have also recovered from the virus.
Over in China, which remains the worst-affected country since the virus first emerged late last year, reports assert that there are no new domestically transmitted cases in the country for the first time.
And despite the enormous strain the virus continues to have on healthcare systems across the world, many organisations are using their initiative when it comes to thinking up innovative new solutions. From telehealth consultations being provided for free, to ‘ninja robots’ being deployed in Bangkok hospitals to measure fevers and protect the health of overburdened healthcare workers, we’re glad to note that a new story of compassion, innovation or successful containment pops up almost every day.