–Italy reports over 743 deaths; WHO warns US could be next epicentre
BEIJING: China announced Tuesday an end to travel curbs at the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, as governments around the world tightened lockdowns affecting 1.7 billion people in a desperate effort to slow the spread of the deadly disease.
Hubei, where the novel coronavirus emerged late last year, will allow healthy residents to leave the province from midnight, officials said, two months after they were ordered to stay indoors.
“We are celebrating today,” a female doctor surnamed Wu told AFP.
“Every day, we saw the number of seriously ill patients decreasing, the situation improving, people being discharged from the hospital. The doctors and nurses are becoming more and more relaxed as the days go by. I am super happy!”
The relaxation of rules, which will not apply to the hardest-hit city of Wuhan until April 8, comes as Britain and New Zealand joined nations in Europe, the Middle East, North America and Asia in declaring countrywide lockdowns in a bid to staunch the flow of new infections.
The extraordinary measures around the world continued to throw up horrifying tales; soldiers in Spain tasked with fighting the outbreak reported finding abandoned elderly people — some dead — at retirement homes.
ITALY BATTERED:
Italy reported 743 deaths on Tuesday, taking the total to 6,820. According to Reuters, Italy likely has 10 times higher than reported cases of the coronavirus from the official tally of 64,000, said the head of the agency which is collecting data on the spread of the disease.
US EPICENTRE?
The World Health Organisation said on Tuesday that the United States could become the global epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, which finally forced reluctant organisers to postpone the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.
In the US, the Federal Reserve unveiled an unprecedented bond-buying programme, in a move not seen since the global financial crisis more than a decade ago.
The Fed, which has already slashed interest rates to record lows, said it will buy unlimited amounts of Treasury debt and take steps to lend directly to small and medium-sized firms hammered by state lockdowns across the country.
Markets cheered the news, with Tokyo ending the day more than seven percent higher and European bourses registering strong starts to the trading day.
The upswings came despite US politicians’ failure to sign off on a nearly $2 trillion package that President Donald Trump says is aimed at supporting ailing enterprises, and helicoptering cash to American families.
His opponents say the bill is too heavily weighted to bailing out big business.
The British government, which has faced accusations it dithered over the health crisis and needlessly allowed schools to remain open far longer than European counterparts, came into line on Monday.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered a three-week shutdown of “non-essential” shops and services and banned gatherings of more than two people.
“Stay at home,” Johnson said in a televised address, as he unveiled unprecedented peacetime measures.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned the global pandemic was clearly accelerating.
The number of coronavirus deaths has topped 16,200, with more than 377,000 declared infections in 175 countries and territories, according to an AFP tally.
Tedros said it took 67 days from the beginning of the outbreak in China in December for the virus to infect the first 100,000 people worldwide.
In comparison, it required only 11 days for the second 100,000 cases and just four days for the third 100,000, he said.
Tedros acknowledged that many countries were struggling to take more aggressive measures because of a lack of resources but said “we are not helpless bystanders.
