Picture credit: AFP
February 29, 2020//-France has banned all indoor gatherings of more than 5,000 people, as part of efforts to contain the country’s coronavirus outbreak.
Measures announced after an emergency cabinet meeting also include the cancellation of the Paris half-marathon which was to be held on Sunday.
In the worst-hit area, north of Paris, all public gatherings have been banned.
The total number of cases of the new coronavirus in France rose to 100 on Saturday. Two patients have died.
Globally, more than 85,500 cases have been confirmed in more that 50 countries. The death toll is over 2,900.
The vast majority of infections and deaths are in China, where the virus originated late last year.
The US has reported its first death from the virus, in the north-west state of Washington. Details of the person’s identity have not yet been released, but officials said they would give a press conference at about 21:00 GMT.
The US has reported at least 59 coronavirus cases, including four of unknown origin.
What is the latest in France?
“Our goal at this stage is limit the spread,” Health Minister Olivier Véran said after Saturday’s cabinet meeting.
Among the events affected by the prohibition of large indoor gatherings is Paris’s annual agricultural fair. Its final day, which was scheduled for Sunday, has been cancelled.
The Paris half-marathon was scrapped as part of a new ban on events that involve “mingling with people from areas where the virus is prevalent”.
Football matches are unaffected.
The French area with most cases is Oise, north of Paris. Most of the 18 infections there appear to be linked to a 60-year-old schoolteacher who died of the Covid-19 respiratory disease earlier this week.
Public gatherings have been banned in Oise, as well as a town in the French Alps where cases have been reported.
The government has urged residents of the worst-hit areas to avoid “non-essential travel” and “work from home if possible “.
What other developments have there been?
- South Korea, which has the highest number of cases outside China, mobilised the army on Saturday. Soldiers have been disinfecting large parts of Daegu, the south-eastern city that has been at the centre of the country’s coronavirus outbreak.
- In Italy, Europe’s worst-affected country with 650 cases and 17 deaths, five Serie A football games have been postponed. The games were going to be played behind closed doors, but the league decided to call them off on Saturday.
- Iran on Saturday said the total number of infections there had reached 593 and 43 patients had died
- Qatar reported its first case, after a 36-year-old Qatari woman who was evacuated to the country from Iran tested positive for the virus, according to state media
- Ecuador also confirmed its first case of the virus
- Three more patients from England tested positive for the virus, bringing the total number of UK cases to 23.
- Officials in the US states of California, Oregon and Washington State reported three cases where patients had no known connection to a badly hit country. The announcements raising concerns the virus could be spreading within the community.
- Factory activity in China fell to a record low in February as manufacturers closed their operations to contain the spread of the disease. Nasa said an economic slowdown following the outbreak was “at least partly” linked to significant decreases in nitrogen oxide over the country
