As the number of novel coronavirus cases topped 1,000 in the United States amid widening public disruption, Asian nations were struggling to recover from their own outbreaks Wednesday.
In the United States, government officials and businesses announced sweeping steps to contain the rapidly expanding outbreak. Five more deaths — including two in Washington state and one each in California, New Jersey and South Dakota — were reported Tuesday, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to 31.
In China, where the number of new cases is in decline, leader Xi Jinping made a long-awaited visit to Wuhan on Tuesday. But the victorious stance was complicated by the announcement of newly imported cases — including one from the United States — and mixed messages about travel restrictions. In South Korea, where numbers of new cases had also dropped, a cluster of new cases in Seoul looks likely it could reverse the positive trend.
The total number of cases worldwide neared 120,000 by Wednesday morning, with more than 80,000 in China and more than 10,000 in Italy. Both Iran and South Korea now have around 8,000 confirmed cases and other nations are suggesting they will reach similar levels soon.
Here are the latest developments:
- China announced another decline in the number of new cases, with just 24 across the country and 22 deaths. But there were also more signs of the infection being imported from abroad, with 10 cases involving people who had arrived from outside China — including one coming from the United States.
- South Korea’s tally of new confirmed cases, which had been declining as the country continued its mass testing program, rose to 242 on Wednesday, almost doubling the previous day’s numbers. The surge has been linked to a cluster of new cases at a call center in Seoul, where at least 90 cases have been confirmed.
- Across the United States, there are now more than 1,000 reported cases of covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. A growing list of at least 19 states have declared a state of emergency, including on Tuesday Colorado, North Carolina and Michigan, the latter of which reported its first two cases.
- Italy saw a surge in deaths on Tuesday with the total number passing 600 as health-care workers described a frenetic rush to save lives. A lockdown came into force across the entire nationand will remain in place until at least April 3.
- After Asian markets closed down, European markets began to see gains on Wednesday morning as the Bank of England announced it would cut interest rates to a record low in a bid to boost spending. Oil prices, rising earlier in the day, reversed course after Saudi oil company Aramco said it will increase production capacity to 13 million barrels per day, intensifying a virus-linked price war.
