Trump restricts travel from Europe as coronavirus disrupts life in U.S. - Reuters

WASHINGTON/GENEVA (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States will suspend all passenger travel from continental Europe on Friday to limit the spread of the coronavirus after the outbreak was formally declared a pandemic, sending global markets into a tailspin.

Trump announced the travel ban on live television along with emergency funds to boost the U.S. economy, saying: “This is not a financial crisis. This is just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome together as a nation and as a world.”

Global markets plunged immediately after the announcement, with the U.S. S&P500 futures ESc1 down more than 3%, and Japan’s Nikkei and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 down more than 4%. The dollar lost 1% against the yen.

Trump’s announcement came after Italy, the worst-affected country in Europe, enacted the most severe controls on a Western nation since World War Two, shutting bars, hairdressers and restaurants along with other restrictions already in place.

Other countries closed schools and canceled sports events and other big gatherings. The National Basketball Association suspended the season after a Utah Jazz player tested positive.

U.S. actor Tom Hanks said he and his wife, actress Rita Wilson, had tested positive after they felt tired with slight fevers in Australia, where he is working on a film.

“To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus and were found to be positive,” Hanks, 63, said in a tweet.

He said that he and Wilson, also 63, would be “tested, observed and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires.”

The virus sent the Dow into a bear market for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis as the massive financial stimulus promised by governments around the globe failed to reassure investors.

The United States, which has reported 1,281 cases and 37 deaths, has yet to enact any large-scale containment measures, but major sporting and music events have either been canceled or postponed.

The St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York City has been canceled, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday. The parade, usually held on March 17th, attracts millions of spectators along Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue to celebrate the patron saint of Ireland. The tradition dates back to 1762.

The U.S. travel restrictions on Europe would apply from midnight on Friday, Trump said, adding that similar restrictions on travelers from China and South Korea had helped limit the spread of the virus. The curbs would not apply to travelers from the United Kingdom nor to cargo from Europe.

“We are at a critical time in the fight against the virus. We made a lifesaving move with early action on China. Now we must take the same action with Europe. We will not delay,” said Trump, who had previously downplayed the risks from coronavirus.

There are 126,000 coronavirus cases globally, including more than 4,600 confirmed fatalities, according to a Reuters tally. There were almost 7,000 cases reported in the past day, far surpassing the average daily amount reported in China during the virus’ initial peak.

Wall Street stocks plunged almost 5% before Trump’s announcement on Wednesday, and already skittish investors awaiting details on U.S. measures were unnerved by news that the White House ordered federal health officials to treat dozens of virus-related meetings as classified.

Meanwhile in Europe, Denmark shut all schools and universities after a 10-fold rise in cases since Monday, and strain is mounting on Italy’s healthcare system despite all efforts to contain the outbreak.

The new restrictions in Italy came after confirmed cases rose to 12,462 on Wednesday, from a previous 10,149, with the death toll jumping by 196 in 24 hours to 827.

The country’s 60 million people are under lockdown. “We will only be able to see the effects of this great effort in a couple of weeks,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said.

People walk through the international terminal at LAX airport in front of a Korean Air plane in Los Angeles, California, U.S., amid reports of the coronavirus, March 11, 2020. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said up to 70% of the population was likely to be infected as the virus spreads around the world in the absence of a cure.

Cuba confirmed its first case and, in the Middle East, Qatar reported 238 more coronavirus infections among expatriates under quarantine in a residential compound.

PANDEMIC

While China has seen its outbreak slow dramatically, the number of cases outside China has risen 13-fold in the past two weeks, and the number of countries affected tripled, with Iran and Italy the worst-hit countries in the Middle East and Europe.

“Italy and Iran are in the frontline and are suffering but other countries will be in that situation very soon,” said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) described the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic for the first time on Wednesday but use of the word pandemic does not change the agency’s response, said Dr. Mike Ryan, the head of the Geneva-based agency’s emergencies program.

He also said there was “a strong element of controllability” and “a real chance to blunt the curve... and reduce the number of cases”.

In Tokyo, the pandemic classification fueled concern over how the coronavirus will affect the Summer Olympic Games, scheduled to start July 24.

For now, cancellation remained unthinkable, Kyodo News quoted Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike as saying.

Slideshow (6 Images)

EMERGENCY SPENDING

Trump said he would provide financial relief for workers who are ill, quarantined or caring for others due to the illness, among other financial measures to prop up businesses and individuals affected.

He said more than $200 billion of additional liquidity to the economy would come from the Treasury Department deferring tax payments without interest or penalties for certain individuals and businesses negatively impacted by coronavirus.

Britain launched a 30 billion-pound ($38.54 billion) economic stimulus plan as new finance minister Rishi Sunak said the economy faced a “significant impact” from the spread of the virus, even if it was likely to be temporary.

Australia’s government said it would pump A$17.6 billion ($11.4 billion) into the economy, about 1.2% of GDP, to prevent the coronavirus outbreak from pushing the country into its first recession in nearly 30 years.

Additional reporting by Kate Kelland, Paul Sandle and David Milliken in London; David Lawder, Alexandra Alper and Steve Holland in Washington; Dan Whitcomb and Rory Carroll in Los Angeles, Chris Gallagher in Tokyo; Thomas Escritt and Paul Carrel in Berlin; Giuseppe Fonte and Giulia Segreti in Rome; Ryan Woo in Beijing; Renju Jose in Sydney; Writing by Lisa Shumaker and Stephen Coates; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and XX

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2020-03-12 08:09:12Z
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Trump address sparks chaos as coronavirus crisis deepens - CNN

Trump spoke to the nation at a fearful moment, when the rhythms of everyday American life are starting to shut down -- with schools closing, the NBA suspended, hospitals on high alert and movie icon Tom Hanks saying he and his wife have the disease.

"The virus will not have a chance against us. No nation is more prepared or more resilient than the United States," the President said, before painting a rosy picture of an economy that is already taking a beating from the virus fallout. The President unveiled several measures to help on that score, to help workers who have to self-isolate and hard-hit by shutdowns, though his call for a payroll tax cut is not popular in Congress.

Trump's big announcement for keeping the virus at bay -- what he said was a 30-day ban on travel to the US by Europeans and restrictions on cargo -- was immediately engulfed in confusion.

The President later rushed to clarify on Twitter that he was stopping travel and not trans-Atlantic trade in goods, and officials said his plan did not apply to Americans or US permanent residents -- though such travelers would face mandatory quarantines.

Trump also caused a muddle when he said he had convinced health insurance providers to waive all copayments for coronavirus treatments.

A White House official later said the President had meant to say that the copayments would be waived for coronavirus tests -- but would still apply to treatments for the disease.

Sowing confusion

The confusion was symptomatic of an administration that has often struggled to frame detailed policies and present them coherently. Trump's top assignment on Wednesday was to show that he was in charge and that he appreciated, finally, the grave nature of the weeks that lie ahead. But the confusion over the travel ban turned his speech into something of a debacle and may up exacerbating uncertainty over his leadership.

And his travel ban announcement was made apparently without consultation with the travel industry or US allies and seems set to cause massive disruption that will deepen already cascading economic damage unleashed by the crisis.

The move could cause mass cancellation of trans-Atlantic flights, which could throw the aviation industry into an moment of existential challenge. It is likely to do nothing to quell investor panic after Wall Street on Wednesday dipped into a bear market. For example, Dow Futures plunged more than 1,000 points after Trump's speech.

"This is not a financial crisis. This is just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome together as a nation and as a world," Trump said in his address.

On a more fundamental level, the travel ban plan raised basic questions about the President's understanding of a crisis he has minimized, blamed on Democrats and predicted will just go away soon.

Department of Homeland Security guidance suggested the restrictions exempted US nationals and permanent residents, who would face quarantine when they came home. And the President did not explain why his ban did not include citizens of the UK -- where the virus has also taken root.

But the biggest problem facing the US is not more cases of coronavirus coming from Europe -- it is that the disease has taken root on US soil itself by community spread.

Pressing issues now revolve around how Americans should respond to the situation and to what extent they should change their daily patterns. Trump did advise halting nonessential visits to care homes for the elderly -- the highest risk group from the virus.

But he didn't explain how he would alleviate what health officials fear will be a crowding of hospitals, the continuing lack of proper testing or the coming strain on resources such as breathing machines needed to keep the sickest patients alive.

He argued that the threat was still "very low" for all but the old and infirm, on a day when one of his top public health officials, Dr. Anthony Fauci, predicted the current scenario -- with more than 1,200 people sick in the US and 38 dead, is "going to get worse."

Trump speech likely to split the nation

To Trump's supporters, his address likely came across as a decisive and bold move to face up to a national challenge.

But to critics it followed a familiar playbook -- as he blamed others for the crisis, basked in self-congratulation and xenophobia, and misled the country about his actions so far.

"This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history," Trump said, misrepresenting his own and his administration's catalog of missteps.

The President did not mention, for example, the shortage of testing kits, which means officials cannot even get a strong read on how far the disease has spread across the nation.

Presidents use Oval Office addresses in moments of extremis, to bind Americans together to confront a challenge that threatens their collective security.

But Trump's toneless, almost resentful address as he faces a challenge from outside that could threaten his reelection hopes is unlikely to fulfill the soaring mission of the presidency.

His central remedy -- blaming China, where the crisis was spawned, and Europe for becoming afflicted with it -- was consistent with his political mantra of demonizing foreigners.

The idea that a virus that affects all humans and is a naturally occurring force was some kind of foreign-brewed threat sent to attack Americans is in itself staggering in its conception.

The President did announce a raft of measures to support businesses and individuals with tax relief and low interest rates as the virus tightens its grip on the US.

But Trump's plan to self-isolate the US from Europe appears to be a case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted -- the virus is already here and infecting more Americans by the day.

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2020-03-12 08:02:43Z
52780660238288

Trump restricts travel from Europe as coronavirus disrupts life in U.S. - Reuters

WASHINGTON/GENEVA (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States will suspend all passenger travel from continental Europe on Friday to limit the spread of the coronavirus after the outbreak was formally declared a pandemic, sending global markets into a tailspin.

Trump announced the travel ban on live television along with emergency funds to boost the U.S. economy, saying: “This is not a financial crisis. This is just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome together as a nation and as a world.”

Global markets plunged immediately after the announcement, with the U.S. S&P500 futures ESc1 down more than 3%, and Japan’s Nikkei and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 down more than 4%. The dollar lost 1% against the yen.

Trump’s announcement came after Italy, the worst-affected country in Europe, enacted the most severe controls on a Western nation since World War Two, shutting bars, hairdressers and restaurants along with other restrictions already in place.

Other countries closed schools and canceled sports events and other big gatherings. The National Basketball Association suspended the season after a Utah Jazz player tested positive.

U.S. actor Tom Hanks said he and his wife, actress Rita Wilson, had tested positive after they felt tired with slight fevers in Australia, where he is working on a film.

“To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus and were found to be positive,” Hanks, 63, said in a tweet.

He said that he and Wilson, also 63, would be “tested, observed and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires.”

The virus sent the Dow into a bear market for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis as the massive financial stimulus promised by governments around the globe failed to reassure investors.

The United States, which has reported 1,281 cases and 37 deaths, has yet to enact any large-scale containment measures, but major sporting and music events have either been canceled or postponed.

The St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York City has been canceled, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday. The parade, usually held on March 17th, attracts millions of spectators along Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue to celebrate the patron saint of Ireland. The tradition dates back to 1762.

The U.S. travel restrictions on Europe would apply from midnight on Friday, Trump said, adding that similar restrictions on travelers from China and South Korea had helped limit the spread of the virus. The curbs would not apply to travelers from the United Kingdom nor to cargo from Europe.

“We are at a critical time in the fight against the virus. We made a lifesaving move with early action on China. Now we must take the same action with Europe. We will not delay,” said Trump, who had previously downplayed the risks from coronavirus.

There are 126,000 coronavirus cases globally, including more than 4,600 confirmed fatalities, according to a Reuters tally. There were almost 7,000 cases reported in the past day, far surpassing the average daily amount reported in China during the virus’ initial peak.

Wall Street stocks plunged almost 5% before Trump’s announcement on Wednesday, and already skittish investors awaiting details on U.S. measures were unnerved by news that the White House ordered federal health officials to treat dozens of virus-related meetings as classified.

Meanwhile in Europe, Denmark shut all schools and universities after a 10-fold rise in cases since Monday, and strain is mounting on Italy’s healthcare system despite all efforts to contain the outbreak.

The new restrictions in Italy came after confirmed cases rose to 12,462 on Wednesday, from a previous 10,149, with the death toll jumping by 196 in 24 hours to 827.

The country’s 60 million people are under lockdown. “We will only be able to see the effects of this great effort in a couple of weeks,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said.

People walk through the international terminal at LAX airport in front of a Korean Air plane in Los Angeles, California, U.S., amid reports of the coronavirus, March 11, 2020. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said up to 70% of the population was likely to be infected as the virus spreads around the world in the absence of a cure.

Cuba confirmed its first case and, in the Middle East, Qatar reported 238 more coronavirus infections among expatriates under quarantine in a residential compound.

PANDEMIC

While China has seen its outbreak slow dramatically, the number of cases outside China has risen 13-fold in the past two weeks, and the number of countries affected tripled, with Iran and Italy the worst-hit countries in the Middle East and Europe.

“Italy and Iran are in the frontline and are suffering but other countries will be in that situation very soon,” said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) described the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic for the first time on Wednesday but use of the word pandemic does not change the agency’s response, said Dr. Mike Ryan, the head of the Geneva-based agency’s emergencies program.

He also said there was “a strong element of controllability” and “a real chance to blunt the curve... and reduce the number of cases”.

In Tokyo, the pandemic classification fueled concern over how the coronavirus will affect the Summer Olympic Games, scheduled to start July 24.

For now, cancellation remained unthinkable, Kyodo News quoted Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike as saying.

Slideshow (6 Images)

EMERGENCY SPENDING

Trump said he would provide financial relief for workers who are ill, quarantined or caring for others due to the illness, among other financial measures to prop up businesses and individuals affected.

He said more than $200 billion of additional liquidity to the economy would come from the Treasury Department deferring tax payments without interest or penalties for certain individuals and businesses negatively impacted by coronavirus.

Britain launched a 30 billion-pound ($38.54 billion) economic stimulus plan as new finance minister Rishi Sunak said the economy faced a “significant impact” from the spread of the virus, even if it was likely to be temporary.

Australia’s government said it would pump A$17.6 billion ($11.4 billion) into the economy, about 1.2% of GDP, to prevent the coronavirus outbreak from pushing the country into its first recession in nearly 30 years.

Additional reporting by Kate Kelland, Paul Sandle and David Milliken in London; David Lawder, Alexandra Alper and Steve Holland in Washington; Dan Whitcomb and Rory Carroll in Los Angeles, Chris Gallagher in Tokyo; Thomas Escritt and Paul Carrel in Berlin; Giuseppe Fonte and Giulia Segreti in Rome; Ryan Woo in Beijing; Renju Jose in Sydney; Writing by Lisa Shumaker and Stephen Coates; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and XX

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2020-03-12 07:14:20Z
52780655072705

Trump address sparks chaos as coronavirus crisis deepens - CNN

Trump spoke to the nation at a fearful moment, when the rhythms of everyday American life are starting to shut down -- with schools closing, the NBA suspended, hospitals on high alert and movie icon Tom Hanks saying he and his wife have the disease.

"The virus will not have a chance against us. No nation is more prepared or more resilient than the United States," the President said, before painting a rosy picture of an economy that is already taking a beating from the virus fallout. The President unveiled several measures to help on that score, to help workers who have to self-isolate and hard-hit by shutdowns, though his call for a payroll tax cut is not popular in Congress.

Trump's big announcement for keeping the virus at bay -- what he said was a 30-day ban on travel to the US by Europeans and restrictions on cargo -- was immediately engulfed in confusion.

The President later rushed to clarify on Twitter that he was stopping travel and not trans-Atlantic trade in goods, and officials said his plan did not apply to Americans or US permanent residents -- though such travelers would face mandatory quarantines.

Trump also caused a muddle when he said he had convinced health insurance providers to waive all copayments for coronavirus treatments.

A White House official later said the President had meant to say that the copayments would be waived for coronavirus tests -- but would still apply to treatments for the disease.

Sowing confusion

The confusion was symptomatic of an administration that has often struggled to frame detailed policies and present them coherently. Trump's top assignment on Wednesday was to show that he was in charge and that he appreciated, finally, the grave nature of the weeks that lie ahead. But the confusion over the travel ban turned his speech into something of a debacle and may up exacerbating uncertainty over his leadership.

And his travel ban announcement was made apparently without consultation with the travel industry or US allies and seems set to cause massive disruption that will deepen already cascading economic damage unleashed by the crisis.

The move could cause mass cancellation of trans-Atlantic flights, which could throw the aviation industry into an moment of existential challenge. It is likely to do nothing to quell investor panic after Wall Street on Wednesday dipped into a bear market. For example, Dow Futures plunged more than 1,000 points after Trump's speech.

"This is not a financial crisis. This is just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome together as a nation and as a world," Trump said in his address.

On a more fundamental level, the travel ban plan raised basic questions about the President's understanding of a crisis he has minimized, blamed on Democrats and predicted will just go away soon.

Department of Homeland Security guidance suggested the restrictions exempted US nationals and permanent residents, who would face quarantine when they came home. And the President did not explain why his ban did not include citizens of the UK -- where the virus has also taken root.

But the biggest problem facing the US is not more cases of coronavirus coming from Europe -- it is that the disease has taken root on US soil itself by community spread.

Pressing issues now revolve around how Americans should respond to the situation and to what extent they should change their daily patterns. Trump did advise halting nonessential visits to care homes for the elderly -- the highest risk group from the virus.

But he didn't explain how he would alleviate what health officials fear will be a crowding of hospitals, the continuing lack of proper testing or the coming strain on resources such as breathing machines needed to keep the sickest patients alive.

He argued that the threat was still "very low" for all but the old and infirm, on a day when one of his top public health officials, Dr. Anthony Fauci, predicted the current scenario -- with more than 1,200 people sick in the US and 38 dead, is "going to get worse."

Trump speech likely to split the nation

To Trump's supporters, his address likely came across as a decisive and bold move to face up to a national challenge.

But to critics it followed a familiar playbook -- as he blamed others for the crisis, basked in self-congratulation and xenophobia, and misled the country about his actions so far.

"This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history," Trump said, misrepresenting his own and his administration's catalog of missteps.

The President did not mention, for example, the shortage of testing kits, which means officials cannot even get a strong read on how far the disease has spread across the nation.

Presidents use Oval Office addresses in moments of extremis, to bind Americans together to confront a challenge that threatens their collective security.

But Trump's toneless, almost resentful address as he faces a challenge from outside that could threaten his reelection hopes is unlikely to fulfill the soaring mission of the presidency.

His central remedy -- blaming China, where the crisis was spawned, and Europe for becoming afflicted with it -- was consistent with his political mantra of demonizing foreigners.

The idea that a virus that affects all humans and is a naturally occurring force was some kind of foreign-brewed threat sent to attack Americans is in itself staggering in its conception.

The President did announce a raft of measures to support businesses and individuals with tax relief and low interest rates as the virus tightens its grip on the US.

But Trump's plan to self-isolate the US from Europe appears to be a case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted -- the virus is already here and infecting more Americans by the day.

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2020-03-12 07:13:01Z
52780660238288

U.S. suspends travel from Europe as coronavirus forces Italy to tighten lockdown - Reuters

WASHINGTON/GENEVA (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States will suspend all passenger travel from continental Europe on Friday to limit the spread of the coronavirus after the outbreak was formally declared a pandemic, sending global markets into a tailspin.

Trump announced the travel ban on live television along with emergency funds to boost the U.S. economy, saying: “This is not a financial crisis. This is just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome together as a nation and as a world.”

Global markets plunged immediately after the announcement, with the U.S. S&P500 futures ESc1 down more than 3%, and Japan’s Nikkei and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 down more than 4%. The dollar lost 1% against the yen.

Trump’s announcement came after Italy, the worst-affected country in Europe, enacted the most severe controls on a Western nation since World War Two, shutting bars, hairdressers and restaurants along with other restrictions already in place.

Other countries closed schools and canceled sports events and other big gatherings. The National Basketball Association suspended the season after a Utah Jazz player tested positive.

U.S. actor Tom Hanks said he and his wife, actress Rita Wilson, had tested positive after they felt tired with slight fevers in Australia, where he is working on a film.

“To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus and were found to be positive,” Hanks, 63, said in a tweet.

He said that he and Wilson, also 63, would be “tested, observed and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires.”

The virus sent the Dow into a bear market for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis as the massive financial stimulus promised by governments around the globe failed to reassure investors.

The United States, which has reported 1,281 cases and 37 deaths, has yet to enact any large-scale containment measures, but major sporting and music events have either been canceled or postponed.

The St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York City has been canceled, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday. The parade, usually held on March 17th, attracts millions of spectators along Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue to celebrate the patron saint of Ireland. The tradition dates back to 1762.

The U.S. travel restrictions on Europe would apply from midnight on Friday, Trump said, adding that similar restrictions on travelers from China and South Korea had helped limit the spread of the virus. The curbs would not apply to travelers from the United Kingdom nor to cargo from Europe.

“We are at a critical time in the fight against the virus. We made a lifesaving move with early action on China. Now we must take the same action with Europe. We will not delay,” said Trump, who had previously downplayed the risks from coronavirus.

There are 126,000 coronavirus cases globally, including more than 4,600 confirmed fatalities, according to a Reuters tally. There were almost 7,000 cases reported in the past day, far surpassing the average daily amount reported in China during the virus’ initial peak.

Wall Street stocks plunged almost 5% before Trump’s announcement on Wednesday, and already skittish investors awaiting details on U.S. measures were unnerved by news that the White House ordered federal health officials to treat dozens of virus-related meetings as classified.

Meanwhile in Europe, Denmark shut all schools and universities after a 10-fold rise in cases since Monday, and strain is mounting on Italy’s healthcare system despite all efforts to contain the outbreak.

The new restrictions in Italy came after confirmed cases rose to 12,462 on Wednesday, from a previous 10,149, with the death toll jumping by 196 in 24 hours to 827.

The country’s 60 million people are under lockdown. “We will only be able to see the effects of this great effort in a couple of weeks,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said.

People walk through the international terminal at LAX airport in front of a Korean Air plane in Los Angeles, California, U.S., amid reports of the coronavirus, March 11, 2020. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said up to 70% of the population was likely to be infected as the virus spreads around the world in the absence of a cure.

Cuba confirmed its first case and, in the Middle East, Qatar reported 238 more coronavirus infections among expatriates under quarantine in a residential compound.

PANDEMIC

While China has seen its outbreak slow dramatically, the number of cases outside China has risen 13-fold in the past two weeks, and the number of countries affected tripled, with Iran and Italy the worst-hit countries in the Middle East and Europe.

“Italy and Iran are in the frontline and are suffering but other countries will be in that situation very soon,” said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) described the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic for the first time on Wednesday but use of the word pandemic does not change the agency’s response, said Dr. Mike Ryan, the head of the Geneva-based agency’s emergencies program.

He also said there was “a strong element of controllability” and “a real chance to blunt the curve... and reduce the number of cases”.

In Tokyo, the pandemic classification fueled concern over how the coronavirus will affect the Summer Olympic Games, scheduled to start July 24.

For now, cancellation remained unthinkable, Kyodo News quoted Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike as saying.

Slideshow (6 Images)

EMERGENCY SPENDING

Trump said he would provide financial relief for workers who are ill, quarantined or caring for others due to the illness, among other financial measures to prop up businesses and individuals affected.

He said more than $200 billion of additional liquidity to the economy would come from the Treasury Department deferring tax payments without interest or penalties for certain individuals and businesses negatively impacted by coronavirus.

Britain launched a 30 billion-pound ($38.54 billion) economic stimulus plan as new finance minister Rishi Sunak said the economy faced a “significant impact” from the spread of the virus, even if it was likely to be temporary.

Australia’s government said it would pump A$17.6 billion ($11.4 billion) into the economy, about 1.2% of GDP, to prevent the coronavirus outbreak from pushing the country into its first recession in nearly 30 years.

Additional reporting by Kate Kelland, Paul Sandle and David Milliken in London; David Lawder, Alexandra Alper and Steve Holland in Washington; Dan Whitcomb and Rory Carroll in Los Angeles, Chris Gallagher in Tokyo; Thomas Escritt and Paul Carrel in Berlin; Giuseppe Fonte and Giulia Segreti in Rome; Ryan Woo in Beijing; Renju Jose in Sydney; Writing by Lisa Shumaker and Stephen Coates; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and XX

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2020-03-12 06:35:17Z
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Sixteen more years? Russian parliament backs move to keep Putin in power - Reuters

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Constitutional changes allowing Vladimir Putin to run for president again in 2024 sailed through both houses of Russia’s parliament on Wednesday, raising the prospect he could clock up over three decades in the Kremlin.

FILE PHOTO: Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a session of the lower house of parliament to consider constitutional changes in Moscow, Russia March 10, 2020. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

Putin, 67, who has dominated Russia’s political landscape for two decades as either president or prime minister, made a dramatic appearance in the lower chamber a day earlier to argue that term limits were less important in times of crisis.

A former KGB officer, Putin is currently required by the constitution to step down in 2024 when his second sequential and fourth presidential term ends. But the amendment which he backed would formally reset his own presidential term tally to zero. Successors would face a two-term limit however.

The 450-seat State Duma, the lower house of parliament, on Wednesday backed the term reset for Putin, along with other amendments to the constitution, by 383 votes, in a third and final reading. Nobody voted against; 43 lawmakers abstained.

Hours later, the 170-seat Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, gave its approval by 160 votes to one with just three abstentions.

If, as Putin critics expect, regional parliaments and the constitutional court now give their blessing and the overall changes are backed in a nationwide vote in April, Putin would have the option to run again for president in 2024.

Were he to do that, and his health and electoral fortunes allowed, he could potentially stay in office for another two back-to-back six-year terms until 2036 at which point he would be 83 and have spent 36 years at the top of Russian politics.

Such a scenario would see him wield power longer than Soviet leader Josef Stalin, but still leave him well short of Tsar Peter the Great, who reigned for 43 years.

PRESIDENT FOR LIFE?

Kremlin critic and opposition politician Alexei Navalny has said he believed Putin was trying to become president for life.

Putin has not spelled out his plans after 2024, but has said he does not favor the Soviet-era practice of leaders remaining in place until they die.

Opposition politician and former lawmaker Dmitry Gudkov said on Wednesday he thought the changes had dealt a mortal blow to the country’s constitution.

“Russia has lost its constitution, which didn’t work anyway,” Gudkov wrote on social media. “The fig leaf has fallen off the regime and we can see who turned out to be beneath it.”

Putin in January unveiled a major shake-up of Russian politics and a constitutional overhaul, which the Kremlin billed as a redistribution of power from the presidency to parliament.

But Putin’s critics say the reform was merely a smoke screen to give the country’s ruling elite a way to keep Putin in power after 2024.

Opposition activists have said they plan to organize protests as early as Friday. Their plans are complicated however by an order from Moscow’s government which has banned public gatherings of more than 5,000 people until April 10 due to coronavirus-related risks.

Putin remains popular with many Russians, who see him as a welcome source of stability, even as others complain that he has been in power for too long.

Slideshow (5 Images)

Two people staged lone pickets outside the State Duma on Wednesday. One of them Gleb Tumanov, 31, said he was a member of the Yabloko party, and held a banner calling the move “an usurpation of power.”

“I’m here because of Vladimir Putin’s desire to stay for a fifth term or even maybe a sixth,” said Tumanov.

“It just feels sad. And reminiscent of the Soviet Union. I didn’t spend very much time living in the Soviet Union obviously but neither do I have any desire to do so.”

Additional reporting by Andrey Kuzmin, Alexander Marrow, Anton Zverev and Maria Tsvetkova; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Philippa Fletcher

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2020-03-11 14:40:05Z
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Beijing to quarantine all international arrivals as coronavirus cases rise - New York Post

Beijing on Wednesday ordered people arriving from all other countries into a 14-day quarantine as China — where the coronavirus outbreak first began — is now seeing an increase in imported cases.

Zhang Qiang, a city government official, said at a Wednesday press conference that even those landing from “non-epidemic countries” will need to go into a 14-day quarantine.

The sprawling capital city had already required quarantine for people arriving from hard-hit countries including South Korea, Iran, Italy and Japan.

China’s President Xi Jingping visited Wuhan — the original epicenter of COVID-19 — on Tuesday and declared that it had “basically curbed” the spread of the disease.

The number of new infections had been on the downturn in recent weeks, but saw a slight uptick Wednesday because of an increase in imported cases.

Travelers arriving in Beijing for business trips must stay in a designated hotel and undergo a nucleic acid test for the virus, Zhang said.

People flying into Beijing Capital International Airport from high-risk countries are now handled separately from other arrivals, state media reported Tuesday.

Flights from Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan will arrive at a designated area of the terminal, an airport staff member told Agence France-Presse Wednesday.

Travelers needing to be quarantined will be sent to the nearby New China International Exhibition Center, the staffer said.

Cases in Wuhan fell to a new low Wednesday, with 13 infections reported Wednesday, and only one other non-imported case recorded elsewhere in the country.

Wuhan and the surrounding province of Hubei have been under lockdown since late January in an unprecedented effort to keep 56 million people from traveling to other parts of China.

Twenty-two more deaths and 24 new cases were reported nationwide Wednesday, according to the National Health Commission.

Ten of those cases came from abroad — the majority from Italy, which has seen the greatest number of infections outside China.

In total, China has now reported 79 coronavirus cases imported from abroad.

Overall, 81,000 people have been infected in China since the start of the outbreak, with a large majority already recovered. A total of 3,158 people had died by Wednesday.

The outbreak has spread to over 100 countries, and killed more than 4,000 worldwide.

With Post wires

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2020-03-11 13:06:00Z
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