Pope Francis delivers the Urbi and Orbi ("To the City and To the World") prayer in an empty St. Peter's Square Friday evening.
Yara Nardi/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Yara Nardi/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
As the death toll of the global coronavirus epidemic continues to rise, Pope Francis celebrated an extraordinary ritual Friday evening at the Vatican.
The pope prayed for an end of the epidemic and delivered his homily against the dramatic backdrop of an empty St. Peter's Square, glistening in the rain.
"We find ourselves afraid and lost," Francis said. "We were caught off-guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm. We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented ... all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other."
On Friday, Italy reported 919 new deaths from COVID-19, its highest daily death toll. The country now has more than 86,000 cases and more than 9,100 deaths. There are more than 580,000 cases and 25,000 deaths worldwide.
The pope's "Urbi et Orbi" (To the City and the World) blessing, normally delivered at Christmas and Easter, was livestreamed on social media and broadcast on television and radio.
The pope granted an exceptional plenary indulgence for Roman Catholics across the world suffering from the virus, and for health care workers — but most of all, for those who may die in isolation, unable to receive their last rites.
Get all the latest news on coronavirus and more delivered daily to your inbox. Sign up here.
Four “older" passengers aboard a cruise ship operated by Holland America have passed away after exhibiting influenza-like symptoms, the cruise line confirmed Friday.
The Zaandam, which is currently off the coast of Panama, has a total of 138 passengers and crew reporting illnesses, with two testing positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.
The ship originally departed from Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 7, was scheduled for a 14-day cruise of South America, with plans to disembark in San Antonio, Chile, on March 21. By March 13, however, Holland America announced it would temporarily be suspending all sailings for at least 30 days, and ending its current cruises in progress "as quickly as possible.” Holland America said the ship was originally cleared to dock in Punta Arenas, Chile, to disembark passengers for flights home, but was ultimately “not permitted to do so.”
The Zaandam instead docked in Valparaiso, Chile, but only for supplies and medicine.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and we are doing everything we can to support them during this difficult time," wrote Holland America of the four older guests who passed away.
Holland America then deployed the Rotterdam liner to rendezvous with the Zaandam to provide extra supplies, staff, COVID-19 test kids and other support as needed. The two ships made the rendezvous on March 26, and medical supplies and staff were transported to the Zaandam.
On Friday, Holland America said it would be transferring healthy guests to the Rotterdam in conjunction with CDC guidelines.
“Only those who have not been ill will be moved, and health screenings will be conducted before transferring,” Holland America wrote in a statement. “Priority for the first guests to transfer will be given to those on Zaandam with inside staterooms and who are over 70. Once aboard Rotterdam, all guests will continue to remain in their staterooms until disembarkation. Any guests who are currently ill, or in isolation as a close contact, and all crew will remain on Zaandam.”
Included among those feeling ill are 53 passengers and 85 crew members. There were a total of 1,243 guests and 586 crew on board.
The cruise line also confirmed the death of four “older guests,” though Holland America did not say where they were from, or whether the two positive COVID-19 cases were among them.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and we are doing everything we can to support them during this difficult time," wrote Holland America.
The ships are now organizing passage to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., via the Panama Canal.
Holland America, a subsidiary of Carnival Cruises, had originally announced the temporary suspension of all sailings on March 13. Cruises that departed before that time were to head to ports to allow guests to disembark and return home, a Carnival spokesperson said last week.
Both the CDC and the U.S. State Department have since advised that Americans avoid traveling by cruise ship.
WUHAN, China (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping told U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday that he would have China’s support in fighting the coronavirus, as Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak emerged, reopened to incoming traffic.
The United States now has the most coronavirus cases of any country, with nearly 85,000 infections. Hospitals in cities including New York and New Orleans are struggling to cope with the wave of patients.
Wuhan, where the virus is believed to have originated late last year in a seafood market and which had been on lockdown for more than two months, was open to incoming traffic late on Friday, although cars were not allowed to leave.
Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, removed border restrictions on Wednesday for all but Wuhan, which will allow people to leave the city starting on April 8.
At a checkpoint entering the city on Friday night, three lanes were open to traffic but there were few cars, with a lone figure in military fatigues standing at each lane checking the mobile phone health codes of arriving passengers.
Along the highway entering the city of 11 million, blue and white signs pointed traffic to the now-closed Huoshenshan Hospital, which was built in eight days and opened in early February and came to symbolize China’s aggressive management of the outbreak after a fumbled early effort.
Other evidence of the outbreak that devastated the city included posters dated Feb. 16 seeking volunteers to help battle the epidemic.
“Exits out of the city are still shut. We respectfully ask for your understanding,” one road sign along the highway said.
Numerous people have been trapped inside and outside of Wuhan and Hubei and many of the cars entering the city had Wuhan number plates, indicating they were returning residents.
WAR OF WORDS
Xi’s offer of assistance to the United States in a telephone call came amid a long-running war of words between Beijing and Washington over various issues including the coronavirus epidemic.
Trump and some U.S. officials have accused China of a lack of transparency on the virus, and Trump has at times called the coronavirus a “China virus” as it originated there, angering Beijing.
In the call, Xi reiterated to Trump that China had been open and transparent about the epidemic, according to an account of the conversation published by the Chinese foreign ministry.
Trump said on Twitter that he discussed the coronavirus outbreak “in great detail” with Xi.
Customs officers in protective suits are seen near a Sichuan Airlines aircraft on the tarmac of Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport following a global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China March 26, 2020. cnsphoto via REUTERS
“China has been through much & has developed a strong understanding of the virus,” Trump said. “We are working closely together. Much respect!”.
The World Health Organization has said the United States, which saw 17,099 new coronavirus cases and 281 deaths in the past 24 hours, is expected to become the epicenter of the pandemic.
CHINA CUTS FLIGHTS
Like U.S. hospitals now, China’s medical system struggled to contain the coronavirus just two months ago, but draconian city lockdowns and severe travel restrictions have seen the epidemic ease.
Mainland China on Friday reported its first local coronavirus case in three days and 54 new imported cases, as Beijing ordered airlines to sharply cut international flights, for fear travelers could reignite the outbreak.
The 55 new cases detected on Thursday were down from 67 a day earlier, the National Health Commission said, taking the tally of infections to 81,340. China’s death toll stood at 3,292 as of Thursday, up by five from a day earlier.
Hubei province, with a population of about 60 million, reported no new cases on Thursday, a day after lifting a lockdown and reopening its borders.
China’s commercial capital of Shanghai reported the most new imported cases with 17, followed by 12 in the southern province of Guangdong and four each in the capital Beijing and the nearby city of Tianjin.
Slideshow (3 Images)
Shanghai now has 125 patients who arrived from overseas, including 46 from Britain and 27 from the United States.
In effect from Sunday, China has ordered its airlines to fly only one route to any country, on just one flight each week. Foreign airlines must comply with similar curbs on flights to China, although many had already halted services.
About 90% of current international flights into China will be suspended, cutting arrivals to 5,000 passengers a day, from 25,000, the civil aviation regulator said late on Thursday.
Reporting by Se Young Lee, Lusha Zhang, Stella Qiu, David Stanway, Huizhong Wu, Colin Qian and Ryan Woo; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Tony Munroe and Nick Macfie
In a video posted to his official Twitter page, Johnson said that "thanks to the wizardry of modern technology," he would continue to lead the effort remotely from the prime ministerial quarters above 11 Downing Street, next door to one of the most famous addresses on earth.
But how can the leader of a country with a population of over 66 million carry on as normal while self-isolating during a global health crisis? Especially as his health secretary also tested positive for the virus, and that his chief medical officer self-isolated with symptoms.
Isolating the Prime Minister is not that difficult, in itself. The Downing Street premises are actually considerably bigger than they look from the outside. Behind that famous black door at Number 10 lies a warren of rooms and offices that extend sideways into 11 and 12 Downing Street -- the three addresses are all that survive from a longer terrace constructed at the end of the 17th century -- and back into a much larger 18th-century building at the rear.
Johnson lives in a rather modest apartment above Number 11, which is easily shut off from Number 10. (A Downing Street spokesman said earlier on Friday that the connecting door between the two buildings would be shut.) Anything that the Prime Minister needs, whether official papers or deliveries of food and drink, will be left outside a door for him to collect. However, in an effort to contain the virus, Downing Street will try to keep even this level of contact at a minimum.
Meetings will take place via video conference. While this might sound unusual, some of Johnson's most important regular appointments had already stopped being personal interactions. For example, recent meetings of the UK's Cabinet have taken place virtually. And Johnson's spokesperson confirmed that it had been at least two weeks since the Prime Minister's traditional weekly audience with the Queen had switched from being an in-person meeting at the Palace to a down-the-line phone call.
Inside 10 Downing Street itself, considered a place of work more than a place of residence, the roughly 250-strong teams of civil servants and political advisers has been stripped back to only essential workers, with approximately 70 people on site at any given time. Johnson's official spokesperson said that inside No 10, staff had been "observing the advice on social distancing" and using video conferencing wherever possible.
However straightforward that sounds, there are legitimate questions at how sustainable it is to run a country in this manner.
First, there are the Prime Minister's daily commitments.
At the moment, Johnson's day has a familiar pattern. At 8:15 a.m, a team meets to discuss the latest coronavirus updates without the Prime Minister. That team consists of the chief medical officer (CMO), the chief scientific adviser (CSA), the Health Secretary and other Cabinet ministers whose presence might be relevant on a given day.
At 9:15 a.m, Johnson holds a meeting with secretaries of state, the CMO, CSA and various political advisers. That's when the government's daily agenda starts to take shape. The Prime Minister's day will typically be full of meetings with experts and advisers, leading up to a daily press conference, held at around 5 p.m. local time, where the government updates the UK's estimated 66 million citizens on the latest government guidelines and policy. The Prime Minster has so far led most of these events -- which in the past few days have been conducted with journalists dialing in via video link.
Much of this work can be done effectively using technology -- or, in the case of the Prime Minister's absence from these press conferences, by deploying surrogates. However, shortly after Johnson's statement, one of his prominent stand-ins, Health Secretary Matt Hancock, confirmed that he too had the virus and would also be self-isolating. And later on Friday afternoon, Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, who has been at the center of the country's coronavirus response, confirmed that he had COVID-19 symptoms and would be self-isolating for seven days. He will also continue to work remotely.
Just how many more people around the Prime Minister are at risk of having coronavirus? Despite its size, Downing Street is crammed full of small offices and narrow corridors. Top officials insist they have been taking the government's social distancing guidelines seriously, pointing journalists to a video from Thursday night of Johnson leaving Downing Street to take part in a national moment of applause for NHS workers, showing him standing a safe distance from his finance minister, Rishi Sunak, as he did so.
However, others inside Downing Street privately complain that it is impossible fully to adhere to the 6ft social distance rules and that some people have coming to work clearly displaying symptoms.
For weeks, there had been speculation about how long it would take before coronavirus would hit heart of the British establishment. Westminster politics takes place in a small physical space in the SW1 postal district of London, rammed full of politicos, journalists, lobbyists and the rest. It's an insular network of people who, by the nature of what they do, rely on a huge amount of social interaction.
The team around Boris Johnson were some of the last people standing in the wake of this crisis. Now we will see exactly how effectively a country like the UK can be run remotely.
Get all the latest news on coronavirus and more delivered daily to your inbox. Sign up here.
The Chinese government is accusing the United States of engaging in “malicious fabrication” over its efforts to get the U.N. Security Council to state explicitly that the coronavirus pandemic began in Wuhan, China -- part of an escalating battle between the two countries on the matter.
NBC News first reported Thursday that talks at the council over a joint declaration or resolution on the global pandemic have stalled over the U.S. demand that it explicitly name Wuhan as the source of the virus.
A source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to Fox News that the U.S. suggested language that would name Wuhan, China, and that the Chinese were unhappy about the push.
“All members of the Security Council must recognize the threat that China’s mishandling of the outbreak poses to international peace and security,” a State Department official later told Fox News. “The People’s Republic of China has been more interested in saving face than saving lives.”
The Chinese Mission to the U.N., when asked by Fox News about the effort, said on Thursday that it was “astonished by the choice of the United States to use whatever venue and opportunity for politicizing the COVID-19 and blaming China, which we strongly oppose.”
“The groundless accusations and malicious fabrication from the United States aim at shirking its own responsibilities, which severely poisoned the atmosphere of the global cooperation in containing the outbreak,” a spokesperson said. “We strongly urge the United States to stop such irresponsible practices and listen to the voice of the American people. The United States should indeed shoulder its responsibilities to save lives instead of going further down the wrong path.”
The U.S. State Department official said on Thursday that the U.S. backs a resolution that would praise first responders and medical personnel and reinforce the importance of international cooperation, as well as the need for all member states to act quickly and with full transparency to end the pandemic. It would also back a resolution that demands a pause to all hostilities to enable the international community to quickly tackle the spread of the virus.
But the official also noted that, since the virus broke in China, Beijing has a “special responsibility” to be fully transparent about the virus: “Instead they suppressed information and punished doctors and journalists who raised the alarm.”
“We call on PRC authorities to provide accurate and prompt public health reporting, timely access to all relevant information, and respect for freedom of expression so that lessons learned, best practices, and innovations can be shared freely between peoples to facilitate the most globally effective response to minimize deaths,” the official said.
President Trump has repeatedly named the coronavirus “the Chinese virus” and has blamed the Chinese for its “secretive” approach in the early days of the crisis. That was after Chinese officials began dabbling in conspiracy theories that the U.S. Army was the cause of the virus.
But Trump has also taken a conciliatory approach to Chinese President Xi Jinping, with whom he says he has a good relationship.
"Just finished a very good conversation with President Xi of China. Discussed in great detail the CoronaVirus that is ravaging large parts of our Planet. China has been through much & has developed a strong understanding of the Virus. We are working closely together. Much respect," Trump tweeted Friday.
In a video posted to his official Twitter page, Johnson said that "thanks to the wizardry of modern technology," he would continue to lead the effort remotely from the prime ministerial quarters above 11 Downing Street, next door to one of the most famous addresses on earth.
But how can the leader of a country with a population of over 66 million carry on as normal while self-isolating during a global health crisis? Especially as his health secretary also tested positive for the virus, and that his chief medical officer self-isolated with symptoms.
Isolating the Prime Minister is not that difficult, in itself. The Downing Street premises are actually considerably bigger than they look from the outside. Behind that famous black door at Number 10 lies a warren of rooms and offices that extend sideways into 11 and 12 Downing Street -- the three addresses are all that survive from a longer terrace constructed at the end of the 17th century -- and back into a much larger 18th-century building at the rear.
Johnson lives in a rather modest apartment above Number 11, which is easily shut off from Number 10. (A Downing Street spokesman said earlier on Friday that the connecting door between the two buildings would be shut.) Anything that the Prime Minister needs, whether official papers or deliveries of food and drink, will be left outside a door for him to collect. However, in an effort to contain the virus, Downing Street will try to keep even this level of contact at a minimum.
Meetings will take place via video conference. While this might sound unusual, some of Johnson's most important regular appointments had already stopped being personal interactions. For example, recent meetings of the UK's Cabinet have taken place virtually. And Johnson's spokesperson confirmed that it had been at least two weeks since the Prime Minister's traditional weekly audience with the Queen had switched from being an in-person meeting at the Palace to a down-the-line phone call.
Inside 10 Downing Street itself, considered a place of work more than a place of residence, the roughly 250-strong teams of civil servants and political advisers has been stripped back to only essential workers, with approximately 70 people on site at any given time. Johnson's official spokesperson said that inside No 10, staff had been "observing the advice on social distancing" and using video conferencing wherever possible.
However straightforward that sounds, there are legitimate questions at how sustainable it is to run a country in this manner.
First, there are the Prime Minister's daily commitments.
At the moment, Johnson's day has a familiar pattern. At 8:15 a.m, a team meets to discuss the latest coronavirus updates without the Prime Minister. That team consists of the chief medical officer (CMO), the chief scientific adviser (CSA), the Health Secretary and other Cabinet ministers whose presence might be relevant on a given day.
At 9:15 a.m, Johnson holds a meeting with secretaries of state, the CMO, CSA and various political advisers. That's when the government's daily agenda starts to take shape. The Prime Minister's day will typically be full of meetings with experts and advisers, leading up to a daily press conference, held at around 5 p.m. local time, where the government updates the UK's estimated 66 million citizens on the latest government guidelines and policy. The Prime Minster has so far led most of these events -- which in the past few days have been conducted with journalists dialing in via video link.
Much of this work can be done effectively using technology -- or, in the case of the Prime Minister's absence from these press conferences, by deploying surrogates. However, shortly after Johnson's statement, one of his prominent stand-ins, Health Secretary Matt Hancock, confirmed that he too had the virus and would also be self-isolating. And later on Friday afternoon, Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, who has been at the center of the country's coronavirus response, confirmed that he had COVID-19 symptoms and would be self-isolating for seven days. He will also continue to work remotely.
Just how many more people around the Prime Minister are at risk of having coronavirus? Despite its size, Downing Street is crammed full of small offices and narrow corridors. Top officials insist they have been taking the government's social distancing guidelines seriously, pointing journalists to a video from Thursday night of Johnson leaving Downing Street to take part in a national moment of applause for NHS workers, showing him standing a safe distance from his finance minister, Rishi Sunak, as he did so.
However, others inside Downing Street privately complain that it is impossible fully to adhere to the 6ft social distance rules and that some people have coming to work clearly displaying symptoms.
For weeks, there had been speculation about how long it would take before coronavirus would hit heart of the British establishment. Westminster politics takes place in a small physical space in the SW1 postal district of London, rammed full of politicos, journalists, lobbyists and the rest. It's an insular network of people who, by the nature of what they do, rely on a huge amount of social interaction.
The team around Boris Johnson were some of the last people standing in the wake of this crisis. Now we will see exactly how effectively a country like the UK can be run remotely.
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israel appeared headed for a unity government on Friday after opposition leader Benny Gantz moved toward an agreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, disappointing voters who had hoped to bring down the right-wing premier.
FILE PHOTO: A banner depicts Benny Gantz, leader of Blue and White party, and Israel Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as part of Blue and White party's campaign ahead of the upcoming election, in Tel Aviv, Israel February 17, 2020. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo
Gantz was elected parliamentary speaker on Thursday with support from Netanyahu’s Likud and allied parties, angering many of his own partners over the possibility he could form an alliance with a leader who is under criminal indictment.
Gantz cited the coronavirus epidemic as the reason for his decision. Israel, with 3,000 cases of the disease and 10 deaths, is under partial lockdown.
The shock move splintered Gantz’s centrist Blue and White coalition of three parties just 13 months after it came into existence as a grouping of Netanyahu opponents intent on bringing down Israel’s longest-serving prime minister.
It also drew an angry response from some among the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who turned out to support Gantz’s coalition in three elections in the past year. Some commentators accused the former general of caving in to Netanyahu.
“It makes me feel terrible. It’s exactly what I did not want to happen, to see Gantz actually partner with Netanyahu,” said Tami Golan, 46, who voted for Gantz in all three elections.
“I understand the coronavirus makes for a special situation, but I can’t help but feel disappointed - we might not be done with Netanyahu,” Golan said.
Gantz, 60, expressed regret on Friday his decision had split his centrist alliance but said dragging the country toward a fourth election would distract from fighting the coronavirus and aiding the economy.
“(We) will make every effort to establish a national emergency government. We will take care of the health crisis. We will lift the country out of economic trauma,” Gantz wrote on his Facebook page.
At least one member of Gantz’s own Israel Resilience party came out against him on Friday - a lawmaker from Israel’s Arab Druze minority.
“A leader does not betray his principles and his electorate ... I will not sit one day under the corrupt (premier),” Gadeer Mreeh wrote on Twitter.
But with Netanyahu’s coalition of right-wing parties needing only three more seats to reach a majority in the 120-member parliament, the early defection from Gantz’s 15-strong faction was unlikely to put a dent in moves toward a unity government.
During the campaign for the March 2 election, Gantz had ruled out serving with Netanyahu, citing the prime minister’s looming trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Netanyahu denies the charges.
But Gantz has lacked enough support on the center and left to form a coalition after being asked by President Reuven Rivlin to try to form a government following the election.
Netanyahu, 70, had proposed a unity government to tackle the coronavirus, promising to step down as prime minister within an agreed period, with Gantz then taking over.
Gantz’s move on Thursday opened up the possibility of such a “rotation” deal, but there has been no formal announcement that such an agreement had been reached.
Reporting by Rami Ayyub; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Frances Kerry and Nick Macfie
