The World Health Organisation (WHO) has described the coronavirus pandemic as the “defining global health crisis of our time”, and urged countries to test all suspected cases.
The disease has infected 1,84,976 people and killed over 7,500, according to the WHO, with close to 80,000 recoveries.
The French Open tennis tournament has been postponed by four months, becoming the latest sporting event to be affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Here is a look at what different countries are doing to check the spread of the virus.
Australia
The Australian government has issued advisory asking people to not travel anywhere overseas; it has also banned non-essential gatherings.
Italy
The government has pressed in about 10,000 student doctors into service to lend a helping hand to healthcare professionals managing the disease. Italy has emerged as coronavirus hotspot; in fact, the upward slope of new infections in the country tracks almost exactly the trajectory of cases in Wuhan, China, where the global pandemic began three months ago.
Belgium
Like other European countries, Belgium is putting itself under total lockdown. Belgian Prime minister Sophie Wilmes said the residents should stay at home but will still be allowed to run errands, go to work if working remotely is not an option, and to physically exercise outdoors accompanied by one person.
New York
The administration is considering a total lockdown. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said he was weighing whether to order the city’s 8.5 million residents to “shelter in place” at home, as state and local officials escalated “social distancing” policies by closing schools, restaurants and theaters to curb the spread of the virus.
Denmark
To ban crowding of more than 10 people at a place. More than 1,000 people are infected with coronavirus in Denmark, with four deaths, and the new measures are aimed at curbing the spread of the illness. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that non-essential businesses such as hairdressers, massage and tattoo parlours, restaurants and bars would also be closed. Supermarkets and pharmacies are excluded from the ban, which is set to remain in place until March 30.
United States
The Army likely to be deployed to create make-shift hospitals to isolate and treat cases. President Donald Trump said the White House was discussing a “substantial” spending bill with Congress that would include immediate cash payments to Americans.
Situation in India
The total number of coronavirus cases rose to 147 on Wednesday – 122 of them are Indians and 25 foreigners. The government successfully traced 5,700 contacts of these 147 positive cases and monitoring them.
The Indian government on Tuesday banned passenger flights coming from three more countries: Afghanistan, Philippines and Malaysia
It has also expanded network of testing labs; and increased testing capacity from 0.3 million to 2.3 million. The government has laid down standard operating procedure for private testing laboratories if they wish to offer testing.
About 70,000 people are in home quarantine under community surveillance.
Restaurant associations are contemplating total shutdown to avoid risking their employees’ health.
