US president says cases could fall to zero in a ‘few days’ but Scott Morrison launches emergency plan to deal with threat of global outbreak
Donald Trump has sought to play down the threat from coronavirus despite mounting concerns about unchecked worldwide contagion, as Australia’s prime minister launched an emergency plan and said that the risk of a pandemic was “very much upon us”.
In a press conference in Washington, the US president said the danger to Americans “remains very low” and predicted that the number of cases diagnosed in the country, currently on 15, could fall to zero in a “few days”.
South Korea reported a further 334 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the total to 1,595 – the highest number outside mainland China. Most of the cases were again centred on Daegu where a church at the centre of the country’s outbreak is located.
Iran’s state-run Irna news agency reported that 22 people had died – more than in any country apart from China – and that there were 141 confirmed cases. Experts fear Iran is underreporting the number of cases as infections across the wider Persian Gulf have emerged in recent days linked back to the Islamic republic.
Saudi Arabia temporarily banned foreign pilgrims from entering the country to make a pilgrimage to Mecca.
China reported 433 new confirmed cases, and 29 deaths.
Britain is preparing for a surge in cases by launching a mass public information campaign in case of an Italy-sized outbreak.
Denmark recorded its first case, a man returning after a skiing holiday in Italy. Estonia, Pakistan, Georgia, Norway, Macedonia, Greece and Romania were among countries to report their first case of coronavirus in the past 24 hours.
Italian prosecutors launched an investigation into the alleged failure of a hospital in Lombardy to test a man believed to be the first to transmit the infection in the area, as infections surged over 400.
Concerns continued to mount about major events such as the Tokyo Olympics, with the Australian swimming legend Ian Thorpe saying athletes would have to put their health first when considering whether it was safe to attend.
The World Health Organization is recommending that people take simple precautions to reduce exposure to and transmission of the Wuhan coronavirus, for which there is no specific cure or vaccine.
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