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 The government in Seoul put the country on high alert after the
number of infections surged over 600 with six deaths. A focal point
was a church in the southeastern city of Daegu, where a 61-year-old
member of the congregation with no recent record of overseas travel
tested positive for the virus.
In Italy, officials said a third person infected with the flu-like
virus had died, while the number of cases jumped to above 150 from
just three before Friday.
Authorities sealed off the worst affected towns and banned public
gatherings in much of the north, including halting the carnival in
Venice, where there were two cases, to try to contain the biggest
outbreak in Europe.
"I was surprised by this explosion of cases," Prime Minister
Giuseppe Conte told state broadcaster RAI, warning that the numbers
would likely rise in the coming days. "We will do everything we can
to contain the contagion."
Italian health authorities were struggling to find out how the virus
started. "If we cannot find 'patient zero' then it means the virus
is even more ubiquitous than we thought," said Luca Zaia, the
regional governor of the wealthy Veneto region.
Almost a dozen towns in Lombardy and Veneto with a combined
population of some 50,000 have effectively been placed under
quarantine.
The European Union said it had confidence in the Italian
authorities. "We share concern for possible contagion (but) there is
no need to panic," the bloc's Economic Affairs Commissioner Paolo
Gentiloni told reporters.
Iran, which announced its first two cases on Wednesday, said it had
confirmed 43 cases and eight deaths, with most of the infections in
the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Qom. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq,
Turkey and Afghanistan imposed travel and immigration restrictions
on the Islamic Republic.
The virus has killed 2,442 people in China, which has reported
76,936 cases, and has slammed the brakes on the world's second
largest economy. It has spread to some 28 other countries and
territories, with a death toll of around two dozen, according to a
Reuters tally.
"Despite the continuing decline in reported cases from China, the
last two days have seen extremely concerning developments elsewhere
in the world," said Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at Britain's
University of East Anglia.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday it was worried
by the detection of infections without a clear link to China.
For a graphic on tracking the novel coronavirus, click https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-MAP/0100B59S39E/index.html
'SEVERE AND COMPLEX'
China, which has seen the vast majority of cases, reported 648 new
infections. But only 18 were outside of Hubei province, the lowest
number outside the epicenter since authorities began publishing data
a month ago and locked down large parts of the country.
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"At present, the epidemic situation is still severe and complex, and prevention
and control work is in the most difficult and critical stage," President Xi
Jinping said.
State run television urged people to avoid complacency, drawing attention to
people gathering in public areas and tourist spots without wearing masks.
In South Korea, Catholic churches in Daegu and Gwangju have suspended services
and other gatherings, while churches elsewhere saw declines in attendance on
Sunday, especially among the elderly.
"If the situation gets worse, I think we'll need to take more measures," said
Song Gi-young, 53, wearing a face mask at church.
South Korea's president said raising the disease alert to the highest level,
allowing authorities to send extra resources to Daegu city and Cheongdo county,
which were designated "special care zones" on Friday.
Health officials reported 169 new infections, bringing the total to 602.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
The potential economic impact of the disease was prominent at a meeting of G20
finance ministers in Riyadh.
The International Monetary Fund's chief said China's 2020 growth would likely be
lower at 5.6%, down 0.4 percentage points from its January outlook, with 0.1
percentage points shaved from global growth.
Xi highlighted the importance of fighting the epidemic in the capital Beijing,
which has recently required people arriving from elsewhere in China to be
quarantined at home for 14 days.
He said it would have a relatively big, but short-term impact on the economy and
that Beijing would step up policy adjustments to help cushion the blow.
In Japan, where the government is facing growing questions about whether it is
doing enough to counter the virus, authorities had confirmed 773 cases by early
Sunday evening.
Most of them were from a cruise ship quarantined near Tokyo, the Diamond
Princess. A third passenger, a Japanese man in his 80s, died on Sunday.
British authorities said four people evacuated from the ship had tested positive
for the virus after being flown to Britain.
(Reporting by Emily Chow in Shanghai and Jane Chung in Seoul; Additional
reporting by Lushu Zhang in Beijing, Kevin Buckland in Tokyo, Parisa Hafezi in
Dubai, Crispian Balmer in Rome and Kate Kelland in London; Writing by Martin
Petty, Philippa Fletcher and Alex Richardson; Editing by Kim Coghill and Frances
Kerry)
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