WASHINGTON -- While the exponential spread of the virus in Europe, North America and the Middle East has dashed any hopes for quick containment, dozens of countries have imposed increasingly severe measures over the past couple days -- shutting borders, expanding testing, closing schools and ordering tens of thousands of businesses to close -- to try to face down the disease.
Canada shut down Parliament and advised against all nonessential travel outside the country Friday while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau governed remotely from his home, in self-imposed quarantine after his wife tested positive for the new coronavirus.
Dr. Theresa Tam, the chief public health officer, also advised more social distancing, no handshakes and kisses, while the Canadian government advised canceling large events like concerts and Transport Minister Marc Garneau said cruise ships with more than 500 people will not be able to dock in Canada until July 1.
Overseas flights returning to Canada will also be restricted to a small number of airports.
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In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte said he would place some 12 million people in the Manila area on lockdown and largely suspend government work for a month in an effort to stop the coronavirus from spreading.
All major ocean and river cruise lines around the world have announced they are suspending their operations -- either globally or just in the United States.
One key impetus: pressure from the White House. Late Friday, President Donald Trump said in a tweet that industry powerhouses Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and MSC Cruises had agreed to his request that they stop sailing from the U.S. for 30 days. The suspension goes into effect at midnight today.
The Cruise Lines International Association said the temporary and voluntary pause applies to all ocean cruise line operations from and to U.S. ports of call.
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Some operators, including Royal Caribbean Cruises, limited their announced suspension to the 30-day window that Trump had requested. Carnival Cruise Line and Holland America Line did not immediately respond to questions about their plans.
At the same time, new infections in Italy soared by more than 2,500 and virus-related deaths made their biggest single day jump, increasing by 250. In the three weeks since the country identified its first virus cluster, Italy has reached a total of 17,600 confirmed cases, with 1,266 deaths. The government has ordered an unprecedented lockdown, ordering businesses to close and restricting movement.
"Europe has now become the epicenter of the pandemic," said World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. "More cases are now being reported every day than were reported in China at the height of its epidemic."
New infections also rose sharply in Spain, and the government put 60,000 people in four towns on a mandatory lockdown Friday that echoed Italy's. In Madrid, which is struggling with nearly 2,000 infections, many in nursing homes, the government was pooling intensive care units and considering offers by hotel chains to transform rooms into sick wards.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced a two-week state of emergency beginning today and pledged to "mobilize all resources," including military, to contain the country's sharp rise in coronavirus cases.
France saw an additional 800 cases to reach more than 3,600 by Friday and Britain went from 590 to 798. In Africa six new countries confirmed infections in the 24 hours.
In China, where new infections have trailed off, authorities mobilized to prevent a boomerang effect, quarantining new arrivals for 14 days.
The spread of the virus in Europe, North America and the Middle East has drawn contrasts with waning outbreaks in the hardest-hit nations in Asia. China, where the virus emerged late last year, still accounts for more than 60% of global infections but on Friday reported just eight new cases and seven deaths.
In South Korea, which had nearly 8,000 cases overall, Friday marked the first day recoveries outnumbered new infections since the country's first patient was confirmed Jan. 20.
New travel restrictions sprang up practically by the hour on Friday: Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Portugal, the Czech Republic -- all started barring entry to Europeans considered at risk. Ukraine announced it would halt all passenger air traffic, Poland said anyone entering the country will be put under a 14-day quarantine, while the Czech Republic and Slovakia have stopped almost all movement in and out of their countries. The European Union urged member countries to put health screening procedures in place at their borders.
The Philippine president on Thursday said he was suspending domestic travel to and from the Metro Manila region from Sunday to April 14, and would restrict entry of travelers from countries that had seen local transmissions of the deadly virus, which is spreading across the U.S. and Europe.
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, in a televised briefing Friday, said a 60-day price freeze on basic goods is in effect in the capital area to prevent a sharp rise in prices. He assured that the delivery of food and basic supplies to Manila would remain unimpeded.
Duterte's order, which leaked on social media hours before the announcement, triggered panic buying and sent people rushing to bus stations as they anticipated the restriction in movement.
Canada and Denmark joined the United States in advising citizens to avoid trips abroad, and Americans in Europe caught increasingly rare trans-Atlantic flights back home.
In Iran, which exceeds 10,000 cases and 400 deaths, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif urged the Trump administration to immediately lift sanctions over the country's nuclear program. He said they made it difficult to import medicine and medical equipment.
State-run TV reported a positive test and home quarantine for a trusted adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran's senior vice president, Cabinet ministers, members of parliament, Revolutionary Guard members and Health Ministry officials are also infected.
And in Canada, the House of Commons voted to shut down for at least five weeks to help ensure lawmakers do not contribute to the spread of the virus.
"I will remain in self isolation for 14 days. I want to be clear. I have no symptoms and I feel very well," Trudeau said at a news conference outside his residence in Ottawa after announcing his wife's positive test for the virus.
"Technology allows me to work from home."
All parties in Parliament agreed to the suspension, which means lawmakers will miss two weeks of sessions since they had previously planned to be away next week and two weeks in April. The House is scheduled to next meet on April 20.
Information for this article was contributed by Rob Gillies, Andrew Taylor, Tim Sullivan, Lori Hinnant, Kim Tong-hyung, Hyung-jin Kim, Rod McGuirk, Jan Olsen, David Rising, Lisa Mascaro, Jill Colvin and Zeke Miller of The Associated Press; by Hannah Sampson, Alex Horton and Meryl Kornfield of The Washington Post; and by Ditas Lopez and Claire Jiao of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 03/14/2020