“The epidemic is upon us”, says the Minister of Health

The pneumonia epidemic continues to spread in several countries, raising fears of a pandemic. China reported on Tuesday (February 25th) 71 additional deaths and more than 500 new cases; Iran reports three new deaths, fifteen in total. In Europe, Italy is the most affected country with seven deaths.

• The epidemic is “on our doorstep”, according to Véran

The coronavirus epidemic “Is at our door”, assured the Minister of Health Olivier Véran on RTL on Tuesday, while repeating that there was “More sick people in circulation in France today”:

“We have a lot of alerts. This is completely normal because the epidemic is upon us. We are preparing, we are preparing all the health monitoring and intervention systems, in town as well as in the hospital, in the event that the epidemic comes. “

“We are in anticipation, in adaptation”, he added. The Minister of Health is scheduled to meet his European colleagues in Rome during the day. “We are not closing the borders because it would not make sense. At this stage, there is no reason to consider closing the borders. “, said Mr. Véran.

For his part, the French Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, estimated Tuesday in Athens, that the coronavirus was ” a “game changer“ “, a game-changing event in the global economy.

According to him, the coronavirus “Will have an impact on global growth and on growth in Europe through two distribution channels” : first of all, tourism, France counting “More than 2.5 million Chinese tourists each year, which represents a significant part of tourism in France”, and after that “The question of industrial supply chains”, in particular ” automobile industry “ and “The health sector”.

• WHO estimates epidemic has leveled off in China

Beijing on Tuesday announced 71 more deaths from the coronavirus, the lowest daily number in more than two weeks, bringing the nationwide death toll to 2,663.

The national health commission also reported 508 new confirmed cases, only nine of which were detected outside central Hubei province, where the epidemic started in December. The national figure for new infections is up from 409 on Monday, but several Chinese provinces have not reported any new cases for several days.

This trend has led the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to declare that the epidemic had peaked in China between January 23 and February 2, and that the daily number of new cases had “Decreased steadily since then”.

However, Bruce Aylward, a WHO expert who heads a joint WHO-China mission, worried on Monday about the outbreaks of the disease in other countries. “Which are multiplying with exponential growth rates”.

• Three new dead in Iran, flights suspended

Iranian authorities said on Tuesday the death of three people infected with the new coronavirus, bringing the death toll from the disease in Iran to 15 dead, the official agency Irna said.

After the announcement, the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday suspended all flights to and from Iran for “A renewable week”.

• White House demands $ 2.5 billion from Congress

The White House plans to spend $ 2.5 billion ($ 2.3 billion) on the new coronavirus. In a congressional request, the Trump administration requested $ 1.8 billion for emergency spending, reports Monday Washington Post. The funds will be spent on areas such as laboratory tests, quarantine, research and development of vaccines, as well as supporting affected states, the daily said.

The Democrats, political opponents of Republican President Donald Trump, immediately deemed this demand too weak. In the United States, 53 cases of coronavirus have been identified, including 39 people repatriated from China and the liner Diamond Princess in Japan.

• Italy: Conte denounces the improper management of a hospital

The Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, estimated that the origin of an epidemic center of the coronavirus in the north of Italy was due to the improper management of” a hospital “. Questioned on Monday evening on television, Mr. Conte castigated “Unjustified autonomous initiatives” and explained that one of the foci of the epidemic in the north was linked to the fact that” a hospital “ had not followed the protocols.

The spread of the epidemic in Italy has led to the production of the next component Impossible mission, with US actor Tom Cruise starring, to stop shooting, communicated Paramount Pictures:

“For the sake of prudence for the safety and well-being of our actors and our teams, and with the efforts of the local Venetian authorities to stop any grouping of people facing the threat of the coronavirus, we are modifying the production program for our three weeks of shooting in Venice. “

He said Tom Cruise had not yet made the trip to Italy and that the crew members had been given permission to return home before filming began.

Italy announced a seventh death from coronavirus on Monday. The number of cases of contamination rose from 6 to 229 in four days in the country, which has become the first on the European continent to set up a health cordon around ten cities in the North. In addition to this filming, the progression of the coronavirus in Italy has disrupted several events, such as the Venice carnival, Milan fashion week or even football games, postponed or played behind closed doors.

• Fourth death of a passenger in the Japanese ocean liner

A man over 80 years old passenger on the cruise liner Diamond Princess, quarantined in Japan due to the coronavirus, is dead, Japanese media reported on Tuesday. This is the fourth death of a passenger, when some 700 people disembarked from this boat, at the dock near Yokohoma (south of Tokyo), were declared positive for the new coronavirus and hospitalized in Japan.

Six hundred and ninety-one people from this boat affected by the virus were hospitalized in Japan. Passengers have now disembarked from Diamond Princess : they either returned to their country (for a new quarantine), either to their home or to a hotel in Japan (if their test was negative) or were placed in a reception center in case they were in contact with a person who tested positive. Several foreigners who returned home after a negative test while on the boat were later confirmed positive.

Meanwhile, the Japanese football federation, J-League, announced on Tuesday that it would postpone all scheduled matches until March 15. This initiative comes in addition to that taken a few hours earlier to postpone seven cup matches which were scheduled for Wednesday. Several football championships are already pending across Asia due to the epidemic of the new coronavirus.

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