Coronavirus Cases Jump in Iran, Italy ... Latest Developments

The novel coronavirus has killed close to 4,500 people globally and infected 110,071, -- the majority (80,735 ) in mainland China.

China continued its downward trend in new cases, with only 40 new infections and 22 deaths.

Cases have been reported on the following continents: Africa: Algeria (17), Egypt (15), Senegal (4), Morocco (2), South Africa (2), Cameroon (1), Nigeria (1), Togo (1) and Tunisia (1).

Asia: China (80 814), South Korea (7 134), Iran (5 823), Japan (455), Singapore (138), Malaysia (93), Bahrain (63), Kuwait (61), Iraq (54), Thailand (50), Taiwan (45), United Arab Emirates (45), India (34), Israel (25), Lebanon (22), Vietnam (21), Palestine* (19), Oman (16), Qatar (12), Saudi Arabia (7), Pakistan (6), Philippines (6), Afghanistan (4), Indonesia (4), Cambodia (2), Malpes (2), Bhutan (1), Jordan (1), Nepal (1) and Sri Lanka (1).

America: United States Of America (554), Canada (57), Brazil (13), Ecuador (13), Argentina (9), Chile (5), Mexico (5), Dominican Republic (2), Colombia (1), Costa Rica (1), Paraguay (1) and Peru (1).

Europe: Italy (5 883), Germany (847), France (716), Spain (430), Switzerland (264), United Kingdom (206), Netherlands (188), Belgium (169), Sweden (161), Norway (147), Austria (104), Greece (66), Iceland (53), Denmark (31), Czech Republic (26), San Marino (26), Portugal (21), Finland (19), Ireland (19), Romania (13), Croatia (12), Georgia (12), Slovenia (12), Estonia (10), Russia (10), Azerbaijan (9), Hungary (7), Belarus (6), Poland (6), Luxembourg (3), Malta (3), North Macedonia (3), Slovakia (3), Bosnia And Herzegovina (2), Bulgaria (2), Latvia (2), Andorra (1), Armenia (1), Holy See Vatican City State (1), Liechtenstein (1), Lithuania (1), Moldova (1), Monaco (1), Serbia (1) and Ukraine (1).

Oceania: Australia (74) and New Zealand (5).

International conveyance in Japan (705).

Governments around the world intensified their efforts to control the virus, with Saudi Arabia and Italy enacting restrictions on travel, Iran suspending flights to Europe, and the United States formally warning against cruise ship travel.

USA: Confirmed cases in the United States topped 500, with more than 30 states announcing infections, as well as the District of Columbia, where a church rector had the city’s first confirmed infection.

Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) said Sunday that they would be self-quarantining after meeting an attendee at last month’s Conservative Political Action Conference who has tested positive.

Egypt: Egypt has 48 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including 45 infected passengers on a Nile cruise ship in southern Egypt.

Egypt reported yesterday the first death from virus. Egypt’s first fatality was a 60-year-old German man who was suffering from respiratory failure caused by an acute pneumonia.The man went to a hospital in Hurghada that evening and tested positive for the coronavirus. He was placed in intensive care, as he was suffering from respiratory failure caused by an acute pneumonia, the spokesman said. The man refused to be moved to another hospital for quarantine; his condition deteriorated, and he died on Sunday.

Italy: Europe's worst hit-country Italy also reported a steep rise in cases. Italy has confirmed almost 7,375 coronavirus infections and 366 deaths.

Italy's government has placed more than 16 million people — a quarter of the population — under lockdown in a drastic bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The Lombardy region, including the city of Milan, has been quarantined, as have other cities, including Venice, Parma and Modena, amid a growing Europe-wide outbreak.

Under the new measures, people are not supposed to be able to enter or leave Lombardy, where Milan is the main city.The same restrictions apply to 14 provinces: Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, Rimini, Pesaro and Urbino, Alessandria, Asti, Novara, Verbano Cusio Ossola, Vercelli, Padua, Treviso and Venice.There will be no movement in or out of these areas, or within them, unless for proven work-related reasons, emergencies or health reasons.

Weddings and funerals have been suspended, as well as religious and cultural events. Cinemas, nightclubs, gyms, swimming pools, museums and ski resorts have been closed. Restaurants and cafes in the quarantined zones can open between 06:00 and 18:00 but customers must sit at least 1m apart. People have been told to stay at home as much as possible, and those who break the quarantine could face three months in jail.

Italy is facing an emergency, a national emergency, fighting to limit the spread of the virus and prevent the hospitals from being overwhelmed.

The question is whether this is all too late. It's believed the virus was circulating in Italy for weeks before it was detected. And there have now been cases in all 22 regions of the country. The government is now taking the most extensive containment measures outside of China. But is this a case of trying to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted?

South Korea has the most coronavirus cases outside of China, and has been fighting the outbreak for weeks with aggressive measures like widespread early testing.

South Korea confirms 248 more cases, raising national total to 7,382. It sounds like a lot -- but this is the lowest number of new infections per day since February 26. Among the 248 new cases, 190 are from the southern city of Daegu, where the outbreak has been concentrated -- a total of 5,571 cases have been from Daegu. 26 cases are from the surrounding North Gyeongsang Province.10 cases are from Seoul, 11 from Gyeonggi Province, and the last 11 are in various other locations.There was one new death on Sunday. The national death toll is at 51.About 90% of cases nationwide are from Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province.

The government has designated Daegu, along with the cities of Cheongdo and Gyeongsan, as "special care zones" due to the spike in cases in these locations.

South Korea is seeing an apparent slowdown in the number of new cases per day -- but there may be other factors at play, and it's too early to say the infection itself is slowing. South Korea reported the lowest number of new infections per day since February 26.This is the lowest number of new daily infections since February 26.

There are still sporadic cluster infections in facilities such as nursing homes and residential complexes. There may also be other reasons for this perceived slowdown -- bad weather conditions over the weekend may have caused fewer people to leave home to get tested, leading to a decrease in case numbers.

More than half of all nationwide cases have links to the Shincheonji religious group, based in the country's south.

Iran has confirmed almost 6,566 coronavirus infections and 194 deaths.Iran is one of the worst-hit countries outside China, where the Covid-19 virus - which causes the coronavirus disease - originated.

Iran is limiting travel between its major cities as it tries to halt the spread of the coronavirus. Iran has imposed travel restrictions on 15 provinces. Schools and universities have been closed until the end of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, celebrations in early April.

Iranians are urged to reduce the use of paper banknotes. The measures come as the World Health Organization warned some countries were not doing enough to stop the virus.

Outside Tehran, the situation in the provinces continued to deteriorate, with Jahanpour saying 685 cases were detected in and around Qom, the holy Shiite city south of Tehran where the country's first cases were reported.

The number of cases was also "rising quickly" in Isfahan, a popular tourist destination, where there were now 564 people sick with the virus.Iran Air announced on Sunday the suspension of all its flights to Europe until further notice.

Saudi Arabia locks down predominantly Shiite eastern province .Across the Persian Gulf, Iran’s archfoe Saudi Arabia imposed a temporary lockdown on its eastern Qatif province, home to the kingdom’s marginalised Shiite population, to prevent the spread of the virus.

Saudi authorities on Sunday said 11 coronavirus cases had been recorded in the eastern province. "Given that all 11 recorded positive cases of the new coronavirus are from Qatif . It has been decided ... to temporarily suspend entry and exit from Qatif," the Saudi interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Saudi authorities have previously said those infected have either been to Iran or interacted with people who visited the Islamic Republic, home to major Shiite holy sites.

The article was written by Dr Magdy Badran , Consultant Ped.