A ‘long list’ of countries are not doing enough to combat coronavirus, WHO warns

The World Health Organization today warned that a ‘long list’ of countries are not doing enough to combat the deadly coronavirus.

It comes as the EU said it was considering drafting in medical students and retired healthcare professionals to bolster hospital work forces as the global number of those infected by COVID-19 neared 100,000, including 3,305 deaths.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva on Thursday he was concerned that many countries were not showing ‘the level of political commitment’ needed to ‘match the level of the threat we all face.’ 

Meanwhile the EU warned it might be necessary to boost supplies of protective clothing with several countries facing shortages, as it confirmed it was mulling taking on health workers still studying for their qualifications.

EU health ministers are due to discuss the coronavirus outbreak at a meeting in Brussels tomorrow. 

It comes as several global sites and events have been shuttered or scaled back in recent days, including the reputed birthplace of Jesus. 

The Nativity Church in Bethlehem, where Christians believe Jesus was born, will close indefinitely from 4pm today after suspected virus cases emerged in the town.  

The news is a blow to tens of thousands of worshippers who were expected to descend on the church for Easter next month. 

Meanwhile, Indian PM Narendra Modi and other Hindu leaders say they will not attend Holi festival celebrations on March 10. 

The colourful spring festival in which Hindus smear each other’s faces with red and yellow powders has drawn concern from health authorities who fear it could help the virus to spread. 

South Africa has also confirmed its first virus case today, saying the patient was a a 38-year-old man who had travelled to Italy.  

The case in South Africa is the first in the southern part of the continent and the latest confirmed case in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria and Senegal.

‘This morning,… the National Institute for Communicable Diseases confirmed that a suspected case of COVID-19 has tested positive,’ Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said.

The case was detected in the country’s eastern Kwa-Zulu Natal province.

The patient and his wife were part of a group of 10 people who arrived back in South Africa from Italy on March 1.

Two days later, on March 3, he consulted a private general practitioner with a fever, headache, sore throat and a cough. 

In India, Hindu leaders are advising people to exercise restraint at Holi, where people usually spray each other with squirt guns and colour each other with water-filled balloons. 

The vibrant festival is widely popular in India, Nepal and countries with Indian migrant populations.  

Modi tweeted that he would not celebrate Holi while experts have advised people to reduce mass gatherings to avoid the spread of the virus.

The message is reaching community leaders who are canceling street celebrations as well large gathering of people in condominiums.

In Bethlehem, the Nativity Church which is build on the spot where Jesus was reputedly born is due to close this afternoon after being disinfected. 

Jeres Qumsiyeh, a spokesman for the Palestinian tourism ministry, said the church would be closed ‘until further notice’. 

All tourists have been barred from entering the West Bank, after four suspected coronavirus cases were found in Bethlehem, authorities said. 

Most tourists to the West Bank visit Bethlehem and its fellow biblical city of Jericho. 

Meanwhile in Iran, the country’s health minister Saeed Namaki urged people to reduce their use of cash to stop the spread of the virus. 

Saeed Namaki made the announcement at a news conference where he also revealed that schools and universities will remain closed until at least March 20, which is Persian New Year. 

In addition, Namaki said authorities will begin manning checkpoints to limit travel between major cities in the Islamic Republic. 

He said people should stay in their vehicles at gas stations and allow attendants to fill their gas tanks to avoid the spread of the virus. 

Namaki said Iran had begun a national plan to combat coronavirus which will start in the handful of locations most affected by the disease and expand to other parts of the country, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Families would be contacted by telephone to help identify possible cases and health teams will disinfect public spaces, he said, listing the provinces of Qom, Gilan and Isfahan as the locations where the plan would begin.

On Sunday, Namaki had said that 300,000 teams, including members of the Basij militia, would be sent out to perform door-to-door coronavirus screening.

The plan sparked criticism from Iranians online about the possibility of the teams spreading, rather than stopping, infections.

The latest plan announced on Thursday did not mention door-to-door screening.

‘Our method is not going into homes,’ Namaki said on state TV. ‘We can use digital communications and ultimately the telephone. So we don’t see a reason to go to the doors of peoples’ homes.’

The telecommunications ministry is working on an app to enable people to register cases of suspected infections, he said.

Home visits will only take place if a patient requires assistance to be hospitalized, Namaki said, and health teams would wear full protective gear to help with transport and disinfection.

Home visits are possible in very rare circumstances, with prior coordination and out of complete necessity, he said.

Iran has been heavily criticised for its response to the crisis after refusing to shut down holy cities even as Shi’ite pilgrims spread the virus across the Middle East. 

The regime’s official figures show 2,922 confirmed cases and 92 deaths, although there has been suspicion that Tehran is covering up the true scale of the crisis. 

Iran has also been facing shortages of face masks and other medical equipment, worsened by U.S. sanctions. 

The country has also cancelled Friday prayers in major cities including Tehran. 

The UAE today warned its citizens and its foreign residents not to travel anywhere abroad amid the ongoing worldwide coronavirus outbreak, a stark warning for a country home to two major long-haul airlines.

The warning from the UAE’s health and community protection ministry comes as the capital Abu Dhabi, sent 215 foreigners it evacuated from Hubei into quarantine. 

They include citizens of Egypt, Sudan and Yemen.

Health officials warned that those traveling abroad could face quarantine themselves at the discretion of authorities. 

The UAE is home to some nine million people, with only about one million estimated to be Emirati citizens.

It is also home to Emirates, the government-owned airline based at Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel. 

Abu Dhabi also is home to Etihad, the country’s national carrier. Both airlines have encouraged staff to take time off because international travel has dropped due to the virus. 

Saudi Arabia yesterday suspended the year-round umrah pilgrimage over fears that coronavirus could spread to Islam’s holiest cities. 

The umrah – which, unlike the hajj, can be undertaken at any time of year – draws millions of Muslim pilgrims to Saudi Arabia every year. 

But the Gulf state yesterday decided to ‘suspend umrah temporarily for citizens and residents in the kingdom’, official media said.  

Visitors are also barred from ‘visits to the Prophet’s mosque in Medina’, the foreign ministry said.   

Saudi Arabia on Monday confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus after one its citizens who had returned from virus hotspot Iran tested positive.