Concern mounts of 'catastrophic' coronavirus outbreak in Syriahttps://aje.io/yvdewAs the coronavirus takes a firmer hold across the Middle East, there is growing concern that Syria might face a major outbreak - a "catastrophic" prospect in a country ravaged by nine years of war.
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France Says Coronavirus Situation 'Deteriorating Very Fast'https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/toll-rises-coronavirus-tightens-global-grip-live-updates-200315231500487.htmlThe coronavirus outbreak in France is "very worrying" and "deteriorating very fast", the head of the country's health service said.
"The number of cases double every three days," Jerome Salomon said on France Inter. "There is a real worry that the speed of the outbreak could saturate hospitals and this is something we absolutely want to avoid," Salomon said.
"This is why we must do everything to slow down the outbreak," he said. "Each Frenchman and Frenchwoman must tell themselves every morning: How can I reduce by a third or fourth the number of people I approach? Remain at home, it's as simple as that."
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A UK NHS document leaked to the media suggested that the coronavirus emergency could last up to a year in the UK and put 8m people in hospital. This morning, Downing St said the 8m figure was a worst case scenario, rather than what the government expected.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/15/uk-coronavirus-crisis-to-last-until-spring-2021-and-could-see-79m-hospitalised--------------------------
Spain's Civil Guards seize 150,000 surgical masks for health serviceshttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/toll-rises-coronavirus-tightens-global-grip-live-updates-200315231500487.htmlSpain's police have requisitioned 150,000 surgical masks from a factory in the southern city of Jaen to supply health services, the Civil Guards police force said in a statement.
The Spanish government has requisitioned its private healthcare sector and given any company that has supplies of protective gear 48 hours to report to health authorities, or face fines.
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Greece imposes 14-day quarantine on new arrivals, shuts shopshttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/toll-rises-coronavirus-tightens-global-grip-live-updates-200315231500487.htmlGreece said people arriving in the country from abroad will be placed in a two-week quarantine, while shops will be shut effective on Wednesday.
Supermarkets, pharmacy stores and food delivery services were exempted from the latest measures, the country's alternate government spokesman said.
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Spain's coronavirus tally rises to 8,744 caseshttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/toll-rises-coronavirus-tightens-global-grip-live-updates-200315231500487.htmlSpain's tally of coronavirus cases rose to 8,744 and the number of fatalities rose to 297, said Fernando Simon, the head of the country's health emergency centre.
The previous tally was 7,753 cases on Sunday, with 288 fatalities.
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Iran announces 129 new virus deathshttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/toll-rises-coronavirus-tightens-global-grip-live-updates-200315231500487.htmlIran state TV says new coronavirus has killed another 129 people, pushing death toll to 853 amid 14,991 confirmed cases.
"Our plea is that everyone take this virus seriously and in no way attempt to travel to any province," health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised news conference.
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Member of Iranian clerical assembly dies from virushttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/toll-rises-coronavirus-tightens-global-grip-live-updates-200315231500487.htmlA 78-year-old member of the Iranian clerical body that chooses the country's supreme leader has died COVID-19, the semi-official Fars and Tasnim news agencies reported.
Ayatollah Hashem Bathaei, a low-profile, moderate member of the Assembly of Experts, was the latest of several senior Iranian officials to have been infected in the worsening outbreak.
The clerical assembly has the authority to appoint or remove the supreme leader, who has the final say on all major policies.
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Fiat Chrysler suspending production at most European plants https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/toll-rises-coronavirus-tightens-global-grip-live-updates-200315231500487.htmlItalian-American auto giant Fiat Chrysler said it was suspending production at most of its European plants until March 27 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Half a billion students miss school: UNhttps://aje.io/43yzn More than half a billion children and youth are unable to go to school because of the coronavirus, the UN education agency said, as the outbreak continues to spread to new countries.
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NYC, four US states shut bars, restaurantshttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/toll-rises-coronavirus-tightens-global-grip-live-updates-200315231500487.htmlIllinois, Ohio, Massachusetts, Washington state and New York City are among the places that ordered bars to close and restaurants to stop dine-in service. Takeout and delivery will still be allowed
... "The time for persuasion and public appeals is over," Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said. "This is not a joke. No one is immune to this."
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US Peace Corps suspends global operationshttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/toll-rises-coronavirus-tightens-global-grip-live-updates-200315231500487.htmlUS humanitarian group the Peace Corps said it will temporarily suspend all global operations and evacuate its volunteers.
"As COVID-19 continues to spread and international travel becomes more and more challenging by the day, we are acting now to ... prevent a situation where volunteers are unable to leave their host countries," Peace Corps Director Jody Olsen said in a letter to volunteers posted on its website.
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OAG, an airline industry research house, said that nearly 2 million seats were affected when US President Donald Trump announced a ban on flights from Europe. "Many trans-Atlantic services are operated in joint venture agreements between partners," John Grant, senior aviation analyst at OAG, told DW. He said he hoped "the pain, in some way, would be shared" between the two continents.
https://m.dw.com/en/fragile-airline-sector-struggles-to-beat-coronavirus/a-52790383----------------------------