Coronavirus fears empty streets in some of the world's busiest cities - NBCNews.com

The coronavirus epidemic has had a ripple effect on some of the world's busiest cities, with fears of the highly contagious virus emptying cafes, public squares and streets in China, South Korea, Japan and Italy, among other countries.

The streets of Seoul, the South Korean capital, stood nearly empty this week. Those who do venture out wear masks. The normally busy subways have few passengers and riders make sure to sit far away from one another. Many residents are relying on grocery and restaurant delivery apps.

A woman sits at an empty cafe in a tower in Seoul, South Korea on Monday.Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images

In Daegu, one of the cities in South Korea hardest hit by the virus, people lined up at pharmacies Tuesday to buy masks distributed by the government.

There have been long lines outside retail stores and online suppliers have sold out as soon as stock arrives. The World Health Organization says only people who are taking care of someone who is ill or those who display respiratory symptoms need to wear masks.

South Korea on Tuesday saw its largest daily rise in new cases, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to more than 5,000, with 31 deaths, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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People wait to buy face masks outside a department store in Seoul on Tuesday.Yonhap / AFP - Getty Images

Drive-through virus testing centers are operating, with workers dressed head-to-toe in white protective suits leaning into cars with mouth swabs, a move meant to limit contact with possible carriers of the illness. Troops were also dispatched across the city to spray streets and alleys with disinfectants.

President Moon Jae-in said that the country has declared “war” against the virus and that he was placing all government agencies on a 24-hour full alert.

He also apologized for the shortage of masks, saying that with the increase in patients, there were "practical challenges that cannot keep up with the increased demands."

March 3, 202000:46

In Japan, which has seen more than 250 cases — not including the passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship — and 12 deaths, TV stations are airing continuous coverage on the virus. In Tokyo, the normally bustling capital, people are still out on the streets, though slightly fewer than usual.

During lunch times, the lines at restaurants and cafes are shorter than normal, and at least half of the people on the streets are wearing masks. Last week, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe requested that schools close.

In China where the epidemic originated, the number of new cases dropped to 125 — the lowest level in weeks. The total number of cases stands at more than 80,000.

Many shops are still closed in Beijing, and residents’ temperatures are scanned at regular checkpoints, as well as inside each store. On streets that are normally so crowded that people are forced to brush shoulders, those who are out keep a good distance from one another.

A woman wearing a face mask uses an escalator in Beijing on Tuesday.AFP - Getty Images

However, as the number of coronavirus cases in China has dropped, the city’s cafes are slowly starting to come back to life.

In Milan, Italy's business capital and the center of the country's outbreak, restaurants, bars and train stations are much less crowded than normal. The usually teeming Piazza del Duomo, home to the city's cathedral and lined with shops and bars, was almost empty at points Monday.

Italy is the worst-hit country in Europe, with more than 1,800 cases of coronavirus and 52 deaths, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. France, Germany and Spain each have over 100 cases, and the United Kingdom has 40.

Most schools, fitness centers, universities, theaters, cinemas and offices in Milan are closed, and cultural events and conferences have been postponed or canceled.

Alex Shi reported from Beijing, Na Yeong Kim from Seoul, Michele Novaga from Milan, Arata Yamamoto from Tokyo, and Rachel Elbaum from London.

Rachel Elbaum

Rachel Elbaum is a London-based editor, producer and writer. 

Michele Novaga

Na Yeong Kim

Na Yeong Kim is a journalist based in Seoul.

Arata Yamamoto and Reuters contributed.

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2020-03-03 17:04:00Z
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U.S. willing to give Turkey ammunition for Syria's Idlib - Reuters

REYHANLI, Turkey (Reuters) - The United States is willing to give NATO ally Turkey ammunition alongside humanitarian assistance in northwestern Syria where Ankara is in a deepening standoff with Russia, the U.S. special representative for the region said on Tuesday.

Addressing reporters in Turkey’s border province of Hatay, James Jeffrey said the United States will ensure that U.S.-made equipment is ready for the Turkish military.

The U.S. ambassador to Turkey, David Satterfield, said at the same briefing that Washington is examining a request for air defenses.

The supportive words come as fighting intensified across the border in Syria’s Idlib region where Turkey and allied rebels are battling Russia-backed Syrian government forces. Nearly a million people have been displaced there in recent months.

“We’re willing to provide - for example the President (Trump) mentioned this - ammunition,” Jeffrey said, adding Turkish counterparts had also “very much stressed” the need for humanitarian assistance.

“Turkey is a NATO ally. We have a very, very big foreign military sales program, much of the Turkish military uses American equipment,” he said. “We will make sure that the equipment is ready. As a NATO partner we share information intelligence...and we are going to ensure that they have what they need there.”

On Tuesday in Idlib, Turkey shot down a Syrian government warplane and edged close to direct conflict with Russia in the battle over the last swathe of Syria still held by rebels after that country’s nine-year-old war.

Ankara has asked for the use of U.S. Patriot surface-to-air defenses, even though it opted to buy the Russian-made S-400 alternatives last year in a move that enraged Washington and teed up U.S. sanctions.

Satterfield said alongside Jeffrey that Washington is considering the request in the context of the S-400 purchase, without elaborating.

The United States said separately on Tuesday it would send $108 million in humanitarian aid to people in Syria.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Thursday after weeks of talks between their delegations have so far failed to agree a ceasefire.

Jeffrey said the United States is “in close consultation with the Turks (and) we are seeing what kind of diplomatic positions they will be taking when President Erdogan goes to Moscow to see President Putin.”

He called Russian policy in Idlib “totally evil”, saying its main focus is “attacking and terrorizing civilians.”

Russia on Tuesday rejected claims about refugee flows and a humanitarian crisis in the region, despite evidence on the ground and data provided by the United Nations.

Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Writing by Jonathan Spicer, Editing by William Maclean

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2020-03-03 14:17:00Z
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Netanyahu claims ‘biggest win’ in Israeli elections, as partial results show short of majority - Fox News

Israeli’s embattled prime minister declared Monday’s general elections the “biggest win” of his life when he claimed victory with partial results  over main rival Benny Gantz.

With roughly 90 percent of votes already counted, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party and its allies looked to maintaining its lead after capturing 59 seats out of the 120 in parliament.

Final results are expected later Tuesday and could swing Netanyahu over the top – two weeks before he goes on trial to face corruption charges.

ISRAELI ELECTION EXIT POLLS PUT NETANYAHU, ALLIES JUST SHORT OF MAJORITY

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accompanied by his wife Sara, addresses his supporters after first exit poll results for the Israeli elections at his party's headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Feb. 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

“This is a victory against all the odds because we stood against powerful forces,” he told a raucous crowd of supporters early Tuesday. “They already eulogized us. Our opponents said the Netanyahu era is over.”

Critically, Netanyahu’s party is just two seats shy of a 61-seat parliamentary majority, and if the final tally remains the same, he would be forced to form a government in the coming weeks by enticing rival politicians to join him. Monday marked the third general election in less than a year in Israel.

Gantz and his Blue and White party, who focused their campaign on Netanyahu’s alleged corruption and anti-democratic moves, took 32 seats, partial results showed.

Blue and White party supporters hold banners and flags during an election campaign rally in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. The Hebrew writing say " Must to advance ". (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

However, Gantz refused to concede defeat, telling his supporters: “We won’t let them destroy the country.”

“We won’t let anyone separate between us. We won’t let anyone dismantle Israeli society and crush democracy,” he said. “Even if it is difficult, we will win at its end.”

ISRAELI PM'S WIFE SUED BY FORMER HOUSEKEEPER OVER ALLEGED ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR

Maverick politician Avigdor Lieberman, whose party is projected to win seven seats, once again looms as a key player. Speaking Tuesday, he repeated his campaign pledge that there won't be a fourth election, but wouldn't indicate how he would act in case of a further deadlock.

At his victory rally, Netanyahu – who will serve his fourth consecutive term in office and fifth overall – vowed to immediately form a new coalition and press forward with a hardline agenda that includes annexing large parts of the West Bank.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's supporters celebrate first exit poll results for the Israeli elections at his party's headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Feb. 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Shaina Kaplan, a resident of Jerusalem, told Fox News after casting her vote that she believes they will have a working government whatever the outcome.

“We should finally have a government,” she said. “This is the third time. Without a government, the country can’t work right.”

NETANYAHU BLASTS RIVAL BENNY GANTZ, CITIES TWO ADVISERS WHO LIKENED TRUMP TO HITLER

She said her biggest desire is to get the government working amid continued security threats against the country.

“When bombs are going over, we should have a strong government to make the right decisions,” Kaplan said. “It makes me want to go and vote, and tell people to go and vote, so we can have a normal government working.”

The easiest way out of the impasse would be a unity government between Likud and Blue and White, which together command a solid parliamentary majority. They don't have major ideological differences, though Blue and White has staked its claim as the moral alternative to Netanyahu amid his corruption charges.

Supporter of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu displays his hand with BB written on it for Netanyahu's nickname "Bibi" as they celebrate after first exit poll results for Israeli elections in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Netanyahu was indicted in November on charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes, making him the first sitting prime minister to be charged with a crime. He denies any wrongdoing and says he is the victim of a witch hunt by police, prosecutors and a hostile media.

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During the campaign, Netanyahu failed in a bid to secure immunity from prosecution. As prime minister, he could still rally public opposition against prosecutors and judges in the case. He also could seek other avenues to delay or derail the proceedings against him.

Fox News' Stephen Sorace, Trey Yingst and Dana Karni and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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2020-03-03 14:00:14Z
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Coronavirus live updates: US cases surpass 100 with 6 deaths; China sees 'coming victory' - USA TODAY

John Bacon USA TODAY

Published 9:39 AM EST Mar 3, 2020

The U.S. surgeon general urged calm Tuesday as the number of coronavirus cases across the nation surged to more than 100. Six deaths have been attributed to the outbreak.

"We should be cautious and take appropriate measures to prepare and protect ourselves, but we should not be afraid," Surgeon General Jerome Adams said. "We've been through this before, and no place in the world is better prepared to handle this challenge."

Adams also – again – urged healthy people not to create a shortage on masks by stocking up on them.

"They don’t provide you respiratory protection against diseases like coronavirus," he said. "They protect others from your cough."

On Monday, Vice President Mike Pence said the U.S. outbreak includes more than 40 "domestic cases," mostly in California and Washington state, and a greater number of cases involving people who came from other countries.

Here's the latest on the outbreak of COVID-19: 

Daily coronavirus updates: Get them in your email. Sign up here

• Some schools have closed for coronavirus: Are they overreacting?
• Your questions, answered by a doctor: What are the symptoms? What should I do if I think I have coronavirus? 
• Wuhan shuts makeshift hospital: Global death count about 3,000; 2 deaths in the US
• Think you have coronavirus? Call first! Here's what to expect at the doctor's office.
• 'This is not sustainable': Public health departments, decimated by funding cuts, scramble against coronavirus

Bungled test kits slowed testing in US

The CDC initially developed and mailed testing kits with three components, or reagents, to detect the COVID-19 virus. Some states had trouble validating one of three components in the kits. On Friday, a CDC official said the agency reviewed the glitch and determined using two components accurately detect coronavirus.

CDC officials said all state and local public health labs and qualified private labs should be able to test by the end of this week. Robert Murphy, executive director of the Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said more aggressive testing could have slowed the spread of the disease.

"The opportunity was missed," Murphy said. "There were delays, and now there are going to be more cases."

– Ken Alltucker

New York waives fees for coronavirus test

Gov. Andrew Cuomo a new directive requiring New York health insurers to waive costs associated with testing for coronavirus, including emergency room, urgent care and office visits.

"We can't let cost be a barrier to access to COVID-19 testing for any New Yorker," Cuomo said.

The state confirmed its second case Tuesday, a Westchester County man hospitalized with an "underlying respiratory illness," Cuomo said. The first case involves a health care worker from Manhattan quarantined in her apartment.

– Jon Campbell

US pitches in $37M toward global struggle

The U.S. will provide $37 million from an emergency infectious diseases fund to help 26 countries affected by COVID-19 or at high risk of its spread, the U.S. Agency for International Development announced. The money is going to the World Health Organization and other agencies, USAID said. It's the first funds from a pledge of up to $100 million announced Feb. 7 by the State Department.

"These funds will help build preparedness and response capacities in vulnerable countries," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO's director general. "WHO is grateful for your support to keep the world safe."

California Gov. Newsom wants $20M to fight virus

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is asking the state Legislature to provide $20 million from a disaster emergency account to help halt the spread of coronavirus. Newsom also activated the State Operations Center to its second highest level in support of the state Public Health department and first responders. Ten labs across the state are now testing, and another 10 should be online soon, public health officials said.

Georgia confirms first 2 cases

Georgia Department of Public Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey confirmed Georgia’s first cases of COVID-19 involving two Atlanta-area residents who live in the same household. One recently returned from Italy and both have mild symptoms, Toomey said. The patients were isolated at home with other relatives.

“Our team has been working around the clock to prepare for any scenario,” Gov. Kemp said. “They are confident that our efforts to prepare for this moment have enabled us to manage these cases appropriately and minimize any risks moving forward.”

South Korea at 'war against infectious disease'

South Korea President Moon Jae-in described the virus outbreak as "a grave situation."

More than 5,000 South Koreans had tested positive for coronavirus as of early Tuesday; 28 had died. South Korea is testing 10,000 people a day.

“The entire country has entered a war against an infectious disease,” he said.

Hoarding in Iran; 2,000 cases in Italy

Iran’s judiciary chief, Ebrahim Raisi, pleaded with prosecutors to show "no mercy" for people stockpiling medical supplies for profit in a country that has seen 66 deaths so far. Italy was reeling, too, with the count of confirmed cases over 2,000 early Tuesday and quarantines in effect in 11 northern towns. The coronavirus has killed 52 Italians so far.

How many people have died from coronavirus?

The death toll from confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide stood at 3,118 early Tuesday, according to a coronavirus dashboard run by Johns Hopkins University. More than 2,900 of them were in mainland China, and more than 2,800 of them were in Hubei Province, the epicenter of the outbreak. Iran has reported at least 66 deaths, Italy 52 and South Korea 28. 

How many coronavirus cases in the US?

Johns Hopkins University's coronavirus dashboard counted 105 U.S. cases early Tuesday, though officials have warned that the number is likely much higher. We will learn more as testing efforts expand. Test packets are being shipped to health centers across the country, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging more testing.

Common signs of infection include fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. If the infection worsens, it can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure or even death.

China sees 'coming victory' over coronavirus

China, where COVID-19 originated, remains the hardest-hit nation, with 80,151 cases and 2,943 deaths, but its ambassador to the United Nations said late Monday that it has turned a corner in battling the disease. 

"We are not far from the coming of the victory," said Zhang Jun, ahead of daily figures released Tuesday that showed new cases in China dropped to 125, a six-week low. But the optimism in China contrasts with a growing sense of alarm in other parts of Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States. 

-- Kim Hjelmgaard

Contributing: David Jackson, USA TODAY; The Associated Press.

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2020-03-03 13:01:03Z
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Netanyahu moves closer to securing big win in Israeli election - The - The Washington Post

Amir Levy AFP/Getty Images Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara Netanyahu accept congratulations at a Likud party celebration on March 3, 2020, in Tel Aviv.

JERUSALEM — Over the past 11 months, many pundits had declared Benjamin Netanyahu politically dead, as the longest-serving leader in Israel’s history twice failed to achieve a majority in separate elections, hemorrhaging more support each time.

On Monday, the indomitable prime minister strode rejuvenated back to center stage in Israeli politics, reversing his party’s decline and positioning himself within two parliamentary seats of a record-breaking fifth term.

But the man known as Israel’s political magician will now have to pull off two final tricks to complete the comeback: finding those two seats, maybe by poaching them from opposing parties, and navigating his own upcoming corruption trial, something no sitting prime minister has ever faced.

One day after Israel’s third election in less than a year, with just over 90 percent of the vote officially tallied, Netanyahu’s Likud party held 36 parliamentary seats, erasing its previous losses and making it once again the country’s largest party. His bloc of right-wing parties commands 59 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, Israel’s parliament, placing it far closer to the majority threshold than the rival Blue and White party, which has 32 seats.

The results could change moderately as officials count a final batch of some 300,000 votes from military bases and special biohazard polling places set up for voters quarantined because of possible exposure to the coronavirus. (Senior election officials, unable to find workers willing to open the doubly-sealed ballots, were doing the count themselves in a tent outside the parliament, according to media reports.)

But Israel was well into dissecting Netanyahu’s feat, the latest in his escape-artist career of clinging to power. Polls for months had shown little change in the dynamics of the grinding stalemate that kept Israel from forming a new government for more than a year.

But in the final weeks, as Blue and White and its leader Benny Gantz worked down a list of what critics disparaged as overly staid hanger rallies around central Israel, Netanyahu worked tirelessly to electrify his base and reawaken thousands of Likud voters who had reportedly sat out the previous election.

Likud launched what political reporters described as an unprecedented voter-targeting operation. The 70-year-old prime minister appeared all across the country, beseeching supporters to personally lobby their fellow Likudniks and encouraging them to upload video of him to social media.

By the end, in a country exhausted by the nonstop politicking of three straight elections, Netanyahu appeared to dig deeper.

As a candidate, Netanyahu “has phenomenal power,” Topaz Luk, Netanyahu’s head media adviser and strategist said in an interview the morning after the election. “Netanyahu went out to the field this time and did so many rallies.”

Menahem Kahana

AFP/Getty Images

Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White party, greets supporters at his campaign headquarters in Tel Aviv early on March 3, 2020, after polls officially closed.

Gantz, a former Army chief of staff, based his campaign almost entirely on being a measured, ethical alternative to the controversial, divisive and criminally indicted prime minister. Although a majority votes cast Monday were not in support of Netanyahu, Gantz’s message and manner could not prevent his rival from shouldering past him.

“The generals are not good at politics, and Bibi is the expert,” said Jonathan Rynhold, a professor of political studies at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv.

Yet, while Netanyahu has seized the momentum, he still has to find two seats to create a new government. That has proved impossible for any candidate over the last two elections, but observers said Likud was now in the best position yet to pull it off. Politicians are desperate not to be blamed for pushing Israel to a fourth election.

“There will have to be maneuvering to reach that 61 seats, and the power that will come with being the 61st member of the coalition will be tremendously significant,” said Jason Pearlman, a communications strategist.

Already Tuesday, there were signs that some previously unthinkable deals were being weighed, most notably a merger of convenience between Likud and Blue and White. The two sides failed to reach a power-sharing agreement after previous elections, and Gantz has vowed never to partner with Likud as long as Netanyahu remains in charge.

But Netanyahu seemed to be leaving that door open in an election night speech that spared Gantz any criticism. And Blue and White may be calculating that Netanyahu’s trial on bribery, fraud and breach of trust, scheduled to begin in two weeks, might put him out of commission in any case.

The process of coalition building will begin formally when the vote is certified in a few days.

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Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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2020-03-03 12:26:00Z
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States bracing for coronavirus outbreaks as first deaths reported in US | Nightline - ABC News

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1. States bracing for coronavirus outbreaks as first deaths reported in US | Nightline  ABC News
2. U.S. Coronavirus Infections Rise as Cases Outside China Pass 10,000  The Wall Street Journal
3. Live updates: Trump calls for Fed rate cut as U.S. coronavirus deaths rise; finance chiefs plot economic rescue  The Washington Post
4. U.S. coronavirus death toll climbs to 6 as viral crisis eases in China  AOL
5. WHO chief warns 'we are in uncharted territory' as number of coronavirus cases worldwide passes 90,000  CNN
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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2020-03-03 12:00:06Z
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Coronavirus updates: U.S. preps for a pandemic as COVID-19 claims 6 lives in Washington - CBS News

The number of coronavirus cases continues to climb in the U.S.  The new disease has killed six people in the country, four from one nursing home near Seattle and two others in the same county. The cluster of deaths at the nursing facility in King County highlights the serious threat the disease poses to the elderly and infirm. There were just over 100 cases in 15 states as of Tuesday morning, with New Hampshire and Georgia being the most recent to join the battle against the virus.

One of the nation's top virus experts told CBS News Monday that the COVID-19 disease, which can be transmitted by people who don't even show symptoms, could spread to 70% of the world's population. Schools and hospitals across the U.S. have begun preparing for a potential pandemic.

While officials acknowledge the threat posed by the virus, both the Trump administration and the World Health Organization continue to say it's a manageable threat.

The top government economists from the U.S. and the world's six other biggest economies were to hold a conference call Tuesday to try and craft a unified response to the disease, which has already had a massive impact on stock markets and corporate financial outlooks.   

Globally, outbreaks in South Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan have continued growing fast, but draconian control measures in epicenter country China appeared to be paying off. China's daily rate of new infections continued to fall Tuesday, showing it is possible to contain the disease, even in the hardest-hit communities.

Coronavirus lab tests at CDC may be contaminated as Trump challenges drug companies to combat outbreak

But with more than 90,000 people infected and 3,100 killed by COVID-19, exactly what measures can and should be implemented to rein in the virus in societies less-strictly controlled than China remained unclear. As WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday, "we are in unchartered territory." 

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2020-03-03 11:22:00Z
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