The Latest: Coronavirus watch, March 22 -- Coronavirus cases in Italy reach 53,578; China's Wuhan reports zero increase for 4th day

Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-22 13:18:31|Editor: huaxia

A woman wearing a mask is seen at India Gate, a tourist attraction in New Delhi, India, March 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Javed Dar)

- Global death toll from COVID-19 tops 10,000: WHO

- Coronavirus cases in Italy reach 53,578, death toll at 4,825

- Coronavirus infections approach 25,000 in Spain, with 1,328 deaths

- China's Wuhan reports zero increase in COVID-19 cases for 4th day

- U.S. Vice President Pence tests negative for coronavirus

BEIJING, March 22 (Xinhua) -- The world is now in battle against the common threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, a disease caused by a previously unknown coronavirus that has spread to over 180 countries and regions around the world.

The following are the latest updates on the contagious illness (all times Beijing).

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence gestures as he attends a press conference on the COVID-19 at the White House in Washington D.C. March 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

11:44 a.m., March 22

U.S. Vice President Pence tests negative for coronavirus

WASHINGTON, March 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife have both tested negative for the coronavirus, his spokesperson said on Saturday.

"Pleased to report that the COVID-19 test results came back negative for both Vice President @Mike_Pence and Second Lady @KarenPence," tweeted Katie Miller, the vice president's press secretary.

People wearing masks wait at a metro station in New Delhi, India, March 13, 2020. (Xinhua/Javed Dar)

10:40 a.m.

COVID-19 cases jump to 315 in India as 14-hour long "public curfew" begins

NEW DELHI -- The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India has risen to 315, said the official data issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.

Four deaths have been reported so far, and no casualty reported in the past few days.

"Total number of confirmed cases so far in the country as on March 21 at 10.45 p.m., including foreign nationals, is 315," said a statement put up on the ministry's website on Sunday.

A girl wearing a mask braves the wind in Wellington, New Zealand, March 17, 2020. (Xinhua/Guo Lei)

10:11 a.m.

New Zealand reports 14 new cases of COVID-19

WELLINGTON -- New Zealand reported 14 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 66.

The newly reported cases are in both North Island and South Island regions of Auckland, Northland, Canterbury, New Plymouth, Waikato, Tauranga, Coromandel, and Dunedin, the Ministry of Health confirmed.

An inbound passenger fills in a health card at the Capital International Airport in Beijing, capital of China, March 18, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao)

9:42 a.m.

Chinese mainland reports 45 newly imported COVID-19 cases

BEIJING -- The Chinese mainland reported 45 newly imported cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Saturday, bringing the total number of imported cases to 314, according to the National Health Commission.

Of the 45 newly imported cases, 14 were reported in Shanghai, 13 in Beijing, seven in Guandong, four in Fujian, two in Jiangsu, one in Hebei, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Shandong and Sichuan respectively, according to the commission.

The commission said it received reports of 46 newly confirmed cases on the mainland Saturday, including one domestic infection transmitted by imported cases in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province.

Nurses born in the 1990s and 1980s pose for a photo at the makeshift Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain) Hospital in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, March 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Yuguo)

9:13 a.m.

China's Wuhan reports zero increase in COVID-19 cases for 4th day

WUHAN -- No new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were reported Saturday in Wuhan, marking the fourth day in a row of zero report at the epicenter of the epidemic in a months-long battle with the deadly virus.

The health commission of Hubei Province, of which Wuhan is the capital, said Sunday the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Wuhan and Hubei remained at 50,005 and 67,800 by Saturday.

Hubei saw five new deaths, four of which were in Wuhan, bringing the total number of deaths in the province to 3,144.

Palestinian workers sterilize al-Omari mosque in Gaza City, on March 12, 2020. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

9:39 a.m.

Gaza reports first two COVID-19 cases

GAZA -- Two Palestinians in Gaza have tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the first cases recorded in the Hamas-ruled enclave, a health official said early Sunday.

The patients are two Palestinians who arrived in Gaza from Pakistan through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Thursday, said Health Ministry Director-General Yousef Abu al-Reesh.


7:24 a.m.

Italy further tightens lockdown rules, closing all non-essential businesses

ROME -- In an unexpected announcement made via Facebook, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said late on Saturday that all commercial activities in the country would be shut down unless they performed an "essential" role for the country in its battle against the spread of coronavirus.

With his declaration, Conte further tightened what is the most dramatic peacetime lockdown in recent history. Conte himself called the current crisis in Italy "the country's most difficult since the end of World War II."


An ambulance is seen in Ostia, Rome, Italy, March 21, 2020. (Photo by Elisa Lingria/Xinhua)

7:16 a.m.

Global death toll from COVID-19 tops 10,000: WHO

GENEVA -- The pandemic of COVID-19 has killed 11,184 people worldwide as of midnight Friday, an increase of 1,344 deaths compared with the previous day, according to the daily situation report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on late Saturday.

A total of 32,000 new infections were reported in the past 24 hours as of 23:59 CET Friday, bringing the global cumulative number of confirmed cases to 266,073.

Outside China, 7,923 people died from the epidemic outbreak, as the virus has spread to 181 countries and regions where a total of 184,657 infections were reported.


5:44 a.m.

Turkey confirms 21 COVID-19 deaths as total cases rise to 947

ANKARA -- Turkey on Saturday confirmed 21 deaths from COVID-19, while the total number of confirmed cases in the country increased to 947, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.

"In the past 24 hours, tests were made for 2,953 suspected cases and 277 of them came out positive. Our number of patients reached to 947. We lost 12 of our elderly patients (today). We have lost a total of 21 lives so far," Koca tweeted.

A woman wearing a facial mask poses for a photo on Times Square in New York City, the United States, March 19, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

5:35 a.m.

New York state becomes COVID-19 epicenter in U.S. with over 10,000 cases

NEW YORK -- Governor of the U.S. state of New York Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday that a total of 10,356 people in the state had tested positive for novel coronavirus, jumping 3,254 compared with the previous day.

The Empire State has thus become the first state in the country that reported over 10,000 COVID-19 cases, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

A face mask is seen on the ground near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on March 17, 2020. (Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua)

4:29 a.m.

France reports 112 more coronavirus deaths, up to 562

PARIS -- France on Saturday reported 112 new COVID-19 deaths, and infection cases rose by 1,847 to 14,459.

A total of 6,172 people are hospitalized, including 1,525 patients in intensive care, of whom 50 percent are younger than 60 years old, according to figures updated by the Ministry of Health.

Policemen are on duty in Ostia, Rome, Italy, March 21, 2020. (Photo by Elisa Lingria/Xinhua)

3:25 a.m.

Coronavirus cases in Italy reach 53,578, death toll at 4,825

ROME -- Italy reported 6,557 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, raising the total to 53,578 since the pandemic first broke out in its north on Feb. 21, according to the latest data provided by the Civil Protection Department managing the COVID-19 emergency.

Further 793 people died of coronavirus in Italy in the past 24 hours, taking the country's death toll to 4,825. The number of active coronavirus infections increased to 42,681, not counting recoveries and fatalities.

A medical worker tests a patient at a hospital in Barcelona, Spain, March 20, 2020. (Photo by Francisco Avia/Xinhua)

9:59 p.m., March 21

Coronavirus infections approach 25,000 in Spain, with 1,328 deaths

MADRID -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Spain rose from 19,980 on Friday to 24,926 on Saturday, according to the daily report published by the Spanish Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Services.

The number of deaths caused by the virus has also risen sharply from 1,002 to 1,328, while 2,125 people have now made a recovery.

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