Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon
aims to alert you to the threats and opportunities that China and India present. China and India require serious attention; case of ‘hidden dragon and crouching tiger’.
Without this attention, governments, businesses and, indeed, individuals may find themselves at a great disadvantage sooner rather than later.
The POSTs (front webpages) are mainly 'cuttings' from reliable sources, updated continuously.
The PAGEs (see Tabs, above) attempt to make the information more meaningful by putting some structure to the information we have researched and assembled since 2006.
Image copyright ANIImage caption Millions of people across India have been stranded by the lockdown
The first train carrying migrant workers stranded by a nationwide lockdown in India has left the southern state of Telangana.
The 24-coach train, carrying 1,200 passengers, is travelling non-stop to eastern Jharkhand state.
Earlier this week, India said millions of people stranded by the lockdown can return to their home states.
The country has been in lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus since 24 March.
However, the movement of people will be only possible through state government facilitation, which means people cannot attempt to cross state borders on their own.
This train is a “one-off special train” to transport the workers on the request of the Telangana state government, Rakesh Ch, the chief public relations officer of South-Central Railways, told the BBC.
The train left Lingampally, a suburb of the southern city of Hyderabad, early on Friday and is expected to reach Hatia in Jharkhand on Saturday.
Mr Rakesh said that adequate social distancing precautions had been taken and food was being served to the passengers.
Image copyright ANIImage caption Railways officials said that adequate social distancing precautions had been taken and food was being served to the passengers.
He said each carriage was carrying 54 passengers instead of its 72-seat capacity.
“The middle berth is not being used in the sleeper coaches and only two people are sitting in the general coaches,” Mr Rakesh said.
Before the train pulled out of the station, all the passengers were screened for fever and other symptoms.
They had all been employed at a construction site at the Indian Institute of Technology, a top engineering school, in Hyderabad city.
The workers had earlier protested at the site against the non-payment of wages by their contractor.
Senior official M Hanumantha Rao said the contractor was asked to pay their salaries and arrangement made to send them back home.
The journey was organised at “very short notice”, senior police official S Chandra Shekar Reddy told BBC Telugu.
“We screened them at the labour camp itself and transported them to the railway station in buses,” he said.
India’s migrant workers are the backbone of the big city economy, constructing houses, cooking food, serving in eateries, delivering takeaways, cutting hair in salons, making automobiles, plumbing toilets and delivering newspapers, among other things.
Image copyright ANIImage caption Before the train pulled out of the station, all the passengers were screened for fever and other symptoms.
Most of the country’s estimated 100 million migrant workers live in squalid conditions.
When industries shut down overnight, many of them feared they would starve.
For days, they walked – sometimes hundreds of kilometres – to reach their villages because bus and train services were shut down overnight. Several died trying to make the journey.
Some state governments tried to facilitate buses, but these were quickly overrun. Thousands of others have been placed in quarantine centres and relief camps.
BEIJING, April 6 (Xinhua) — Chinese people used mobile payment 3.25 times a day in 2019 on average, according to a report released by Chinese card payment giant China UnionPay.
The report, based on a survey of more than 60,000 people, showed that over 20 percent of respondents used mobile payment more than five times a day in 2019.
Customers involved in the survey spent more than 2,900 yuan (about 408 U.S. dollars) each month on average via mobile payment, up 11 percent year on year, the report said.
The survey, jointly conducted by China UnionPay, 17 commercial banks and 18 payment entities, collected about 62,000 questionnaires, with around 70 percent of the respondents aging between 25 and 45 years old.
Owners of micro and small businesses were the most active users of mobile payment, which had deeper penetrations in scenarios including buses, metro systems, parking lots and gas stations in 2019, the report said.
People also had better awareness of risk prevention, with the proportion of respondents experiencing online fraud and reporting losses down 16 percentage points and 26 percentage points, respectively over one year earlier, said the report.
The US saw 1,169 deaths in 24 hours and its infections are 20 per cent of the global total
China to hold day of mourning for victims; Singapore announces fifth death and school closures; Boris Johnson says he’s still ill; Angela Merkel ends quarantine
A group of nurses gather in the Bronx, New York, for a strike about the lack of personal protective equipment, on April 2, 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases around the world soared past one million on Thursday and deaths topped 50,000 as Europe reeled from the pandemic and the
reported the highest daily death toll so far of any country.
Despite more than half the planet imposing some form of lockdown, the virus claimed thousands more lives, with the US, Spain and Britain seeing the highest number of daily fatalities yet.
Covid-19 is currently spreading the most rapidly in the US, where there have been 243,453 infections and 5,926 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
The US saw 1,169 deaths in 24 hours, the highest one-day toll recorded in any country since the global pandemic began. The grim record was previously held by Italy, where 969 people died on March 27.
Here are other developments:
Singapore shuts schools, workplaces in ‘circuit-breaking’ move
Singapore’s coronavirus case number hits 1,000 after city state reports biggest single-day spike
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Friday afternoon announced most workplaces would be shut from April 7, and schools would be closed from April 8, in its
The city state has 1,114 infections and five people have died. More than 200 have recovered.
Essential services such as food establishments, markets and supermarkets, clinics, hospitals, utilities, transport and banking services will remain open.
Coronavirus: what’s behind Singapore’s U-turn on wearing masks?
4 Apr 2020
Lee on Friday said instead of tightening measures incrementally over the next few weeks, Singapore should “make a decisive move now, to pre-empt escalating infections”.
“Looking at the trend, I am worried that unless we take further steps, things will gradually get worse, or another big cluster may push things over the edge,” Lee said, describing the new measures as a “circuit breaker”.
Medical experts say the stringent measures require the cooperation of citizens to stay at home, given that local infection clusters have ballooned from six at the end of February to more than 20 currently.
People stand behind markers as they practice physical distancing while queuing up to buy food at a Singapore supermarket on April 3, 2020. Photo: Reuters
The Lion City has launched a website to help individuals with symptoms that might be related to Covid-19 decide whether they should see a doctor or not.
On the Covid-19 Symptom Checker website, individuals will be prompted to answer a short list of questions including their age, if they have any chronic diseases, if they have travelled outside Singapore in the past 14 days, or have been in touch with a suspected or confirmed Covid-19 case.
They will also be asked to choose which symptoms they are experiencing from a predetermined list including symptoms such as cough, difficulty breathing and the loss of taste/smell. The site will then recommend what the person should do next. This includes whether they should see a doctor or continue to monitor their symptoms.
China to hold day of mourning for Covid-19 victims
At 10am on April 4, 2020, the public will be asked to observe three minutes of silence. Photo: EPA-EFE
Flags will be flown at half-mast across the country and at embassies overseas, while all public entertainment will be halted for the day, said the State Council, China’s cabinet, on Friday.
At 10am, the public will be asked to observe three minutes of silence, during which sirens will blast out across the country and the owners of cars and boats should sound their vehicles’ horns, the council said.
Saturday also coincides with Ching Ming, or the Tomb-sweeping Festival, when Chinese traditionally gather to remember their ancestors.
China to stage day of mourning for the thousands lost to Covid-19
4 Apr 2020
Mainland China on Friday reported 31 new confirmed coronavirus cases, including two locally transmitted infections, the country’s National Health Commission said.
It also reported four new deaths as of Thursday, all in Wuhan, the city where the outbreak began, the commission said in a statement. The total number of infections now stands at 81,620 and 3,322 deaths have been reported from mainland China to date.
The commission said 60 new asymptomatic coronavirus patients were also reported on Thursday.
UK’s Boris Johnson still ill with virus fever
Boris Johnson #StayHomeSaveLives
✔@BorisJohnson
Another quick update from me on our campaign against #coronavirus.
You are saving lives by staying at home, so I urge you to stick with it this weekend, even if we do have some fine weather.#StayHomeSaveLives
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains in isolation with a high temperature, more than a week after testing positive for coronavirus.
Johnson made the announcement in a video posted on Twitter on Friday, saying that even after seven days, “alas I still have one of the symptoms, a minor symptom: I still have a temperature”.
“In accordance with government advice I must continue my self-isolation,” he said.
As virus rages, British love for NHS could make or break Boris Johnson
3 Apr 2020
With coronavirus deaths still rising, the PM is anxious to drum home his message that Britons must obey government orders to stay in their homes as much as possible.
On March 23 he ordered a national lockdown, with the closure of schools, stores, restaurants and leisure facilities. Under emergency laws, police have the power to fine individuals who flout the rules and break up gatherings of more than two people in public.
Germany to crack down on people flouting physical distancing rules
Police officers ask people to disperse as they gather at a park in Berlin, Germany, on March 28, 2020. Photo: Reuters
People in Germany risk being fined up to €500 (US$540) for standing too close to each other from Friday, as officials crack down on people flouting rules brought in to control the coronavirus outbreak.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has ordered people not leave their homes unless they have an exceptional reason such as grocery shopping, exercise or medical appointments.
Gatherings of more than two people are banned and a distance of at least 1.5 metres must be kept from others at all times.
Local governments have the power to set fines for transgressors, with city officials in Berlin saying their fines would be as high as 500 euros. Similar announcements have come from across Germany’s 16 states.
Bow ties to face masks: German firms shift gears in virus crisis
2 Apr 2020
According to figures by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on Friday, Germany has recorded more than 79,000 cases of the novel coronavirus, and 1,017 deaths, although RKI president Lothar Wieler warned on Friday that the actual number of casualties could be much higher.
“We won’t manage to test every single person … I assume we will have more deaths than are officially recorded,” he said.
Wieler said the mortality rate would “continue to rise” in Germany. German minister’s suicide linked to coronavirus crisis
30 Mar 2020
Meanwhile, Merkel on Friday left her Berlin home for the first time in almost two weeks, after she was forced into quarantine following contact with an infected doctor.
Merkel was tested several times, with all tests coming back negative.
The 65-year-old leader has returned to her office, where she will continue to observe social distancing rules and lead the country via video and audio conferencing, her spokesman said.
Spain records over 900 virus deaths
Members of the Red Cross prepare food for families in need at a food bank in Ronda, Spain, on April 3, 2020. Photo: Reuters
on Friday recorded over 900 new coronavirus deaths over the past day, bringing the number of casualties to 10,935, in the first decline in new Covid-19 deaths in four days.
The country has the world’s second-highest death toll after Italy, but health ministry figures confirm a consistent downward trend in the rate of new cases and fatalities.
The 932 deaths on Friday was a smaller gain than Thursday’s 950, according to Health Ministry data. The number of confirmed cases also increased by less than the previous day, with 7,472 new infections taking the total to 117,710.
Why Europe’s hospitals – among world’s best – are struggling with virus
1 Apr 2020
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government has been struggling to bring the virus under control. Hospitals are overwhelmed, nursing homes have been especially hard hit in a nation with one of the world’s oldest populations, and the army has been mobilised.
Sanchez may extend the current four-week lockdown for another two weeks beyond April 11, Spanish media reported on Friday. The stay-at-home order limits people’s movement to shopping for food and essentials, while some workers are also allowed to circulate.
Passengers disembark from virus-hit cruise ship in Florida
The Zaandam cruise ship docked in Florida on Friday. Photo: TNS via ZUMA Wire/dpa
Passengers from an ill-fated cruise were carefully freed from their cabins and allowed to disembark on Friday, following the removal of 14 critically-ill people who were wheeled off to Florida hospitals bracing for an onslaught of coronavirus patients.
The exodus from the Zaandam and its sister ship the Rotterdam, both operated by Holland America Line, was expected to continue throughout the day.
Floridians were getting off first, followed by other passengers. Buses were taking people healthy enough to travel directly to the airport, where they will board chartered flights home without going through the terminal.
Coronavirus nightmare for passengers stuck on MS Zaandam ‘death ship’
30 Mar 2020
“This is a humanitarian situation, and the County Commission’s top priority is protecting our 1.9 million residents while providing a contained disembarkation option for people on board who need to get safely home,” Broward County Mayor Dale Holness said in a statement late on Thursday.
Four people have died on the Zaandam, for reasons not yet disclosed. All told, 107 passengers and 143 crew reported flu-like symptoms during the voyage, but many have since recovered.
It was unclear when the bodies of four passengers who died on the Zaandam would be removed from the ship, which set sail on March 7, the day before the US State Department warned people against cruising during the pandemic.
South Korea’s infections top 10,000
South Korean hospital’s ‘phone booth’ coronavirus tests
on Friday said the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country has surpassed 10,000, with 174 deaths linked to Covid-19, the disease caused by the new virus.
The Health and Welfare Ministry reported 86 new coronavirus infections over 24 hours to the end of Thursday, taking the total to 10,062 cases. It also logged five more deaths.
The numbers confirmed an encouraging stabilisation of numbers, which have hovered around the 100 mark for the past three weeks, a clear downward trend which began in March after numbers peaked at the end of February with over 900 cases recorded in a day.
South Korea’s virus response is the opposite of China’s – and it works
15 Mar 2020
For a fourth straight day, more new cases were recorded from Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi province, than in what has so far been the outbreak epicentre in the country – North Gyeongsang province and city of Daegu – with the capital area registering 34 new cases, and the latter recording 23.
Imported cases in patients recently returned from abroad also continued to increase, with 22 new infections bringing the total to 264.
Japan to give US$2,800 payouts to households
A man seen in a protective mask at Shinjuku in Tokyo, Japan, on April 2, 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE
Japanese ruling party executive Fumio Kishida said on Friday he has agreed with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to offer 300,000 yen (US$2,800) in cash payments per household that suffers a certain degree of income declines from the coronavirus pandemic.
About 10 million of Japan’s 58 million households are expected to be eligible for the cash programme, a key pillar of an emergency economic package that the government plans to compile possibly on Tuesday.
The relief measure will be funded by a supplementary budget for this fiscal year that the government wants to pass in parliament before Japan’s Golden Week holiday starts in early May.
Coronavirus: Tokyo’s nightlife districts linked to rise in cases
2 Apr 2020
The government will not set a household income limit for the cash handout, which will be tax free, officials said.
“If we set an income limit, we would have to check individual incomes, which would take a lot of time,” Yasutoshi Nishimura, minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy, told a press conference. “Instead of that, we’ll come up with an unprecedented way (to judge who should receive cash).”
Nishimura said recipients will be limited to those who are facing livelihood difficulties, and that civil servants, politicians and major corporate executives who have not been significantly affected by the economic impact of the virus outbreak, for example, will be excluded from the scheme.
Japan weighs cost of Tokyo lockdown and Wagyu beef coupons for households
31 Mar 2020
Abe said the government will provide cash “as soon as possible” not only to households but also to small-and mid-sized business operators that have seen their revenues drop.
Abe has said the package to tackle the coronavirus will be larger than the 56.8 trillion yen emergency package compiled in April 2009 following the previous year’s global financial crisis.
Indonesian Muslims banned from travelling home for Eid al-Fitr
A police officer in a coronavirus helmet sprays disinfectant at a motorcycle in East Java, Indonesia, on April 3, 2020. Photo: AP
Islamic scholars in Indonesia on Friday issued an edict to forbid people from travelling home for Eid al-Fitr, the festival marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, as the country recorded nearly 2,000 infections during the
decided to allow millions of Muslims to travel to celebrate Eid in their hometowns next month, despite fears that they could spread the Covid-19 disease.
“The virus spreads very easily. Doing something like that at a time of a pandemic is haram [forbidden],” the council’s sectary general Anwar Abbas said.
Eid al-Fitr is expected to start on May 23, depending on the sighting of the new moon.
Indonesia frees 18,000 prisoners as virus death toll surges to 170
2 Apr 2020
Indonesia confirmed 196 new infections on Friday, bringing the total number of cases to 1,986.
The death toll rose to 181 after 11 new deaths, making Indonesia the the country with the highest number of fatalities in Asia outside China.
The State Intelligence Agency warned that the outbreak in Indonesia could peak in June with more than 105,000 cases.
Thailand’s night curfew to begin; people banned from making virus pranks
An officer checks the temperature of a passenger in a bus at a health checkpoint in Bangkok, Thailand, on April 3, 2020. Photo: AP
Thailand will on Friday night begin a daily nationwide curfew to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
The 10pm-4am curfew, which will run indefinitely, is the latest measure by the government to curb gatherings and have people stay at home as much as possible.
Exceptions include those people transporting medical supplies and health workers travelling to and from work, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said.
“We prioritise health over freedom,” Prayuth said. “We might not feel as comfortable as before, but we all need to adapt for survival and have social responsibility, so that we can make it through this crisis.”
In a televised address, Prayuth also asked all Thai citizens abroad to “delay” returning to
until after April 15 in a bid to stop imported cases.
Thai king remains in Germany during pandemic, prompting criticism online
23 Mar 2020
Thais have also been banned from making public gatherings, in an order signed on Friday by defence forces chief General Pornpipat Benyasri.
The order prohibits people from public gatherings, carrying out activities, or gathering for unlawful purposes in a manner that risks spreading the coronavirus.
It also bans any act that aggravates people’s suffering and pranks to spread the virus. Family gatherings at residences and civic activities carried out according to safe social distancing guidelines are allowed.
Violation of the order carries a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment and a fine of 40,000 baht (US$1,215).
Pakistan’s mosques remain open amid shutdowns
Coronavirus: In Pakistan food aid is distributed to the poor in Karachi
Mosques in Pakistan were allowed to remain open on Friday, when adherents gather for weekly prayers, even as much of the country had shut down.
Pakistan, with 2,450 confirmed coronavirus cases and 35 deaths, has been sharply criticised for moving too slowly to curb large gatherings.
Prime Minister Imran Khan was relying on restricting the size of congregations attending mosques and advice to stay at home from religious groups like the country’s Islamic Ideology Council.
Coronavirus: Pakistan quarantines pilgrims returning from Iran
4 Mar 2020
However, some provinces had issued their own lockdown orders to prevent Muslims from gathering for Friday prayers.
In southern Sindh province, a complete lockdown was being enforced from noon until 3pm, the time when the faithful gather for prayers. Anyone found on the streets would be arrested, according to the provincial local government minister in a statement.
In eastern Punjab province, where 60 per cent of Pakistan’s 220 million people live, checkpoints had been set up in major cities stopping people from congregating.
Tunisia ‘robocop’ enforces virus lockdown
The PGuard robot patrols the streets of Tunis, in Tunisia, on April 1, 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE
Tunisia’s interior ministry has deployed a police robot to patrol the streets of the capital and enforce a lockdown as the country battles the spread of coronavirus.
Known as PGuard, the “robocop” is remotely operated and equipped with infrared and thermal imaging cameras, in addition to a sound and light alarm system.
In images and a soundtrack posted on the interior ministry’s website last month, PGuard calls out to suspected violators of the lockdown: “What are you doing? Show me your ID. You don’t know there’s a lockdown?”
The PGuard robot checks the exit permit of a citizen in Tunis on April 1, 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE
Tunisia has been under night-time curfew since March 17 and authorities imposed stricter lockdown orders from March 22.
Fourteen people have died from coronavirus in Tunisia, where 455 confirmed cases have tested positive for the disease.
The robot’s Tunisian creator Anis Sahbani said the machine was first produced in 2015 essentially to carry out security patrols and it also operates autonomously through artificial intelligence.
The robot, built by Sahbani’s Enova Robotics firm, costs between 100,000 and 130,000 euros (US$100,000 and $140,000), and has been selling mostly overseas to companies for security uses.
France death tally passes 5,000
A cashier runs a store counter covered up with a plastic barrier in Paris, France, on April 3, 2020. Photo: Xinhua
reported a jump in coronavirus deaths on Thursday as the country included fatalities in some nursing homes for the first time. Still, a decline in intensive-care admissions suggest the country’s lockdown is starting to slow the pace of the outbreak.
The health ministry reported 471 new hospital deaths from the coronavirus on Thursday. In addition, it reported 884 deaths in a partial count from nursing homes, bringing the total number to 5,387. Nursing homes were not previously included in the statistics.
in number of deaths, behind Italy and Spain. The number of confirmed cases is now at 59,105.
Italy reported another 760 fatalities on Thursday. Its death toll, already the world’s highest, now stands at 13,915. Total infections, including recoveries and deaths, have reached 115,242.
Spain reported 950 more deaths from the coronavirus, the most in a single day, taking the total to 10,003.
India plans staggered exit from lockdown
Indian policemen in Hyderabad, India, wear virus-themed helmets for a campaign to raise awareness at preventing the spread of the coronavirus on April 2, 2020. Photo: AP
infections, but the world’s biggest shutdown has left millions without jobs and forced migrant workers to flee to their villages for food and shelter.
After violence, Indian police try humour to enforce virus lockdown
2 Apr 2020
He told state chief ministers that the shutdown had helped limit infections but that the situation remained far from satisfactory around the world and there could be a second wave.
“Prime minister said that it is important to formulate a common exit strategy to ensure staggered re-emergence of the population once lockdown ends,” the government quoted him as saying in a video conference.
India has had 2,069 confirmed infections, of whom 53 have died, low figures by comparison with the US, China, Italy and Spain. But the big worry is the
because of a gathering held by a Muslim missionary group last month that has spawned dozens of cases across the country, officials said.
Five-minute virus tests ‘may give inaccurate results’
A Chinese drug and diagnostic firm has cautioned that the slew of new test kits that promise to detect the coronavirus in just a few minutes may not be as accurate as conventional kits, a potential setback for countries seeking to rapidly test their citizens.
“Such rapid testing is not as accurate as the traditional nucleic acid test that takes about two hours to turn out results,” Wu Yifang, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group’s chief executive officer, said. The drugmaker also has a swift testing technology but it’s working on making the results more accurate, according to Wu.
Coronavirus nightmare of China’s ‘recovered’ patients
2 Apr 2020
Abbott Laboratories unveiled a coronavirus test on March 28 that can confirm if someone is infected in as little as five minutes. Shenzhen Bioeasy Biotechnology has been supplying its version of rapid testing kits to the European Union even before getting regulatory approval in China for domestic use.
The faster and easy-to-deploy diagnostic kits seemingly save time and resources for nations under pressure to widen their testing efforts. But there have been reports of faulty kits, like those bought by Spain and the Czech Republic.
Shenzhen Bioeasy, which sold thousands of test kits to Spain, said in a statement on March 27 that false results could be due to improper use of its kits or faulty specimen collection.
Trump tests negative again
US President Donald Trump was was first tested last month after coming into contact with a Brazilian official who later tested positive. Photo: UPI/Bloomberg
US President Donald Trump on Thursday was tested again to determine whether he had been infected by the coronavirus, and the test came back negative, the White House said.
A letter from Trump’s doctor, Sean Conley, said Trump had undergone what was a second test for coronavirus. He was tested last month after coming into contact with a Brazilian official who later tested positive.
Trump to urge Americans to wear masks when outside
3 Apr 2020
Conley said in a letter released by the White House that Trump was tested with a new, rapid point-of-contact test and the result came back in 15 minutes.
“He is healthy and without symptoms,” Conley said.
Trump said Americans should wear protective face masks if they wish. “If people want to wear them, they can” he said. Scarves work just as well, he said.
NRA sues NY governor over closure of gun stores
A pedestrian pushes a stroller as people wait in line outside a gun store to buy supplies on March 15, 2020. Photo: Reuters
The National Rifle Association (NRA) sued New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for closing gun shops during the coronavirus pandemic, saying the restriction is unconstitutional and leaves citizens defenceless while prisoners are being released early as a result of the crisis.
Cuomo’s March 20 executive order that included firearms retailers as non-essential businesses, which must close is a “pointless and arbitrary attack on the constitutional rights of New York citizens and residents,” the NRA said in a complaint filed late Thursday in Syracuse, New York.
New York ordered most businesses to close to prevent the spread of the virus, but deemed grocery stores, liquor stores, pharmacies and restaurants that do take-out as essential and allowed them to remain open.
The New York lawsuit follows similar action the NRA took in Northern California, where it sued several cities including San Jose for ordering gun stores to close.
Corona beer producer halts brewing
The Mexican brewer of Corona beer said on Thursday it was suspending production because of the health emergency in the country over the Covid-19 pandemic.
Grupo Modelo said the measure was in line with the Mexican government’s order to suspend all non-essential activities until April 30 to slow the spread of coronavirus.
“We are in the process of lowering production at our plants to the bare minimum,” the company said in a statement, adding it would complete the suspension in the following days.
Mexico’s government has said that only key sectors such as agribusiness will be able to continue to function.
US stops issuing passports, except in emergencies
The US State Department will not be processing new passports and renewals except for emergency cases because of the coronavirus pandemic, the agency’s website said.
“Due to public health measures to limit the spread of Covid-19, effective March 20, 2020, we are only able to offer service for customers with a qualified life-or-death emergency and who need a passport for immediate international travel within 72 hours,” said a March 27 online statement.
How elite US university students brought coronavirus home from campus
3 Apr 2020
Passport applications received on or before March 19 will be processed.
Travellers who paid extra for expedited service can expect to receive their passport in the next two to three weeks.
If you applied in-person at a passport agency or centre before March 19, the agency will contact you about getting your passport.
Image copyright GETTY IMAGESImage caption Hundreds have been leaving the mosque to be monitored or tested for the virus
Officials across India are searching for hundreds of people who attended a religious event in the capital that has set off several Covid-19 clusters.
At least six regions have reported cases that can be directly traced to the days-long congregation at a mosque.
Delhi officials are now clearing the building, where more than 1,000 people have been stranded since the government imposed a lockdown last week.
At least 24 have tested positive so far, the state health minister said.
They are among some 300 people who showed symptoms and have been moved to various hospital to be tested, he told the media. Another 700 have been shifted into quarantine centres, he added.
It is believed that the infections were caused by preachers who attended the event from Indonesia.
State officials have called for action to be taken against mosque officials, but they have denied any wrongdoing.
Local media reports say that Nizamuddin – the locality where the mosque is located – has been cordoned off and more than 35 buses carrying people to hospitals or quarantine centres.
The congregation – part of a 20th Century Islamic movement called Tablighi Jamaat – began at the end of February, but some of the main events were held in early March.
It’s unclear if the event was ticketed or even if the organisers maintained a roster of visitors as people attended the event throughout, with some staying on and others leaving. Even overseas visitors, some of them preachers, travelled to other parts of the country where they stayed in local mosques and met people.
Image copyright GETTY IMAGES
So officials have no easy way of finding out how many people attended the event or where they went. But they have already begun to trace and test.
The southern state of Telangana reported on Sunday night that six people who had attended the event died from the virus. The state’s medical officer told the BBC that more than 40 of Telangana’s 71 cases were either directly or indirectly linked to the event.
Indian-administered Kashmir reported its first death from the virus last week – a 65-year-old who had been in Delhi for the congregation. Officials told BBC Urdu that more than 40 of the region’s 48 cases could be traced back to that one patient.
A cluster has even appeared in the distant Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where six of the nine who have tested positive, had returned from the Delhi event.
The southern states of Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have said more than 3,000 people from their states had attended the event, and Tamil Nadu has traced 16 positive patients to it.
States have also asked other people who attended to come forward for testing.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has asked for a police complaint to be registered against the head of the mosque.
However, the event’s organisers have issued a statement, saying they had suspended the event and asked everyone to leave as soon as Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that there would be a day-long national curfew on 22 March.
While many were able to leave, they say, others were stranded because states began to seal their borders the following day, and two days later, India imposed a 21-day lockdown, suspending buses and trains.
The mosque’s premises include dormitories that can house hundreds of people.
The organisers say they informed the local police about all of this and continued to cooperate with medical officers who came to inspect the premises.
The mosque, the statement says, “never violated any provision of law, and always tried to act with compassion and reason towards the visitors who came to Delhi from different states. It did not let them violate the medical guidelines by thronging ISBTs (bus stops) or roaming on streets.”
This is not the first time religious congregations have been blamed for the spread of coronavirus.
Tablighi Jamaat events have also been blamed for spreading cases in Indonesia and Malaysia.
And in South Korea, many positive cases were linked to the Schincheonji church, a secretive religious sect, that has since apologised for its role in the outbreak.
Image copyright EPAImage caption Wuhan has been sealed off since mid-January
The lockdown in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the global coronavirus outbreak began, will be partially lifted on 8 April, officials say.
Travel restrictions in the rest of Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, will be lifted from midnight on Tuesday – for residents who are healthy.
A single new case of the virus was reported in Wuhan on Tuesday following almost a week of no reported new cases.
Countries around the world have gone into lockdown or imposed severe curbs.
The UK is getting to grips with sweeping new measures to tackle the spread of coronavirus, including a ban on public gatherings of more than two people and the immediate closure of shops selling non-essential goods.
Image copyright AFPImage caption The WHO has urged the G20 group of nations to boost production of protective equipment
Meanwhile, health experts say Americans must limit their social interactions or the number of infections will overwhelm the health care system in the US.
Spanish soldiers helping to fight the coronavirus pandemic have found elderly patients in retirement homes abandoned and, in some cases, dead in their beds, the defence ministry has said.
An ice rink in Madrid is to be used as a temporary mortuary for Covid-19 victims.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the pandemic is accelerating, with more than 300,000 cases now confirmed. It is urging countries to adopt rigorous testing and contact-tracing strategies.
Wuhan has been shut off from the rest of the world since the middle of January. But officials now say anyone who has a “green” code on a widely used smartphone health app will be allowed to leave the city from 8 April.
Earlier, the authorities reported a new case of coronavirus in Wuhan, ending a five-day run of no reported new cases in the city.
Media caption Coronavirus: People in Beijing begin to head outdoors
It comes after health officials there confirmed that they were not counting cases of people who were positive but had not been admitted to hospital or did not show any symptoms of the disease.
Official government figures say there have been 78 new cases reported on the Chinese mainland in the last 24 hours. All but four of them were caused by infected travellers arriving from abroad.
This so-called “second wave” of imported infections is also affecting countries like South Korea and Singapore, which had been successful in stopping the spread of disease in recent weeks.
South Korea has been seeing a drop in its daily tally of new cases. On Tuesday it reported its lowest number since 29 February.
China looks to repair its reputation
By Robin Brant, BBC News, Shanghai
China considers itself to be – very nearly – a “post corona” country.
In the last week we’ve heard Wuhan medics warning the UK and others that they need to do more to protect frontline health workers, citing the mistakes they made early on when some treated patients without wearing proper protective clothing.
But there’s also been reporting in state media of the reported death toll in Italy surpassing that in China. This has been combined with some commentary from prominent media figures that has appeared distasteful, almost triumphalist.
At the same time there is a panic about the threat of a second wave from imported cases – travellers arriving from abroad. This has fuelled the view – right or wrong – that some other countries aren’t taking the threat seriously because they aren’t doing what China did. (Almost all the cases in Beijing that have been made public are of Chinese nationals returning home).
Meanwhile, well away from senior leaders, there are some high-profile diplomatic figures using international-facing social media to spread theories that the US may have weaponised and dumped the virus in China. Or that Italy had cases that may have been Covid-19 earlier than China. China is sowing seeds of doubt and questioning assumed truths as it looks to repair its reputation.
Almost all of India with its 1.3bn people is under lockdown. Buses, trains and other forms of public transport are suspended. On Monday, the authorities said domestic flights would also stopped. The country has reported 485 cases and nine people have died. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation again this evening.
Image copyright GETTY IMAGESImage caption Mumbai’s suburban train network carries eight million passengers a day
Neighbouring Pakistan has almost twice as many confirmed cases – 878 as of Monday evening. Sweeping restrictions are in place although the government has stopped short of imposing a nationwide lockdown. However, several provinces have announced them independently. The army is being brought in to help enforce the restrictions.
Bangladesh, which has reported 33 cases and three deaths, is also deploying its armed forces to help maintain social distancing and boost Covid-19 preventive measures. The soldiers will also monitor thousands of quarantined expatriate returnees. Across South Asia, there are concerns that the actual number of cases could be much higher than is being reported.
Indonesia, which has 49 confirmed Covid-19 deaths – the highest in South-East Asia – has converted an athlete’s village built for the 2018 Asian Games into a makeshift hospital for coronavirus patients. A state of emergency was declared in Jakarta on Monday.
In Thailand, a month-long state of emergency which will include curfews and checkpoints will begin on Thursday. The government has been criticised for failing to take strong action so far. Four people have died and nearly 900 tested positive.
Talks between the Japanese PM and the International Olympic Committee are expected this evening.
The most populous country that was without a case until now – Myanmar – has announced two cases.
Europe’s battle against virus intensifies
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday night that, with immediate effect, “people will only be allowed to leave their home…for very limited purposes”. They include shopping for basic necessities, taking one form of exercise per day, fulfilling any medical need, or travelling to work if working from home is impossible.
Media caption Reality Check tackles misleading health advice being shared online
The number of people who have died in the UK rose to 335 on Monday.
In Italy, the worst-hit country in the world, the authorities said 602 people with Covid-19 had died in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll there to 6,077.
But the daily increase in cases was the smallest since Thursday, raising hope that the stringent restrictions imposed by the government were starting to have an effect.
Spain, however, said on Tuesday that its death toll had risen by 514 to 2,696. Nearly 40,000 are infected, about 5,400 of them healthcare workers.
Image copyright GETTY IMAGESImage caption Many passengers have been wearing masks while travelling on the network
One of the world’s busiest urban rail systems will be shut down for ordinary commuters from Monday morning to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection in Mumbai, one of India’s most populous cities. Only government workers in “essential services” will be allowed to travel on a truncated service.
This was waiting to happen.
Consider this. Eight million people take Mumbai’s crowded suburban train network every day. Packed to nearly three times its capacity, this is one of the busiest railway systems in the world.
The 459km (285-mile) network is the lifeline of India’s financial and entertainment capital, accounting for nearly 80% of all commuting trips in the populous western city. The suburban trains “cover almost the distance up to [the] moon in one week,” the network’s website says.
The 66-year-old network carries 60,000 passengers per km per day, the highest among all the leading commuter rail systems in the world, say officials. The coaches are sturdy enough to carry a “super dense crush load”, a phrase coined by the railways to describe the intense crowding on Mumbai’s trains. This means that a nine-car train designed for 1,800 standing passengers will often carry up to 7,000 passengers, according to Monisha Rajesh, author of Around India in 80 Trains. “Mumbai’s local trains were certainly not for the fainthearted,” she wrote.
Image copyright GETTY IMAGESImage caption Mumbai’s suburban train network carries eight million passengers every day
Now consider this. The western state of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital, has confirmed more than 60 coronavirus infections, the highest in India so far. Scores of long distance trains out of the city have been cancelled, but the suburban network has continued to rumble on, raising fears of the mass spread of the virus on these packed trains. The crowded service was an easy target of a terror attack in 2006 when serial blasts ripped though a number of trains. At least 180 people were killed and more than 800 injured – the high casualty figure was attributed to overcrowding.
“From ports and landing places the local transport networks, particularly the railways, carried the virus from large cities to the smallest, remotest settlements,” said a report on the spread of the flu in Britain in 1918-1919.
So should one of the world’s busiest rail networks be shut down to stop a possible spread of the virus in a city that many fear could turn into a coronavirus hotspot?
Image copyright GETTY IMAGESImage caption Officials say ridership on the trains has dropped by 17% after the coronavirus scare
Economists like Shruti Rajagopalan believe so.
“India is conducting the fewest tests per million at the moment. If the virus is truly within the community, then given these two issues, the Mumbai outbreak cannot be contained and people will die without healthcare.
“Mumbai trains are the fastest and surest way to spread the virus (if it is within the community) to the densest parts of the city,” she told me.
There is enough precedent: China stopped trains, ferries, planes and buses from leaving the city of Wuhan; and on Thursday, London officials announced that up to 40 stations on the London Underground network are to be shut as the city attempts to contain the outbreak.
Others are not so sure about linking the spread of a pandemic to public transport systems. One study does not support the effectiveness of suspending mass urban transport systems to reduce or slow down a pandemic because, “whatever the relevance of public transport is to individual-level risk, household exposure most likely poses a greater threat”.
“I have not seen any data on the relative risk of public transportation compared with [dense places like] workplaces or schools,” Timothy Brewer, a professor of epidemiology at the University of California Los Angeles told Vox.com.
He said data from China suggested that “household contact was an important means of transmission outside of Wuhan, suggesting that prolonged contact [with a sick person] increases the risk of transmission”.
“If correct, then the time spent commuting and the density of people commuting could be important factors in assessing if public transportation is a risk factor for the disease’s transmission.”
Image copyright GETTY IMAGESImage caption Trains on the network are being scrubbed clean to avoid the spread of infection
Shivaji Sutar, a senior communications officer of the railways, told me that the network was running an aggressive campaign to ease the rush: awareness announcements, posters and videos containing virus information.
They were also monitoring crowds, scrubbing the trains, taking the temperature of willing passengers and embarking on a drive against public spitting, he said.
A combination of awareness and panic has already led to a 27% drop in traffic on the network. But millions of people continue to take the train to work and home every day.
“This is more because of fear than anything else. Most of us have to take the network because we have to come to work. There is still no government directive to all companies to work from home. And apart from passengers wearing masks, I haven’t seen any other precautions being taken,” Rekha Hodge, who has been using the network for three decades, told me. That is bad news.
Evacuation plan outlined in email as diplomats look for ways to protect foreign nationals
Paris earlier reports three cases on its soil – the first to be identified in Europe
The French consulate in Wuhan is planning to evacuate French nationals from the city to escape the deadly coronavirus. Photo: AFP
Foreign diplomats in Wuhan are scrambling to assess the situation in the coronavirus
-plagued city, with French officials planning to evacuate French nationals trapped by the Chinese government’s lockdown.
The plan would allow French people who want to leave Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, to travel by bus to Changsha in neighbouring Hunan province, according to an email seen by the South China Morning Post.
“The consulate general, in collaboration with local authorities, plans to set up a bus service to allow French nationals … and their Chinese and foreign spouses and children to travel from Wuhan to Changsha,” it said.
The email, sent by the French consulate, also asked anyone who received it to pass the notice on to other French nationals. It was not clear which bodies received the email and the date of the planned evacuation was not specified.
The consulate could not be reached for comment on Saturday.
France, the United States, Britain and South Korea all have consulates in Wuhan, according to China’s foreign ministry.
The South Korean consulate said in a post on its website that it would suspend all visa applications “indefinitely until further notice”.
A diplomatic source said several foreign embassies in China were considering plans to evacuate their nationals from Wuhan.
First coronavirus case ‘had no links to seafood market’
25 Jan 2020
It is not known how many foreigners remain in the city, which has a population of about 11 million and has been under a government-imposed lockdown since Thursday morning.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement on Friday that Paris was monitoring the crisis and “can increase the power [to respond] if necessary”.
There have so far been three confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in France, in Paris and Bordeaux.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday that Paris was monitoring the crisis in China. Photo: AFP
The US said earlier that most of its consulate staff and their families had been pulled out of Wuhan.
An emailed inquiry to the British consulate in the city received only an automated reply, saying: “Wuhan is now in crisis mode. We may not be able to answer your emails for some time.”
The consulate would be closed for the Lunar New Year holiday until January 31, it said.
Meanwhile, British citizen Kharn Lambert told the BBC on Thursday how he had been “trapped” in Wuhan.
The PE teacher said he was afraid to leave his house for fear of catching the deadly virus.
“If you saw the street behind me at night time where I normally live … if I show you out there now, it’s dead,” he said.
More than 1,280 confirmed cases have been reported across China, of which more than 700 were in Hubei, according to local government figures released on Saturday.
The death toll in Hubei stands at 39, with two other fatalities reported in the provinces of Hebei and Heilongjiang.
Tens of millions of people in Hubei are effectively on lockdown since a travel ban was imposed on most of the province.
Flights, trains, buses and ferries connecting Wuhan to other cities in Hubei have been suspended. Rail authorities in Wuhan, which is a hub for several major high-speed lines, said operations at 61 stations and more than 400 train services had been suspended until further notice.
It has been described as being one of the first major studies of its kind into public opinion on the subject in mainland China.
Some 80% of respondents said they were concerned that facial recognition system operators had lax security measures.
Separate research suggests that they have good reason to be concerned.
China was ranked the worst of 50 surveyed countries in a study looking at how extensively and invasively biometric ID and surveillance systems are being deployed. The work was carried out by the cybersecurity firm Comparitech.
It said China had no “specific law to protect citizens’ biometrics” and highlighted a “lack of safeguards for employees in the workplace”.
Image copyright GETTY IMAGESImage caption Some cities are deploying facial recognition systems at road crossings to identify and deter jaywalkers
Surveillance concerns
Nandu’s survey was carried out via the internet between October and November.
In its sample, 57% of respondents voiced concern about their movements being tracked.
In addition, 84% of people said they wanted to be able to review the data that facial recognition systems had collected on them and to be able to request that it should be deleted.
The majority said they wanted an option to be able to use ID cards, driving licenses and/or passports as an alternative. But the survey also suggested that between 60 to 70% of Chinese residents believed facial recognition made public places safer.
Hard to avoid
China has more facial recognition cameras than any other country and they are often hard to avoid.
Earlier this week, local reports said that Zhengzhou, the capital of the northeastern Henan province, had become the first Chinese city to roll the tech out across all its subway train stations.
Commuters can use the technology to automatically authorise payments instead of scanning a QR code on their phones. For now, it is a voluntary option, said the China Daily.
Earlier this month, university professor Guo Bing announced he was suing Hangzhou Safari Park for enforcing facial recognition.
Prof Guo, a season ticket holder at the park, had used his fingerprint to enter for years, but was no longer able to do so.
The case was covered in the government-owned media, indicating that the Chinese Communist Party is willing for the private use of the technology to be discussed and debated by the public.
Media captionWATCH: BBC’s John Sudworth put a Chinese facial recognition system to the test in December 2007
But the state continues to make some uses of the tech mandatory.
At the start of the month, a new regulation came into force that requires mobile phone subscribers to have their faces scanned when they sign a new contract with a provider.
The authorities say the move is designed to prevent the resale of Sim cards to help combat fraud.
TOKYO (Reuters) – China, Japan and South Korea have set ambitious targets to put millions of hydrogen-powered vehicles on their roads by the end of the next decade at a cost of billions of dollars.
But to date, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) have been upstaged by electric vehicles, which are increasingly becoming a mainstream option due to the success of Tesla Inc’s (TSLA.O) luxury cars as well as sales and production quotas set by China.
Critics argue FCVs may never amount to more than a niche technology. But proponents counter hydrogen is the cleanest energy source for autos available and that with time and more refueling infrastructure, it will gain acceptance.
AMBITIOUS TARGETS
China, far and away the world’s biggest auto market with some 28 million vehicles sold annually, is aiming for more than 1 million FCVs in service by 2030. That compares with just 1,500 or so now, most of which are buses.
Japan, a market of more than 5 million vehicles annually, wants to have 800,000 FCVs sold by that time from around 3,400 currently.
South Korea, which has a car market just one third the size of Japan, has set a target of 850,000 vehicles on the road by 2030. But as of end-2018, fewer than 900 have been sold.
WHY HYDROGEN?
Hydrogen’s proponents point to how clean it is as an energy source as water and heat are the only byproducts and how it can be made from a number of sources, including methane, coal, water, even garbage. Resource-poor Japan sees hydrogen as a way to greater energy security.
They also argue that driving ranges and refueling times for FCVs are comparable to gasoline cars, whereas EVs require hours to recharge and provide only a few hundred kilometers of range.
Many backers in China and Japan see FCVs as complementing EVs rather than replacing them. In general, hydrogen is seen as the more efficient choice for heavier vehicles that drive longer distances, hence the current emphasis on city buses.
THE MAIN PLAYERS
Only a handful of automakers have made fuel cell passenger cars commercially available.
Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) launched the Mirai sedan at the end of 2014, but has sold fewer than 10,000 globally. Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) has offered the Nexo crossover since March last year and has sold just under 2,900 worldwide. It had sales of around 900 for its previous FCV model, the Tucson.
Honda Motor Co Ltd’s (7267.T) Clarity Fuel Cell is available for lease, while Daimler AG’s GLC F-CELL has been delivered to a handful of corporate and public sector clients.
Buses are seeing more demand. Both Toyota and Hyundai have offerings and have begun selling fuel cell components to bus makers, particularly in China.
Several Chinese manufacturers have developed their own buses, notably state-owned SAIC Motor (600104.SS), the nation’s biggest automaker, and Geely Auto Group, which also owns the Volvo Cars and Lotus brands.
WHY HAVEN’T FUEL CELL CARS CAUGHT ON YET?
A lack of refueling stations, which are costly to build, is usually cited as the biggest obstacle to widespread adoption of FCVs. At the same time, the main reason cited for the lack of refueling infrastructure is that there are not enough FCVs to make them profitable.
Consumer worries about the risk of explosions are also a big hurdle and residents in Japan and South Korea have protested against the construction of hydrogen stations. This year, a hydrogen tank explosion in South Korea killed two people, which was followed by a blast at a Norway hydrogen station.
Then there’s the cost. Heavy subsidies are needed to bring prices down to levels of gasoline-powered cars. Toyota’s Mirai costs consumers just over 5 million yen ($46,200) after subsidies of 2.25 million yen. That’s still about 50% more than a Camry.
Automakers contend that once sales volumes increase, economies of scale will make subsidies unnecessary.
One Sleeper Coach passenger bus travelling from Lucknow to Delhi met with an accident on Yamuna Expressway. It fell into the side fall about 15 feet deep.
20 passengers rescued so far. Efforts are on for the rest.
About 900 people have been killed on the road since it opened in 2012, according to authorities.
Road accidents in India are usually blamed on badly maintained vehicles, poor driving and the state of the roads.
Correspondents say buses in rural India are often old and rickety. Many also do not follow or enforce basic safety measures – it’s not uncommon to see people crowding into buses or even travelling on the roof if they cannot find a seat inside.
Image copyright ANI
Image copyright ANI
Image copyright ANI
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