Coronavirus situation turns malignant

DUBAI/MUMBAI/WASHINGTON/Tehran /BEIJING/LONDON/HARARE/ROME: Coronavirus has infected more than 150,000 people worldwide and killed almost 6,000 since it was first detected in China last December.

No shisha pipe sessions, deserted streets, mosques and shopping malls, drones in the sky broadcasting public health warnings -- the new coronavirus has turned life upside down in Gulf societies.

More than 800 cases of the COVID-19 have been recorded so far across the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), but so far no deaths. Most of those infected have been people returning from nearby Iran, where more than 700 people had died in the outbreak by Sunday.

Facing a mounting public health threat, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman have taken drastic measures to combat the pandemic. "It is as if today is the weekend and not the start of the week," Amal al-Hashem, a Dubai resident of 15 years, told AFP on a largely deserted street Sunday, the start of the week in the Gulf.

Kuwait has taken the strictest measures in the GCC by largely locking down the country over the weekend, the only nation other than Italy to do so. Kuwait City´s main airport road was empty as all commercial flights to and from the small Gulf nation were suspended. Drones in the skies were sounding messages in multiple languages urging people to return to their homes.

In Qatar´s capital Doha, the usually bustling market in the heart of the tourist centre was eerily quiet, while Riyadh´s shopping district also lay barren.

The Gulf countries have shut down cinemas and other entertainment centres -- some even closing gyms and spas -- as well as halting one of the region´s favourite pastimes, smoking shisha in cafes.

Residents in the Omani capital of Muscat told AFP there had been much "fear and panic" over what many of them have termed "Corona phobia" at a time when a small bottle of disinfectant is in almost everyone´s pockets or bags. They said many people have stopped shaking hands or kissing each other on the cheeks, a common greeting across the Arab world.

In Saudi Arabia, 60-year-old Abu Abdulrahman said he felt awkward about the rapidly changing social norms. "Do I shake hands and kiss or do I not? I don´t know," he said. "I try not to do that, but I get embarrassed. What if the other person puts their hand out first?"

Meanwhile, both the UAE and Qatar have advised their citizens to stop the traditional "nose to nose" greeting, with Abu Dhabi instructing residents that a wave would suffice.

Measures to combat the spread of the virus have also impacted the way many Muslims in the Gulf worship.

After Saudi Arabia suspended the "Umrah" year-round pilgrimage, it advised residents against praying in mosques if they have any symptoms of the virus.

Kuwait took additional steps and banned all mass prayers, an unprecedented move in a country where hundreds of thousands pray side-by-side every day. "Pray at home, pray at home," an imam preached in a recording that went viral on social media on Saturday.

Meanwhile, India has suspended land border crossing points with Pakistan indefinitely from March 16 midnight to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

According to a notification from the Indian Union Home Ministry all types of passenger movement would be suspended from March 15 midnight.

However diplomats and UN personnel having valid visas may be allowed through the Attari crossing point along the India-Pakistan border.

Visit to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur has also been suspended for Sikh pilgrims under the new order. The decision to close access to the Kartarpur Sahib came on Sunday with Indian government announcing the suspension of travel and registration for Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan from midnight March 16 till further orders.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has tested negative for the novel coronavirus, his physician said, following concerns over his exposure to a disease that has paralyzed the globe.

Trump agreed to the test after coming in contact with several members of a Brazilian presidential delegation visiting his Florida resort who have since tested positive for the virus.

"This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative," the president´s physician Sean Conley said in a Saturday memo.

Trump, 73, had dismissed concerns over his exposure to the disease which has killed at least 51 Americans and upended the rhythm of daily life across the country, with millions working from home and schools shut.

Vice President Mike Pence announced further curbs on travel to the United States, saying a ban imposed on European nations over the pandemic would be extended to the United Kingdom and Ireland Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Iran shut a key tomb and appealed Sunday to its citizens to stay at home to halt a coronavirus outbreak it said has claimed over 700 lives and infected nearly 14,000 people.

The new overall tolls announced by the health ministry included another 113 deaths and 1,209 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection.

People "should cancel all travel and stay at home so that we may see the situation improving in the coming days," ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said.

In line with measures to stop the virus, the tomb of Imam Reza in Iran´s holy Shiite city of Mashhad was closed to pilgrims until further notice. "Currently, the porches of the mausoleum and generally all the covered spaces of the holy shrine are closed," a spokesman for the shrine told AFP.

All collective prayers had also been cancelled "except in open spaces and courtyards" of the shrine, he added.

The latest suspected case was Ayatollah Hashem Bahtayi Golpayegani, a member of the Assembly of Experts, which is tasked with appointing and monitoring Iran´s supreme leader.

President Hassan Rouhani denied lockdowns had been imposed on entire areas, and said provincial officials were not allowed to decide on the issue. "Neither today, nor during Nowrouz and before or after it, we have no quarantine and all businesses are free and government services will continue," Rouhani said at a televised news conference with business-owners.

Rouhani announced a set of measures designed to ease pressure on businesses, including later deadlines for the payment of taxes, loans and bills.

China on Sunday reported 16 new imported cases of the coronavirus, the highest in over a week, as domestic cases dwindle in the country.

The National Health Commission said infections involving people arriving from overseas were reported in five provinces and cities including Beijing and Shanghai. Only four new domestic cases were detected, all in Hubei province´s capital Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December.

There have now been 111 imported infections, with regions outside of Hubei reporting no new indigenous cases for the third day in the row, prompting fears that China´s measures to contain the virus domestically could be undone by reintroduced outbreaks. Another ten people died, all in Wuhan, bringing the national toll from the disease in mainland China to 3,199.

More than 80,000 people have been infected.

Britain on Sunday said its criticised plan to deal with coronavirus was designed to "protect life" in a "sustainable" manner as it prepared to unveil "wartime-style" measures to tackle the outbreak. The government has yet to implement the kind of tough measures that continental Europe has adopted, but health minister Matt Hancock said Sunday it would announce emergency powers on Tuesday, which are expected to include a ban on mass gatherings. "We are absolutely ready to do that," he told Sky News´s Sophy Ridge. "We´ll take the right action at the right time," he said, adding "the time is coming."

Critics have accused the government of not acting quickly enough to contain the spread, but the government has said that it is taking the advice of experts, including behavioural scientists, on when to deploy the measures.

Zimbabwe´s defence minister has called the coronavirus pandemic a "punishment" of the US and Europe for imposing sanctions against members of the ruling regime over human rights abuses.

"Coronavirus is the work of god punishing countries who imposed sanctions on us," said Zimbabwe´s defence minister Oppah Muchinguri on Saturday, speaking at a rally in the northern town of Chinhoyi. "They are now staying indoors. Their economies are screaming just like they did to our economy."

Northern Italian leaders warned Sunday that they were running out of beds and artificial respirators to help victims in the European epicentre of the novel coronavirus. Their pleas for help came as the Vatican took the drastic step of cancelling Easter week celebrations that were set to begin April 5.

The government also prepared to unveil family support measures aimed at helping millions cope with a pandemic that many now view as Italy´s biggest crisis since World War II.

Only occasional joggers and a few locals carrying grocery bags could be seen on the streets of Rome on a sunny afternoon of Italy´s first weekend under effective lockdown.

Milan´s Lombardy region governor Attilio Fontana said the situation in areas around Italy´s financial capital Milan was "getting worse". "We are close to the point where we will no longer be able to resuscitate people because we will be out of intensive care unit beds," Fontana told Italy´s Sky TG24 channel.

Meanwhile, chaos gripped major US airports Sunday as Americans returning from coronavirus-hit European countries overwhelmed authorities attempting to process the surge.

Frustrated passengers complained of hours-long lines, crowded and unsanitary conditions and general disarray in the system for screening people for symptoms of the virus.

"Very close quarters," Ann Lewis Schmidt told CNN, describing conditions at Chicago´s O´Hare International Airport (ORD). "So if we didn´t have the virus before, we have a great chance of getting it now!" Schmidt said.

US airports have been hit with a flood of Americans, many of them students, since restrictions on travel from Europe ordered by US President Donald Trump took effect at midnight Friday.

The United States on Saturday extended the ban on travel from Europe, South Korea and China to Britain and Ireland. Only US citizens and legal residents are being allowed in from those countries, and they are then supposed to self-quarantine for 14 days. The airport bottlenecks were the latest evidence of continuing turbulence in the administration´s response to a pandemic that started in China in December and has since spread worldwide.