A good part of the world appears to be turning the corner in the fight against the deadly Coronavirus with China reporting no new coronavirus deaths for the first time since the pandemic emerged.
Adding to signs that the crisis may be easing in some areas, Italy, France, Germany and Spain reported lower numbers of new cases while New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said deaths were showing indications of hitting a plateau.
Here is a global round up of major developments in the anti Covid-10 fight.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe moved to declare a state of emergency in seven prefectures as he unveiled a larger-than-expected stimulus package.
In the U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was hospitalized Sunday after 10 days in isolation remains in an intensive-care unit.
Hong Kong’s leader cautioned that more cases could be imported as residents return to the city while Singapore has defended its decision not to close schools earlier.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe moved to declare a state of emergency in prefectures including Tokyo and Osaka as he announced a record stimulus package of 108 trillion yen ($988 billion) to support struggling households and businesses.
The plan is much bigger than the 60 trillion yen recommended by Abe’s ruling party last week. The emergency declaration, which will also cover Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Hyogo and Fukuoka prefectures, hands powers to local governments to try to contain the spread of the virus that causes Covid-19, including by urging residents to stay at home.
Hong Kong could continue to see a rising number of imported coronavirus cases so long as residents are allowed to return from abroad, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said.
Unless Hong Kong stops residents from coming back, the trend is likely to “persist for a while,” Lam told a briefing on Tuesday.
Lam said she hoped to announce a second round of virus relief measures “soon,” without specifying a date. Authorities on Monday extended a ban on non-resident entry until further notice, with the city’s airport also continuing to halt all transit services for an unspecified duration.
Singapore defended a decision not to close schools earlier as the country gets ready to implement “circuit breaker” measures to stem the spread of the virus.
It was the “correct” move as younger people don’t seem as affected compared with adults, the country’s education minister Ong Ye Kung said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
From Wednesday, the city-state will shutter its schools as it moves to full home-based learning.
For the first time since January, China said there were no new coronavirus deaths in the country with the toll remaining at 3,331.
The National Health Commission said there were 32 new cases, with all of them imported. China now has 81,740 confirmed cases and 77,167 patients have been discharged.
In the meantime, Gilead Sciences Inc. one of the pharmaceutical firms in the global race for a cure for the deadly Coronavirus outbreak says more than one thousand even hundred patients have been treated with its drug remdesivir.
The company announced weekend it will be donate 1.5 million doses of its experimental anti-coronavirus drug, which could treat 140,000 patients.
The drug will be offered for compassionate use, expanded access and clinical trials, and will treat patients with severe symptoms, Chairman and CEO Daniel O’Day said in an open letter.
A World Health Organization panel said in January that remdesivir was considered to be the most promising therapeutic candidate based on its broad antiviral spectrum, and existing data based on human and animal studies.
The medication was developed initially for Ebola and studied in patients in Eastern Congo. Multiple clinical trials are investigating the drug’s effects in Covid-19 patients in China and elsewhere.
