Coronavirus: Virus outbreak will slash global investment flows, says UN

Arunachal Pradesh government has decided to temporarily suspend issuing Protected Area Permits (PAPs) to foreigners to check the spread of coronavirus, officials said on Sunday. The move comes days after Sikkim announced similar curbs on visit of foreigners. The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has also shut its borders to foreign visitors for two weeks in an effort to limit the impact of the disease.

"The Health Department has suggested that schools in the state be closed to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The directive for the same is expected to be issued after the Holi festival," sources said. Moreover, the use of biometric attendance in offices has been stopped immediately in the state.

The minister said all those who have travelled in Qatar Airways flights QR 126 Venice to Doha and QR 514 Doha to Kochi have been asked to immediately report to the nearby hospitals. Three of the five persons had recently travelled to Italy while two others had come into direct contact with them. Read full story

Millions of people were placed under forced quarantine in northern Italy early Sunday as the government approved drastic measures in an attempt to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus that is sweeping the globe. Cinemas, theatres and museums have been closed nationwide. Read full story

All five are members of the same family; they are now in isolation at Pathanamthitta General Hospital

American medical workers tasked with screening incoming passengers at U.S. airports grew alarmed: Many were working without the most effective masks to protect them from getting sick themselves. Screeners with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked their supervisors this week to change official protocols and require stronger masks

Six people were killed after a hotel used as a quarantine facility for coronavirus suspects collapsed in south east China's Fujian province, official media reported on Sunday as authorities pulled out 42 people from the debris. Around 71 people were trapped in the hotel that collapsed on Saturday in Quanzhou city of the province. The hotel was used to quarantine and observe people who had come to the province during the novel coronavirus prevention and control. Read full story

Millions of people were placed under forced quarantine in northern Italy early Sunday as the government approved drastic measures in an attempt to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus that is sweeping the globe. PM Giuseppe Conte said he had signed off on plans to strictly limit movement into and out of a large area including Venice and the financial capital Milan for nearly a month. With more than 230 fatalities, Italy has recorded the most deaths from the COVID-19 disease of any country outside China.

In the northeast, Assam has started a sanitising and quarantine drive after it came to light that an American tourist who visited the state has since tested positive. Over 150 people who came in contact with the individual have also been placed under surveillance. Read full story.

The governor of New York announced a state of emergency as the coronavirus continued to spread in the northeastern state, with 21 new cases. A total of 76 people have so far tested positive for the virus, Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters in the state capital of Albany. Ten of those affected have been hospitalized. The state of emergency, he said, "allows expedited purchasing and expedited hiring, which are the things we need now."

"Till now 31,763 passengers have been screened at RGI Airport, Hyderabad including 4,656 who were screened today (March 7), in which 19 were found suspected coronavirus symptomatic and they have been kept in isolation ward in a state-run hospital," a state health official said. "In 19 suspected coronavirus cases, five tested negative and another 14 suspected tests results are awaited," he added. Read full story

Jewellers' Association Jaipur has postponed the 14th Jewellers Association Show to October 2020. The show was scheduled to be held between April 10 and April 13.

Singapore has recorded eight new cases of coronavirus, including one in Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's constituency, taking the total number of people infected by the deadly virus in the city-state to 138. The cases reported on Saturday also include the patrons at a private dinner at an armed forces club and one case was linked to a church.

A St. Louis-area woman who recently traveled to Italy is the U.S. state of Missouri's first confirmed coronavirus case. The Missouri announcement came the same day that neighboring Kansas also announced its first case of the virus. The number of U.S. coronavirus cases swelled to 400, with cases in about half of the states.