The COVID-19 virus has now been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
The W.H.O. says in the past two weeks, the number of cases of the coronavirus outside China has increased 13-fold, and the number of affected countries has tripled.
It says there are now more than 118,000 cases in 114 countries, and 4,291 people have lost their lives and thousands more are fighting for their lives in hospitals.
In the days and weeks ahead, the W.H.O. says it expects to see the number of cases, the number of deaths, and the number of affected countries climb even higher.
Authorities say they have been assessing this outbreak around the clock and are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction.
U-S President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that the US would temporarily suspend most travel from Europe to the US in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Many details on the ban remain unclear.
The New York Times explains that the 30-day ban applies to foreigners who have been in the 26 countries that make up the European Union’s Schengen Area in the previous two weeks.
The limits take effect Friday at midnight and will exempt American citizens and permanent legal residents and their families.
The U-K will be an exception.
Trump also announced plans to provide billions of dollars in loans to small businesses and urged Congress to pass major tax relief measures to limit the impact on the economy.
Trump was responding to pressure that he wasn’t taking the coronavirus threat seriously.
It isn’t just governments in reaction mode – both the NBA and the NHL have had to address the COVID-19 coronavirus in the past 24 hours.
The NBA has suspended its season after a player with the Utah Jazz has preliminarily tested positive.
For its part, the NHL will provide update on its season on Thursday.
The Columbus Blue Jackets and San Jose Sharks already stated that they’d host games without fans.
Here in Canada, there are at least 93 cases of the coronavirus reported by the federal government.
That includes 39 in British Columbia and 36 in Ontario.
There has been one reported death.
The Federal government has responded to the outbreak by committing $1 billion to battle the coronavirus.
The prime minister explained on Wednesday that the money will be divided into research and to helping the provinces prepare and deal with the COVID-19 virus.
“We recognize that this challenge is evolving and its a global challenge,” he explained. “Canadian science, Canadian research are among the best in the world. That’s why we’re ensuring that the investments we’re making in our science and research are gonna respond to this challenge.”
The fund includes $500 million to the provinces and $200 million towards the ongoing federal response to the virus.
Officials with the Nova Scotia Health Authority announced that they’ve enacted stricter measures for visiting inpatients to curb the spread of respiratory illness including COVID-19.
In New Brunswick, health officials have confirmed the province’s first presumptive case of COVID-19.
Chief medical health officer, Dr. Jennifer Russell, announced the case during a news conference late Wednesday.
“This case is a woman between the ages of 50 and 60 years old in zone one, which is the Southeastern part of the province,” she explained. “The patient traveled international from France.”
Russell says the woman was “minimally symptomatic” and is currently in self-isolation at home.
She says additional testing to confirm the case as a positive will take place at the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg.
Russell says they’ll be reaching out to people who may have been in contact and asking them to stay home for 14 days.
(With Files from Brad Perry, Vic Krasowski, and Sean McLellan)
