Travel shutdowns have continued to spread today as countries seek to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Today the European Union’s ban on foreign travellers entering the Schengen area for non-essential travel came into effect. While internal borders are not touched by this some EU countries such as Poland have also imposed controls on their own borders.
The US and Canada have also mutually agreed to close their borders to non-essential travel in order to contain the spread. Malaysia, Taiwan, and Israel have all moved to ban all non-resident foreign nationals from entering the country – joining a long list of countries who have already done so. Sri Lanka has banned all incoming flights.
Unsurprisingly airlines are struggling and drastically slashing services. In the US United Airlines has announced it will cut flights by 60% in response to the epidemic. The US depends on its air network to cover such large domestic distances. President Trump said today that saving the airline industry is a top priority for the federal government.
Internal controls on movement are also spreading. In the Philippines surprise quarantine measures introduced by the government have caused chaos. Roughly 107 million people have been told to stay at home for a month.
Greece has locked down its migrant camps. The situation could quickly turn dire. They are already overcrowded, holding 37,000 migrants despite being designed for 6,000, making social distancing almost impossible and soap is already almost completely unavailable.
South Africa is holding a cruise liner with 1,700 people off the coast due to suspected coronavirus cases on the ship.
This global drop off in travel and surge in domestic quarantines has already had a massive effect. Photos taken from space by satellites show areas usually thronged by crowds eerily empty as tourism grinds to a halt, and people stay home.
However, the rate of infection and mortality is still rising in some areas. Italy having seen a record number of deaths yesterday broke that record today with 475 deaths today, bringing the total to nearly 3000 – despite the rate of new infections dropping. France saw its rate of infection jump by 16% on Tuesday. In the USA the number of infected is now over 7,000 with number in New York alone more than doubling to over 2000 since yesterday. Worst hit is likely Iran which confirmed over 1,000 deaths in one day yesterday with experts suggesting the real numbers may be substantially higher and will likely get much worse as the government continues to flounder.
Other countries are preparing for the worst. In Germany official predictions suggest 10m people could be infected. Chancellor Angela Merkel called for unity saying this was the biggest challenge Germany would face since the Second World War – and she apparently plans to announce no new measures.
Portugal has declared a state of emergency. In Russia, despite government proclamations the situation is under control, work has begun on the construction of a large temporary hospital on the outskirts of Moscow.
Worldwide the total number of cases now stands at over 200,000. As part of the global response the World Health Organisation has announced it will create a global trial to study potential coronavirus treatments. China, getting back on its feet as its efforts to contain coronavirus take effect, is also pitching in, and building influence, sending medical supplies to Poland and Italy.
Meanwhile, community efforts to help the vulnerable have got underway across the globe. A term that looks set to spread is “caremongering”. Coined in the famously pleasant Canada large numbers of people are organising under the moniker to help assist their communities and those in need in the face of the virus.
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Iain Martin and the team make sense of the news, providing commentary and analysis on the stories that matter in politics, geopolitics, economics and culture.