World Briefs

CHINA  yesterday recorded another 35 confirmed and 20 suspected coronavirus cases, all from overseas. Another 55 asymptomatic cases were also recorded, 17 of them imported, bringing to 1,075 the number of who have tested positive but show no symptoms and are now being isolated and monitored. China also reported another six deaths, all in the hardest-hit province of Hubei, bringing the national death toll to 3,318 with 81,589 total cases.

SOUTH KOREA Seoul is building a huge coronavirus testing station in a sports complex built for the 1988 Summer Olympics as it seeks to test hundreds of people returning to the city each day amid broadening outbreaks in Europe and the United States. Mayor Park Won-soon said the city will test all South Korean and long-term foreign residents returning from overseas starting today.

AUSTRALIA’s government will offer parents free child care from next week in a bid to keep 13,000 child care centers open during the coronavirus pandemic and to prevent workers staying home to look after children.Prime Minister Scott Morrison said yesterday one million families would benefit from the subsidies expected to cost 1.6 billion Australian dollars ($973 million) over three months.

NEW ZEALAND’s government says it has a plan to repatriate tens of thousands of tourists who have been stuck in the country since a strict lockdown began a week ago. The tourists are from Britain, Germany, the U.S. and many other countries. Many had been unable to catch restricted internal flights to the main city of Auckland to get a seat on one of the few international flights that are still operating.

SPAIN Nearly 900,000 workers lost their jobs in Spain since authorities ordered people to stay home to slow down the expansion of the new coronavirus, authorities said yesterday. The short-term job loss was higher than in January 2009, when 350,000 workers lost their jobs as the global financial crisis hit the country. The number of workers who were making payments to the social security fund dropped by 898,822 by the end of March.

RUSSIAN officials registered 771 new cases yesterday — 43% more than the day before, bringing the country’s total to 3,548 cases, with 30 deaths and 230 recoveries. The vast majority of Russian regions are currently on lockdown, ordering residents to self-isolate at home and not go out, unless it’s to buy groceries, medications, walk their dogs or take out trash.

GREECE Authorities have placed a refugee camp north of Athens under quarantine after 20 of its residents tested positive for the new coronavirus. The Migration and Asylum Ministry said the Ritsona camp would be quarantined from yesterday for 14 days, during which nobody would be allowed into or out of the facility. The camp is normally open, with residents allowed to enter and leave at will.

AFRICA The first country in sub-Saharan Africa to impose a coronavirus lockdown has now extended it by two weeks. Rwanda’s announcement is a likely sign of what’s to come as more African nations tell almost all citizens to stay home or lock down major cities. Cases in Africa are now above 6,000. The lockdowns in places like South Africa, Uganda and now Eritrea have led to concerns that millions of people could go hungry or lose access to emergency healthcare.