The spreading new virus, or fears of it, immobilized cruise ships or left them searching for ports on four continents Saturday as the bug that has infected more than 100,000 people shifted its travel patterns, The Associated Press reported.
Iran declared a “sacred jihad” against the virus after its case numbers spiked anew. Italy shut down its courts, and the Vatican decided to livestream the pope’s Sunday blessing. Cruise ships faced trouble in waters of the United States, Malaysia, Egypt and Malta as those aboard got tested or confined to cabins.
In China, the number of people recovering from COVID-19 mounted. But hopeful signs had not erased the scope of the recent crisis in the country where the new virus emerged late last year, AP adds.
A hotel used for the medical observation of people who had contact with infected patients collapsed Saturday in southeastern China on Saturday, trapping some 70 people, news reports said. There were no immediate reports of deaths.
At least 23 people were rescued from the wreckage of the Xinjia Express Hotel in Quanzhou, the Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily and other outlets reported.
Western countries are increasingly imitating China – which has suffered the vast majority of infections — by imposing travel controls and shutting down public events to contain it.
After the city of Venice canceled its cherished Carnival and governments warned citizens against travel to Italy, the epicenter of Europe’s outbreak, the country is facing a possible recession. Hotel occupancy rates in the lagoon city are down to 1%-2%.
″’The surface of the Grand Canal is like glass because the boats that transport merchandise are not there. On the vaporetti (water buses), there are only five or six people,” said Stefania Stea, vice president of the Venice hoteliers association.
Cruise ships filled with passengers confronted different virus-related problems.
Officials in California were deciding Saturday where to dock the Grand Princess cruise ship, with 3,500 people aboard, after 21 tested positive for the virus. There is evidence the ship now idling off San Francisco was the breeding ground for a deadly cluster of 10 cases during an earlier voyage.
“Those that will need to be quarantined will be quarantined. Those who will require medical help will receive it,” U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said. President Donald Trump said he would have preferred not to let the passengers disembark onto American soil but would defer to medical experts.
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