In America, Hollywood is closed – well Universal Studios in Hollywood is closed. Disney will close on Saturday 14 March until the end of the month while Broadway announced on 12 March that it will be closed until at least 12 April– marking the first time since the September 11 attacks that Disneyland (California), Disney World (Florida) and Broadway will be closed. Disneyland Paris also closes this weekend, while four Disney parks in China and Japan have been closed for weeks and is estimated to have lost over 50 billion USD.

New York theatres, cinemas and other venues have all been impacted after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a state of emergency which bans groups of more than 500 people congregating in one space.  The Met (Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art) has closed all three of its New York locations, as has Carnegie Hall and the Brooklyn Museum. No announcement has yet been made by Harlem’s world famous Apollo Theatre.

Some 229 universities have closed campuses and moved classes online while several churches have also suspended services and other gatherings. Most sporting events are off – the NBA (National Basketball Association) and the NHL (National Hockey League) have suspended all games until further notice. March Madness, the US College basketball championship which has 64 participating teams from around the country, has been cancelled. The latest number of confirmed cases in the country late on March 12 was 1,663 with 41 deaths.

The UK has 596 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with 10 deaths and the NHS (National Health Service) is taking strain. People with symptoms had been directed to call the NHS but are now being directed to the website, due to the influx of calls. Schools have been advised to cancel all trips abroad and the UK government has advised anyone with a cough and fever to self-isolate for seven days. Prime Minister Boris Johnson says they have a clear plan that they are working through but warned that: “many people will lose loved ones.” 

In Europe, France has closed all schools and universities. The country has had 160 deaths and 2,800 people are confirmed to have the virus. French President Emmanuel Macron  on Thursday, 12 March urged all people over 70, disabled or in ‘poor health’ to stay home as far as possible. However, municipal elections scheduled for Sunday, 15 March will go ahead as planned. Macron has urged employers to allow workers to work from home depending on the nature of their jobs. France has not closed its borders, but has not discounted the possibility that it might become necessary. Macron said he would call US President Donald Trump on Friday, 13 March to launch “an exceptional initiative for the G7 members… this is a global crisis… we have to act together…”. Trump is G7 president for 2020.

Three more lives were lost in Germany on 12 March, bringing to six the number of people who have died from the virus. With the number of Covid-19 cases at 2,078 German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: “Extreme situations require extreme measures”. She called for all “unnecessary events” meant to be attended by less than a thousand people to be cancelled and asked that all social contact be avoided where possible. Schools are not yet closed but that possibility is on the table.

All schools, universities and technical colleges were closed in Norway until March 26,  Norway’s Prime Minister, Erna Solberg announced on Thursday, 12 March.  Anyone who arrived in Norway from 27 February from outside the Nordic countries has also been directed to enter into compulsory quarantine in their homes. Solberg reminded Norwegians that elderly people were high risk and “we should therefore not hand over childcare to grandparents who are in the risk category”. Norway’s Royal House has announced the suspension of all engagements until Easter.  Norway has an estimated 631 confirmed cases. Norwegian (the airline) has cancelled 3,000 flights.

Norway follows Denmark which announced on 11 March that they were closing all schools and universities for two weeks. That announcement came as the number of infections reached 1,303. They also said they would send all public sector employees who do not perform critical functions, home on paid leave. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said there would be a cost to the country and individuals: “Businesses will close. Some will lose their jobs.” She also said government would do what it could to mitigate some of these losses.

Italy has been struggling despite placing the country on lockdown and imposing strict travel and other bans. Late on 12 March Italy’s health ministry confirmed a total of 15,113 cases which included 1,258 recoveries and 1,016 deaths. Further moves to stem the tide were announced by ordering the closure of all non-essential shops and services. This deepens the national lockdown in place since Tuesday 10 March, which restricts movement and activity until 03 April.

With 126 confirmed cases and three deaths, Australia has extensive plans and funds (2.4billion dollars) in place to deal with the Covid-19 as explained on their government website. Australia has travel restrictions on travelers from Mainland China, Iran, Italy and the Republic of Korea and has advised Australians “to reconsider taking an overseas cruise at this time”.

As of 13 March India has banned all travel into the country until 15 April. The only exceptions are diplomats and some categories of workers. The ban follows India’s confirmed Covid-19 cases reaching 72. At least one Indian state invoked legislation over 100 years old which allows for the prosecution of anyone who violates quarantine or refuses to be hospitalised. Schools in the capital, Delhi are shut and will remain so until 31 March if not longer. These moves come amid fear of a widespread breakout in a nation of some 1,37 billion people, some of whom live in extremely high density areas. Mumbai has a population density of 21,000 people per square km, Delhi has similar numbers. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced that steps were being taken to augment healthcare capacities.

By 10 March this week Iran was reported to have over 10,000 confirmed cases and more than 400 deaths. The virus was spread by religious pilgrims to the holy city of Qom which is visited by thousands on a daily basis. Iran also recently held a parliamentary election, which is also believed to have contributed to the rapid spread of the virus. Schools and universities are now closed until mid-April. Friday prayers have been cancelled.

South Korea has reported 67 deaths and 7,979 cases to date but turned the corner from largest number of infections at one point, to currently having recovered patients exceeding new infections.  The country has just announced its lowest number of new cases in three weeks with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and prevention indicating that they had 110 new cases on 12 March but on the same day released 177 fully recovered patients. 

While in, China, in Hubei Province – ground zero for the virus, the most deaths have occurred. China has a total of 80,813 confirmed cases of which  64,111 have been cured while 3,176 people have succumbed to the infection. Apple China is now ready to reopen stores and China’s Ministry of Industry and Information technology says the work resumption rate outside Hubei province is around 80%.

In Africa, Uganda has restricted inward travel from 16 countries including China, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Iran, South Korea and Spain.  The Ugandan government says it does not want to risk these travelers bringing the coronavirus into the country and added the UK, US Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Austria and Malaysia to the list on 11 March: see full details here. Egypt has 59 confirmed cases, more than half of all positive cases on the continent. Nigeria confirmed its second case this week, the first being an Italian who entered the country a few weeks ago and the latest being a Nigerian who had direct contact with the index case. Algeria and South Africa have the second and third highest numbers in Africa after Egypt, with 20 and 16 confirmed cases respectively. Most of the South African cases had been contracted abroad in Italy and Germany, and discovered upon the individual’s return to the country. Morocco has three confirmed cases and one death – local media reported that an 89-year-old woman who had contracted the virus had died due to underlying health issues. 

As at 6am on 13 March, the World Health Organisation had 125, 288 confirmed cases with 4, 614 deaths in 118 countries or territories with the disease (worldometer said worldwide 134, 748 cases with 4, 983 deaths and 70, 383 recovered). DM