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World Health Officials Focus on Containing Coronavirus

VOA News

   Health officials around the globe are focused on what measures they can
   take to stop the spread of a coronavirus that has infected at least
   82,000 people in more than 40 countries since it emerged in China in
   late December.

   The United States and South Korea called off joint military drills, and
   the U.S. issued a new travel warning advising its citizens to avoid
   going to South Korea, which has reported the most cases outside of
   China so far.

     What are five things you need to know about novel (new)
     [1]#coronavirus? Watch as [2]@DrNancyM_CDC answers important
     questions in this video. Stay updated with the latest information on
     [3]#COVID19 at [4]https://t.co/inSgagrDeE.
     [5]pic.twitter.com/Wp2XJ9Vwmz
     -- CDC (@CDCgov) [6]February 18, 2020

   South Korean health officials said Thursday there were 505 more cases,
   increasing its total to 1,766.

   Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for schools to close for
   several weeks, following government calls for people to avoid large
   gatherings and decisions by sports leagues to either cancel events or
   hold games with no spectators in order to try to prevent the virus from
   spreading.

   Japan has about 200 cases, not counting the more than 700 cases from a
   cruise ship that has been docked for weeks in quarantine in Yokohama.

   Saudi Arabia, which has not reported any coronavirus infections,
   announced a ban on foreign pilgrims entering the country to visit
   Islam's holiest sites "to prevent the arrival of the new Coronavirus
   (COVID-19) to the Kingdom and its spread," the foreign affairs ministry
   said.

   Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced his government was
   initiating an emergency response plan in reaction to what he said was
   "an abundance of caution," but also a belief that the outbreak would
   reach the status of a global pandemic.

   "Based on the expert medical advice we have received, there is every
   indication that the world will soon enter a pandemic phase of the
   coronavirus," Morrison said.

   France's President Emmanuel Macron made a visit Thursday to a Paris
   hospital where a man died from the virus this week. He expressed
   support for healthcare workers, and said, "We know we are only at the
   beginning."

   In Geneva, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet
   warned against discrimination linked to the virus.

   "The coronavirus epidemic has set off a disturbing wave of prejudice
   against people of Chinese and East-Asian ethnicity, and I call on
   member states to do their most to combat this and other forms of
   discrimination."
   WATCH: President Trump addresses Americans on Coronavirus

References

   1. https://twitter.com/hashtag/coronavirus?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   2. https://twitter.com/DrNancyM_CDC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   3. https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   4. https://t.co/inSgagrDeE
   5. https://t.co/Wp2XJ9Vwmz
   6. https://twitter.com/CDCgov/status/1229858124766408704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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