KUWAIT: All privateand public schools and universities have been suspended for two weeksbeginning March 1, governmentspokesperson Tareq Al-Mezrem announced yesterday after an emergency Cabinetmeeting. The Ministry of Commerce andIndustry later announced cancelling all planned exhibitions and events as wellas issuance of relevant permissions until further notice. In a press statementyesterday, the ministry said the precautionary measure was taken in accordancewith the Cabinet's instructions after its meeting on February 17. It aims tomaintain public health and help control the coronavirus.
Earlier, the health ministry said the number of peoplediagnosed with coronavirus in the country had risen to 26 after 14 more caseswere confirmed. The ministry also said in a statement that the new cases wererelated to people traveling to Iran.Government agencies have been urging thepublic to only refer to official news channels to obtain correct informationamid a barrage of fake reports that have gone viral.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has detected its first two cases ofnovel coronavirus, a public health advisor to Prime Minister Imran Khan tweetedyesterday, days after Islamabad closed its land border with Iran, where 19people have died from the virus.
Brazil's health ministry said yesterday a Sao Paulo residenthas been diagnosed with COVID-19, the first case recorded in Latin America. The61-year-old patient had returned on February 21 from the Lombardy region ofItaly, the epicenter of an outbreak in the European country, Brazil's HealthMinister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said.
Iranian cyber police yesterday announced the arrests of 24people accused of online rumor-mongering about the spread of a coronavirusoutbreak. The Islamic republic is scrambling to contain COVID-19 a week afterannouncing the first two deaths in Qom, a centre for Islamic studies that drawspilgrims and scholars from abroad.
Schools, universities and cultural centres have been closed,sporting events cancelled and teams of sanitary workers deployed to disinfectbuses, trains and public spaces. International health experts have expressedconcern about Iran's handling of the outbreak -- the deadliest for any countryother than China. Such worries mounted on Tuesday when the head of thetaskforce combatting the virus, Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi, admittedhe himself had been infected.