In an unprecedented move,&nbsp;Saudi Arabia on Thursday halted travel to the holiest sites in Islam over fears of coronavirus&nbsp;just months ahead of the annual hajj pilgrimage. The move comes after the Mideast has reported over 240 confirmed cases of coronavirus. The extraordinary decision by Saudi Arabia stops foreigners from reaching the holy city of Mecca and the Kaaba. The decision also affects travel to Prophet Muhammad's mosque in Medina. Authorities also suspended entry to the kingdom to those with tourist visas from nations affected by the new virus.

In an unprecedented move, Saudi Arabia on Thursday halted travel to the holiest sites in Islam over fears of coronavirus just months ahead of the annual hajj pilgrimage. The move comes after the Mideast has reported over 240 confirmed cases of coronavirus. The extraordinary decision by Saudi Arabia stops foreigners from reaching the holy city of Mecca and the Kaaba. The decision also affects travel to Prophet Muhammad's mosque in Medina. Authorities also suspended entry to the kingdom to those with tourist visas from nations affected by the new virus.

In a rare display of public anger in China, dozens of people in central Hubei province, which was the&nbsp;epicentre&nbsp;of the coronavirus outbreak till recently, attacked official vehicles after they were stopped from crossing a bridge and travel to&nbsp;neighbouring&nbsp;Jiangxi after the lifting of the lockdown. Videos on Chinese social media showed unprecedented scenes of police from Hubei and Jiangxi clashing on the bridge connecting the two provinces over barricades erected from stopping Hubei people from moving out over fears of coronavirus spreading.&nbsp;Hubei province with over 56 million people was kept under lockdown from January 23 as part of aggressive measures to bring down Covid-19 cases which rapidly spread in the area.&nbsp;
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The lack of protective gear for health workers battling the COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most pressing threats in the fight to prevent deaths, the World Health Organization warned&nbsp; on Friday.&nbsp;WHO chief Tedros Adhanom&nbsp;shared that the global health body&nbsp;has shipped almost two million individual items of personal protective equipment&nbsp;to 74 countries and was preparing to send a similar amount to a further 60 countries.&nbsp;He urged the G20 countries to use their "industrial might and innovation" to produce and distribute the tools needed to save more lives.

Brazil President&nbsp;Jair Bolsonaro, who recently tested negative for the deadly Covid-19 diseases,&nbsp;has cast doubt on Sao Paulo's death toll from the outbreak and accused the state governor of manipulating the numbers for political ends, without giving evidence for his claims.&nbsp;Bolsonaro's&nbsp;accusations&nbsp;came&nbsp;amid&nbsp;an ugly battle with Brazil's governors, who have chafed at the president's view that protecting the economy takes priority over social distancing measures&nbsp;"You can't stop a car factory because of traffic deaths,"&nbsp;was his response to the 26 governors who have banned non-essential commercial activities and public services to contain the outbreak in their states.&nbsp;

A shrimp seller at the wet market in the Chinese city of Wuhan may be the first person to have tested positive for the disease, a media report said on Saturday.&nbsp;The report by the London-based Metro newspaper said that 57-year-old woman, named by the Wall Street Journal as Wei Guixian, was selling shrimp at the Huanan Seafood Market when she developed what she thought was a cold last December.&nbsp;Chinese digital news outlet, The Paper has said that she may be patient zero'.&nbsp;Wei was told by doctors her illness was "ruthless" and other workers at the market had come to the Wuhan Union Hospital with the same symptoms.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Amid the gloom and doom spread by the coronavirus in the&nbsp;United States, certain residents and self-help groups decided to put up Christmas lights in order to spread some cheer among the residents. One such group put up the festival lights in New Hampshire&nbsp;with an intention to inspire the community. The United States is currently leading the Covid-19 charts with almost 105,000 positive cases and close to 1500 deaths.&nbsp;

Turkey which is appearing as the new hub for coronavirus&nbsp;cases as completely stopped International travel as it halted all foreign flights. Domestic travel is also restricted and the citizens need to take prior permission if they need to travel for essential services. The late-night address by Turkish President&nbsp;Recep Tayyip Erdogan&nbsp;came on Friday as the numbers of infected patients went past 5000 with almost 100 deaths reported in the country.&nbsp;&nbsp;

As Spain goes in a state of emergency due to the coronavirus, no more than 2 people are allowed to attend funerals according to the law. In a heartbreaking sight, an 80-year-old woman who died of cancer was buried in the presence of just 2 family members as Spain introduced stringent social distancing norms. The death toll in Spain has gone past 5000 as more than 65000 people are infected by the deadly virus.&nbsp;

Praying in a desolately empty St Peter's Square, Pope Francis on Friday likened the coronavirus pandemic to a storm laying bare illusions that people can be self-sufficient. According to him, the pandemic has&nbsp;instead&nbsp;left "all of us fragile and disoriented". Francis led a special prayer service on the steps of St Peter's Basilica, usually reserved for two times of the year &mdash; on Christmas and at Easter.&nbsp;Francis also kissed a wooden crucifix that was carried in religious processions in Rome during an early 16th-century plague. The Vatican has confirmed four cases of Covid-19 so far.

China has said the domestic passenger flights will resume operations in the coronavirus epicentre Hubei province from Sunday as part of a plan to ease lockdown in the region. This after it reported zero Covid-19 cases for several days, though the city reported three new fatalities. Domestic operations in the province will resume on Sunday, except at&nbsp;Wuhan's&nbsp;international airport. Flight operations from Wuhan will start on April 8. Local bus and train services have already resumed in Wuhan and Hubei province.
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IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday that the coronavirus pandemic has driven the global economy into a downturn that will require massive funding to help developing nations. In an online press briefing,&nbsp;Georgieva said that&nbsp;it is clear that we&nbsp;have entered a recession&nbsp;that will be worse than in 2009 following the global financial crisis.&nbsp;She said over 80 countries, mostly of low incomes,&nbsp;have already have&nbsp;requested emergency aid from the International Monetary Fund.&nbsp;

Italy recorded a shocking spike in coronavirus deaths on Friday with 969 new victims, the worst daily record for any country since the pandemic began. The infection rate however, continued its downward trend, with the civil protection agency reporting nearly 86,500 confirmed cases in Italy -- a 7.4% increase, down from around 8.0% in previous days.

The United States now has more than 100,000 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, according to&nbsp;Johns Hopkins University. There have been 100,717 cases including 1,544 deaths as of Friday morning. The biggest cluster by far is in New York, home to almost half the cases, overwhelming the hospital system. The United States has around 15,000 more confirmed cases than the second country on the list, Italy, and 20,000 more than China, where the disease was first identified.

Iran's health workers are fighting a new battle after a rumour spread that toxic methanol protects against coronavirus. According to news agency AP, more than 300 are dead and 1,000 sick after ingesting methanol across the Islamic Republic. Other reports suggest the toll could be much higher. Iran is one the worst affected in the region by the coronavirus&nbsp;pandemic with&nbsp;the total number of fatalities at 2,378 amid 32,332 confirmed cases.

US President Donald Trump on Friday invoked wartime Defense Production Act to force auto giant General Motors to manufacture ventilators. The move comes amid a supply shortage of the life-saving medical equipment in view of the mounting coronavirus cases. According to Trump, price negotiations with the car company was taking time. Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to use any and all authority available under the Defense Production Act to require GM to accept, perform, and prioritise federal contracts for ventilators.

Italy, which has witnessed thousands of deaths due to Coronavirus epidemic, a 101-year-old man has been released from hospital after recovering from the&nbsp;Covid-19.&nbsp;&nbsp;Gloria Lisi, the deputy mayor of the Italian city of Rimini, said&nbsp;the man, who has been named only as 'Mr&nbsp;P', was admitted to&nbsp;hospital&nbsp;last week after testing positive and left the hospital on Thursday.&nbsp;Lisi said his "truly extraordinary" recovery gave "hope for the future."&nbsp;Mr. P was born in 1919, during the Spanish flu pandemic, which is&nbsp;estimated to have killed between 30 million and 50 million people worldwide.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The President of the International Federation of the Red Cross has lamented the lack of human contact that the Covid-19 virus is enforcing on him and his workers.&nbsp;In an emotional video call from Milan on Friday during a UN briefing, Francesco Rocca said that the inability to hug each other and provide physical comfort during this time of social distancing was proving particularly tough.&nbsp;On Thursday, The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement appealed for 850 million US dollars to assist the world's most vulnerable people in fight against Covid-19. (SOT)&nbsp;

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock became the second high-ranking UK government member to confirm his Covid-19 diagnosis on Friday. The development comes soon after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was self-isolating after testing positive for coronavirus. Hancock, like Johnson, says he has mild symptoms of the disease and has been working from home for the past few days.&nbsp;Similar to Johnson&rsquo;s own video message, Hancock also posted a video with an optimistic message about carrying with his job with "gusto".

The death toll in Spain soared over 4,800 Friday after 769 people died in 24 hours, in what was a record one-day figure for fatalities, the AFP quoted the government as saying. Health ministry figures showed the number of deaths reaching 4,858, while cases jumped to 64,059, although the rate of new infections appeared to be slowing, registering a 14 percent increase compared with 18 per cent a day earlier.

The United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive&nbsp;for the deadly coronavirus.&nbsp;Johnson was tested for the virus on Thursday after experiencing &lsquo;mild symptoms&rsquo;&nbsp;and the result of the test was positive. As he continues to&nbsp;lead&nbsp;his&nbsp;government&rsquo;s response to coronavirus, Johnson is&nbsp;self-isolating in Downing Street.&nbsp;Johnson was last seen on Thursday night, as he clapped outside No 10 as part of a nationwide gesture to thank NHS staff.&nbsp;There are more than 11,600 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK, and 578 people have died.&nbsp;

Iran on Friday announced 144 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, bringing the official number of fatalities to 2,378 in one of the world's worst-hit countries. This brings the overall confirmed cases to at least 32,332, according to the health ministry. It also noted that 11,133 of those hospitalised so far have recovered.

In unprecedented move, Saudi Arabia halts pilgrimages over virus

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