19 Mar 2020

Covid-19: Countries shut borders as virus spreads rapidly

From Morning Report, 7:16 am on 19 March 2020

New Zealanders will learn today how much tougher their lives will be as the government looks at whether to ban gatherings of more than 100 people.

Earlier this week the Prime Minister banned crowds of more than 500 but warned tougher measures are on the way that will affect weddings and funerals.

The country now has 20 confirmed cases of coronavirus with officials tracking hundreds who've been in close contact including 150 students at a Dunedin high school.

It's expected the disease will start spreading within communties by within two weeks.

Globally, the number of coronavirus cases has now passed 200-thousand and the number of deaths has now tipped out over 8-thousand. 

Covid-19 is an enemy against humanity. 

That's the latest word from the World Health Organisation's director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, this morning. 

He's calling on ALL countries to implement comprehensive strategies to slow down the Covid-19 epidemic, so hospitals can cope with the numbers of patients. 
 

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters told reporters New Zealanders planning to come home need to do so as fast as possible, but many are struggling to get a flight.