In Brief : Scandinavia acts as cases exceed 1,800

COPENHAGEN • Denmark's government is taking the drastic step of closing all state schools and telling workers to stay at home, while Norway is shutting its borders to places worst hit by the coronavirus. In Sweden, the first fatality has prompted the government to warn of even tougher measures ahead.

"We are in uncharted territory here," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at an emergency media briefing late on Wednesday. "We have never tried anything like this before."

Scandinavian governments are imposing emergency measures as the number of people with the virus exceeds 1,800. Denmark is telling all citizens to isolate themselves and urging against handshakes or hugs.

Norway is shuttering schools in the capital Oslo, while large gatherings have been banned across the region.

BLOOMBERG

---

Spain extends halt in parliamentary activities

MADRID • Spain has decided to extend a suspension of parliamentary activities by 15 days because of the coronavirus outbreak, Cadena Ser national radio reported yesterday.

Second Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias has been placed in preventive quarantine after his partner, Equality Minister Irene Montero, became the first member of the Cabinet to be diagnosed with the coronavirus, the government said in a statement. The rest of the Cabinet is being tested for the virus.

Coronavirus infections in Spain rose to nearly 3,000 yesterday as the number of deaths almost doubled, rising to 84, the Health Ministry said.

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG

---

Cruise firm suspends global ops for 2 months

MIAMI • Princess Cruises, the operator of two coronavirus-hit ships, said yesterday that it would suspend global operations of its 18 cruise ships for two months, sending shares of its parent company Carnival Corporation down 22 per cent in pre-market trading.

The Grand Princess was denied entry to San Francisco Bay last week en route back from Hawaii after the authorities learnt that some passengers and crew had developed flu-like symptoms, and that patrons from an earlier cruise to Mexico aboard the same ship had tested positive for the coronavirus.

The Diamond Princess, which at one point had the highest number of infections outside China, was quarantined off the coast of Japan over the disease last month. Of those on board, about 700 people became infected and six have died.

REUTERS

---

China cancels permits for Mount Everest

KATHMANDU • China has cancelled permits for Mount Everest because of the coronavirus, expedition organisers said yesterday, ahead of the spring climbing season on the world's highest peak.

Last year's traffic-clogged spring window saw a record 885 people summit Everest, 644 of them from Nepal and 241 from the northern flank in Tibet.

The Nepal side remains open for now, although some expedition operators have seen cancellations, and climbers have been asked to submit a 14-day travel history and medical reports.

The Chinese authorities "have informed us that the mountain will close from the north side", said Mr Lukas Furtenbach of Austria-based Furtenbach Adventures, adding that he will be transferring his 11 clients to Nepal.

Nepal has so far seen only one confirmed case of the coronavirus.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE