US declares emergency; WHO calls Europe epicentre of virus

United States President Donald Trump has announced a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic, as the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Europe the epicentre of the fast-spreading disease.

Several more countries announced border closures yesterday, with Denmark and Poland the latest to ban foreigners from entering. New Zealand said everyone entering the country would have to be self-isolated for two weeks.

Across the world, governments have further ramped up their responses to the outbreak of the Covid-19 disease that has sickened more than 149,000 people globally and killed over 5,600.

"The next eight weeks will be critical," Mr Trump warned last Friday. His emergency declaration frees up US$50 billion (S$70.8 billion) to help US citizens and firms cope with the outbreak. He said the US was speeding up the making of coronavirus test kits so they could be more widely available. He added that he himself would probably be tested for the virus soon, after possible exposure recently.

In Geneva, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus last Friday noted that Europe now had "more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from China", stressing that countries needed to take "a comprehensive approach".

Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, who heads the WHO's emerging diseases unit, warned it was impossible to predict when the outbreak would peak.