Nearly 200 Cubans returning home from trips out of the country just began a two-week quarantine in government centers until medical authorities are sure clear they have no signs of coronavirus.  The government is keeping a close watch on Cuban nationals and monitoring travelers from overseas at dozens of quarantine centers set up across the island.  The manager of one quarantine center, Daniel Diaz, says the centers are staffed with doctors and nurses around the clock, who check patients three times day.  Diaz says, so far, nobody has shown any symptoms of the coronavirus, but those who do will be taken to a hospital. Health officials in Cuba say there are 170 coronavirus cases, and three people have died. Cuban officials say the nation is on lockdown until the end of April, meaning only Cuban citizens or foreign residents returning home are allowed entry into the country.  
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Security measures have increased on the Colombia-Venezuela border after both governments decided to close the International Simon Bolivar bridge in Cucuta in mid-March to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. An estimated 40 thousand Venezuelans had been crossing each day to buy food, medicine or supplies. Now most Venezuelans have to take other, often dangerous routes to cross the border into Colombia. Cristina Caicedo Smit narrates this report filed by Hugo Echeverry from Cucuta, Colombia.
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Members of a church group gobbled fast food upon their return to West Virginia after becoming stuck in Honduras for two weeks during a mission trip.Sixteen members of the Morgantown Church of Christ arrived back home early Friday, The Dominion Post reported.”We all sat down and ate Wendy’s cheeseburgers when we got back to the airport,” church member Devinne Sparks said.The mission trip that was supposed to last a week turned into 14 days when the new coronavirus pandemic prompted the Honduran government to shut its borders.Church elder Richard Moore said the group learned Thursday that despite the Honduras border shutdown, empty United Airlines planes were being allowed to land to retrieve U.S. citizens.The group spent $20,000 for tickets, and “they doubled in price in just the time we were on the phone,” Moore said. “If we would have waited another three or four hours, it would have been over $45,000.”The church group boarded a plane Thursday afternoon. Moore said he was surprised no one mentioned checking the health of the group members, who will self-quarantine for 14 days.Sparks said the group plans to build its finances back up and return to Honduras.For now, the 22-year-old and her mother, Cynthia Shultz, have to spend even more time apart.  “She’s in quarantine, but we saw each other through the door today,” Shultz said Friday. “I’m just so much happier today — so much more at peace.”
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Guatemala’s fractured relationship with the press is being put to the test during the fight to contain the coronavirus, a report by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists found.At a time when Guatemalans need access to independent reporting on the coronavirus, conditions for press freedom are “unsound,” CPJ said.   The FILE – Alejandro Giammattei, accompanied by his daughter, Ana Marcela, waves to the crowd after he was sworn in as president of Guatemala at the National Theater in Guatemala City, Jan. 14, 2020.President Alejandro Giammattei, who was elected in August, has an opportunity to redress challenges for the media and regain their trust, CPJ said.The press freedom group called on officials to decriminalize defamation, investigate digital and physical attacks on the press, and ensure the media have easy access to information.Natalie Southwick, head of CPJ’s Central and South America program, told VOA that Giammattei appeared open to better relations with the press.“It is encouraging to see that Guatemala has not followed the troubling example of some other countries in the region that have used the pandemic as a pretext to roll back constitutional protections for free expression or closed off access to information,” Southwick said.“However, it’s important to remember that the Guatemalan government has previously implemented similar measures imposing martial law and other restrictions in some regions of the country due to violence or other incidents, and those conditions have absolutely restricted the work of journalists,” she said.Risk in environmental reportingEnvironmental reporting, including coverage of corruption or illegal mining and extraction industries, increased the risk of attack or arrest for indigenous journalists or those reporting from rural regions, the report found.CPJ interviewed Carlos Choc, a reporter from the local news website Prensa Comunitaria, who was forced into hiding after authorities issued a warrant for his arrest.At the time, Choc and his outlet were investigating allegations of pollution in Guatemala’s Lake Izabal region and clashes between police and protesters.
 
Choc told CPJ he believed the warrant, which accused him of illegal protest and other crimes, was an attempt by authorities to silence him.The report found indigenous radio stations were also at a disadvantage, with license frequencies auctioned at prices beyond their means. Because of the cost and other challenges, local broadcasters often operate on illegal frequencies.“Even without the context of a global pandemic, it’s absolutely fundamental that rural and indigenous journalists and communities outside of the major cities have access to radio frequencies as a means to share information and keep their communities informed and safe,” Southwick said.Radio is the preferred means of communication in remote regions, where internet access is limited or Spanish is not the predominant language, she said.The Guatemala Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to VOA’s request for comment.Positive stepsThe report noted some positive developments from the government. The attorney general in December announced it was expanding a special prosecutor’s office that investigates crimes against journalists, and the president’s office has said it is committed to greater transparency.  The CPJ said that the government needed to do more to tackle online harassment and smear campaigns against journalists who report critically on politics or business, and that it should set up a journalist protection plan that officials committed to eight years ago.Editor’s note: An editor of this article formerly worked at the Committee to Protect Journalists and helped edit its Guatemala report.
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The grim reality of the coronavirus has arrived in Venezuela, where Vice President Delcy Rodriguez confirmed the country’s first death from the disease.Rodriquez said the victim was a 47-year-old male field worker who had a “chronic illness.”His death came as Rodriguez announced that so far, at least 107 people have tested positive for the virus.Venezuela is under a nationwide quarantine to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The virus has struck hard in other parts of South and Central America, including Brazil, with more than 2,000 cases, followed by Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and Panama. 
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The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico is extending a two-week curfew to April 12 and warning residents that new restrictions are on the way to help curb coronavirus cases.Gov. Wanda Vázquez said beginning Tuesday, nonessential workers will have to be home by 7 p.m., two hours earlier than the current curfew.She also said vehicles with license plates ending in even numbers can only be on the road Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  Vehicles with tags ending in odd numbers are only permitted to move about on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.Vázquez said the new restrictions come in response to hundreds of people being cited for violating a curfew imposed nearly two weeks ago.The leader of Puerto Rico’s coronavirus task force, Dr. Segundo Rodríguez, estimates that there are more than 600 people infected on the island, with more than 60 already testing positive.Authorities also reported two tourists on the island had died of the virus.Meanwhile, there has been a shake-up in the territory’s health department over the handling of the coronavirus.The governor Thursday announced appointment of Lorenzo González as Puerto Rico’s third health secretary in less than two weeks.  González was health secretary during the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic.  The move came hours after former health secretary Concepción Quiñones resigned for unclear reasons; her appointment followed the resignation of Rafael Rodríguez over complaints about the department’s handling of COVID-19.
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The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday announced narcoterrorism charges against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other top officials, accusing them of collaborating with a leftist Colombian guerrilla group to traffic cocaine to the United States.The charges are likely to heighten tensions between the United States and Venezuela.  Relations deteriorated last year after the Trump administration recognized Maduro’s electoral rival as the country’s interim president and later imposed sweeping economic sanctions designed to remove Maduro from office.In a sweeping indictment unsealed in New York, prosecutors accused Maduro of running a drug cartel in partnership with two Colombian guerrilla leaders and several top Venezuelan officials, including the speaker of Venezuela’s national assembly; a former director of military intelligence; and a former general in the Venezuelan armed forces. The four men face charges of participating in a narcoterrorism conspiracy, conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and two weapons-related charges.  In a separate indictment and criminal complaint, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez was charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine on board an aircraft registered in the United States, while Supreme Court Chief Justice Maikel Jose Moreno Perez was accused of money laundering in connection with receiving tens of millions of dollars and bribes to fix dozens of civil and criminal cases in Venezuela.In all, 15 current and former Venezuelan officials, along with two leaders of the Colombian FARC group, were indicted. The dramatic charges were announced by Attorney General William Barr and other senior law enforcement officials at a virtual press conference.  “Today’s announcement is focused on rooting out the extensive corruption within the Venezuelan government — a system constructed and controlled to enrich those at the highest levels of the government,” Barr said. “The United States will not allow these corrupt Venezuelan officials to use the U.S. banking system to move their illicit proceeds from South America nor further their criminal schemes.” This image provided by the U.S. Department of Justice shows a poster of Venezuelan leaders, March 26, 2020. The U.S. Justice Department has indicted Venezuela’s socialist leader Nicolás Maduro and several key aides on charges of narcoterrorism.On Twitter, Maduro accused the United States and Colombia of conspiring against Venezuela.It is only the second time in recent decades that the Justice Department has indicted a sitting foreign head of state, though one not officially recognized. In 1988, the Justice Department indicted Manuel Noriega, then the military ruler of Panama, on drug trafficking charges.  He was captured the following year during the U.S. invasion of Panama and subsequently spent 17 years in prison in the United States.   Barr said the United States expects “eventually to gain custody” of Maduro, Venezuela’s president since 2013, and his associates, and will explore all options to arrest them. But Barr declined to say whether the United States would send in the military to capture them. “Some of them do travel, and that may be an opportunity,” Barr said. “Hopefully, the Venezuelan people will see what’s going on and eventually gain control.”The State Department announced a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest and or conviction of Maduro.  Awards of up to $10 million were also announced for four other officials wanted by the Justice Department. In a statement, the department said the officials “violated the public trust by facilitating shipments of narcotics from Venezuela, including control over planes that leave from a Venezuelan air base.”FARC signed a peace deal with the Colombian government in 2016, ending more than 50 years of conflict.  But a group of 2,500 FARC dissidents, backed by the Maduro regime, remains involved in trafficking cocaine from Colombia to the United States via Venezuela and Central America, officials said.  The indictment alleges that Maduro began cultivating FARC as early as 2006 when he was foreign minister and agreed to help the group in exchange for receiving $5 million.  He later agreed to keep the Venezuelan border open to the group to facilitate its drug trafficking, according to U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman of the Southern District of New York.”The scope and magnitude of the drug trafficking alleged was made possible only because Maduro and others corrupted the institutions of Venezuela and provided political and military protection for the rampant narcoterrorism crimes described in our charges,” Berman told reporters via video link. “As alleged, Maduro and the other defendants expressly intended to flood the United States with cocaine in order to undermine the health and well-being of our nation,” Berman said.  “Maduro very deliberately deployed cocaine as a weapon.” 
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The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday announced narco-terrorism and other criminal charges against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and 14 other current and former officials of the country, accusing them of collaborating with a leftist Colombian guerrilla group involved trafficking cocaine to the United State.
 
Maduro was named in a four-count indictment unsealed in New York along with Diosdado Cabello Rondón, the speaker of Venezuela’s national assembly; Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, a former director of military intelligence; and a former Clíver Antonio Alcalá Cordones, a former general in the Venezuelan armed forces. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez and Supreme Court Chief Justice Maikel Jose Moreno Perez were indicated separately in Washington and Florida.  
 
The dramatic charges were announced by Attorney General William Barr and other senior law enforcement officials at a virtual press conference.   
 
“Today’s announcement is focused on rooting out the extensive corruption within the Venezuelan government – a system constructed and controlled to enrich those at the highest levels of the government,” Barr said. “The United States will not allow these corrupt Venezuelan officials to use the U.S. banking system to move their illicit proceeds from South America nor further their criminal schemes.”  
 
The United States does not recognize Maduro as the legitimate leader of Venezuela.  Last year the Trump administration officially recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the country’s interim head of state.  Most European countries followed suit.   
 
It is only the second time in recent decades that the Justice Department has indicted a sitting albeit not officially recognized foreign head of state.  In 1988, the Justice Department charged Manuel Noriega, the military ruler of Panama.  
 
The State Department announced a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest and or conviction of Maduro. Awards of up to $10 million were also announced for four other officials wanted by the Justice Department.  
 
The charges accuse Maduro, Venezuela’s president since 2013, and his top lieutenants of running “a narcoterrorism partnership” with the Colombian guerilla group FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia), for the past 20 years. Two FARC leaders were also charged by the Justice Department in connection with the narco-terrorism conspiracy.   
 
FARC signed a peace deal with the Colombian government in 2016, ending more than 50 years of conflict.    But a dissident group of 2,500 FARC dissidents, backed by the Maduro regime, remains involved in trafficking cocaine from Colombia to the United States via Venezuela and Central America, officials said.  
 
“The scope and magnitude of the drug trafficking alleged was made possible only because Maduro and others corrupted the institutions of Venezuela and provided political and military protection for the rampant narco-terrorism crimes described in our charges,” U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman of the Southern District of New York told reporters via video link.
 
“As alleged, Maduro and the other defendants expressly intended to flood the United States with cocaine in order to undermine the health and wellbeing of our nation,” Berman said.  “Maduro very deliberately deployed cocaine as a weapon.”
  
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The South American nation of Bolivia has tightened restrictions already in place to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
 
Interim President Jeanine Anez said a state of public health emergency begins at midnight Thursday, and will last until April 15.
 
The declaration extends Bolivia’s border closure to April 15, two weeks beyond the previous date.  Anez said no one will be allowed to enter or leave the country during that time.  However, she reportedly has said there may be exceptions under special circumstances.
 
Anez says the declaration was also necessary because some people were not abiding by the 14-day quarantine, potentially increasing their chances of getting the virus.  
 
A new revision to the quarantine stipulates only one person per household can go out between 7 am and noon on weekdays.
 
Bolivia has more than 30 confirmed cases of coronavirus.
 
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From Caracas to Tehran, officials are calling on the Trump administration to ease crippling economic sanctions they contend are contributing to the growing death toll caused by the coronavirus pandemic.  The idea has gained support from prominent leftists in the U.S., including Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who say throwing a financial lifeline to some of the United States’ fiercest critics is worth it if lives can be saved.”It’s absolutely unconscionable to keep sanctions on at this moment,” Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, said in an interview. “The only moral, sane and legal thing to do is stop the madness that is crippling other countries’ health systems.”
But almost in the same breath, the same officials in Iran have rejected U.S. offers of aid — a sign to critics that scapegoating and pride, not U.S. policies, are causing immense harm.  American companies have been blocked from doing business with Iran and Venezuela for almost two years, after the Trump administration unilaterally pulled out of Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers and launched a campaign seeking to oust Venezuela’s socialist president, Nicolás Maduro, for allegedly committing fraud in his 2018 re-election.The escalating restrictions have drastically reduced oil revenue in both countries and led to tensions that, in the case of Iran, culminated in a January drone strike that killed a top Iranian general.  U.S. officials have brushed aside the criticism, saying that the sanctions allow the delivery of food and medicine. But most experts say shipments don’t materialize as Western companies are leery of doing business with either of the two governments.”In most cases, compliance by banks makes it virtually impossible to do business,” said Jason Poblete, a sanctions lawyer in Washington who has represented American citizens held in Cuba, Venezuela and Iran.  Iran has reported more than 1,810 coronavirus deaths as of Monday, the fourth-highest national total in the world, and its government argues U.S. sanctions have exacerbated the outbreak. It has been supported by China and Russia in calling for sanctions to be lifted. The European Union’s top foreign policy chief on Monday called on the U.S. to make clear its sanctions don’t target humanitarian aid.  “Even amid this pandemic, the U.S. government has vengefully refused to lift its unlawful and collective punishment, making it virtually impossible for us to even buy medicine,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a video statement.  He also published on Twitter a list of the supplies that Iran urgently needs, including 172 million masks and 1,000 ventilators.”Viruses don’t discriminate. Nor should humankind,” he wrote.U.S. officials say providing sanctions relief to Iran would only fund corruption and terrorist activities, not reach people in need. They point out that Venezuela’s medical system has been in a free fall for years and shortages predate the sanctions.  Far from pulling back, the Trump administration has been expanding its “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran, finding time in the middle of the virus frenzy to blacklist five companies based in China, Hong Kong and South Africa that it says are facilitating trade with Iran’s petrochemical industry.  “This is a sort of tired regime talking point, saying that the sanctions are impacting their ability to deliver assistance for their people,” said Brian Hook, the State Department’s representative for Iran. “If the regime is sincere about looking for resources to help the Iranian people, they could start by giving back some of the tens of billions of dollars they have stolen from the Iranian people.”Kenneth Roth, the head of New York-based Human Rights Watch, which has issued scathing reports on abuses in Iran and Venezuela, said the international community should come together to help every country, even those under sanctions, gain access to needed medical supplies.  “The U.S. government should clearly state that no one will be penalized for financing or supplying humanitarian aid in this time of a public-health crisis,” he told The Associated Press.The virus’ spread in Iran was exacerbated by days of denial from the government about its severity amid the 41st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and attempts to boost turnout for February parliamentary elections. Hard-liners in its Shiite theocracy, meanwhile, have stormed shrines closed due to the virus as the public largely ignores guidance from health officials to stay home.In Venezuela, the impact has been less severe — only 77 confirmed cases and no deaths. But its health care system was already in shambles like the rest of the economy, with as many 70% of hospitals reporting electricity and water shortages, so even a small disease outbreak can trigger major havoc.  
Together the two countries control around 30% of the world’s petroleum reserves, so they are expected to be among the hardest hit from a halving of crude prices this month that reflects forecasts for a global recession.  Underscoring the economic fragility, both have gone hat in hand to the International Monetary Fund seeking billions in emergency loans.  Iran’s request, its first since 1962, underscores how overwhelmed what was considered one of the Middle East’s best medical systems has become, even as authorities so far have refused to impose nationwide — or even citywide — quarantines in the nation of 80 million people.  Maduro, who only a month ago was railing against the IMF as a tool of U.S. imperialism, also sought help from the international lending body. But his request was rejected in less than 10 hours, with the IMF saying there is no clarity among its 189 members whether he or Juan Guaidó, the U.S.-backed head of Venezuela’s opposition-dominated congress, is the country’s lawful leader.  Those calling for sanctions relief say the political fight needs to be put aside to prevent even more people crossing into neighboring Colombia and joining the almost 5 million Venezuelans who have fled the economic calamity in recent years,  “Even if you agree with the rationale for sanctions, it makes little sense to pile on in the middle of a global pandemic,” said Francisco Rodriguez, a Venezuelan economist who opposes Maduro and recently launched Oil For Venezuela, a U.S.-based group lobbying for greater assistance to the most vulnerable.  There is precedent for suspending U.S. sanctions in times of crisis. In 2003, President George W. Bush temporarily did so after an earthquake near the Iranian city of Bam killed thousands. The move cleared the way for U.S. military planes to land in Iran for the first time since the 1979 revolution, delivering aid.Instead of easing sanctions, the U.S. has been offering aid to Iran. But those offers were angrily rejected Sunday by Iran’s supreme leader, who took the opportunity to air an unfounded conspiracy theory that the virus was made by America. A similar theory was propagated by Maduro last month.
 
“Who in their right mind would trust you to bring them medication?” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said. “Possibly your medicine is a way to spread the virus more.”Despite Venezuelan attempts to reach out to the Trump administration, no such aid offers have been made to Maduro, according to a senior U.S. official. Instead, all assistance is being channeled through Guaidó and a plan to contain the spread of the coronavirus will be revealed in the coming days as well as additional sanctions on Maduro’s inner circle, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss future actions.Despite the campaigns against the sanctions, Iranians and Venezuelans also increasingly blame their own governments’ failures for their dire situation.Anger with Iran’s government has led to sporadic protests, such as when Iranian authorities denied for days they had shot down a Ukrainian jetliner in January, killing all 176 people on board.  In Venezuela, the economy has been cratering for years due to bad policies, mismanagement and corruption. The country has seen a steep rise in malaria cases amid a resurgence of long-eliminated preventable diseases. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, there have been reports of scattered looting across the country as food and gasoline grow scarce.  “Venezuela is facing two tragedies: one caused by the coronavirus and the other by Maduro,” Julio Borges, an exiled lawmaker who is serving as Guaidó’s foreign policy coordinator, said in an interview.  “Maduro claims he’s the victim of U.S. sanctions, but in reality he’s the one who has destroyed our health system. Now it’s up to us to rescue Venezuela from these two evils.”
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One of the most famous stadiums in Latin America is being transformed into a field hospital to treat patients infected with coronavirus in Brazil.The Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, home to Olympics and World Cup contests, is among a group of stadiums and convention centers that will be used to accommodate the growing number of coronavirus cases in Brazil.In Sao Paulo, which has the most case confirmed cases of the virus and deaths, the mayor’s office said that a combined 2,000 hospital beds would be added to the Pacaembu stadium and the Anhembi convention center in just a few weeks.Dr. Luiz Carlos Zamarco, director of the Sao Paulo’s Public Servants Hospital, said the Anhembi Convention Center will have a capacity for 1,800 hospital beds, 72 of those will serve as an intensive care unit.Brazil has more than 2,400 confirmed cases of coronavirus and at least 57 people have died of the disease.
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Brazil’s governors on Wednesday rebelled against President Jair Bolsonaro’s call for life to return to pre-coronavirus normalcy, saying his proposal to reopen schools and businesses runs counter to recommendations from health experts and endangers Latin America’s largest population.State governors, many of whom have adopted strict measures to limit gatherings in their regions, defied the president’s instructions in a nationwide address Tuesday evening that they lift the restrictions and limit isolation only to the elderly and those with longstanding health problems.The governors weren’t the only defiant ones. Virus plans challenged by Bolsonaro were upheld by the Supreme Court. The heads of both congressional houses criticized his televised speech. Companies donated supplies to state anti-virus efforts. And even some of his staunch supporters joined his detractors.In a videoconference Wednesday between Bolsonaro and governors from Brazil’s southeast region, Sao Paulo Gov. João Doria threatened to sue the federal government if it attempted to interfere with his efforts to combat the virus, according to video of their private meeting reviewed by The Associated Press.“We are here, the four governors of the southeast region, in respect for Brazil and Brazilians and in respect for dialogue and understanding,” said Doria, who supported Bolsonaro’s 2018 presidential bid. “But you are the president and you have to set the example. You have to be the representative to command, guide and lead this country, not divide it.”Bolsonaro responded by accusing Doria of riding his coattails to the governorship, then turning his back.“If you don’t get in the way, Brazil will take off and emerge from the crisis. Stop campaigning,” the far-right president said.Bolsonaro argues that a shutdown of activity would deeply wound the country’s already beleaguered economy and spark social unrest worse than the impact of addressing the virus with only limited isolation measures. He told reporters in the capital, Brasilia, that he has listened to his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, and found their perspectives to be rather similar.“What needs to be done? Put the people to work. Preserve the elderly, preserve those who have health problems. But nothing more than that,” Bolsonaro said. “If we cower, opt for the easy discourse, everyone stays home, it will be chaos. No one will produce anything, there will be unemployment, refrigerators will go empty, no one will be able to pay bills.”He has found some support among his base — #BolsonaroIsRight was trending atop Brazilian Twitter — but such backing has been largely drowned out in public by a week of nightly protests from many of those respecting self-isolation, who lean from their windows to bang pots and pans.His administration has also faced criticism from economists including Armínio Fraga, a former central bank governor, and Claudio Ferraz, a professor at Rio de Janeiro’s Pontifical Catholic University.“Brazil is seeing something unique, an insurrection of governors,” Ferraz wrote on Twitter. “This will become a new topic in political science: checks and balances by governors in a Federal System.”Candido Bracher, president of Brazil’s largest private bank, Itaú Unibanco, criticized Bolsonaro’s crisis management in an interview with the newspaper O Globo published Wednesday. His bank and companies like oil giant Petrobras, iron miner Vale and the brewery Ambev have made large donations to state governments for helping fight the outbreak.Rio de Janeiro Gov. Wilson Witzel, another former ally of Bolsonaro, told the president in the videoconference that he won’t heed the president’s call to loosen social distancing protocols.Last week, the governor announced he would shut down airports and interstate roads, which Bolsonaro annulled by decree contending that only the federal government can adopt such measures. By the time the president took to the airwaves Tuesday evening, a Supreme Court justice had ruled in favor of Witzel and the governors.Two days earlier Brazil’s top court issued another ruling allowing Sao Paulo state to stop repaying federal government debt amounting to $400 million so that it can beef up its health sector. The decision may set a precedent for other states.As of Wednesday, Brazil had about 2,400 confirmed coronavirus cases and 57 deaths related to the outbreak. Experts say the figures could soar in April, potentially causing a collapse of the country’s health care system. There is particular concern about the virus’ potential damage in the ultra-dense, low-income neighborhoods known as favelas.For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.Sao Paulo, Brazil’s economic engine, is home to the majority of the coronavirus cases. It has been under partial lockdown since Tuesday, and schools, universities and non-essential businesses have mostly been closed for more than 10 days. Rio state has adopted similar measures, including closing its beaches.Other governors who hadn’t voiced criticism have begun doing so.Gov. Ronaldo Caiado of Goiás state, a doctor who had been a close Bolsonaro ally, told reporters Wednesday he is redefining their relationship.“I cannot allow the president to wash his hands and hold others responsible for coming economic collapse and loss of jobs,” Caiado said. “That is not the behavior of a leader.”Caiado joined a meeting late Wednesday of Brazil’s 26 state governors to coordinate their efforts. The federal government wasn’t invited.Carlos Moisés, governor of Santa Catarina state, which gave almost 80 percent of its votes to Bolsonaro in the 2018 presidential runoff election, issued a statement saying he was “blown away” by the president’s speech. Moisés said he will insist that residents stay home during the pandemic, ignoring the president’s advice.
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Cuba is launching its most restrictive measures Tuesday to stop the spread of the coronavirus- banning citizens from leaving the island without authorization and placing foreign tourists under quarantine. Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said in a televised address Monday that just over 32 thousand tourists will have to stay in hotels until they secure a flight home.  Cuba had resisted imposing the restrictions because tourism is the lifeblood of the island nation’s economy.  Authorities in Cuba on Monday also announced schools and universities will close. Cuba’s Ministry of Public Health on Monday confirmed 40 cases of the virus and doctors are monitoring more than 37- thousand other Cubans showing symptoms similar to the coronavirus. So far, Cuba has confirmed one death, an Italian tourist.  
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Sao Paulo state in Brazil begins a two-week quarantine Tuesday, on the order of Governor Joao Doria. Sao Paulo is the hardest hit area in Brazil, with more than 900 virus cases, including the head of the state’s task force against coronavirus, David Uip, who is said to be in self-isolation. There have been eleven deaths in Sao Paulo, including six in the capital, which carries the same name. The governor’s lockdown also means non-essential businesses and services must shut down. Health care services, public transportation, grocery stores, security services and banks are exempt from the lockdown. The restrictions in Sao Paulo resemble steps already taken in Rio de Janeiro state, where beaches have been closed to stop the spread of the coronavirus. 
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A Trump administration official said Sunday that illegal border crossings have dropped by half as the strictest U.S.-Mexico border policies yet went into place amid the coronavirus pandemic, but there was confusion about how it was all working.  
Anyone caught crossing the border illegally is to be immediately returned back to Mexico or Canada, according to the new restrictions based on an order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late Friday. According to Mark Morgan, the acting head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the decision applies to all migrants.  
“We’re not going to take you into our custody,” he said Saturday evening on Fox News. “We don’t know anything about you. You have no documents, we’re not going to take you into our facilities and expose you to CBP personnel and the American people as well as immigrants,” he said.  
But Mexican officials have said they would only take people from Mexico and Central America and only those who are encountered straight away — not people already in custody. Officials later said the elderly and minors won’t be taken back and that they expected to take in about 100 per day. 
“If people who are not Mexican or Central American are returned to us, Mexico would not accept them,” Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Friday in Spanish. “The United States will take care of that.”  
The majority of people crossing the border are from Central America, but not all. For example, there were some 6,000 Brazilians and nearly 1,200 Chinese who arrived between January and February this year, according to Customs and Border Protection data.  
But it’s not entirely clear what happens to those people. Morgan said the migrants should be “expeditiously” returned to the country they came from.  
CDC on Friday issued an order in effect for 30 days that bars anyone coming illegally in part because migrants are held in close quarters and there isn’t enough proper staffing or space to keep them at a safe distance and to screen for the illness. Plus, migrants who are suspected of having COVID-19 are sent to local hospitals, possibly further infecting others, the CDC warned.  
The borders remain open, according to Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, but only to facilitate trade; the U.S. has about $3 billion per day with Canada and Mexico. Tourists and shoppers were asked to stay home.  
Wolf said Sunday on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that the number of migrants crossing illegally had plummeted, but it was important to “keep supply chains open,” but to do it in a careful and considerate way that would “limit the introduction and spread of the virus.”  
Meanwhile, there was growing concern on the Mexican side of the border that the number of migrants stranded there would only increase, with shelters already at capacity.  
“We have 300 people in the shelter and we can no longer take it. We have been a week without the United States asking for people and if they don’t ask, we are going to be overcrowded,” said Héctor Joaquín Silva, director of the Senda de Reynosa shelter, which borders McAllen, Texas.
Silva said he hasn’t accepted more migrants and has kept the shelter in quarantine to avoid infections but that migrants continue to arrive in Reynosa.  
Meanwhile, in the U.S., immigrant advocates filed a lawsuit in Washington D.C. requesting the immediate release of migrant families from detention facilities over concerns of inadequate care and an environment ripe for an outbreak. They say the country’s three detention centers where families are held — Berks in Pennsylvania, and Karnes and Dilley in Texas — have failed to take adequate measures to protect families from COVID-19.  
Immigration enforcement has  wide latitude on when to release migrants. Earlier this year, Homeland Security officials said they would detain families as long as possible in an effort to discourage migrants from crossing the border. Most families are held 20 days.  
“The families who are detained in these detention centers facilities have no criminal history and do not pose any threat whatsoever to public safety and are not a flight risk — they all came to the United States to seek asylum and are actively pursuing the right to remain in the United States,” the advocacy groups wrote.
ICE has said it is working to contain any spread of the virus in its detention facilities. The agency did not comment on the lawsuit. Immigration courts are still operating, but with scattered closures and delays in some hearings.  
For most people, the new  coronavirus  causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. More than 300,000 have been infected worldwide.  
The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.
Curbing immigration has been a signature policy of Trump’s, and he’s tried to block asylum seekers before but failed after courts ruled against him. On Sunday, a text from his re-election campaign read: “Pres. Trump is making your safety his #1 priority. That’s why we’re closing BORDERS to illegals.”
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Air Canada is laying off more than 5,000 flight attendants as the country’s largest airline cuts routes amid plunging demand. The Montreal-based carrier is laying off about 3,600 employees, plus 1,549 flight attendants at its low-cost subsidiary Rouge, according to Wesley Lesosky, head of the Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees. The layoffs will take effect by April and affect roughly 60% of flight attendants. Air Canada says it will suspend most of its international and U.S. flights by March 31. The carrier says employees will be returned to active duty status once flights resume.
The United Arab Emirates is suspending passenger transits through Dubai, the world’s busiest international airport, for two weeks to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Suspending transit through Dubai, which connects Europe with Asia and Australia, will affect travelers around the world.
Low-cost airline Eastar Jet has become the first South Korean carrier to shut down all flights as demand plunges. The company says it will temporarily suspend its domestic flights from Tuesday to April 25. Other budget South Korean carriers including Air Seoul, Air Busan and T’Way Air operate only domestic flights after suspending their international services.Heavy Industry: Airbus is canceling a planned dividend payment and lining up 15 billion euros ($16 billion) in new credit to give the European aircraft giant more cash to weather the crisis. Airbus The plane maker is withdrawing the proposed 2019 dividend payment of 1.8 euros ($1.9) per share will save the company 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion). Airbus is also making pension savings and says it has significant liquidity to cope with the crisis. It had shut several plants last week to adapt them to safer health conditions.
Royal Dutch Shell will reduce its operating costs by between $3 billion to $4 billion for the next 12 months to adapt to the virus outbreak crisis and plunging oil prices. The company is also reducing capital expenditure to a maximum of $20 billion, down from its previous expectation of $25 billion.Financial Markets: U.S. futures are down more than 3% after shares fell in Europe and Asia as shutdowns aimed at containing the coronavirus pandemic expanded around the globe.  
Stocks fell in Paris, Frankfurt and London after a brutal session in Asia on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was the outlier, gaining 2.0% after the International Olympic Committee and Japanese officials indicated they are considering postponing the Tokyo Games, due to begin in July.
U.S. futures slipped after work on more stimulus for the U.S. economy hit snags in the U.S. Senate. Top-level negotiations between Congress and the White House continued after the Senate voted against advancing the nearly $2 trillion economic rescue package.  Supermarkets: President Emmanuel Macron urged employees to keep working in French supermarkets and some other businesses deemed essential amid a spreading shutdown imposed to fight the coronavirus.
“We need to keep the country running,” Macron said.
Finance minister Bruno Le Maire said Friday the whole supply chain for the food industry must be guaranteed after France shut down this week all restaurants, cafes, cinemas and retail shops that are deemed nonessential. Many employees are working from home. Businesses that are allowed to remain open must enforce rules about social distancing, washing hands and disinfection.
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Five months after Hurricane Dorian devastated Marsh Harbour, Abaco, the sounds of children giggling and running echo through the once eerily silent island air.The children play on an unpaved driveway that runs alongside the New Haitian Mission Baptist Church. The church stands as one of the few remaining buildings after the monster Category 5 storm tore through the tiny Bahamian island. For the community, it’s a sanctuary and home to those who lost everything.A handful of families who settled at the church after Dorian washed away their homes take refuge between rows of beige tents.Keline, 9, separates herself from the others and flips through some vocabulary workbooks, sounding the words out as she reads.”Be — be — beee — “Keline and the other children haven’t attended school since September 1, when Hurricane Dorian wiped out all the schools in Marsh Harbour. The only schools still operating on the island are privately run.FILE – Two Haitian migrants sit as one stands amid the ruins of a home destroyed by Hurricane Dorian in Abaco, Bahamas, Sept. 28, 2019.Her family came here from Haiti for a better life, but the family’s poor and can’t afford private school. Keline’s dad, Lucner, is heartbroken that Keline cannot attend school. She’s a vivacious learner and reader. Some days, she begs him to go back. She wants to become a nurse and take care of her family. He knows how much potential she has, and that’s what hurts him the most.Lucner asked Fresh Take Florida to only use his first name out of fear of retribution. He worries his work visa will not be renewed and his family could be deported.Weeks after the storm, the Ministry of Education ordered residents to come to Nassau to enroll in schools there and in Freeport. Those families who could made the trip, but Lucner stayed in Marsh Harbour hoping that schools there would eventually open. His work is in Marsh Harbour. He didn’t want to uproot his family. They waited for months, but no schools reopened. Lucner eventually tried taking Keline to Nassau to enroll, but the ministry told him it was too late; she would have to wait until next year. Keline can be quiet sometimes, and in those moments, she thinks about her old life. When she thinks about the storm, she wants to cry. “I didn’t want to die. And I scared to die, because I don’t know where I going,” she said. But other times, missing school pulls her out of her shell to play teacher in the yard with the other kids. She drags a crate along the rocky dirt path and plops in front of the children. FILE – People walk next to a shattered and water-filled coffin that lies exposed to the elements in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, at the cemetery in Mclean’s Town, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, Sept. 13, 2019.She lectures with authority. “Here, color this,” she demands. “It’s time to sing your ABCs,” she says, “You need to practice.” “I don’t want to,” the other kids whine. They want to play. Keline knows most kids don’t think about their future, they’re focused on games. But she isn’t like the other kids — she thinks about it all the time. What will she become? How will she get there? Lucner and Keline can’t return to their home in “The Mudd,” a former shantytown on the northeast side of Marsh Harbour, home to the poorest of the poor, many of them undocumented Haitian immigrants. The land was obtained from squatter’s rights that allowed the Haitians to first move in the 1970s. It was one of the first areas targeted by the government for cleanup.The government scraped The Mudd clean of all remnants of life and fenced it off so no one could build on it.A Bahamas coroners team carries a body out of The Mudd neighborhood in the Marsh Harbor area of Abaco Island in the Bahamas in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, Sept. 9, 2019.Many Haitians immigrated to the Bahamas to escape the oppressive regime of President Jean-Claude Duvalier in Haiti and began pursuing agricultural jobs in the area. They moved mostly into shantytowns with poorly constructed homes and illegal electricity prone to fires. By 2018, Abaco’s shantytowns had grown to more than 900 residences, according to a government report.There was growing animosity and disdain toward Haitians living in The Mudd. Before the storm hit, the government of the Bahamas already had plans to relocate all shantytown residents, according to Lesley Johnson from the Bahamas Disaster Reconstruction Authority. Tensions were high. Many Haitians lived in fear of deportation.Some Abaco residents say the government used the storm as an excuse to clear The Mudd and move out the immigrants. In their eyes, clearing The Mudd was prioritized over rebuilding schools and infrastructure.Now, those who used to live in The Mudd have nowhere to live.Johnson said as long as the Haitians are coming in legally, they won’t face discrimination.Lucner has legal status from a work permit, but he still lives in fear. The renewal is never guaranteed, and they currently live in limbo — in a tent outside the church.Peering out from the shade of her tent, Keline thinks of the future. A life as a nurse, caring for her family and others. She wants to see what her family is like years later and how they’re doing, where they might be living.She dreams of college, but for now her school is in the dirt with her books, and she is the teacher.This story was produced by Mackenzie Behm of Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications.
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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Friday that June would likely be the most critical month for the coronavirus outbreak in the country, as he criticized state governors for taking extreme measures that were slowing the economy.Brazil’s two biggest cities, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and their surrounding states have moved to slow the outbreak by restricting gatherings at malls and beaches and in public transportation.The epidemic represents a serious political risk for the far-right populist Bolsonaro, who has taken criticism for his early handling of the outbreak. He initially labeled it a “fantasy.”Approval of Bolsonaro’s government fell to a record low this week, a poll released by brokerage XP Investimentos showed Friday. Just 30% of those surveyed rated his administration “good” or “great,” compared with 36% calling it “bad” or “awful.”Bolsonaro, who was already struggling to resuscitate a weak economy, made clear on Friday that he was concerned about the economic impact of the virus, with Brazil’s currency and stock market among the world’s biggest losers over the past two weeks.The president also looked to defuse a diplomatic spat with No. 1 trading partner China that began when his son, lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro, blasted the Asian country for how it handled the initial outbreak of the virus.”There is no problem with China,” Bolsonaro told reporters outside his official residence. He said he might reach out to China to get equipment for fighting the outbreak. “If I have to call the Chinese president, I’ll call. No problem,” he said. 
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The president of Argentina says the South American nation is going into a mandatory quarantine for 11 days, in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.Speaking to the nation in a televised address Thursday, President Alberto Fernández said everyone must stay home, starting at midnight Friday, local time, until midnight March 31. Fernández said people making trips to buy groceries, and other necessities are exempt.The president said those who are unable to explain why they are on the street will face reprimands provided by the penal code.“It is time for us to understand that we are caring for the health of Argentines. We have now dictated this measure trying to make the effects on the economy as least harmful as possible,” Fernández said, explaining the new directive.Ahead of Friday’s lockdown, long lines of people converged on supermarkets and pharmacies to stock up on supplies.So far, Argentina has at least 128 confirmed infections, and three people have died with the virus. Argentina had previously closed its borders to non-residents, suspended flights and shut down schools, all in an effort to stop the spread of virus.
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The coronavirus pandemic has now arrived in Haiti.President Jovenel Moise on Thursday confirmed the country’s first two cases of the deadly disease in a national address that was simultaneously streamed live on Facebook.“I want to let the nation know that according to test results we received from the national laboratory this afternoon while we were holding an emergency ministers’ council meeting, we have confirmed the first two cases of coronavirus in the nation,” Moise said. “The government is appealing for calm,” he added.It is unclear who the confirmed cases are.  This week, a state university professor in Limonade, in northern Haiti, experienced flulike symptoms after returning from a trip to the United States. He self-quarantined and was tested for coronavirus after alerting the university administrator and local public health officials. Over the weekend, a foreign female who had returned to Haiti after a trip to her native country where coronavirus has spread and had experienced flulike symptoms tested negative for the virus.New emergency measuresA statement sent to VOA Creole lists emergency measures the government plans to enact to stem the spread of the virus in a nation struggling to regain its footing after months of anti-government protests.The emergency measures include an 8 p.m. curfew, school closures, factory closures, and a limit of 10 people for social gatherings.As of midnight Thursday, the country’s ports, airports and borders will be closed. Merchandise will still be able to cross the Haiti-Dominican Republic border after being screened on both sides.The government also announced plans to sanction anyone selling medicine, health products or food on the black market.Reaction across the nationVOA Creole reporters in the town of Mirebalais in the south and in the capital, Port au Prince, said people are panicked. Businesses quickly shuttered. In the Delmas neighborhood of the capital, people scrambled to fill up on gas and stock up on food items, and then ran home.“People look visibly scared,” the reporters said.Supermarkets in the affluent suburb of Petionville were crowded soon after the presidential announcement ended with people buying food and other essential items.Haiti Public Health Minister Marie Greta Roy Clément briefs reporters on the latest Coronavirus measures, March 12, 2020 in Port au Prince, Haiti. (Renan Toussaint / VOA Creole)Health workers concernedVOA Creole spoke to doctors and nurses at the country’s state-run hospital in Port-au-Prince earlier this month who feared their institution was not ready to handle coronavirus cases.“It’s sad to say this but the hospital receives a lot of patients daily and we are not — I repeat — we are not ready, as far as I know, to diagnose a person who has the coronavirus,” a doctor said, adding that the hospital doesn’t even have the test to determine if someone is infected. Public Health Minister Marie Greta Roy Clement told VOA the national laboratory would handle all coronavirus cases.Residents of Port-au-Prince and the suburb of Petionville VOA spoke to earlier this week also expressed fear of the pandemic and had little or false information about it and how to protect themselves.Clement said her ministry was rolling out a nationwide campaign to train health workers and inform the public on best practices to stay healthy.Yves Manuel, Florence Lisene in Port-au-Prince, Yvan Martin Jasmin in Cape Haitian, and Jean Collegue in Mirebalais contributed to this report.
 
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The United States and Canada are closing their borders to “to all nonessential traffic,” U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday. Trump tweeted that the decision was reached “by mutual consent.”  The announcement comes as countries around the world ramp up measures to shield their citizens from COVID-19, which was first reported in Wuhan, China. Earlier, Trump’s decision to stop European Union visitors from traveling to the United States was condemned by the EU on the grounds that it was done unilaterally and without prior consultation. Trump and Trudeau made clear the border closing would not affect bilateral trade or the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, which was ratified in Canada last week. The treaty, an update of the North American Free Trade Agreement, known as NAFTA, had been ratified earlier in the U.S. and Mexico.  A truck crosses the Blue Water Bridge into Port Huron, Mich., from Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, March 18, 2020.’We’re family’ Before the border closed, over 400,000 people traveled between the two countries “every single day,” Acting Ambassador of Canada to the United States Kirsten Hillman told VOA. Daily cross-border trade, she said, totaled $2.5 billion.  As she sees it, “We’re more than neighbors, more than allies for defense and security purposes. We’re partners, but we’re family – sometimes figuratively, often literally.”  Speaking about the trade agreement passed by the Canadian Parliament last week, Hillman described the trilateral trade agreement, known in Canada as CUSMA, as “critical to the long-term stability and predictability of Canada-U.S. relations.”  “It is a high-standard agreement that promotes shared prosperity for our workers, farmers and businesses,” Hillman stated, adding that “new provisions, such as the auto rules of origin, will encourage production and sourcing within the U.S. and North America in general.” The Canadian envoy also said that helping strengthen middle-class individuals and families in both countries, creating good, well-paying jobs, is a crucial component of the trade deal. Passage of the legislation in Canada, known as C-4, required that certain Canadian laws and regulations be amended to conform with the country’s obligations under the agreement.  Describing the lengthy process that the legislation took, Hillman tweeted that it was “a long road to get here but well, well worth the journey!” After a phone call with Trump on Wednesday, Trudeau issued a statement highlighting the continuity in bilateral ties following the border closing.  While “travelers will no longer be permitted to cross the border for recreation and tourism,” Trudeau’s statement said, it noted that the two sides agreed “that essential travel will continue and recognized that it is critical we preserve supply chains between both countries.” These supply chains “ensure that food,FILE – Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou leaves her home to appear for a hearing in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Sept. 30, 2019.’Complicated challenge’ Prior to the border being closed in response to the infectious disease outbreak and the trilateral trade deal, news that dominated Canada-U.S. relations appeared to center on cases involving Beijing. In December 2018, Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, at the time the chief financial officer for tech giant Huawei, at the request of the United States. Within weeks, China detained and later officially arrested two Canadians – one a former diplomat, and the other an international consultant, both on espionage charges.  China also arrested and handed out a death sentence to a third Canadian allegedly involved in drug smuggling while in China. These acts by Chinese authorities are widely seen as retaliation against Canada’s arrest of Meng. Meng is out on bail and lives under house arrest in a luxury mansion in Vancouver, awaiting further judicial deliberations on the extradition request from the United States.Speaking about Meng, Hillman said, “The process in our courts to proceed with the extradition hearing to determine whether or not Ms. Meng will be extradited pursuant to the U.S. request is under way. We expect it to continue on for several months, in accordance with our judicial process.” VOA learned that Michael Kovrig, one of two Canadians accused of engaging in espionage and in Chinese custody, was allowed to speak by phone last week with his seriously ill father for the first time since he was detained by Chinese authorities in 2018. Until then, he and the other two Canadian citizens, Michael Spavor and Robert Schellenberg, were denied any contact with their families. They are visited once a month by the Canadian ambassador to China, Hillman said.  “We’re concerned about their arbitrary detention. We’re seeking to have their situation under which they’re held improved. We’re constantly, at all levels, speaking to Chinese authorities about trying to improve the conditions under which they’re being held,” Hillman said. Asked if there’s anything the United States can do to help Canada on this issue, Hillman said “the U.S. government, from President Trump on down through all of his cabinet members and officials, as well as Capitol Hill, have been incredibly supportive.” But she acknowledged the challenge was “complicated,” saying Canada is “happy for the partnership that we have with the U.S. in trying to think of ways to solve this problem.” Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne addresses the media in London, Jan. 16, 2020.Following the coronavirus outbreak in China, several hundred Canadian citizens were flown back to their home country. Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne has said publicly that he raised the cases of the detained Canadians during talks with his Chinese counterpart as evacuations were being arranged. According to Hillman, “there have been modest improvement” in the conditions under which the Canadian citizens are held in China, adding, “We would like to see much more.”  Gaining the release of Spavor and Kovrig, and obtaining leniency for Schellenberg, are Canada’s top priority, Hillman and other officials said.  All of them “are doing as best as can be expected under these circumstances,” Hillman said. “They’re resilient people who are trying to cope with the situation in which they find themselves. But it’s very difficult.” Since the coronavirus outbreak, Canada has sent over 16 tons of personal protective equipment to China on humanitarian grounds “to assist those on the front lines fighting against the coronavirus,” Hillman told VOA.  Those supplies include face masks, protective clothing, medical goggles, gloves, face shields and respiratory equipment. “We stand ready to help in any way we can,” she said, adding that Canada also has offered financial support to the World Health Organization. 
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Peru is banning the use of private vehicles, beginning Thursday, in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra said the latest restrictions were initiated after officials discovered new cases among young people who were infected while traveling at night to social gatherings.A new curfew, which began Wednesday at 8 p.m. local time, bans the use of private cars until 5 a.m.The president also announced that the sports center used during last year’s Pan American Games will serve as a treatment facility for those with the virus who are not in serious condition.The most seriously ill patients will be treated at a newly built hospital in eastern Lima.Vizcarra said people will have access to water even if they cannot pay.Peru’s Ministry of Heath said there are at least 145 confirmed coronavirus cases in the country.Vizcarra said more than 300 people are being tested for the virus each day.Worldwide, more than 200,000 people have been infected and more than 8,800 have died. Over 84,000 have recovered, most of them in China.
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The Chinese city at the center of the coronavirus pandemic has for the first time reported no new daily cases, reporting Thursday that there were no new cases Wednesday.    Wuhan has spent about two months on lockdown as authorities tried to stop the spread of the virus, and in recent weeks the number of new infections there dwindled.    Elsewhere in China, though, with health officials reporting 34 total cases Thursday among people who came from elsewhere, there is continued concern about such imported cases threatening the substantial progress the country has made.    China has been the hardest hit by the novel coronavirus since it emerged in late December, with about 81,000 total cases and 3,200 deaths.  Most people who became sick have already recovered.    South Korea reported 152 new cases Thursday, a step back from its recent progress of fewer than 100 new daily cases for four days in a row.    The virus has reached 166 countries, with more than 208,000 confirmed cases and 8,600 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.    Almost 3,000 cases in Germany
Germany health officials reported Thursday a surge of 2,800 cases in a single day, bringing the country’s total to 11,000, one of the highest in the world.  Lothar Weiler, head of the German government’s Robert Koch Institute, said Wednesday as many as 10 million Germans could eventually be infected, but that the number could be significantly reduced if people curtail social interactions.  Even harder hit has been Italy, which had an alarming 475 deaths from the virus Wednesday.  The country has been on a strict lockdown for a week, and the Corriere della Sera newspaper quoted Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Thursday saying the measures will be extended beyond their planned expiration later this month.  Other countries have followed the response put in place in Italy, China, Spain and elsewhere in order to try to keep people from going about their daily business and spreading the virus among their communities or to other parts of their country.  Curfews and travel bans
Panama announced Wednesday a new nationwide curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., with only police, firefighters, health care workers and sanitation employees allowed out during that time.  The country has reported 109 cases to date.    New Zealand announced Thursday it is banning entry to foreigners, shortly after the government advised citizens not to travel overseas because of the risk of contracting the coronavirus.   “We will not tolerate risk at our borders,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at a news conference.   The government said it had identified eight new cases involving people who traveled overseas.  Its total case number stood at 28.    Nearby Australia said it would also ban entry to non-citizens and non-residents starting Friday.  Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the “overwhelming proportion” of Australia’s 500 confirmed cases have been imported.   New cases in Latin America
Mexico, which has confirmed 118 cases, reported its first death early Thursday.  Hours later, Russia said a 78-year-old woman who tested positive for the virus died, the first in that country as well.  Nicaragua and neighboring El Salvador announced late Wednesday that they had confirmed their first cases of the coronavirus.   
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A Mexican judge issued an arrest warrant for the former head of investigations for the Attorney General’s Office for alleged violations in the investigation of the case of 43 college students who disappeared in 2014, officials said Wednesday.Tomas Zerón and five other former officials face charges including torture, forced disappearance and judicial misconduct. Three have been arrested and three, including Zerón, are still at large.Zerón oversaw the criminal investigation agency of the Attorney General’s Office and also its forensic work in the case. The students’ bodies have never been found, though a burned bone fragment matched one student.FILE – People stand under the portraits of 43 college students who went missing in 2014 in an apparent massacre, by Chinese concept artist and government critic Ai Weiwei at the Contemporary Art University Museum in Mexico City, Mexico, April 13, 2019.Many of the suspects arrested in the case were later released, and many claimed they had been tortured by police or the military. The current administration, which took office Dec. 1, 2018, has pledged to re-open the case.Federal officials who were not authorized to be quoted by name said that a warrant was issued for Zerón’s arrest and that Interpol had been notified to help locate him in case he was outside of Mexico. One of the officials said there were indications that Zerón may have left for Canada in late 2019, but it was unclear whether he later traveled elsewhere.Zerón’s investigation had long been criticized by the families of the 43 teachers’ college students who disappeared in September 2014 after they were detained by local police in Iguala, in the southern state of Guerrero. They were allegedly handed over to a drug gang and slain, and have not been heard from since.Zerón was at the center of the government’s widely criticized investigation, which has failed to definitively determine what happened to the students. Two independent teams of experts have cast doubt on the insistence of Mexican officials that the students’ bodies were incinerated in a huge fire at a trash dump.The students attended the Rural Normal School of Ayotzinapa. They were in Iguala on Sept. 26, 2014, to hijack buses to use for transportation to a rally in Mexico City. They were attacked on the buses by local police and allegedly handed over to members of the Guerreros Unidos cartel.
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