LAHORE MIRROR (Monitoring Desk)– Schools have been closed, sports events cancelled and cultural institutions shut around the world as countries try to stem the coronavirus outbreak.
In the US, all major sport has been suspended and Broadway performances are off for a month.
And France is one of the latest countries to announce closure of all schools, universities and nurseries.
President Emmanuel Macron described the outbreak as France’s most serious health crisis for a century.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has begun 14-day self-isolation after his wife Sophie tested positive for coronavirus. He is not showing symptoms.
And Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has been admitted to hospital after testing positive.
More than 125,000 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in 118 countries around the world, according to the World Health Organization. The total number of deaths is more than 4,600.
Share prices around the world continue to plunge. On Friday, Asian markets slumped, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 10% but recovering to end down 6.1%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell by 6.9% but ended the day just 1.6% down.
This follows losses in Europe and the US, where Wall Street stocks plummeted about 10% on their worst day since the 1987 Black Monday crash, a fall mirrored on London’s FTSE.
How is the cultural sector being affected?
Some of the world’s top museums and galleries have now shut their doors:
- The Van Gogh museum and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam are closing until the end of March
- In the US, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the largest art museum in the world, said it was temporarily closing all three of its locations in the city. All Smithsonian museums in Washington DC and New York City will close from Saturday
- New York State’s Governor Andrew Cuomo banned all gatherings of more than 500, prompting Broadway to suspend all its performances for a month
- Belgium has announced a raft of restrictions, cancelling all cultural and recreational events from Friday night but stopping short of a lockdown
Disney announced it would shut its theme parks in Florida and Paris until the end of the month. It earlier said it was closing its California park from Saturday amid a wave of Covid-19 infections in the state.
In the world of film, the release of the latest Fast and Furious instalment was pushed back by 11 months, one of a number of movies to postpone opening dates. And the Tribeca Film Festival was postponed in the US.
Also on Thursday, Qatar announced the closure of all cinemas, theatres, gyms, play areas and museums.
SOURCE: BBC NEWS
