Celebrities, politicians falling prey to Covid-19 worldwide

London, March 13 (IANS): A string of high-profile people – from politicians to celebrities – across the globe have tested positive for the deadly coronavirus (Covid-19).

The most recent addition to the list of infected people is Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, the wife of Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In Iran and many countries in Europe, several high-profile politicians have come on record accepting they are infected with the coronavirus.

In Europe, senior politicians in UK, Spain, France and Italy are among those infected. French Culture Minister Franck Riester tested positive on March 9, Nadine Dorries, UK Health Minister, also tested positive with the virus recently, before falling ill, she had an interaction with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other politicians.

In Spain, Javier Ortega Smith, a secretary general of the far-right Vox party has also tested positive for coronavirus. Hollywood actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson have also been tested positive for the virus.

Chelsea footballer Callum Hudson-Odoi became the first Premier League player to test positive while Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has gone into isolation after testing positive. All Premier League games and other football matches in the UK have been postponed until at least April 3.

Iraj Harirchi, the head of the Iranian counter-coronavirus task force, was diagnosed on February 25. Twenty Iranian lawmakers have since been infected and isolated, and at least two have died. Esmail Najjar, head of Iran’s crisis management organization has also been placed in isolation after contracting Covid-19.

In Italy, where the highest number of deaths have been reported outside China, the leader of the Italian Democratic Party Nicola Zingaretti in a Facebook video announced that he too fell prey to the virus.

Politicians and celebrities have emerged as a class which probably interact with many people in comparison with an average person. According to international reports, medical experts suggest that the list of people infected with the virus is heavy on politicians as they engage with many people either shaking hands or always meeting others.

Mark Meadows, Republican US Congressman from North Carolina who was supposed to take over as US chief of staff, joined Republican representatives Doug Collins of Georgia and Matt Gaetz of Florida, who had entered self-imposed quarantine. Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Paul Gosar, both of Texas, had also announced self-imposed isolation. Poland’s Chief of General Staff General Jaroslaw Mika tested positive for coronavirus, after returning from an army gathering in Germany.

Iran’s Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri has also been tested positive. Besides Jahangiri, Minister of Cultural Heritage Ali Asghar Mounesan and President of National Olympic Committee Reza Salehi Amiri, have also tested positive.

Medical experts also reckon that an average person will call a hotline only after they begin showing symptoms, but a politician will get tested right away. Moreover, a person not having a travel history, especially in the infected countries, may not be tested at all.

Up to 10,000 already have COVID-19 in UK — Govt. advisor

 There were probably between 5,000 and 10,000 people infected with the novel coronavirus in the UK at this time, the government’s chief scientific adviser said, adding that the 590 confirmed cases in the country could be “just the tip of the iceberg”.

“Currently we are on a trajectory that looks as though it is about four weeks or so behind Italy and some other countries in Europe,” The Sun newspaper quoted Patrick Vallance as saying on Thursday.

“There are currently 590 cases that have been identified in the UK and there are more than 20 patients in intensive care units.

“If you calculate what that really means in terms of the total number, it is much more likely that we have between 5,000 and 10,000 people infected at the moment. That is still a relatively small number,” he added.

Also speaking after an emergency meeting on Thursday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the number of cases in the UK was expected to rise sharply, warning the peak was still weeks away.

He announced the government has moved to the second stage of a four-part plan to tackle the outbreak in the country.

The Prime Minister said coronavirus was the “worst public health crisis for a generation” as he set out new measures that could cause “severe disruption for many months”.

He said anyone with symptoms, however mild, including a continuous cough or high temperature, should now stay at home and self-isolate for seven days.

Catholic churches across Rome shut due to virus Vatican City, March 13 (PTI/AFP): All Catholic churches across Rome have been closed to stem the spread of a coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 1,000 people across Italy.

The churches will reopen when a broader Italian government crackdown on public gatherings expires on April 3, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, the papal vicar for Rome, said in a statement.

Catholic faithful have been exempted from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass.

The Vatican had spent days resisting having to take the drastic measure of shuttering places of worship in the overwhelmingly Catholic country.

It closed its museums and even the Saint Peter’s Basilica — parts of its soaring dome designed by Michelangelo — to tourists as the death toll continued to mount.

All masses, weddings and funerals across the country have also been called off.

But some church buildings in the country will stay open as long as the faithful follow government regulations and remain a metre (three feet) apart while inside.

It was not immediately clear when Rome’s churches were last forced to close en masse.

The Nazis and Italian Fascists kept Pope Pius XII confined to the Vatican during World War II.

Some Rome churches kept their doors open during the war.

The closures come with the pope himself suffering from a cold and communicating with the faithful by Livestream as a safety precaution.

Pope Francis complained of feeling “caged” while reading his traditional Sunday Angelus Prayer into a camera from a Vatican library instead of his usual window overlooking crowds on Saint Peter’s Square.