Global Governments Brace For A Pandemic; South Korea Wows With Nimble Testing Response; Outbreak Calls Into Question Europe’s Borderless Dream

Reuters: Governments Ramp Up Preparations For Coronavirus Pandemic
Governments ramped up measures on Thursday to battle a looming global pandemic of the coronavirus as the number of infections outside China, the source of the outbreak, for the first time surpassed those appearing inside the country. Australia initiated emergency measures and Taiwan raised its epidemic response level to its highest, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump put his vice president, Mike Pence, in charge of the U.S. response to the looming global health crisis. (2/27)

ABC News: Massive Coronavirus Testing Program In South Korea Underscores Nimble Public Health Infrastructure 
Global health experts say the speed and scope of South Korea’s novel coronavirus diagnostic capability exhibit impressive and significant lab capabilities that no other countries, including the U.S., can match at the moment. South Korea had tested a total of 66,652 people for the COVID-19 coronavirus virus as of 4 p.m. local time Thursday, whereas Japan had reported administering roughly 1,890 tests and the U.S. only 445. The huge discrepancy compared to other countries reflects how quickly South Korea’s numbers have been rising, experts say. (Cho, 2/27)

CNN: How Coronavirus Spread Through The Shincheonji Religious Group In South Korea 
Illness was never accepted as a valid reason to miss services at the Shincheonji religious group, says former member Duhyen Kim. This is an organization that took roll call, he says, and everyone had to physically swipe in and out of services with a special card. Any absence was noted and followed up on. "The culture was, even though you're sick you come in on Sunday. If you're so sick you can't come Sunday, you have to come on Monday or Tuesday -- you have to make up for the time," Kim says. He describes how, when he was a member, followers would sit on the floor during hours-long services "packed together like sardines." (Hancocks and Seo, 2/27)

Reuters: Secretive Church At Center Of South Korea's Explosive Coronavirus Outbreak
An So-young had a gut feeling that the 31st person in South Korea to test positive for the coronavirus might be a member of the controversial religious sect she quit four years ago. The person, dubbed "Patient 31," was the first of an explosive wave of cases that made South Korea's outbreak the largest outside of China. What caught An's attention was how health authorities were struggling to track the woman's movements before she was tested. (2/27)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Live Updates: Fears Grow Of Pandemic, Markets Stumble Again After U.S. Confirms Case Of Unknown Origin
The rapid spread of the novel coronavirus raised the specter of a global pandemic as governments ramped up their emergency responses and financial markets slumped again Thursday, despite signs that the outbreak may be easing in China. Japan on Thursday told all schools to close through the spring break, which for most schools typically ends in early April. Australia’s leader warned a pandemic was a matter of when, not if, and an Iranian lawmaker said he had tested positive for the virus, as new infections and deaths emerged from the Middle East to Europe and South Korea. (Taylor, 2/27)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Nightmare Could Be The End For Europe’s Borderless Dream
For Europe, the coronavirus could not have arrived at a worse time. This was the year — with Britain out, terrorism waning and the migrant crisis at an ebb — that the European Union had hoped to repair and revive its cherished goal of open internal borders. But cases of the virus have emerged nearly daily in new European countries — in Spain, Greece, Croatia, France, Switzerland and, on Wednesday, in Germany. (Stevis-Gridneff, 2/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Creates Dilemma For Europe’s Public Gatherings, Open Borders
The threat of coronavirus spreading across Europe’s open borders has put local authorities and others in a bind over whether to call off fashion shows, soccer games and other major gatherings that define everyday life on the continent. Governments across the European Union have so far declined to reinstate border checks and take other measures to isolate Italy, the site of Europe’s largest outbreak. That is shifting pressure onto local leaders to ward off infection by putting a stop to events that draw people from across the continent. (Rboinson and Dalton, 2/27)

The New York Times: Hundreds Confined To Tenerife Hotel For 14 Days Over Coronavirus Fears
Hundreds of guests at a resort on Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, were told Wednesday that they would be confined to their hotel for 14 days as the authorities tried to prevent the coronavirus from spreading after infections were discovered there this week. News of a quarantine at the resort, the H10 Costa Adeje Palace, came as officials in Europe scrambled to contain an outbreak that has spread to at least seven nations on the Continent. Spain, of which the Canary Islands are a part, disclosed additional infections on Wednesday, and France reported its second death. (Peltier and Minder, 2/26)

The Washington Post: Italy’s Economy Was Scary Enough. Then Came Coronavirus.
On the wall outside Jamaica, a century-old bar-bistro and a Milan institution, a newly hung sign points to the frustration that has accompanied the arrival of coronavirus in northern Italy. “Jamaica did not close under the bombardments, must it close for collective hysteria?” it reads, referring to the cafe’s perseverance through the bombings of World War II. Restrictions imposed to control the virus — and public panic — have transformed Italy’s commercial and financial capital in a way some Milanese fear will result in a deep and lasting economic blow. (Morris and Harlan, 2/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Spreads Outside Of Italy, Prompting Fresh Restrictions
Italy’s coronavirus outbreak has crossed the Alps and is being linked to a growing number of infections around Europe, prompting countries and companies to enact precautionary measures to reduce travel to and from Italy as the number of fatalities clicked higher. None of the European Union’s member states are proposing closing off borders, a step that would break with the EU’s ideals of open borders and seamless movement. (Sylvers and Legorano, 2/26)

Reuters: Iran Reports 22 Deaths From Coronavirus; 141 Infected-IRNA
Twenty two people have died so far from the new coronavirus in Iran, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported in a chart it published on Thursday. The number of people diagnosed with the disease is 141, the chart showed. It did not specify whether those who have died were included in the tally of those infected. (2/27)

The Washington Post: Iran Struggles To Contain Coronavirus Outbreak, Putting Middle East Countries At Risk
Iran is emerging as the center of an outbreak of the new coronavirus across the Middle East, where cases in at least five countries have been linked to patients who traveled to Iran in recent weeks, authorities said. In Iran, 139 people have contracted the virus, including the deputy health minister and a prominent member of parliament. Nineteen people have died, according to the Health Ministry — the largest death toll from the virus outside China, where it first appeared. (Cunningham and Loveluck, 2/26)

The Associated Press: Pope Observes Usual Ash Wednesday Customs In Time Of Virus
Pope Francis celebrated the Ash Wednesday ritual that marks the opening of the Catholic Church's Lenten season in traditional fashion while greeting the public in Rome as other Masses were canceled in northern Italy over fears of the coronavirus outbreak. Francis and a long line of priests, bishops and cardinals walked in a procession through Rome's Aventine hill into the 5th-century Santa Sabina basilica for a late-afternoon Mass. Neither the priests nor the faithful wore face masks, but Rome has largely been spared the virus as Italy's national case count grew to more than 440. (2/26)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Has Some Religious Leaders Tweaking Rituals For Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday is a chance for clergy to remind Christians of their mortality, often with a swipe of thumb-to-forehead ashes. But this year, the holy day came one day after federal health officials said the country should brace for an “inevitable” spread of coronavirus. Pastors and ministers who already were mulling whether to change practices at weekly church services and struggling to reassure nervous worshipers, especially in immigrant-heavy congregations, found themselves asking: Should we tweak our rituals? (Bailey, 2/26)

The Associated Press: New Coronavirus Reaches Latin America, First Case In Brazil
Latin America saw its first confirmed case of the new coronavirus spreading worldwide when Brazil's government announced that a 61-year-old man who traveled to Italy this month had the virus. The Brazilian man had spent two weeks in northern Italy's Lombardy region on a work trip, where he contracted the contagious virus, the Health Ministry said Wednesday. (2/27)

Reuters: Kuwait Has 43 Confirmed Cases Of Coronavirus-Health Ministry
Kuwait now has 43 confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to a health ministry official. The official added that all the cases involved people who had been to Iran. (2/27)

The Hill: World Bank, IMF Considering 'Virtual' Meetings Amid Coronavirus Scare: Report 
The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are considering either scaling back their Spring Meetings planned for April or holding them via teleconference amid growing concerns of the coronavirus, according to Reuters. The Spring Meetings are planned for April 17 through April 19 and are set to host 10,000 people from across the globe at their headquarters in downtown Washington, D.C. As the virus grows in scope, the global economy has declined, particularly in China, where the virus originated. However, the virus has spread to Europe as well, with 447 cases confirmed in Italy alone as of Wednesday evening. (Moreno, 2/26)

The Associated Press: World Shares Slump After Trump Announcement On Virus Plans
Shares fell in Europe and Asia on Thursday after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. was stepping up its efforts to combat the virus outbreak that began in China, as the number of cases surpassed 81,000. Germany's DAX lost 2.2% to 12,498.88 and the CAC 40 in Paris dropped 2.3% to 5,59.99. In London, the FTSE 100 lost 2.5% to 6,869.80. The future for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to 26,779.00 and the future contract for the S&P 500 was 0.6% lower, at 3,092.20. (2/27)

The Wall Street Journal: Stocks Fall As Virus Fears Show No Signs Of Easing
Global stocks slid and U.S. government bonds rallied Thursday as investors braced for a drop in business activity and corporate earnings following the spread of the coronavirus. Futures tied to the S&P 500 index fell 0.6%, pointing to likely declines when U.S. markets open. European indexes dropped, with the Stoxx Europe 600 dropping 2.1%. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 2.1% lower, while South Korea’s Kospi declined 1%. (Ping and Ostroff, 2/27)

NBC News: Coronavirus Expected To Slam 2020 Global Car Sales
Global auto sales could dip by as much as 2.5 percent this year, a significantly sharper decline than the 0.9 percent dip previously forecast, with coronavirus taking the blame, according to a newly released report by Moody’s. Almost from the moment it became clear a dangerous new virus was spreading in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the auto industry found itself at Ground Zero. An assortment of automakers operating in or near the city — including foreign makers Nissan, Kia, Peugeot and Honda, and Chinese domestics such as Dongfeng — were forced to halt production. Soon, manufacturers in other parts of the country, including China’s automotive center, Shanghai, were feeling the impact. (Eisenstein, 2/26)