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Coronavirus live news: WHO sees 'worrying spike' in Middle East as global cases pass one million

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Governments in the Middle East need to act fast to limit the spread of the coronavirus after cases rose to nearly 60,000, almost double their level a week earlier, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

“New cases have been reported in some of the most vulnerable countries with fragile health systems,” said Ahmed Al-Mandhari, the WHO’s director for the Eastern Mediterranean region, which includes Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia and Djibouti, as well as Middle Eastern states.

In a sign of the sizeable impact that this pandemic is having on travel, London’s Heathrow airport has said it will close one of its runways from Monday because of a fall in traffic.

The airport has two runways and will alternate which one they keep open on a weekly basis, a spokesman said.

They added: “Although we are seeing significantly fewer flights at the moment, Heathrow will remain open so that we can continue to play a crucial role in helping to secure vital medical goods and food for the nation during this unprecedented epidemic.”

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2R6CJxO

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