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U.S.-South Korea military drills postponed as coronavirus spreads faster outside China

27 February 2020 08:09 (UTC +04:00)

The United States and South Korea postponed joint military drills on Thursday to limit the spread of coronavirus, as the number of infections inside China - the source of the outbreak - was for the first time overtaken by fresh cases elsewhere, APA reports quoting Rueters.

Brazil confirmed Latin America’s first infection and the new disease - COVID-19 - was also detected for the first time in Pakistan, Sweden, Norway, Greece, Romania and Algeria. China reported 433 new cases on Thursday, against 406 a day earlier.

U.S. health authorities reported the first possible case of community transmission in the United States involving someone who had no relevant travel history or exposure to another known patient.

U.S. President Donald Trump, seeking to calm U.S. stock markets which fell for the fifth consecutive day, said the United States was “very very ready” to face the virus threat.

Asked by reporters whether he was considering restricting travel to and from South Korea, Italy and other countries where the number of infections have exploded in the last week, Trump said everything was on the table.