Chinese President Xi Jinping said yesterday that the new Corona virus is the most serious health emergency in China since the establishment of the Communist regime in 1949, acknowledging that there are "gaps" in the anti-virus campaign.

"The lessons should be learned from the clear loopholes that arose during the response to the epidemic," Shi Jinping said, according to national television broadcasts.

The President considered that the viral pneumonia that infected nearly 77 thousand people in China, of whom more than 2,400 died, "it is a great crisis and distress for us."

The president said that, compared to SARS, the Covid-19 epidemic appears to be "difficult to prevent and control".

In an effort to prevent the virus from spreading, the Chinese government imposed a month ago the quarantine on the city of Wuhan, the origin of the virus, and its population of 11 million.

Xi Jinping admitted that the epidemic will "inevitably have a strong impact on the economy and society", but stressed that the consequences of the virus will be "in the short term" and manageable.

For its part, South Korea announced the most extreme condition yesterday, after recording four deaths and 600 cases due to the emerging Corona virus, the second largest number of infected people on its soil after China.

In Japan, the authorities announced that a third passenger of the cruise ship Diamond Princess, which had an outbreak of the Corona virus, was killed yesterday, while the government pledged to take new steps to contain the spread of the virus.

The Ministry of Health said on its website that the new death was a Japanese woman in his eighties, days after the death of a man and a woman who were also in their eighties.

The authorities added that the tests proved that another 57 people on board the "Princess Princess" cruise ship, which is being quarantined, were infected with the new Corona virus. For its part, Iran announced the detection of 15 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number to 43, in addition to the death of eight people.

Most cases occur in Qom. "The virus came from China to Qom ... A merchant from Qom who died of the virus, who used to travel frequently to China ... flights between the two countries were suspended, but he used indirect flights," Health Minister Saeed Nimky said. The Minister, the citizens, should not travel to Qom, 120 kilometers south of the capital, Tehran.

Ministry of Health spokesman Kyanosh Jahanpur announced the new cases earlier yesterday.

"We have 43 cases so far, and the number of deaths has reached eight," Jahanpur told state television.

Eight of the new cases were in Qom, as the authorities closed schools and religious institutes, and schools in Tehran and other cities were closed until Tuesday.

Jordan prevents the entry of the Chinese, Iranians and South Koreans because of the Corona virus

The Jordanian government decided yesterday to prevent the entry of citizens of China, Iran and South Korea into the territory of the Kingdom, as part of efforts to combat the spread of the new Corona virus.

"In light of the increasing number of cases of the virus in Iran and South Korea recently, and keeping pace with what many countries are applying as precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the disease, the government decided to prevent the entry of non-Jordanians from Iran and South Korea to the Kingdom," Jordanian Minister of State Amjad Al-Adayleh said in a statement. In addition to people coming from China, the disease, as a temporary precaution.

The decision includes in addition to the citizens of these countries residing in it. Oman ■ Agencies

Turkey closes the border with Iran

Turkish Health Minister Fakhruddin Kuja said yesterday that Turkey will close its borders with Iran as a precaution to prevent Corona virus from reaching it.

He said highways and railways will be closed, and flights from Iran will be suspended. Istanbul ■ Reuters

Palestinian-Israeli coordination to confront "Corona"

Yesterday, Palestinian Minister of Health, Mai Kaila, revealed that there is coordination between the Palestinian Authority and Israel to confront the emerging corona virus.

"There is coordination only in the case of SK, because infectious diseases are known to be transboundary," the minister said during a press conference at the headquarters of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the West Bank.

No injuries have been reported in the Palestinian territories yet.

"We have bilateral coordination with each of the sisterly Arab Republic of Egypt, and the sister kingdom of Jordan, as well as with Israel," Kaileh said. She emphasized that coordination "is only on the subject of Corona, and of course we have political approval on the subject."

The Palestinian Authority had recently announced the suspension of coordination with Israel in various areas, including security coordination.

A state of tension prevailed in the Palestinian Ministry of Health following the announcement of the discovery of a South Korean tourist delegation of nine people who had traveled in a number of Palestinian cities and inside Israel between February 8 and 15, and a number of them were infected with this virus upon their return to South Korea.

Yesterday morning, Palestinian government spokesman Ibrahim Melhem announced that Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh, as Minister of Interior, announced the closure of restaurants and places visited by the Korean delegation.

For its part, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed yesterday that public health comes before diplomatic relations, in a meeting to assess the potential harm of Israel's relations with countries experiencing the spread of the virus.

Ramallah ■ A.F.

Japan: 57 other cases of corona on board Diamond Princess.