To deal with the progression of the epidemic, Emmanuel Macron chairs, on Saturday, February 29, in the morning, a Defense Council followed by an exceptional Council of Ministers. "In France, a new stage in the epidemic has been reached and we are now going to stage 2 (out of a total of 3, editor's note): the virus is circulating on our territory and we must curb its spread", said the Minister of Health Olivier Véran, during a visit to Crépy-en-Valois (Oise), where the first Frenchman who died from infection taught.

In South Korea, authorities recorded three new deaths on Saturday, bringing the death toll from the epidemic in the country to 16. And 594 additional cases of contamination were recorded, the largest daily increase to date. With nearly 3,000 cases, South Korea is the second most affected country in the world by the Covid-19 epidemic, behind China. Chinese authorities on Saturday released 427 new cases and 47 deaths, for a total of 79,251 cases and 2,835 deaths since the start of the epidemic.

In the United States, three separate cases of contamination of unknown origin have been confirmed: two in northern California and one in Oregon, in patients who have not traveled to risk areas and have not had contact established with people carrying the virus. In all on the American territory, 62 infected patients were identified without any death to be deplored.

The World Health Organization (WHO) raised to Friday the maximum level of the threat linked to the new coronavirus whose spread is destabilizing the world economy.

With AFP

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