Thousands arrested for violating curfew in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka police say they have arrested thousands of people — including many who were praying in a mosque — for violating a countrywide curfew imposed as a part of stringent measures designed to contain the spread of coronavirus.
The number of positive cases has risen to 106 and the government has ordered police to strictly impose the curfew to ensure social distancing across the country.
On a tip that a group of people were praying in a mosque in the town of Horowpathana, about 124 miles north of Capital Colombo, police and health officials went to the mosque and arrested 18 while several dozens have fled.
The government has banned nonessential travel. Police have arrested 4,600 and seized 1,125 vehicles for violating curfew since March 20.
Mexican president toughens stance, tells people to stay home
Mexico’s president urged people to stay indoors to prevent an “overwhelming” spread of coronavirus, taking his strongest stance yet against the pandemic.
“We have to stay in our homes, we have to keep a healthy distance,” Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in a 14-minute video posted on YouTube on Friday. He also warned that the health system may not be able to cope with a mass outbreak of cases, although Mexico has so far registered far fewer cases than other countries.
Mexican health officials reported 717 cases of coronavirus on Friday, up from 585 a day before. The country has reported 12 deaths from the disease so far.
“If we don’t stay inside our homes the number of infection cases could shoot up, and it would saturate our hospitals,” Obrador added. “It would be overwhelming.”
Grand Canyon residents fear tourists will bring virus
Much of the United States is shut in, but neighbors of Grand Canyon National Park say tourists are still visiting, placing themselves and others in peril as coronavirus continues to spread.
“Just the other day we had a tour bus there. Why is there even a tour bus here?” Lani Strange, a resident of Grand Canyon village, told NBC affiliate KPNX of Phoenix.
While some other national parks, including California’s Joshua Tree, have all but closed and offer very limited access to visitors, Grand Canyon is still allowing daytime visitors as well as access to viewpoints along the park’s South Rim.
“We are so susceptible,” Strange says. “We have people coming here every day from some of the most infected states.”
U.N. postpones nuclear weapons conference
UNITED NATIONS — The 191 parties to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty have decided to postpone a conference to review its implementation because of the coronavirus pandemic, the United Nations said Friday.
The treaty is considered the cornerstone of global efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and the parties hold a major conference every five years to discuss how it is working. The meeting had been scheduled for April 27-May 22 at U.N. headquarters in New York.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the review conference will be held “as soon as the circumstances permit, but no later than April 2021.”
The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which reached its 50th anniversary March 5, is credited with preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to dozens of nations. It has succeeded in doing this via a grand global bargain: Nations without nuclear weapons committed not to acquire them; those with them committed to move toward their elimination; and all endorsed everyone’s right to develop peaceful nuclear energy.
More than 900 deaths mark Italy’s deadliest day
Italy on Friday recorded its largest daily death toll since coronavirus began ravaging the country in February.
The nation’s Civil Protection Agency reported 919 virus-related deaths Friday and a total of 9,134 since Feb. 21. Thursday’s death toll was 8,215.
“To date, the total number of assessed cases in Italy is 86,498,” the agency said in a statement.
Previously the largest daily increase in deaths was March 21, when Italy reported 793 patients perished. On March 9, Prime Minster Guiseppe Conte put the entire nation on lockdown.
