The European Central Bank says it’s restricting all nonessential travel by members of its executive board and employees through April 20 amid the global coronavirus outbreak
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The Latest on the virus outbreak (all times local):
4:15 p.m.
The European Central Bank says it’s restricting all nonessential travel by members of its executive board and employees through April 20 as a precautionary measure amid the global coronavirus outbreak.
The central bank for the 19-nation eurozone said Wednesday that visits to its Frankfurt headquarters and its public visitor center are being suspended for the same period. It is postponing or cancelling conferences that were due to be held at the bank – but says that news conferences after regular policy-setting meetings of its governing council are unaffected, and that the next one will go ahead March 12 as planned.
The ECB stressed that the move was a precaution and there have been no recorded cases yet of bank employees being infected with the virus that causes COVID-19.
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3:30 p.m.
India says its number of confirmed coronavirus cases has jumped to 28, up from just five.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan says an earlier COVID-19 patient who had traveled to Italy led to the confirmation of six other infections. Another cluster of cases that emerged centered around a large group of Italian tourists who had entered India on Feb. 21.
India also announced Wednesday that it has imposed universal screening of all passengers on international flights.
Meanwhile, South Korea reported 435 new cases, pushing its total to 5,621 — the second-highest total after China.