President Nicolas Maduro has ordered everyone in Venezuela to stay home under a quarantine aimed at cutting off the spread of the new coronavirus that emerged in China and caused a global pandemic. He called the latest move a "drastic and necessary measure'' to halt the devastation of Venezuela. Venezuela is especially vulnerable with poorly supplied hospitals amid the once-wealthy nation's social and economic collapse. Officials in Argentina have confirmed that its chief diplomat in Caracas is among the newly diagnosed cases. The streets of Caracas under the first day of the initial quarantine were deserted and most businesses were closed.-AP

Source: The Standard March 17, 2020 01:41 UTC