ejaasaari/simplewiki-2025-04-01 huggingface dataset:
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed by Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize to have spread to South Africa on 5 March 2020. The first known case was a South African returning from Italy. Response. On 15 March, the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, declared a national state of disaster, and announced measures like travel restrictions and the closure of schools from 18 March.  On 17 March, Ramaphosa formed the National Command Council on COVID-19, "to lead the nation's plan to contain the spread and mitigate the negative impact of the coronavirus".  The parliament of South Africa suspended all activities on 18 March. Both the African National Congress and Democratic Alliance postponed their respective elective congresses. On 23 March, a national lockdown was announced, starting on 26 March 2020. On 9 April, Ramaphosa announced that it would be extended until the end of April. On 21 April, a 500 billion rand stimulus was announced in response to the pandemic.  On 23 April, Ramaphosa announced that the lockdown restrictions would slowly be phased out. Level 4 started on 1 May. On 1 June, the country entered level 3. Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, extended the state of disaster on 3 June. It ended on 4 July. Testing. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) started testing people in South Africa for SARS-CoV-2 on 28 January 2020. By the middle of March, state hospitals were offering free COVID-19 testing. On 11 June, the Health Department said that over 1 million tests had been completed. Numbers. , the median age of people with laboratory-confirmed cases was 38 years, and the median age of patients who died was 64. , there were confirmed cases and confirmed deaths, as well as recoveries. , there were confirmed cases and confirmed deaths, as well as recoveries.
A stay-at-home order (North America) or a movement control order (Southeast Asia) is an order from a government to lower/end movements of a population as a mass quarantine move for stopping an epidemic, or pandemic. This is done by ordering residents to stay home except for essential tasks or to work in essential businesses. In many cases, outdoor activities are allowed. Nonessential businesses are either closed or made to working from home. In some regions, it has added a curfew or called a shelter-in-place order, but it is not to be confused with a shelter in place situation. Similar measures have been used around the world, but the term lockdown is used instead.
The ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (), a new infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (), spread to the Philippines on January 30, 2020. The first case of the disease was confirmed in Metro Manila.  Cases. The first case was a 38-year-old Chinese woman who was quarantined at a hospital in Manila. The second case was confirmed on February 2, that of a 44-year-old Chinese man who died a day earlier, which was also the first confirmed death from the disease outside mainland China.  The first case of someone without travel history abroad was confirmed on March 5, a 62-year-old male who was a Muslim prayer hall in San Juan, Metro Manila. The man's wife was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 on March 7, which was also the first local transmission to be confirmed. Numbers. As of September 13, 2020, there had been 261,216 confirmed cases of the disease in the country. Out of these cases, 207,568 recoveries and 4,371 deaths were recorded.  The Philippines has the most number of cases in Southeast Asia, ahead of Indonesia and Singapore.  The largest single-day increase in the number of confirmed cases was on August 10, when 6,958 new cases were announced. At least one case was confirmed in all of the country's 17 regions.
The first case of COVID-19 in New Zealand during the 2019–20 COVID-19 pandemic was reported on 28 February 2020. , the country has had a total of 3,464 cases, of which 551 are currently active, and 26 people have died from the virus.  Actions. All borders and entry ports of New Zealand were closed to all non-residents at 11:59 pm on 19 March 2020, with returning citizens and residents being required to self-isolate. Since 10 April, all New Zealanders returning from overseas must go into two weeks of quarantine. Response. A four-level alert level system was added on 21 March to manage the outbreak within New Zealand. At higher alert levels, these levels enforce higher restrictions on what services can operate and how the available services will operate. On 16 March, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called for an end to public gatherings of more than 500 people and warned that the outbreak could lead to a recession greater than the 2008 global financial crisis. Cases. On 4 March, a New Zealand woman in her 30s who had returned from northern Italy on 25 February was confirmed as the second case of the virus in New Zealand. On 1 April, 61 new cases (47 confirmed and 14 probable) were reported, bringing the total to 708 (647 confirmed and 61 probable). That same day, it was reported that the Chatham Islands, which are part of New Zealand, were facing a food shortage due to panic buying. On 1 May, 3 new cases (all confirmed) were reported, bringing the total to 1,479 (1,132 confirmed and 347 probable), and 11 new recoveries were reported, bringing the total 1,252. Six people were in hospital.
The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to Japan in January 2020. Numbers have been recorded in each of the 47 prefectures except for Iwate. The country has seen over 10,000 sick people. The beginning. The Japanese government said its first outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 () started on 16 January 2020. The first was a person of Kanagawa Prefecture who had come back from Wuhan, China. The second outbreak was from Europeans and Americans from 11 March to 23 March.  Government response. The Japanese government has tried to stop the outbreak. On 30 January, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe created a to help stop the outbreak.  On 27 February, Abe stopped all Japanese elementary, junior high, and high schools until early April.  On 7 April, Abe set a one-month state of emergency for Tokyo and the prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Osaka, Hyogo, and Fukuoka. On 16 April, the declaration was extended to the rest of the country. 2020 Olympics. The pandemic was a problem for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Hhe Japanese government and the International Olympic Committee tried to wait until 2021 before starting the Olympics.  Criticism of the government response. Medical experts and the news have did not like the Japanese government's actions. They said the government was not testing many people for COVID-19. Medical experts said that the government should have used pneumonia surveillance numbers to help very sick patients.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic spread to South Korea on 20 January 2020, when the first case was announced. Cases. The number of confirmed cases increased on 19 February by 20, and on 20 February by 58 or 70, giving a total of 346 confirmed cases on 21 February 2020. Actions. With the fears of further contamination, mass gatherings in the affected cities were cancelled and a few hundred soldiers in Daegu are in isolation. On 4 February 2020, in order to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, South Korea began denying entry to foreigners traveling from Hubei Province. Numbers. By 23 September 2020, South Korea had about 23,216 cases and 388 deaths, and by 9 April 2020, with over 494,711 people having been tested. Programs. South Korea created what was thought to be one of the largest and best-organised epidemic control programs in the world, along with Taiwan, Vietnam, and Singapore. Different actions have been taken to screen the mass population for the virus, and isolate any infected people as well as trace and quarantine those who contacted them, without further lockdown. The rapid tests taken by South Korea have been successful in limiting the spread of the outbreak, without added a mass quarantine action.
The COVID-19 pandemic began in Norway on 26 February 2020, with cases increasing during the month of March. Physical distancing actions were introduced on 12 March.  Cases. The first death caused by COVID-19 was documented on 26 February 2020. Most confirmed cases that were traced to outside Norway were Norwegian tourists returning from Austria and Italy. Testing.  Norway had performed 208,874 tests and reported 8,168 confirmed cases and 229 deaths. One of the major reasons why the mortality rate was lower than in other European countries (such as Italy, Spain, the UK) was the high number of tests performed in Norway.
The COVID-19 pandemic spread to Vietnam on 23 January 2020, when its first known case of COVID-19 was reported.  the country had 11,625,195 confirmed cases, 10,640,971 recoveries, and 43,206 deaths. Hai Duong, as of February 2021 is the most-affected province with 647 confirmed cases. Background. Novel infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, are a significant public health threat. Although human coronaviruses (CoVs) were known as major pathogens which caused respiratory illnesses, a new strain of coronavirus known as SARS-CoV caused an outbreak in 29 countries from 2002 to 2004. The outbreak, which infected 8,098 people and caused 774 deaths, Evidence showed that the virus may have originated from an animal coronavirus that found its way into the human population. indicated that animal coronaviruses could be dangerous to humans. Although it is still unknown exactly where COVID-19 began, many early cases have been attributed to visitors to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, Hubei, China. The earliest known symptomatic person was later discovered to have become ill on 1 December 2019, but that person was apparently unconnected to the later wet-market cluster; an earlier case possibly occurred on 17 November. China reported the cluster on 31 December 2019, and the World Health Organization (WHO) issued its first report on the outbreak on 5 January 2020. A week later, the WHO confirmed that a novel coronavirus caused a cluster of respiratory illness reported earlier in Wuhan. On 20 January, the WHO and China confirmed that human-to-human transmission had occurred. WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on 30 January, saying that its Wuhan investigation was finished and citing mounting evidence that the novel coronavirus had spread to 18 countries. Vietnam has a history of managing pandemics; it was the second country (after China) to address the 2002–04 SARS outbreak and, after 63 cases and five deaths, was the first country to be declared SARS
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to Denmark on 27 February 2020. As of 13 May 2020, there have been 10,667 confirmed cases. Among these, 533 patients have died, 8,663 have recovered, and 164 are in hospital, including 37 in intensive care. Lockdown effect. Denmark was among the first European countries to introduce lockdown measures, starting on 13 March. Following a period of increase in hospitalizations, the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 has been falling since late March, with the number of cases in need of intensive care and ventilator being well below available resources. Starting on 15 April, a very slow and gradual reopening has been initiated, but if there are indications that the number of infections increases too fast, it will be reversed. Greenland. The pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Greenland in March 2020. There have been 11 confirmed cases, but none in need of hospitalization. The last infected person had recovered on 8 April and there are no known active cases in Greenland. Economic response. In an attempt to reduce the economic impact of the pandemic, the government created a large economic packages with the support of all parties in Parliament. Nevertheless, it was expected that the decrease in GDP would be between 3 and 10% in 2020.
The first case relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore was confirmed on 23 January 2020. Numbers. By late-March and April, COVID-19 areas were detected at multiple areas for foreign workers, which soon caused a large number of new cases in the country. Singapore currently has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia, having overtaken Indonesia on 19 April 2020. Response. To fight against COVID-19, a multi-ministerial committee was formed on 22 January 2020 with Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong and Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong as the co-chairs and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat as advisors.  Singapore also spent US$500,000 to support World Health Organization (WHO) efforts against COVID-19.  In response to the growing number of new cases, Singapore announced on 3 April 2020 a strict number of measures called a "circuit breaker" from 7 April to 4 May 2020. The circuit breaker was extended to 1 June on 21 April 2020. Cases. National authorities began reporting on suspected cases on 4 January 2020, however the first confirmed case of infection was reported on 23 January. The person was a tourist from Wuhan. Until 30 January 2020, there were a total to 13 confirmed cases, all of whom were visitors to Singapore from China.  The first case involving a Singaporean was confirmed on 31 January 2020 after returning from Wuhan.
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Iceland in February 2020.  Cases. , the total number of cases registered is 1,802, of which 1,780 have recovered and 10 have died. With a total population of 366,130 (as of 31 March 2020). The infection rate was 1 case per 203 people, one of the highest in the world. This is because more tests had been carried out in Iceland than any other country. On 8 April, as the cases surged over 1,600 and more recoveries than new infections were recorded for the second day in a row. The total number of patients hospitalized in the country since the outbreak was 112.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia is a current outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 in Serbia caused by SARS-CoV-2.  Cases. Its first case in Serbia was reported on 6 March 2020. The case was a 43-year-old man from Bačka Topola who had travelled to Budapest. As of 12 May 2020, 151,304 individuals were tested of which there have been 10,243 confirmed cases, 3,600 recoveries and 220 deaths in Serbia. Response. On 15 March 15, a state of emergency was declared. Many argue the declaration was against the constitution, because there was no debate among the MPs in the Serbian Parliament. All schools, Kindergarten and universities were closed. The following day, a curfew from (20:00h) to (05:00) was created across the whole country. In addition, people of the age of 65 and above have been forbidden to leave the house. On 20 March, cafe bars, shopping malls, public transportation were all closed. Food delivery, however, was allowed.
Bolliger &amp; Mabillard, commonly known as B&amp;M, is a roller coaster company based in Monthey, Switzerland. After installing its first coaster in 1990, they have now installed more than 100 rollercoasters across the globe. Bolliger &amp; Mabillard left Giovanola, but the company continued to use their track design; the company's roller coasters "Goliath" (at Six Flags Magic Mountain) and "Titan" (at Six Flags Over Texas), use a track style very similar to B&amp;M's.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Jamaica is part of an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed in Jamaica in 10 March 2020. It happened at the same time as the ongoing dengue fever epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean. Background. On 12 January, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a new coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness on 31 December 2019.  Unlike SARS outbreak of 2003, the case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower, but the transmission has been greater, with a significant total death toll. Responses. The government announced a travel ban between China and Jamaica. All people entering Jamaica from China were quarantined for at least 14 days, and anyone who was allowed to land and showed symptoms of the virus was put in immediate isolation.  On 12 March, Prime Minister Andrew Holness ordered all primary and secondary schools closed for 14 days.
The COVID-19 pandemic first appeared in Greece on 26 February 2020. , there have been 2,760 confirmed cases and 155 deaths. Cases. The first COVID-19 case, a 38-year-old woman from Thessaloniki who had recently visited Νorthern Italy, was confirmed. Later cases in late February and early March related to people who had traveled to Italy, Israel and Egypt. The first death from COVID-19 in Greece was a 66-year-old man, who died on 12 March. Response. Following the first three cases in Greece, on 27 February all carnival events in the country were cancelled. Later, the closure of schools and the suspension of cultural events in the affected areas (particularly Ilia, Achaea and Zakynthos) were announced.  On 10 March, with 89 confirmed cases and no deaths in the country, the government decided to close down all schools for good and on 13 March, to close down all cafes, bars, museums, shopping centres, sports facilities and restaurants in the country.  On 16 March, all retail shops were also closed, two villages in Kozani were quarantined, and all services in all churches were suspended. On 18 and 19 March, the government announced a series of measures of more than 10 billion euros to support the economy, businesses and employees. On 4 April these restrictions were extended until 27 April and on 23 April they were extended until 4 May. The measures put in place in Greece were among the most strictest in Europe and were praised internationally for having slowed the spread of the disease and having kept the number of deaths among the lowest in Europe. Starting from 4 May, Greece began easing restrictions after a 42-day lockdown, with the gradual lifting of restrictions on movement and the restarting of business activity.
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Thailand on 13 January 2020, when the first case outside China was announced. Cases. The first reported local transmission was confirmed on 31 January. The number of cases remained low throughout February, with forty confirmed by the end of the month. Cases had a sharp increase in mid-March. Confirmed cases rose to over a hundred per day over the following week, and public areas and businesses were ordered to close in Bangkok and several other provinces.  Response. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha declared a state of emergency, beginning on 26 March. A curfew has been announced, beginning on 3 April 2020. The Thai government's response to the outbreak was based on surveillance and tracing. Temperature and symptom screening for coronavirus testing was added at international airports, as well as at hospitals for patients with travel or contact history.  Ads were introduced focused on self-monitoring for at-risk groups, practicing hygiene (especially hand washing), and avoiding crowds (or wearing masks if not possible). While residents returning from high-risk countries were encouraged to self-quarantine, travel restrictions were not announced until 5 March, when four countries were designated as "disease-infected zones". Criticism. The government was criticized for its slow response to the crisis. In early February, in response to concerns over hoarding and price increase of face masks, the government issued price controls. The move failed to prevent shortages among hospitals, and became a scandal. Criticism was also for the slow response to end foreign travel. Background. On 12 January, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, who had initially come to the attention of the WHO on 31 December 2019. Unlike SARS of 2003, the case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower, but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.
The first case of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Finland was confirmed on 29 January 2020, when a Chinese tourist visiting Ivalo from Wuhan tested positive for the virus. Background. On 31 December 2019, the Health Commission of Wuhan, Hubei, China, informed the WHO about a large number of acute pneumonia cases with unknown origin in its province. On 9 January 2020, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC) reported the identification of the SARS-CoV-2 as the cause.  On 27 January, following the developments of COVID-19 outbreak in mainland China, Finland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs advised citizens to avoid unnecessary travel to Hubei province. The following day, Finnair announced it would be ending its five weekly routes to Nanjing and Beijing Daxing until the end of March. Numbers. On 30 January, Finland's health officials said that up to 24 Finnish people may have the virus. Response. On 16 March, the president declared a state of emergency due to COVID-19. 272 laboratory-confirmed cases caused by COVID-19 had been diagnosed in Finland by 16 March 2020 at 2 pm.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic reached Ireland on 29 February 2020, and within three weeks had spread to all counties.  Response. On 12 March 2020, the government shut all schools, colleges, childcare facilities and cultural institutions. St Patrick's Day festivals and events were cancelled. Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar addressed the nation that night. On 24 March, almost all businesses, venues, facilities and amenities were shut; but gatherings of up to four were allowed.  Three days later, the government banned all "non-essential" travel. People were made to keep apart in public. Lockdown effect. The lockdown has caused a recession and a rise in unemployment, with a longer lockdown forecast to cause greater damage.  By mid-April 2020, the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) reported that the growth rate of the pandemic had been "as low as it needs to be", that the curve had flattened and that there would be no peak coming. Cases. By 25 June 2021, the Department of Health had confirmed 270,477 cases and 4,989 deaths; a rate of 54,184 cases per million and 999 deaths per million population. More than 90% of those that have died were aged over 65, and most also had underlying illnesses or lived in care homes.
Flattening the curve is a public health strategy to slow down the spread of the COVID-19 virus during the COVID-19 pandemic. The curve being flattened is the epidemic curve, a representation of the number of infected people needing health care over time.  During an epidemic, a health care system can break down when the number of people infected passes the health care system's ability to take care of them.  Flattening the curve means slowing the spread of the epidemic so that the peak number of people requiring care at a time is reduced, and the health care system does not pass its capacity.  Flattening the curve relies on techniques such as quarantine, stay at home orders (lockdown), and social distancing.