The British move follows the imposition of strict lockdowns in France, Spain, and Italy, and slightly looser restrictions elsewhere, as Europe reels from a pandemic that the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned is accelerating

Nearly 16,500 people have died from COVID-19 about the world, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 101,000 of the 379,000 people who have been diagnosed with the disease have recovered.

I’m Kate Mayberry in Kuala Lumpur with Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic
The Philippine health ministry confirmed 39 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the country’s total number of infections to 501.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told reporters that 33 people have so far died from the virus while 19 people have recovered.

Separately, the economic planning agency raised concern about the state of the economy, saying there was a possibility it could contract as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

South Korea has reported 76 new cases of the coronavirus, bring the total number of infections to 9,037, Yonhap news agency reported health authorities as saying

South Korea says 19 of 1,444 passengers who arrived from Europe on Sunday were found to have the coronavirus, the first cases detected after authorities began testing all people coming from the continent.
South Korean Health Ministry official Yoon Tae-ho also said that 101 of some 1,200 passengers who arrived from Europe on Monday have exhibited fever or respiratory symptoms.

While the country’s infections have been slowing, there’s concern about the reintroduction of COVID-19 amid broadening outbreaks in the West.

South Korea says it will fully fund the treatment for virus carriers regardless of their nationality. Even if they test negative, South Korean nationals arriving from Europe or foreigners who enter the country from Europe on long-term stay visas are required .

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The British government said the return of the firm’s 150,000 British customers now abroad would be the largest repatriation in its peacetime history. The process is set to begin later Monday and officials warned that delays are inevitable.

The Civil Aviation Authority said Thomas Cook has ceased trading, its four airlines will be grounded, and its 21,000 employees in 16 countries, including 9,000 in the UK, will lose their jobs. The company several months ago had blamed a slowdown in bookings because of Brexit uncertainty for contributing to its crushing debt burden.

The 178-year-old company had said Friday it was seeking 200 million pounds ($250 million) to avoid going bust and was in weekend talks with shareholders and creditors to stave off failure. The prominent firm, whose airliners were a familiar sight in many parts of the world, also operated around 600 UK travel stores.

The company’s chief executive Peter Fankhauser said, “This marks a deeply sad day for the company which pioneered package holidays and made travel possible for millions of people around the world.”

He said a deal had been “largely agreed” but that “an extra facility” requested in the last few days presented an insurmountable challenge but provided no further details.

“I would like to apologize to our millions of customers, and thousands of employees,” he said in a statement.

Britain’s CAA said it had arranged an aircraft fleet for the complex British repatriation effort, which is expected to last two weeks.

“Due to the significant scale of the situation, some disruption is inevitable, but the Civil Aviation Authority will attempt to get people home as close as possible to their planned dates,” the aviation authority said in a statement.

Describing the repatriation plan, British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said dozens of charter planes, from as far afield as Malaysia, had been hired to fly customers home free of charge. He said hundreds of people were staffing call centers and airport operations centers.

“The task is enormous, the biggest peacetime repatriation in UK history. So there are bound to be problems and delays,” he said.

A website set up by the aviation authority to aid the firm’s customers crashed shortly after the company collapse was announced.

Unions representing the Thomas Cook staff had urged the British government to intervene to prop up Thomas Cook.

Most of Thomas Cook’s British customers are protected by the government-run travel insurance program, which makes sure vacationers can get home if a British-based tour operator fails while they are abroad.

Thomas Cook, which began in 1841 with a one-day train excursion in England and now operates in 16 countries, has struggled over the past few years. It only recently raised 900 million pounds ($1.12 billion), including receiving money from leading Chinese shareholder Fosun.

An estimated 1 million future travelers will find their bookings for upcoming holidays cancelled. They are likely to receive refunds under the terms of the government’s travel insurance plan.

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On the 100th anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy in April this year, the Archbishop had condemned the massacre and said, “As British people we can’t avoid this shameful part of our colonial legacy.”On Sunday, Reverend Welby had said he would make a statement on “dreadful” massacre but insisted that it should not be “pre-empted.”

The massacre took place in Jallianwala Bagh on Baisakhi in April 1919 when British troops, under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer, fired machine guns at a crowd of people holding a peaceful demonstration.

According to the British government records, 379 people, including men, women and children were killed and around 1,200 injured in the firing. Indian figures put the number of deaths closer to 1,000.

“You have remembered what they have done and their memory will live. I’m ashamed and sorry for the crime committed here, as a religious leader I mourn the tragedy,” Archbishop Justin Welby said.

Archbishop Welby had also tweeted about his visit and shared photos.

“I feel a deep sense of grief, humility and profound shame having visited the site of the horrific Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar today. Here, a great number of Sikhs – as well as Hindus, Muslims and Christians – were shot dead by British troops in 1919,” he tweeted on Tuesday.

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