URGENT Calls for countries to take steps to slow the spread of covert 19.

I speak with the Canadian doctor playing a key role and just returned from China.

The most critical thing here is speed.

Why, he says worst case scenario planning is essential and the mystery of why some young adults die from the virus, plus the push to help workers forced to stay home, dialing down the cost of cellphone plans.

Ottawa's ultimatum to Big Telecom plus a Quebec rail blockade removed.

For now, Let this be a strong message and demonstration of good faith toe all of Canada and the natural gas project in Canada in Jeopardy.

Global National with Donna Friesen.

Good evening and thanks for joining us.

We begin with fast moving developments in the Corona virus.

There are now more than 97,000 cases of coded 19 worldwide, and the Canadian doctor, who is the assistant director of the World Health Organization, says now is the time for countries to pull out all the stops.

We're seeing evidence that this can actually be contained and controlled, but we're not seeing that effort to contain and control and keep pace with the spread.

So they were right at a tipping point where the commitment of governments and countries to really get on top of this has got to be crucial in the coming few days and weeks.

That's Dr Bruce Aylward.

He's just returned from studying the outbreak in China.

I spoke with him today about what he learned there about the virus, how it spreads and who it kills.

That's coming up first, though the numbers Canada now has 12 new cases.

That includes the first presumptive case just announced in Alberta Ah, Calgary woman in her fifties, who was on the Grand Princess Cruise ship.

We'll tell you more about that in a moment.

To if her test is confirmed, it means a total of 46 in Canada.

B C has eight new cases.

Half are connected to previously identified cases and link to travel to Iran.

One, though, is a woman who hasn't travelled and had no known contact with anyone who did.

It appears to be the first case of community transmission in Canada.

The other cases Aaron, Ontario and two others are in Quebec in the U.

S.

18 states have now detected the virus.

Most have just one or two cases.

But in California and Washington state, there are clusters of illness.

South Korea, Italy and Iran are still the hardest hit in China, where this outbreak began.

New infections have slowed dramatically in the past two weeks.

Around the world, there are nearly 98,000 confirmed cases and more than 3300 deaths.

The W H O says.

China appears to have suppressed the outbreak in Wuhan because it acted fast and that could be replicated, it says in other countries, including Canada.

But worst case scenario planning should be well underway.

In tonight's top story, David Achin looks at whether Canada is heeding that advice among the latest cove in 19 cases in Ontario.

Ah, man in Toronto, just back from Iran and a woman in Kitchener, just back from Italy.

That's a new one for us, our first from Italy, with what's going on in Italy, I would be expecting some more.

Some regions of Italy, along with China, Iran and South Korea, are the world's cove.

It 19 hot spots.

Canada is screening travelers arriving from those regions and taking action on a case by case basis.

But other countries United States, Indonesia and, most notably, Australia have taken a much more restrictive approach.

Australia now bands all foreign nationals arriving from South Korea, China and Iran on Australian citizens arriving from those countries face a mandatory 14 day quarantine, no matter their health condition.

But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada would stick with its case by case approach.

There is a lot of misinformation out there.

There is a lot of knee jerk reaction that isn't keeping people safe.

The decisions we make are based on the best recommendations of the W, H O and the tremendous health expert experts who worked both in Canada and around the world.

On Cheerios, top public health officials said Australia style travel bans may not work for Canada.

Our experience is that the only worked with limited extent, as you can see some countries had straight quite strong travel bans, um like the U.

S.

How like Italy and it didn't prove to be successful this time.

Travel bans can also increase the damage to the economy and the day after the Bank of Canada slashed its key interest rate because of the economic impact of Govan 19 Bank governor Stephen Polos cautioned about the uncertainty ahead.

We believe we've done a lot there to cushion the blow.

We don't know how big the blow might be.

So we'll be looking at ways to figure out how big that blow might be and how long it might last.

That uncertainty weighed on investors.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell by more than three and 1/2 percent Thursday, while Canada's benchmark S and P T s X Composite was down by more than 1.3%.

Finally, Donna, it's important to mention that Canada's public health officials, like Dr Williams, continue to say that Canada's containment system is working and the risk to public health remains low.

That is important.

David Aching and Ottawa Thanks Maur.

New cases have emerged in Europe and in the UK the first person has died.

Authorities say an elderly person with underlying health conditions is the U.

K's first Kobe 19 victim.

25 more people tested positive.

They're bringing the total in the UK to 115.

The prime minister's official spokesperson warned today that it's highly likely the virus is going to spread in a significant way.

In Greece, the number of cases jumped from 10 to 31.

Authorities have shut down schools and universities and band major public gatherings in parts of Greece for at least several days.

Similar bans are already in place in Italy and Iran, where the health care systems were struggling to cope with thousands of infections and passengers on board the Grand Princess cruise ship, owned by the same company as the Diamond Princess, are in limbo tonight.

It's being held off the coast of San Francisco because a man who had been a passenger has since died of the virus.

It's the same ship a Calgary woman was on.

She's Alberta's first presumptive case.

More than 20 people who are still on board are showing symptoms.

As Abigail Beeman reports among the thousands of passengers or 235 Canadians, they are bleaching and wife in and going on a live stream from two sisters stuck on a cruise off the coast of San Francisco.

Everything was running through my head.

I get home.

I don't want to go home to my family because I don't take anything.

I don't want to take it to my city if I happen to have it on my clothes or whatever.

Half the passengers air from California, 235 Canadians are aboard.

Two.

We are going to be flying testing kits to the cruise ship, and we're gonna be setting those quickly back.

The first cove, it 19.

Death in the state of California was traced back to a passenger who was aboard the same ship last month.

The governor has issued a state of emergency, joining Florida and Washington State.

Their old motel will be turned into a quarantine facility with at least 10 deaths and a new spike in the number of cases.

And New York saw its number of cases double Thursday.

What ends up happening is that there's a friend of the person was in the hospital, and then that person has a friend, and then they have family and relatives.

But in a Fox News interview Wednesday, the American president questioned the World Health Organization's official death rate.

I think the 3.4% is really a false number now.

This is just my hunch because a lot of people will have this and it's very mild.

Personally, I would say the numbers way under 1%.

Medical experts expect the number of U.

S cases to climb further once more tests are done.

We don't have enough tests today to meet what we anticipate will be the demand going forward.

American officials previously promised a 1,000,000 tests would be available by the end of next week.

Meanwhile, lawmakers here approved $8.3 billion in emergency spending to combat the outbreak.

Abigail Beeman GLOBAL News Washington There's an upgraded travel warning from the Canadian government tonight.

Canadians are now being told to avoid all travel to Iran.

A country is dealing with one of the worst cove in 19 outbreaks outside China.

People coming to Canada from Iran and from Hubei Province in China are being asked to voluntarily self isolate for two weeks.

When they get here.

Mike really explains how self isolation and social distancing can help limit the spread.

It was jarring to see Canadians returning from Wuhan, China, quarantined at CFB Trenton.

But while it may have stoked fears of an outbreak of covert 19 none of those who lived in isolation for 14 days were infected by the virus.

It was a precaution similar to when Maryland and Tom shook return to Saskatchewan from a February cruise in the East China Sea and were told they needed to self isolate.

So they did voluntarily.

We weren't corn teamed.

It would be different if we had the disease.

I don't know what they would have done if we even had told them No, we're gonna just go around.

Round Waiver Health officials have three options here in Canada.

Isolation for patients who are infected.

But they can also ask people like the shocks to self isolate as precaution.

So it's a broad term quarantine which restricts the movement of people who may have been exposed but are not yet sick and social distancing, which prevents people from congregating in large crowds.

The public health infrastructure does have the power to do all sorts of things that normally you would not do to people.

We've seen social distancing in other countries.

The Japanese Baseball League is playing its preseason games and empty stadiums, and there are discussions to postpone the season outright.

And in the n b A.

Players have been told to refrain from high fiving fans and no more autographs.

But most pressing for Canadians right now is what happens if you need to stay home.

Politicians in Ontario, Nova Scotia, are pushing for temporary measures whereby employees would not have to get a doctor's note as well as ways to offset the potential for lost income.

They've warned.

The current provincial labour laws are quote a serious threat to the health and safety Evan Terrians.

The idea is to make self isolation less burdensome because nobody should have to feel like they're fighting this alone.

Mike Carly Global News TORONTO In other news tonight, one of the last remaining rail blockades in this country has come down.

Mohawks on the Gonna Wag a reserve in Quebec have been blocking the tracks for almost four weeks after debate within the gonna walking community and discussions with with.

So it's hereditary chiefs in BC.

The protesters remove the blockade This afternoon, our Mike Armstrong was there.

The sacred fire that had burned for 28 days at the rail blockade in Ghana, Auggie has bean moved early Thursday afternoon.

It was relocated.

That's the procession across the highway, Mohawks explained.

They have removed the blockade to take pressure off the situation in B.

C.

the relocation is a gesture of good faith, as there were two with an hereditary cheese are now taking the time to deliberate on the proposed agreement.

Fire will continue to burn as a sign.

It'll be visible on the side of the highway to thousands of cars that pass through the reserve a message that the blockade can go up again.

We will be closely monitoring the situation and what sue it in as well as other indigenous communities.

Another blockade in eastern Quebec is still up.

Mick Max and list a goose have been blocking rails in solidarity with what so it in for 25 days.

They say they're in consultation, debating whether to remove it.

It is an opportunity to make the most of Western Canada's existing natural gas surpluses.

Now the blockades over a pipeline.

NBC may kill a natural gas project in Quebec.

The promoter behind a plan to build a nine and 1/2 $1,000,000,000 Ellen G terminal in SAG in a says its biggest backer is pulling out the reports.

Warren Buffett is that backer through his investment company, Berkshire Hathaway.

The reason, According to the promoter, instability and challenges in the current Canadian political context.

My carbs on global news DONNELL Auggie, Quebec The Manitoba government is changing course and will introduce its own carbon tax.

It will be $25 per ton, and it will start on Canada Day to help offset the cost from your Brian Pallister says he'll lower the provincial sales tax by 1.26%.

Ottawa has imposed a carbon tax of $20 a ton on Manitoba and three other provinces, and it will rise to $50 by 2022.

Alistair is fighting that tax in court and says he's trying to protect people from the escalating pricing scheme.

He says Manitoba's changes could save the average household $525 per year.

There is an ugly fight over migrants on the border between Turkey and Greece.

Turkey has deployed 1000 police officers, great police, air firing, tear gas, stun grenades and water cannon.

They're trying to stop the migrants from crossing.

Turkey claims Greek police have even fired live ammunition and have killed at least four migrants.

Greece denies that huge numbers of people, including Children, are trapped in this.

They're outside.

They're hoping to make the journey to Europe.

Turkey is allowing the mass exodus from its country, saying it could no longer afford to support the millions of refugees who have fled the war in Syria.

The International Criminal Court has ruled an investigation into alleged war crimes by Americans and others in Afghanistan can go ahead.

The prosecutor says the court has enough information to prove US forces had committed what it calls acts of torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, rape and sexual violence in Afghanistan.

This overturns a previous decision that blocked the investigation.

The actions of the Taliban, the Afghan government and American troops since May of 2003 are expected to be examined.

Still ahead, Ottawa's called Too Big Telecom Save customers money or else a warning today to Canada's three big cell phone companies from the federal government.

They have two years to slash their prices to customers by 25% or the government says it will take action to increase competition.

For years, Canadian cell phone prices have been among the highest in the world.

Telecom companies air warning If they slash prices, they'll have to slash jobs, too.

Mike, look at your reports.

Nearly nine in 10 Canadians own a cell phone.

According to a recent government survey.