A Lonely Voice From Coronavirus Quarantine

(Bloomberg) --

Tens of millions placed in quarantine, ghost cities on lockdown, businesses shuttered and cruise liners refused permission to dock. Amid the unfamiliar scenes and disturbing statistics, it can be hard for anyone not directly affected to get a handle on the real-life fallout of the coronavirus.

Stella Ko’s experience of traveling to Seoul — and what happened upon her arrival — offers rare personal insight on the epidemic and its emotional toll on millions across Asia.

Ko, who covered the virus outbreak in Hong Kong, flew home over the weekend on a routine trip to visit her parents, but almost didn’t get there. A quarantine officer in full protective gear stopped her at the frontier after she recorded a temperature of 37.5 degrees Celsius (99.5 degrees Fahrenheit).

For the next 24 hours, Ko was kept in a temporary quarantine facility, her temperature taken and samples collected. She tested negative and was free to go. “Now I know that behind the virus case numbers we all check every morning is a person like me who probably feels scared, isolated and in need of a little compassion,” she writes.

As governments weigh their responses, the experiences of average citizens like Ko will start to have political consequences.

Global Headlines

Bloomberg’s in | Michael Bloomberg has qualified to join the other Democratic presidential candidates on the debate stage for the first time tomorrow, according to a NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll. Bloomberg reached 19% support in the survey released today, his fourth with more than 10% backing, meeting the Democratic National Committee’s threshold.

• (Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)
• Joe Biden is looking to get his campaign back on track in the Nevada caucuses on Saturday after a rough start.

Britain’s broadside | The U.K. launched an unprecedented attack on the European Union’s conditions for a post-Brexit trade deal, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s envoy warning the bloc’s demand that Britain be bound by its rules after its departure risked undermining democracy. With negotiations set to start next month, the intervention yesterday highlighted the gulf between the two sides and drove the pound to its weakest level of the day against the dollar.

• The EU remains the U.K.’s biggest trade destination. Click here to see the numbers that will dictate Britain’s priorities in coming months.

A free hand | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is taking advantage of worsening relations between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to push for greater influence in the eastern Mediterranean, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades told Georgios Georgiou and Paul Tugwell. With NATO officials insisting on keeping Turkey in the 29-member military pact, the international community isn’t countering Ankara’s moves in Syria, Libya, Iraq and Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone, he said.

Censorship warning | Former National Security Advisor John Bolton has raised alarm that Donald Trump’s administration could block his memoir, which describes his interaction with the president over Ukraine. In his first public appearance since Trump’s impeachment trial, Bolton made clear that the book covers much more than Ukraine, which he described as “like sprinkles on the ice cream sundae.”

Breaking the deadlock | Having failed to boost his electoral support with diplomatic victories at the White House and Kremlin, Israel’s indicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pivoted to pocketbook issues as voters head to the polls on March 2 for the third election in less than a year after earlier rounds ended in deadlock.

What to Watch

• The battle over who succeeds German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the next head of the Christian Democratic Union enters a crucial phase today, with the outgoing CDU head holding talks with a leading candidate.
• India is open to greater market access for American farm and dairy products and lower duties on Harley-Davidson motorcycles as it seeks to conclude a trade deal with the U.S. in time for Trump’s scheduled visit next week.
• Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed wants to improve Ethiopia’s World Bank Ease of Doing Business ranking as he strives to roll back decades of tight controls and maintain one of the fastest economic growth rates in Africa.

Tell us how we’re doing or what we’re missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net.

And finally ... Swarms of locusts are on the move throughout East Africa, destroying crops and pastures at a voracious pace. The United Nations has warned of an unprecedented threat to food security in a region where millions already face hunger, David Herbling and Samuel Gebre report. Experts say the outbreak — the worst in recent memory — is caused by an increased number of cyclones and, as the weather trends continue, there may be more to come.

--With assistance from Kathleen Hunter.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Karl Maier at kmaier2@bloomberg.net, Ruth Pollard

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.