AFP
Political leaders "underestimated" the magnitude of the danger posed by the coronavirus, the president of the European Commission admitted yesterday, as the EU shut its borders. "I think that all of us who are not experts initially underestimated the coronavirus," Ursula von der Leyen told Germany's Bild newspaper in an interview published yesterday. "But now it is clear that this is a virus that will keep us busy for a long time yet. We understand that measures that seemed drastic two or three weeks ago, need to be taken now," she added. The coronavirus outbreak, which first emerged in China late last year, has quickly marched across the globe, infecting nearly 200,000 people and killing 7,900 as governments scramble to contain it.