24 hours in pictures, 12 March 2020

News in pictures

Photo by Michele Spatari / AFP

A selection of some of the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.

: A general view of The Protea Hotel Ranch Resort in Polokwane on March 12, 2020, where the 122 South African citizens evacuated from the COVID-19 coronavirus epicentre of Wuhan in China are expected to be quarantined upon their return. (Photo by GUILLEM SARTORIO / AFP)

: A woman wearing a protective face mask walks out of the Belhar Clinic in Belhar, near Cape Town, on March 12, 2020. Picture: RODGER BOSCH / AFP

: A warning sign and bio-hazard waste box at OR Tambo International airport in Kempton Park, 12 March 2020. Picture: Neil McCartney

: A man (C) wearing a face mask takes an escalator at a mall in Beijing on March 12, 2020. The number of fresh infections at the epicentre of China’s COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic dropped to a new low on March 12 but the country imported more case from abroad. (Photo by WANG ZHAO / AFP)

: Scenes from above showing a quiet Pattaya beach normally packed with tourists in Pattaya, Thailand on March 11, 2020. Thailand depends on tourism, currently tourist arrivals have plunged more than 50% and are expected to continue for months ahead. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) in Thailand there has been 59 confirmed cases of Coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) with 6 new, only one death with around 1,903 persons under treatment. Latest information on the Novel Coronavirus has infected more than 118,000 people and killed close to 4,300. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

: A member of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) wearing a protective face mask stands guard near the Tiananmen Square, in Beijing, China, 11 March 2020 (issued 12 March 2020). Daily life in Beijing has been heavily affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan and spread around the world with China, Italy, Iran, and South Korea heavily affected. The disease has so far killed at least 4,300 people and infected over 119,000 others worldwide. Picture: EPA-EFE/ROMAN PILIPEY

: A child wears a mask at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia, 12 March 2020. According to media reports, Malaysia’s national carrier on 12 March has offered all its 13,000 employees the option of taking either a three-month leave without pay or five days of unpaid leave for three months starting April 2020, amid the lack in travel demand due to the coronavirus crisis. Picture: EPA-EFE

: Members of the International Space Station (ISS) expedition, NASA astronaut Christopher Cassidy (L), Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin (C) and Ivan Vagner (R) attend their final exams at the Russian cosmonaut training center in Star City outside Moscow, Russia, 12 March 2019. The launch of the mission is scheduled for 09 April from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Picture: EPA-EFE/YURI KOCHETKOV

: Palestinian security forces keep watch as the streets are being disinfected to counter the spread of novel coronavirus outside the Angel Hotel, where a group of US tourists are reportedly quarantined due to the virus infection, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, 12 March 2020. According to reports, Palestinian authorities imposed restrictions on the travel of foreign tourists and declared a state of emergency for 30 days after 30 cases of novel coronavirus Covid-19 were diagnosed in the Bethlehem district. Picture: EPA-EFE/ABED AL HASHLAMOUN

: Greek actress Xanthi Georgiou in the role of the High Priestess lights the torch of the Olympic Flame during the Lighting Ceremony of the Olympic Flame for the Tokyo Summer Olympics, in front of Hera Temple in Ancient Olympia, Greece, on 12 March 2020. Picture: EPA-EFE/VASSILIS PSOMAS

: A model walks the runway wearing a Toni Maticevski outfit during Melbourne Fashion Festival at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, Australia, 12 March 2020. Picture: EPA-EFE/JAMES ROSS

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