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Countries around the world are taking measures to stem the spread of the new coronavirus disease, dubbed COVID-19, as the death toll continues to rise.
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South Korea Sees First Death, Another Jump in Cases
South Korea has recorded its first death related to the new coronavirus on Thursday, according to the country’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The death occurred at Cheongdo Daenam hospital in North Gyeongsang Province on Wednesday.
The KCDC said that South Korean man, believed to be around 63 years old, had posthumously tested positive for the virus. He had been under treatment at the same hospital for 20 years, according to the Korea Herald.
He suffered a pneumonia-like illness before he died. His exact cause of death continues to be under investigation, according to the KCDC.
The country also saw 22 new cases, bringing its total number of COVID-19 cases to 104. The total number of reported cases on Thursday so far is 53, the largest tally in a single day for South Korea.
Of the 22 new cases, 15 of them are confirmed as linked to the Cheongdo Daenam hospital, where the South Korean man died and is counted among them.
Patients and staff at the hospital are being tested for the virus, according to local reports.
Also among the new cases are five cases that are linked to the “Shincheonji” church, the KCDC said.
One of the new cases was picked up in South Korea’s capital, Seoul.
Earlier Thursday, the mayor of Daegu urged its 2.5 million people to stay home and wear masks even indoors if possible.
In a nationally televised news conference, Mayor Kwon Young-jin also expressed fears that the rising infections in the region will soon overwhelm the city’s health infrastructure and called for urgent help from the central government in Seoul.
“National quarantine efforts that are currently focused on blocking the inflow of the virus (from China) and stemming its spread are inadequate for preventing the illness from circulating in local communities,” Kwon said.
Hubei Extends Work Suspension
China’s Hubei province on Thursday asked firms not to resume work before March 11 due to the coronavirus outbreak, saying only businesses involved in epidemic prevention and control or necessary public services would be exempt.
Schools will also remain shut, the Hubei government said on its official Weibo account, extending a suspension that previously stretched to Feb. 21.
Hubei is the epicentre of the outbreak, which has infected some 75,000 people and killed about 2,100.
Iran Reports 3 Mores Cases
An Iranian state-run news outlet, The Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), reported on Thursday that three Iranian citizens have tested positive for the new coronavirus disease, bringing the total number of cases in the country to five.
The news outlet also reported that five hospitals have been designated to treat coronavirus cases.
The latest news comes after Iran’s first two coronavirus cases, confirmed on Wednesday in the city of Qom, also became the country’s first two deaths.
Following the deaths, the state news agency IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency) reported that schools and universities in Qom would be closed to enable an investigation.
Australia Extends Ban on Travel From China
The Australian National Security Committee of Cabinet settled on the decision on Thursday to extend a ban for foreign travelers coming from China for another week, until Feb. 29.
The extension means that foreign citizens, with the exception of permanent Australian residents, who have been in mainland China will be barred from entering Australia for 14 days from the time they left mainland China.
Citizens and permanent residents of the country are able to enter but still need to be in self-quarantine for 14 days.
The Australian government first announced the new border-control measures on Feb. 1.
Singapore Confirms 3 New Cases
Singapore’s Health Ministry in an update posted Wednesday confirmed three new cases of the new coronavirus, raising the city-state’s coronavirus case total to 84. The three latest cases involve Singaporean citizens with no recent travel history to China.
One of the cases is a 35-year-old Singaporean woman, now in isolation. She was linked to “case 66″—a Singaporean man who has not traveled to China recently and is linked to a cluster of infections at the Grace Assembly of God church. This cluster is the city-state’s largest known group of associated infections and currently affects 22 people.
The other two cases are a 57-year-old Singaporean woman and a 54-year-old Singaporean man.
Singapore’s Health Ministry also said that five cases have been discharged, among them the first confirmed case in the city-state.
Australian Evacuees From Virus-Hit Ship Begin 2nd Quarantine
Around 180 Australians evacuated from a virus-stricken cruise ship arrived Thursday in the city of Darwin to begin a second quarantine period.
The former cruise ship passengers will spend the next two weeks in a camp facility near the northern Australian city, Australian health officials said.
The new coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 illness infected more than 600 people on the Diamond Princess.
The ship had been docked at the port of Yokohama since early this month in a quarantine that was widely considered a failure. The quarantine ended Wednesday and passengers who tested negative for the virus began leaving.
The group of Australian evacuees was flown from Japan in the early hours of Thursday morning on a Qantas 747 chartered by the Australian government.
South Korea Reports Surge in Cases, Most Linked to a Church
The Centers for Disease Control in South Korea (KCDC) on Thursday reported 31 additional cases of the new coronavirus, bringing the country’s total to 82.
One case was diagnosed in Seoul, while the remaining 30 cases originate from Daegu and Gyeongbuk province.
Of the new cases outside of Seoul, 23 are linked to the “Shincheonji Church of Jesus, The Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony.” The same church saw a 61-year-old South Korean woman who lives in Daegu diagnosed with the virus as the country’s 31st case, according to the KCDC.
Daegu is 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast of Seoul.
Just a day prior, South Korea reported a jump of 20 new cases, 11 of whom were contacts of the same 61-year-old woman.
The woman tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday but had developed a fever as early as Feb. 10. According to AFP, she had reportedly refused to be tested as she had not recently traveled abroad.
Chinese Police Will Force Companies to Resume Operations
The Chinese central government has ordered businesses to resume operations after an extended Lunar New Year holiday due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. But many are afraid of their staff spreading COVID-19, and have refused to reopen.
Some local authorities have resorted to deploying police, who have been entering company premises and forcing them to operate.
Others have hired chartered planes and buses to pick up migrant workers from their village hometowns and transport them to major cities for work.
New Virus Spreads More Like Flu Than SARS: Study
Scientists in China who studied nose and throat swabs from 18 patients infected with the new coronavirus say it behaves much more like influenza than other closely related viruses, suggesting it may spread even more easily than previously believed.
In at least in one case, the virus was present even though the patient had no symptoms, confirming concerns that asymptomatic patients could also spread the disease.
Although preliminary, the findings published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, offer new evidence that this novel coronavirus, which has killed more than 2,000 people mostly in China, is not like its closely-related coronavirus cousins like SARS and MERS.
2 Passengers From Cruise Ship in Japan Die
Two passengers from a coronavirus-hit cruise ship moored near Tokyo have died, public broadcaster NHK said on Thursday, as a second group of passengers began disembarking after two-weeks quarantined onboard.
More than 620 of the passengers on the Diamond Princess liner have been infected on the ship, which has been quarantined since Feb. 3, initially with about 3,700 people on board.
NHK, citing a government source, said the passengers were an elderly man and woman, both in their 80s.
Mimi Nguyen Ly, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
For updates from Feb. 19, click here.
This article is from the Internet:Coronavirus Live Updates: South Korea Sees First Death, More Cases