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The 2019 Novel Coronavirus, or the Wuhan coronavirus, has spread from China to over a dozen countries, including the United States, France, and Japan.
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WHO ‘Deeply Regrets’ Error in Situation Report
The World Health Organization (WHO) “deeply regrets” an error made in a situation report on the new coronavirus, Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
The Geneva-based agency said in a report late Sunday that the risk for coronavirus was “very high in China, high at the regional level and high at the global level.”
In a footnote in the report, WHO said it “incorrectly” stated in reports over the preceding three days that the global risk was “moderate.” The shift, though, did not mean the organization was declaring a global health emergency.
“WHO deeply regrets the error in this week’s situation report, which inserted the word ‘moderate’ inaccurately in the coronavirus global risk assessment,” Ghebreyesus said in a statement on Jan. 29.
“This was a human error in preparing the report. I have repeatedly stated the high risk of the outbreak.”
Ghebreyesus also announced that he was reconvening WHO’s emergency committee to see whether the coronavirus outbreak now warrants declaring a global health emergency. The committee recommended against declaring such an emergency last week.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi before a meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, on Jan. 28, 2020. (Naohiko Hatta/Pool via Reuters)Plane Carrying Evacuees Lands in California
A plane carrying some 200 Americans who were in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the new coronavirus started, landed in California on Jan. 29, footage from local stations showed.
The plane landed around 8:15 a.m. local time at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County. It was originally slated to land at Ontario International Airport about 35 miles east of Los Angeles.
The Americans, including U.S. contractors, State Department personnel, and other U.S. citizens, first landed in Alaska to refuel.
Everyone passed two medical screenings, Alaska health authorities said in a press release. Passengers were also screened twice before departing Wuhan and monitored while on board.
A Boeing 747 aircraft sits on the tarmac of Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska on Jan. 28, 2020. (Michael Dinneen/AP Photo)Singapore, Australia Confirm New Cases
Three more patients have tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus, Singaporean health authorities said on Jan. 29.
Singapore’s Health Ministry said all three cases are Chinese nationals from Wuhan, like the previous seven confirmed cases, the Straits Times reported.
Two of the new cases are a husband and wife, both 56, who arrived in Singapore on Jan. 19. Neither showed symptoms on their flight. The other new case is a 56-year-old man who flew into Singapore the next day. He also said he didn’t show symptoms on the flight.
Authorities in Australia said two additional patients on top of the five previously reported have tested positive for the new coronavirus.
The Victoria Department of Health and Human Services said a man in his 60s who lives in Victoria tested positive. He is isolated and recovering at home.
The man traveled to Wuhan and became sick two days after returning from China. Five close contacts he had are being monitored; two are children who are not going to school for the time being.
The Queensland Department of Health said the seventh case is a 44-year-old Chinese national from Wuhan.
National authorities said that people who were in contact with any confirmed coronavirus cases now must self-isolate for 14 days following exposure, as well as people who returned from Hubei Province, where Wuhan is located.
Visitors wearing masks walk through Gardens By The Bay on Jan. 26, 2020 in Singapore. Singapore has confirmed four cases of the deadly coronavirus, which emerged last month in the city of Wuhan in China. (Ore Huiying/Getty Images)Americans Pass Health Test After Evacuation From China
Two hundred and one Americans who were evacuated from Wuhan, the epicenter of the new coronavirus, passed medial screening in Anchorage during a refueling stop.
The plane landed at a private terminal at Ted Stevens International Airport late Tuesday.
The passengers had already been through two screenings in China and were monitored on the flight. The mood was jubilant.
“The whole plane erupted in cheers when the crew said, ‘Welcome home to the United States,’” Dr. Anne Zink, the chief medical officer for Alaska, said in a statement.
The plane took off, headed to California. The flight was slated to land at Ontario International Airport in San Bernardino County but was diverted to March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County.
“For our fellow Americans on the airplane, we wish them Godspeed as they head to California and ultimately to their homes,” Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said in a statement.
Other countries including Japan, South Korea, and Australia had either evacuated citizens from Hubei Province or were making plans to.
The north terminal at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska, where a flight plane carrying U.S. citizens being evacuated from Wuhan, China landed on Jan. 28, 2020, before taking off to California. (Mark Thiessen/AP Photo)Virus Spreads to the Middle East
The coronavirus that originated Wuhan in China has been found in the Middle East, with the United Arab Emirates reporting its first confirmed case on Jan. 29.
The case involves members of a family who were recently in Wuhan, Emirates News Agency reported, citing UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention.
Saudi Arabia last week denied reports that there was a confirmed coronavirus case in the country.
An Indian official said an Indian nurse working at a hospital in Saudi Arabia was infected but the Saudi Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that the nurse’s case was related to Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), not the new coronavirus.
A traveler wears a mask at the Dubai International Airport, after the UAE’s Ministry of Health and Community Prevention confirmed the country’s first case of coronavirus, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Jan. 29, 2020. (Christopher Pike/Reuters)British Airways Suspends Flights to China
British Airways has suspended all direct flights to and from mainland China amid the coronavirus outbreak after the United Kingdom’s foreign office warned against nonessential travel to the country.
The airline’s official website BA.com currently shows no direct flights to mainland China available to book, with a message: “Sorry, there are no direct flights for this route, flights with connections are below.”
“We apologize to customers for the inconvenience, but the safety of our customers and crew is always our priority,” British Airways said in a statement on Jan. 28.
The airline usually operates daily flights from London’s Heathrow Airport to Shanghai and Beijing.
Other airlines have suspended some or all flights to and from China, including United Airlines, China Airlines, and IndiGo.
Medical staff in protective suits treat a patient with pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China on Jan. 28, 2020. (China Daily via Reuters)China Issues Harsh Warning to Social Media Users
China’s most popular social media, WeChat, published a notice on Jan. 25 announcing new regulations and punishments for “those who spread rumors about the new form of pneumonia.”
“A variety of unsubstantiated comments posted to the internet constantly stir up public panic,” the notice read,
“All those who spread fake news and thus disturb social order will face up to three years in prison, detention, or disciplinary action. Those who have caused serious consequences will be given 3-year to 7-year prison terms.”
The notice also claimed that WeChat is now working with a “rumor defying agency” to refute and delete any rumors appearing on WeChat. Accounts of those users found spreading rumors may be suspended.
Medical workers in protective gear talk with a woman suspected of being ill with a coronavirus at a community health station in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei Province, on Jan. 27, 2020. (Chinatopix via AP)Virus in China Affects Sports Events, Olympic Qualifiers
Amid growing concern at the spread of a new virus outbreak in China, international sports have been postponed and Olympic qualifying tournaments are being taken elsewhere.
The international ski federation on Jan. 29 canceled the first World Cup races scheduled for testing the mountain venue for alpine skiing at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. A men’s downhill had been scheduled for Feb. 15 at Yanqing to start a two-race weekend.
“Due to the outbreak and continuing spread of the Novel Coronavirus, FIS, the Chinese Ski Association and its Yanqing Local Organising Committee, have jointly decided to cancel,” the races, FIS said in a statement. The federation said it would advise later if the downhill and super-G races will be rescheduled.
That followed a decision by the International Hockey Federation to postpone Pro League games in China, and qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics scheduled in February in soccer, basketball, and boxing being moved outside of China.
Zachary Stieber, Cathy He, Frank Fang, the Associated Press, and Reuters contributed to this report.
This article is from the Internet:Coronavirus Live Updates: WHO ‘Deeply Regrets’ Report Error, Director Says
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