Coronavirus:
South Korea reports more than 800 new cases
US says
three new cases are unrelated to travel, while UK authorities are racing to
understand how Essex man became infected
Latest
coronavirus news - live blog
Staff and
agencies
Sat 29 Feb
2020 08.54 GMTFirst published on Sat 29 Feb 2020 07.19 GMT
South Korea
has reported more than 800 new coronavirus cases, bringing the country’s total
infections to 3,150, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(KCDC) said on Saturday.
The country
first said there were 594 new cases but later reported that an additional 219
new cases had been confirmed.
Together
they logged a record daily increase in infections since South Korea confirmed
its first patient on 20 January. Another person is confirmed to have died from
the virus, bringing the death toll to 17.
South Korea
has urged its citizens to stay indoors and said it was facing a critical moment
in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak.
The South
Korean vice-health minister, Kim Kang-lip, said: “We have asked you to refrain
from taking part in public events, including a religious gathering or protest,
this weekend. Please stay at home and refrain from going outside and minimise
contact with other people.”
As many as
476 of the new cases were from south-eastern Daegu city, the site of a church
at the centre of the outbreak. Health authorities have run tests on more than
210,000 members and 65,000 trainees of the church.
Australia
has placed a travel ban on Iran because of coronavirus, putting it on the same
level of restrictions as China, after the first case in Australia of a person
who had travelled to Iran testing positive to Covid-19.
In the US,
health officials are reportedly worried that coronavirus is spreading through
communities on the west coast, after three patients – one in Oregon, one in
California and one in Washington – were infected through unknown means. The
patients were an older woman in northern California with chronic health
conditions, a high school student in Everett, Washington, and an employee at an
elementary school in Portland, Oregon. None had recently travelled overseas or
had any known close contact with a traveller or infected person, authorities
said.
Iran has
the highest number of deaths from the novel coronavirus outside China. There
have been at least 34 deaths reported but it is thought the real figure could
be much higher. The US has also strengthened its travel advice, raising Iran
and Italy to a level three, advising people to “avoid non-essential travel”.
In
Australia, the travel ban on Iran was announced after authorities said they
were trying to trace up to 40 people who may have received treatment on the
Gold Coast in the state of Queensland from a beautician who returned from Iran
on Monday and later became ill. She tested positive to coronavirus.
The British
government has confirmed that a UK national is among the six passengers who
have died of coronavirus after being on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. A
Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are supporting the family of a British man
who has died in Japan and are in contact with local authorities. Our sympathies
and thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.”
The latest
patient in England is the first to contract the illness while in the UK. The
chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, said it was unclear whether the man
from Surrey contracted it directly or indirectly from someone who had recently
returned from abroad.
In total there
were four new UK cases on Friday, including the first confirmed positive test
in Wales in a woman from Swansea. She had visited northern Italy, Europe’s
worst-hit area, where there have been 21 deaths and 820 confirmed cases. Whitty
said two new patients in England had caught the virus in Iran and were being
treated at a specialist unit at the Royal Free hospital in London.
Mainland
China has recorded 427 new cases, all but four of which were in Hubei province.
There have been about 80,000 confirmed cases in mainland China. The death toll
rose by 47, bringing the total number of deaths to 2,835.
In Japan,
the traditional cherry blossom festivals in Tokyo and Osaka, which attract
millions of people wanting to seeing the white and pink flowers, will not go
ahead as planned in April. “We are sincerely sorry for those who were looking
forward to the viewing ... but please give us your understanding,” the Japan
Mint in Osaka said.
The US
government will reportedly suspend a planned meeting of Asean leaders in Las
Vegas on 14 March over coronavirus fears. The UN has recommended ministers and
diplomats avoid travelling to New York for a meeting of the Commission on the
Status of Women next week.
Globally,
there are an estimated 85,000 cases of Covid-19 and about 2,900 deaths. The
virus has been detected in 58 countries.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário