(Eagle News) – The death toll from the novel coronavirus has risen to 427, almost all in China, except for two cases outside the mainland – from the Philippines and Hong Kong.
This came about as the total confirmed cases of the 2019-nCoV hit 20,613. Most of these are in China with 20,423 cases.
Based on the information collected by the John Hopkins University, there were also more than 660 virus recoveries so far, mostly from China.
Authorities in Hubei province reported 64 new fatalities Tuesday, Feb. 4, the biggest single day tally since the first fatalities emerged last month. In all, there were 425 fatalities in China.
There are now 27 countries and territories with current nCoV infections.
There are the following (based on the John Hopkins University dashboard) as of Feb. 4, 2020:
20,423 Mainland China
20 Japan
19 Thailand
18 Singapore
15 Hong Kong
15 South Korea
12 Australia
12 Germany
11 US
10 Macau
10 Taiwan
8 Vietnam
8 Malaysia
6 France
5 United Arab Emirates
4 Canada
3 India
2 Italy
2 Russia
2 Philippines
2 UK
1 Nepal
1 Cambodia
1 Spain
1 Finland
1 Sweden
1 Sri Lanka
Hong Kong on Tuesday became the second place outside mainland China to report the death of a coronavirus patient as restrictions on movement were imposed in more cities far from the epicentre, including the home of tech giant Alibaba.
In a sign of growing concerns about infections rising further in major metropolitan areas, authorities in eastern Zhejiang province limited the number of people allowed to venture outside in three cities.
Three districts in Hangzhou — including the area where the main office of Chinese tech giant Alibaba is based — decided to allow only one person per household to go outside every two days to buy necessities, affecting some three million people.
The city is only 175 kilometres (110 miles) southwest of Shanghai, which has more than 200 cases, including one death, so far.
Similar measures were imposed in Taizhou and three districts in Ningbo, with total populations of nine million, days after the same was done in Wenzhou, home to another nine million people.
Zhejiang province has confirmed 829 cases — the highest number outside the central region of Hubei, whose capital, Wuhan, is the epicentre of the outbreak.
The disease is believed to have emerged in a market in Wuhan that sold wild animals, spreading rapidly as people travelled for the Lunar New Year holiday in late January.
China has struggled to contain the virus despite enacting unprecedented measures, including locking down more than 50 million people in Hubei.
The death of the 39-year-old man in Hong Kong came as the semi-autonomous city closed all but two land crossings with the Chinese mainland to slow the spread of the virus.
Hong Kong media said the man had underlying health issues that complicated his treatment. He had visited Wuhan last month.
Hong Kong has been particularly on edge over the virus as it has revived memories of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak of 2002-03, which killed nearly 300 people in the financial hub and 349 people in the mainland.
With more than 20,400 confirmed infections in China, the mortality rate for the new coronavirus is much lower than the 9.6 percent rate for SARS.
The virus has so far spread to more than 20 countries, prompting the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency, several governments to institute travel restrictions, and airlines to suspend flights to and from China.
On Sunday the Philippines reported the death of a Chinese man who had come from Wuhan — the first outside China.
(with a report from Agence France Presse)