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TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran’s health ministry Friday reported two more deaths among 13 new cases of coronavirus in the Islamic republic, bringing the total number of deaths to four and infections to 18. “Thirteen new cases have been confirmed,” ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on Twitter. “Unfortunately two of them have lost their lives.” The COVID-19 outbreak first appeared in Iran on Wednesday, when officials said it killed two elderly people in the Shiite […]
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — A chartered plane carrying more than 200 Canadians evacuated from the coronavirus-quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship landed at a military base in Ontario province early Friday. All the passengers who arrived at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, 200 kilometers (120 miles) southwest of Ottawa, had tested negative for COVID-19, CBC reported. They will, however, be quarantined for a further 14 days at the Nav Centre in Cornwall, Ontario, a hotel and conference […]
by Yan Zhao and Katie Forster HONG KONG, China (AFP) — With chronic face mask shortages in the midst of a virus outbreak, Hong Kongers have started making their own — with a pop-up production line and seamstresses churning them out on sewing machines. In one of the most densely populated cities on earth, face masks have become hot property as people scramble for protection against the new deadly coronavirus. Long queues — sometimes thousands […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — A 29-year-old doctor at the epicenter of China’s new coronavirus outbreak has died from the disease, one of the youngest known fatalities of the epidemic and the latest among medical workers. Peng Yinhua died Thursday after becoming infected while working at Wuhan’s Jiangxia district People’s No. 1 Hospital, official news agency Xinhua reported. The respiratory and critical illness doctor had planned to get married during the Lunar New Year holiday but […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Dozens of Hong Kong police officers have been placed in quarantine after attending a banquet with a colleague who later tested positive for the new coronavirus, officials said Friday. The news prompted celebrations among some pro-democracy protesters, a vivid illustration of how deeply polarised the city has become after months of rallies and thousands of arrests last year. The 48-year-old officer found to be carrying the virus had dinner on […]
by Richard Carter and Sara Hussein with Simon Sturdee in New Delhi and Mikhail Flores in Manila TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The nightmare of a 14-day quarantine is ending for most passengers on the coronavirus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship, but it is far from over for the more than 1,000 crew. While passengers on board were confined to their cabins around the clock apart from an hour of fresh air on deck, most crews did […]
by Kang Jin-kyu SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s coronavirus cases nearly doubled Friday, rising above 200 and making it the worst-affected country outside China as the number of infections linked to a religious sect spiked. A total of 100 new cases were confirmed by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), 85 of them connected to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in the southern city of Daegu. More than 120 members […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China could start clinical trials for a potential vaccine for the novel coronavirus around late April, an official said Friday. Public and private researchers around the world have been working to develop treatments and vaccines to combat the COVID-19 virus that first emerged in central China in December. More than 2,200 people have died and more than 75,000 have been infected by it in China. Another 11 people died abroad, with […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s President Xi Jinping called Wednesday for greater protection of medical staff fighting the new coronavirus after the deaths of prominent doctors sparked national anger at the government’s handling of the outbreak. At least seven medical workers have died from the virus, while 1,716 have been confirmed as infected, most at the epicenter of the epidemic in central Hubei province where hospitals have dealt with a huge influx of patients. The […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — A spike in new virus cases outside China spooked Asian markets Friday after Wall Street pulled back from record highs as more companies warned earnings could be hurt by the epidemic. More than 2,200 people have died from the novel coronavirus, which has infected over 75,000 people, mostly in China, and spread panic around the world. While Beijing claims it’s epidemic control efforts are working, the rising death toll and […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Two Australians evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have tested positive for coronavirus on their return home, despite being cleared in Japan, authorities said Friday. “We have two people who are positive for the COVID-19 virus. Those two people have mild illness,” said Dianne Stephens, acting chief health officer for the Northern Territories. Health officials in Canberra told AFP all 164 Australians who returned home earlier this week “were tested […]
by Sunghee Hwang SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea’s self-imposed isolation in the face of the coronavirus epidemic raging in neighboring China is its only method of protection from an outbreak that would wreak havoc given its crumbling health system, analysts say. The country was among the first to seal its border with China — its main provider of trade and aid — and has since suspended flights and train services, banned tourists, and […]
