VIENNA, Austria (AFP) — Two people in Austria have tested positive for the new coronavirus, authorities said Tuesday, marking the country’s first cases after an outbreak in northern Italy. The two 24-year-olds have been quarantined in a hospital in Innsbruck, the capital of Tyrol province, which borders Italy, according to Tyrol Governor Guenther Platter. One of them is from Lombardy, one of the Italian regions hit with the outbreak, but it is not yet […]
Tag: coronavirus
Italy coronavirus outbreak spreads south as cases spike
by Ella IDE and Jastinder KHERA Agence France Presse Italy’s new coronavirus spread south on Tuesday to Tuscany and Sicily, as the civil protection agency reported a surge in the number of infected people and Rome convened emergency talks. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has blamed poor management in a hospital in the country’s north for the outbreak, which has caused seven deaths in Italy so far and infected the largest number of people in […]
Three more dead in Iran coronavirus outbreak, bringing death toll to 15, says state media
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — The novel coronavirus has claimed three more lives in Iran, state media reported, taking the country’s overall death toll from the outbreak to 15 — the highest outside China. Iran has been scrambling to contain COVID-19 since Wednesday when it announced its first two deaths in Qom, a centre for Islamic studies and pilgrims that attracts scholars from abroad. Two of the dead were elderly women in the central province of […]
S. Korea reports 60 new COVID-19 cases bringing total to 893, the biggest outside mainland China
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea reported 60 more novel coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the smallest increase for four days in the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s morning updates. The country now has 893 cases, the KCDC said — the largest national total anywhere outside China — adding one more person had died, taking the toll to eight. For the previous three days, KCDC had reported triple-digit increases each morning as […]
Seoul bears brunt as Asia, European markets dive on pandemic fear
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Seoul led a sharp drop across Asian and European equity markets Monday as South Korea announced a surge in COVID-19 infections, while oil plunged and safe-haven assets rallied on growing concerns about a possible pandemic. With the outbreak showing little sign of easing, investors are increasingly concerned it could have a much longer-term impact on the world economy, which was already stuttering, with a number of companies warning about […]
Third passenger from Japan cruise ship dies: health ministry
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A third passenger has died after contracting the coronavirus on a cruise ship that was quarantined off Japan, the country’s health ministry said on Sunday. In a statement, the ministry identified the victim as a Japanese man in his 80s who was also suffering from other ailments. He was removed from the Diamond Princess and taken to a local hospital after testing positive for COVID-19, the statement said, without giving details […]
Italy coronavirus cases surpass 100 as towns put on lockdown
ROME, Italy (AFP) — The number of coronavirus cases in Italy has jumped to over 100, the president of the Lombardy region said on Sunday, as northern towns struggle to contain rising infections. “More than 100 cases” have now been reported throughout the country, Attilio Fontana told SkyTG24 television, with 89 of those in Lombardy, centred around the small town of Codogno, about 70 kilometres (43 miles) southeast of Milan. Responding to a rising […]
Iran shuts schools, cultural centers as coronavirus kills five
by David VUJANOVIC Agence France Presse TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran on Saturday ordered the closure of schools, universities and cultural centres after a coronavirus outbreak that has killed five people in the Islamic republic — the most outside the Far East. The moves came as Iranian authorities reported one more death among 10 new cases of the virus. Since it emerged in December, the new coronavirus has killed 2,345 people in China, the […]
Second coronavirus death sparks fears, lockdown in Italian towns
CODOGNO, Italy (AFP) — Streets were deserted and residents warned to keep out of an emergency room on Saturday in an Italian town placed under lockdown as a second death from coronavirus sparked fears throughout the region. “No entry” read the sign on the emergency room in the small town of Codogno with a population of 15,000 where three people have already tested positive for the virus, including one 38-year old man now on […]
Iran reports one more death among 10 new coronavirus cases, bringing to 5 number of deaths due to virus
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran on Saturday reported one more death among 10 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths in the Islamic republic to five and infections to 28. “We have 10 new confirmed cases of COVID-19,” health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on state television. “One of the new cases has unfortunately passed away,” he added, noting that eight of them had been hospitalized in Qom and two in […]
Markets slide on fears of virus spread
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — More cases of the new coronavirus outside China along with warnings by major companies that their earnings could be hurt caused most stock markets to pull back on Friday. “Coronavirus was back at the top of the agenda on Friday, with a rising number of new cases in China and South Korea putting the fear in investors,” remarked Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell. More than 2,200 people have died […]
First European dies from coronavirus in Italy, hours after lockdown on 10 towns due to rising cases
by Ella IDE Agence France Presse ROME, Italy (AFP) — An Italian man became the first European to die after being infected with the coronavirus Friday, just hours after 10 towns in the country were locked down following a flurry of new cases. The 78-year old from the Veneto region who had tested positive for the virus died in hospital, where he had been admitted 10 days earlier for an unrelated health issue, Italy’s health […]





