Tag: health

UK calls new coronavirus ‘serious and imminent threat’

  LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The British government on Monday warned the outbreak of novel coronavirus was a “serious and imminent threat” and announced new measures to protect the public. Two hospitals have been designated as “isolation” facilities — both are currently housing Britons who have returned from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak. Anyone with the virus can now be forcibly quarantined and sent into isolation if they are […]

WHO warns overseas virus spread may be ‘tip of the iceberg’

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The head of the World Health Organization has warned that confirmed cases of coronavirus being transmitted by people who have never traveled to China could be the “tip of the iceberg”. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ remarks come as members of a WHO-led “international expert mission” flew to China on Monday to help coordinate a response to the outbreak that has so far infected more than 40,000 people and killed 908 in the […]

China confirmed virus cases exceed 40,000 nationwide: govt

BEIJING, China (AFP) — The number of confirmed infections in China’s coronavirus outbreak has reached 40,171 nationwide with more than 3,000 new cases reported, the National Health Commission said Monday. In its daily update, the commission said there had been 97 new deaths from the virus — with 91 in hardest-hit Hubei province — bringing the national toll to 908. © Agence France-Presse

China virus deaths rise past 900, overtaking SARS toll

by Patrick BAERT / Helen ROXBURGH BEIJING, China (AFP) — The death toll from the novel coronavirus surged past 900 in mainland China on Monday, overtaking global fatalities in the 2002-03 SARS epidemic, even as the World Health Organization said the outbreak appeared to be stabilizing. With 91 more people dying in Hubei, the province at the center of the outbreak, the toll is now higher than the 774 killed worldwide by Severe Acute Respiratory […]

Thousands from cruise ship in Hong Kong freed after virus tests

  by Xinqi SU HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Thousands of people stranded aboard a cruise ship in Hong Kong for five days were allowed to disembark on Sunday after its 1,800 crew tested negative for the deadly new coronavirus. Health authorities in the semi-autonomous Asian financial hub said the crew and a similar number of passengers had been released from a quarantine imposed because of fears some staff could have contracted the deadly virus […]

China virus deaths rise past 800, overtaking SARS toll

  by Patrick BAERT / Helen ROXBURGH Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — The death toll from the novel coronavirus surged past 800 in mainland China on Sunday, overtaking global fatalities in the 2002-03 SARS epidemic, even as the World Health Organization said the outbreak appeared to be “stabilising”. With 89 more people dying — most in Hubei, the province at the centre of the outbreak — the toll is now higher than the […]

Panic buying hits Singapore after virus alert raised

  SINGAPORE (AFP) — Anxious Singapore shoppers formed long lines at grocery stores Saturday and cleared the shelves of essential items, after the city-state raised its alert level over China’s coronavirus outbreak. Since emerging late last year, the virus has killed over 700 people and infected more than 34,000 in China, and spread to many other countries. Singapore, which has reported 33 cases, raised its alert level Friday to “orange” — the same as during […]

Hong Kong Airlines to lay off 400 staff as virus hits city

    HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong Airlines said Friday it has been forced to slash hundreds of jobs and ask remaining staff to take unpaid leave as the coronavirus outbreak compounds problems at the already-struggling firm. The announcement by the city’s number two carrier comes days after Cathay Pacific said it had asked all its 27,000 workforce to take three weeks leave without salary between March and June because of collapsing demand […]

China’s Xi discusses coronavirus with Trump: state media

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke on Friday with US President Donald Trump on the novel coronavirus outbreak, emphasizing that Beijing has “spared no effort in fighting the epidemic”, state media reported. Xi told Trump on the phone that China was “fully confident and capable of defeating the epidemic”, and that “the long-term trend of China’s economic development for the better will not change”, according to state broadcaster CCTV. The viral outbreak, […]

Coronavirus cases on Japan cruise ship treble to 61

YOKOHAMA, Japan (AFP) — Another 41 people on a cruise ship quarantined off Japan have the new coronavirus, the country’s health minister said Friday, confirming more on board will now be tested for the illness. The newly diagnosed infections mean at least 61 people from the ship have contracted the virus, which has killed hundreds of people, most of them in China, and infected more than 30,000 on the mainland. Japanese authorities have so far […]

Global panic deepens over China virus as whistleblower doctor dies

by Helen Roxburgh and Laurent Thomet BEIJING, China (AFP) — A Chinese doctor, among the first to raise the alert about China’s new coronavirus, himself died from the pathogen on Friday, emphasizing the depth of a worsening crisis that has killed more than 560 people. Global panic also spread, with thousands trapped on quarantined cruise ships. Ophthalmologist Li Wenliang died at 2:58 am, Wuhan Central Hospital said in a post on its verified account on […]