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 […]
Tag: Virus
59 Hong Kong police quarantined after meal with virus colleague
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 […]
Quarantine nightmare still not over for left-behind cruise ship crew
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 […]
UPDATED: South Korea coronavirus cases jump over 200 as sect infections spike
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 […]
China says, coronavirus vaccine trials to start around late April
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 […]
China’s Xi urges more protection for medical workers after deaths
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 […]
Asian markets fall on fears over spreading virus
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 […]
2 cruise ship passengers found COVID-19 positive in Australia, had earlier tested negative in Japan
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 […]
Coronavirus threatens North Korea chaos: analysts
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 […]
South Korea confirms 52 more coronavirus cases, total 156
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea confirmed 52 more cases of novel coronavirus on Friday, taking its overall figure to 156 and making it the worst-infected country outside China. Altogether 39 of the new cases were linked to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in the southern city of Daegu, the Korean Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said. More than 80 members of Shincheonji have now been infected, starting with a 61-year-old woman who […]
Two Australian evacuees from Japan ship have coronavirus
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Two Australians evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have tested positive for coronavirus, authorities said Friday, raising questions about Japan’s policy of allowing evacuees to return home after testing negative. “We have two people who are positive for the COVID-19 virus. Those two people have a mild illness,” said Dianne Stephens, acting chief health officer for the Northern Territories. Hundreds of people have been allowed to leave the ship after […]
China’s Hubei province reports 115 more virus deaths
BEIJING, China (AFP) — The death toll in China from the coronavirus epidemic rose to 2,233 on Friday after 115 more people died in Hubei province, the hard-hit epicenter of the outbreak. The vast majority of the deaths were in the provincial capital of Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December, according to a daily update from the Hubei health commission. Around 75,000 people have been infected by the new coronavirus in China, and […]





