Tag: Virus

Over 100 released from virus quarantine in Germany

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Over a hundred German nationals were Sunday released from quarantine at a military base near Frankfurt airport, two weeks after flying in from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak. “All the people concerned have been allowed to leave the quarantine zone and rejoin their families,” secretary of state for health Thomas Gebhart told a press conference. None of them was contaminated by the virus which […]

Taiwan records its first coronavirus death as global toll passes 1,600

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan reported its first death from the new coronavirus Sunday, as the death toll from the outbreak rose to 1,665 inside mainland China. A 61-year-old man from central Taiwan with underlying health problems but no recent overseas travel history died in hospital on Saturday after testing positive for the virus, officials confirmed. It is the fifth recorded death outside mainland China — previous victims were in the Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan, […]

Global experts begin meetings in China over virus: WHO

by Helen Roxburgh and Beiyi Seow BEIJING, China (AFP) — International experts have begun meeting with their counterparts in China over the new coronavirus epidemic, whose future path is “impossible” to predict, the World Health Organization said late Sunday. The number of new cases from China’s coronavirus epidemic dropped for a third consecutive day, but global concern remains high about its spread, emphasized by a US announcement that more than three dozen Americans from a […]

40 US nationals infected on Japan ship as others fly home

by Harumi Ozawa with Sara Hussein in Tokyo YOKOHAMA, Japan (AFP) — Forty Americans are among hundreds with the new coronavirus on a cruise ship quarantined off Japan, a US official said on Sunday, after other Americans on board left for chartered flights home. The evacuation coincided with stepped-up warnings from Japanese authorities over the deadly outbreak, urging citizens to avoid crowds and “non-essential gatherings.” The Diamond Princess was placed in 14-day quarantine in early […]

Coronavirus cases on Japan ship rise to 355

  YOKOHAMA, Japan (AFP) — The number of people infected with the deadly new coronavirus on a quarantined ship off Japan has risen to 355, the country’s health minister said Sunday, as the United States, Canada and Hong Kong prepare to repatriate their residents on board. The figure is a jump of 70 cases from a government tally released Saturday and comes as Katsunobu Kato voiced worries that the rising infection count among the nation’s […]

China toll leaps past 1,600 as first death reported outside Asia

by Jing Xuan Teng and Laurent Thomet Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — The death toll from the new coronavirus outbreak surpassed 1,600 in China on Sunday, with the first fatality reported outside Asia fuelling global concerns. More than 68,000 people have now been infected in China from a virus that emerged in central Hubei province in December before spreading across the country and some two dozen countries. Amid criticism over the handling of […]

US to evacuate Americans as virus cases rise on quarantined ship

by Shingo ITO Agence France Presse Americans will be removed from a cruise ship quarantined off Japan and flown home, the US embassy said Saturday as dozens more cases of the new coronavirus were diagnosed on board. At least 285 people on the Diamond Princess have contracted the illness but hundreds of passengers and crew have not yet been tested as they wait in a quarantine that was scheduled to end February 19. In a […]

Egypt confirms first coronavirus case in Africa

  CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — Egypt’s health ministry on Friday announced the first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus in Africa. The sufferer was not Egyptian, the ministry said in a statement, without specifying the nationality. “The ministry has taken preventative measures and is monitoring the patient… who is stable,” said health ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed. Egyptian authorities had notified the World Health Organization and the patient been placed in quarantined isolation in hospital. The […]

DOH: Persons under investigation for COVID-19 in PHL at 487, but 330 already discharged from hospitals

  (Eagle News) – The Department of Health has recorded a total of 487 persons under investigation (PUIs) for the novel coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 as of Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020. In its latest update, the number of PUIs discharged from various hospitals have now reached 330. This is after they have tested negative for the virus. But the DOH said that the total number of cases which have tested negative for the virus […]

Death toll in China epidemic surges past 1,500; more than 66,000 infections reported

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — The death toll from China’s new coronavirus epidemic surged past 1,500 on Saturday after 143 more people died in the country, according to official data. The National Health Commission also reported 2,641 new cases of the COVID-19 strain, with the vast majority in hard-hit central Hubei province. More than 66,000 people have now been infected in China from an illness that emerged in the Hubei capital Wuhan in December and […]

Beijing orders returnees to quarantine as virus death roll hits 1,523

  by Laurent THOMET Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — The death toll from China’s new coronavirus epidemic jumped past 1,500 on Saturday as Beijing ordered people returning to the capital from holiday to self-quarantine for 14 days in another drastic effort to contain the outbreak. More than 66,000 people have now been infected in China from a virus that emerged in central Hubei province in December before spreading across the country as millions […]

Japan to begin moving some off quarantined cruise ship

by Hiroshi Hiyama with Kyoko Hasegawa in Tokyo YOKOHAMA, Japan (AFP) — Japanese authorities were preparing Friday to move some older passengers who test negative for new coronavirus off a quarantined cruise ship and into government-designated lodging. The move comes a day after the number of infections diagnosed on the Diamond Princess rose to 218, with fears growing for the health of some of the several hundred people on the ship aged 80 or over. […]