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BEIJING, China (AFP) — The death toll from China’s coronavirus epidemic rose to 1,483 on Friday but the number of new infections in hard-hit Hubei province fell after a change in case definitions caused a massive increase the previous day. The central province’s health commission reported 116 more deaths and 4,823 new cases, the majority involving “clinically diagnosed” patients. The province, the epicenter of the outbreak, had 242 more deaths and over 14,800 new cases […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States feels let down by a lack of transparency from China over the new-coronavirus crisis, a senior White House official said Thursday, contradicting President Donald Trump’s confidence in Beijing. “We are a little disappointed that we haven’t been invited in and we’re a little disappointed in the lack of transparency coming from the Chinese,” Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council, told reporters. Trump on Thursday […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization on Thursday said a sharp rise in reported COVID-19 cases in China, due to a change in counting methods, did not represent a big shift in the epidemic. China’s official death toll from the new coronavirus and the number of cases reported soared dramatically on Thursday after authorities altered the way they tally infections. “This does not represent a significant change in the trajectory of the outbreak,” […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A woman in her 80s has become the first person with the new coronavirus to die in Japan, the country’s health minister said Thursday, cautioning it was not clear if the virus caused her death. “The relationship between the new coronavirus and the death of the person is still unclear,” Katsunobu Kato said at a late-night briefing. “This is the first death of a person who tested positive.” The minister […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian markets fell on Thursday after a dramatic spike in the number of coronavirus deaths and cases in mainland China, with traders concerned about the economic impact of the epidemic. Chinese authorities have changed the way they count infections from the virus — officially named COVID-19 — and the latest reports propelled the nationwide death toll to 1,355 and the infection count to nearly 60,000. Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 […]
by Miwa SUZUKI Agence France Presse Another 44 people on board a cruise ship moored off Japan’s coast have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the country’s health minister said Thursday. Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said the 44 new cases were from another 221 new tests. They raise the number of infections detected on the Diamond Princess to 218, in addition to a quarantine officer who also tested positive for the virus. Kato said […]
SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia (AFP) — A US cruise ship blocked from several Asian ports over concerns that a passenger could have been infected with the new coronavirus arrived off Cambodia Thursday, as frustrated holidaymakers expressed hope that their ordeal may soon be over. The Westerdam was supposed to be taking its 1,455 passengers on a dream 14-day cruise around East Asia, beginning in Hong Kong on February 1 and disembarking on Saturday in Yokohama, Japan. But […]
by Beiyi SEOW BEIJING, China (AFP) — A diaper manufacturer in eastern China was closed for the Lunar New Year holiday when it heard from officials — China needed vast amounts of masks to fight a deadly virus epidemic and factories needed to chip in. In just over two days, New Yifa Group converted a manufacturing line in Fujian province to make face masks, tapping some of its materials that would have gone into hygiene […]
VINH PHUC, Vietnam (AFP) — Vietnam announced Thursday that a commune of 10,000 people will be placed under quarantine due to fears over the spread of the new coronavirus. “As of February 13, 2020, we will urgently implement the task of isolation and quarantine of the epidemic area in Son Loi commune,” said a health ministry statement. “The timeline… is for 20 days”. There are 15 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus in Vietnam, five […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China has sacked the top political leader of virus-stricken Hubei province, the epicenter of an epidemic that has killed 1,355, state media reported Thursday. Jiang Chaoliang, Hubei’s party secretary, will be replaced by Shanghai mayor Ying Yong, according to the official Xinhua news agency, which gave no additional details. Jiang’s removal comes after Hubei’s two most senior health officials were sacked Monday amid growing criticism of how local officials have handled […]
(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, Feb. 12, called on Filipinos to stay calm but remain vigilant amid the novel coronavirus threat. In a video message posted on RTVM’s Facebook page, the President said there was so far no recorded local transmission of COVID-19, with the country’s confirmed cases still pegged at three. He said the government “together with the World Health Organization, medical societies and partners in private sectors is addressing the […]
by Helen Roxburgh and Laurent Thomet BEIJING, China (AFP) –The number of deaths and new cases from China’s coronavirus outbreak spiked dramatically on Thursday after authorities changed the way they count infections in a move that will likely fuel speculation that the severity of the outbreak has been under-reported. The hard-hit central province of Hubei reported 242 deaths in just one day and 14,840 new patients — by far its biggest one-day tally since the […]
