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BEIJING, China (AFP) — China sent two planes to Malaysia and Thailand on Friday to bring “stranded” Hubei province residents back to the virus-stricken city of Wuhan, authorities said. The Xiamen Airlines flights will pick up the Chinese nationals from Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia and the Thai capital Bangkok, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). There are 117 nationals from Hubei province in Bangkok and 100 in Kota Kinabalu who are “willing […]
by Sébastien RICCI WUHAN, China (AFP) — France is preparing to airlift hundreds of its citizens from the Chinese city at the center of a deadly coronavirus outbreak, but one Frenchman is staying put. Philippe Klein is head of the International SOS Hospital in Wuhan, the first city to be locked down by Chinese authorities as they battle the spread of the virus. “It’s not an act of heroism. It’s been well thought out, it’s […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — The Chinese government is to send charter planes to bring citizens from virus-hit Hubei province who are overseas back “as soon as possible”, the foreign ministry said Friday. This is in view of “practical difficulties that Hubei citizens, especially those from Wuhan, have faced overseas”, said the ministry of foreign affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying. The ministry’s comments come as a number of airlines announced they were halting or reducing flights to […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Markets rose in Asia on Friday after the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency over the deadly new virus sweeping China. After saying last week they needed more information, the WHO invoked the rarely used designation that experts hope will lead to better international co-ordination to combat a disease that has already killed 200 people, and sickened thousands more. But the Geneva-based body stopped short of recommending trade […]
by Sonia Logre with Ella Ide in Rome CIVITAVECCHIA, Italy (AFP) — Thousands of stranded tourists were free to disembark from a cruise ship at an Italian port after authorities said two Chinese passengers feared to have the coronavirus tested negative Thursday. Italy’s Institute for infectious diseases examined samples taken from a Chinese woman ill with a fever, as well as her traveling companion, and both were negative for coronavirus, the health ministry said. Italian […]
by Sébastien RICCI Agence France Presse WUHAN, China (AFP) — The World Health Organization declared a global emergency over the new coronavirus, as China reported Friday the death toll had climbed to 213 with nearly 10,000 infections. The UN health agency based in Geneva had initially downplayed the threat posed by the disease, but revised its risk assessment after crisis talks. “Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries […]
WUHAN, China (AFP) — A jet carrying around 200 French citizens flew out of the virus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan on Friday, according to AFP journalists on board the flight. The French military aircraft is bound for southern France, where the passengers will undergo a 14-day quarantine, in case they are carrying the new coronavirus. The United States and Japan have already carried out airlifts from Wuhan for their citizens. A second US flight is […]
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — The number of Canadians looking to flee China because of the coronavirus epidemic rose to nearly 200 on Thursday while a third suspected case in Canada was confirmed. Officials told a parliamentary committee that 196 Canadians in Wuhan — the epicenter of the epidemic — have requested help getting back home, an increase from Wednesday when the government announced an airlift for 160. The Globe and Mail newspaper said the families […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — The nationwide death toll in China’s coronavirus outbreak has risen to 213, with nearly 2,000 new cases confirmed, the National Health Commission said on Friday. In its daily update, the commission said 43 new deaths had occurred as a result of the virus, all but one of them in hardest-hit Hubei province where the virus first emerged. The latest numbers indicate that the daily death count and the overall spread of […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US pilots on Thursday sued American Airlines to force the company to halt flights to China amid the virus outbreak now declared a global health emergency. The new coronavirus has sickened nearly 8,000 and killed 170 people in China, and cases of the respiratory illness have been reported in several other countries including the United States. Major airlines worldwide have suspended or sharply reduced service to China, including US carriers […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Many countries are unprepared to face the deadly virus spreading in China and beyond, a global health monitor warned Thursday as it urged governments to get ready. The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB), an independent body created by the World Health Organization and the World Bank, hailed “the speed of response so far” by China and other countries affected by the novel coronavirus. “The Board, however, is concerned that many countries […]
ROME, Italy (AFP) –The Italian government said Thursday it was suspending all flights between Italy and China after doctors confirmed two Chinese tourists had tested positive for the coronavirus. Health Minister Roberto Speranza has issued a “decree closing air traffic to and from China,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told a news conference without giving a list of the affected airlines. “We think we are the first EU country to take this precautionary measure,” Conte added […]
