CORONAVIRUS: Spreading Global, China optimistic of slaying ‘devil’ virus

A virus similar to the SARS pathogen has claimed 106 lives since emerging in a market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, and spread around the world.

Here are the places that have confirmed cases of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus:

– CHINA –

As of Tuesday, more than 4,000 people have been infected across China, the bulk of them in and around Wuhan.

Most of the 106 who have died were in that region, but officials have confirmed multiple deaths elsewhere, including the first in the capital Beijing.

Macau, a gambling hub hugely popular with mainland tourists, has confirmed six cases as of Tuesday.

In Hong Kong, eight people are known to have the disease. Of those, six arrived via a newly built high-speed train terminal that connects the city to the mainland.

– ASIA-PACIFIC REGION –

– Australia –

AFP / John SAEKIThe spread of the coronavirus

Five cases have been confirmed in Australia — all of whom arrived in the country from Wuhan. The patients are being treated in hospitals in Sydney and Melbourne.

– Cambodia –

Cambodia’s health ministry reported the country’s first case of the virus on Monday: a 60-year-old man who arrived from Wuhan and is now stable in an isolation room.

– Japan –

Japan’s health authorities confirmed the country’s fourth case on Saturday: a man in his 40s, visiting Japan from Wuhan, who is in hospital in a stable condition.

Two other men and a woman have been treated after returning to Japan from the Chinese city.

– Malaysia –

Malaysia confirmed its fourth case on Sunday. All are Chinese nationals on holiday from Wuhan who arrived in the country from Singapore.

– Nepal –

Nepal said a 32-year-old man arriving from Wuhan had the disease. The patient, who was initially quarantined, recovered and was discharged.

– Singapore –

Singapore has so far confirmed five cases of the coronavirus — all of them arrived in the city-state from Wuhan.

– South Korea –

AFP/File / Hong Yoon-gi South Korean media reported the country’s fourth case on Monday, citing the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

South Korean media reported the country’s fourth case on Monday, citing the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The three men and a woman all travelled from Wuhan.

– Sri Lanka –

Sri Lanka confirmed its first case of the virus on Monday — a 43-year-old Chinese woman who entered the country as a tourist last week from Hubei province.

She is being treated in hospital, a spokesman at the Infectious Diseases Hospital near Colombo told AFP.

– Taiwan –

Taiwan has uncovered five cases so far, the latest a Taiwanese woman in her 50s who was working in Wuhan and flew to the island on January 20.

– Thailand –

Thailand has detected eight cases so far — three are receiving treatment in hospital and five have been discharged, according to the health minister.

All the infected persons are Chinese nationals, except for a 73-year-old Thai woman who came back from Wuhan this month.

– Vietnam –

Vietnam has so far confirmed two cases of the virus. An infected man from Wuhan travelled to Ho Chi Minh City earlier this month and passed the virus on to his son.

– NORTH AMERICA –

– Canada –

Canada confirmed its first case of the virus on Monday, a man who travelled to Wuhan, and has reported a second suspected case — his wife, who made the trip with him.

– United States –

The US has confirmed five cases of the virus in patients who had recently entered the country from Wuhan — two in California and one each in Arizona, Chicago and Washington state.

– EUROPE –

– France –

AFP/File / Alain JOCARD There are three known cases of the coronavirus in France, the first European country to be affected by the outbreak

There are three known cases of the coronavirus in France, the first European country to be affected by the outbreak.

One person is sick in Bordeaux and another is ill in Paris. A third person, a close relative of one of the other two, has also been confirmed to have the virus.

All three had recently travelled to China and have been placed in isolation.

– Germany –

The country’s first case was confirmed on Tuesday in the southern Bavarian region and was being treated in an isolation ward. The patient was said to be in a “medically

good state”.

Meanwhile, President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday that China was sure of defeating the “devil” coronavirus that has killed 106 people, spread across the world and rattled financial markets.

Yet despite his confidence, international alarm was rising.

From France to Japan, governments were organizing evacuations, while Hong Kong – scene of anti-China unrest for months – planned to suspend rail and ferry links with the mainland.

Among countries pulling nationals out of Wuhan, the central city of 11 million people where the outbreak started, the United States’ Embassy in Beijing said a chartered plane would pick up its consular staff on Wednesday.

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Xi met in Beijing to discuss how to protect Chinese and foreigners in areas affected by the virus and “possible” evacuation alternatives, a WHO spokesman said.

“The virus is a devil and we cannot let the devil hide,” state television quoted Xi as saying.

“China will strengthen international cooperation and welcomes the WHO participation in virus prevention … China is confident of winning the battle against the virus.”

Investors are fretting about the impact on the world’s second-biggest economy amid travel bans and an extended Lunar New Year holiday. Global stocks fell again, China’s yuan currency dipped to its weakest in 2020, and oil prices hit three-month lows.

OPEC wants to extend oil output cuts until at least June, with the possibility of deeper reductions if demand in China is significantly impacted, sources at the producers’ group said.

People wear masks as they wait for their train at a subway station in Shanghai, China January 28, 2020.

The flu-like virus has spread overseas, but none of the 106 deaths has been beyond China and all but six were in Wuhan, where the virus emerged last month, probably from illegally-traded wildlife.

However, cases in Germany, Vietnam, Taiwan and Japan where the virus has spread person-to-person – as opposed to a visitor from China arriving – have heightened concern.

“The reported human-to-human transmission in Germany and Japan is unsurprising to see,” said Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at Britain’s University of Southampton.

“We will continue to see further similar cases outside of China, but the indications are at this stage that onwards transmission will be limited, so there will likely not be too many cases for example across Europe, and on a much lesser scale than we are seeing in China.”

Chinese-ruled Hong Kong said high-speed rail services to the mainland would be suspended from midnight on Thursday, while the number of flights would be halved.

Thailand confirmed six more infections among visitors from China, taking its tally to 14, the highest outside China. Far eastern Russian regions would close their borders with China until Feb. 7, Tass news agency said.

Wuhan is under virtual quarantine, with a lockdown on transport and bans on gatherings. Tens of millions of others in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, live under some form of travel curbs.

Analysts said China’s travel and tourism would be the hardest-hit sectors, together with retail and liquor sales, though healthcare and online shopping were likely outperformers.

With Chinese markets shut for the holiday, investors were selling the offshore yuan and the Australian dollar as a proxy for risk. The U.S. S&P 500 closed down nearly 1.6%.