Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates: South Korea reported 123 more coronavirus cases Sunday, taking the nationwide total to 556, as well as two additional deaths which brings the toll to four. The fourth death was a man at a hospital in Cheongdo, a southern city connected to a religious sect, where around 100 cases were reported.
Among the latest cases, 75 were connected to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in the southern city of Daegu, the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement. Hundreds of members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus have now been infected, starting with a 61-year-old woman who developed a fever on February 10 but attended at least four church services in Daegu before being diagnosed.
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Feb 23, 2020 8:04 am (IST)
As China Resumes Work, Virus Outbreaks in Companies | After a continued lockdown in China amid the novel coronavirus outbreak that has killed about 2,400 people in the country, people in China are slowly attempting to resume their work. However, state media agency Global Times recently reported that 12 COVID-19 outbreaks in various companies, with 15 confirmed infections and 518 quarantined.
At least 12 collective #coronavirus outbreaks took place in companies after businesses gradually resumed across China, with 15 confirmed infections and over 514 being quarantined: media report pic.twitter.com/muKQHaLj7P
South Korea Reports 4th Death | South Korea reported 123 new confirmed coronavirus cases and a fourth death from the virus, taking the national tally to 556, the Korea Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention (KCDC) said on Sunday.
Feb 23, 2020 7:51 am (IST)
Death Toll in China Rises to 2,442 | The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 2,442, up by 97 from the previous day. The central province of Hubei, the epicentre of the outbreak, reported 96 new deaths, of which 82 were in the provincial capital, Wuhan, reported Reuters.
Feb 23, 2020 7:48 am (IST)
648 More New Cases in China | Mainland China has confirmed 648 new cases of coronavirus infections on Saturday, the National Health Commission said on Sunday, up from 397 the previous day. That brings the total number of confirmed cases in China to 76,936 so far.
Feb 23, 2020 7:44 am (IST)
Japanese Emperor Expresses Concern | Japanese Emperor Naruhito said on Sunday that he was looking forward to the Tokyo Olympics in summer but that he was concerned about the spread of the new coronavirus, which has killed three in Japan and is slowly spreading across the country. Naruhito turned 60 on Sunday.
#Japan Travel Advisory Update: Level 2- Exercise increased caution due to outbreak of COVID-19, novel (new) #coronavirus disease. On January 30 the WHO determined the rapidly spreading outbreak constitutes Public Health Emergency of International Concern. https://t.co/840H5WbmUjpic.twitter.com/25cdcxLFLF
South Korean Pilgrims Cause Fear in Palestine & Israel | Israeli and Palestinian authorities sought to quell fears of a potential local outbreak of the coronavirus after learning that South Korean pilgrims who had toured some of the holy land's most popular sites were later found to be carrying the virus.The 9 tourists, who tested positive for coronavirus after returning to South Korea, earlier this month visited Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Cave of the Patriarchs.
Feb 23, 2020 7:33 am (IST)
Russia Denies US Claim on Spreading Virus Fears | Russia's foreign ministry on Saturday denied a claim by US officials that Russian-linked social media accounts were making a coordinated effort to spread alarm about the new coronavirus. "This is a deliberately false story," spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Feb 23, 2020 7:27 am (IST)
Football Matches in Italy Cancelled | Italian authorities have ordered the postponement of three Serie A football matches on Sunday over coronavirus fears in northern Italy. The matches between title-chasing Inter Milan and Sampdoria, Atalanta against Sassuolo and Hellas Verona versus Cagliari have been pushed back.
Feb 23, 2020 7:24 am (IST)
Dozen Towns in Italy on Lockdown | A dozen towns in northern Italy effectively went into lockdown after the deaths of two people infected with the new virus from China and a growing cluster of cases with no direct links to the origin of the outbreak abroad. The secondary contagions prompted local authorities in the Lombardy and Veneto regions to close schools, businesses and restaurants and to cancel sporting events and Masses.
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Daegu — which is South Korea's fourth largest city with a population of 2.5 million and Cheongdo — the birthplace of Shincheonji's founder Lee Man-hee — were designated as "special care zones" on Friday.
Meanwhile, around 100 more passengers were allowed to disembark from the coronavirus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship on Saturday as Japan's health minister apologised after 23 others were allowed to leave without being properly tested.
The news came as a Japanese woman who left the ship on Wednesday tested positive for the virus after returning home to Tochigi Prefecture, Kyodo news agency reported, citing the prefectural government.
She is the first person to have tested positive for the virus among the group of approximately 970 passengers who disembarked earlier this week, it said. The 100 passengers who left on Saturday had been in close contact with infected people on board, local media said.
They included the last group of Japanese passengers to leave the ship, while some foreign passengers were still waiting on board for their governments to send chartered aircraft. Television footage showed a driver in a white protective suit at the wheel of a bus with the curtains drawn so that passengers could not be identified. They will be quarantined for two weeks near Tokyo, officials said.
An Official Apology
At a news conference on Saturday, Health Minister Katsunobu Kato apologised for 23 passengers having been allowed to leave the ship without undergoing all the required tests. "We deeply regret that our operational mistake caused the situation," Kato said, adding that the passengers would be tested again.
With the latest disembarkation, a 14-day quarantine is expected to start for more than 1,000 crew still on board.
Many of them were not placed in isolation as they were needed to keep the ship running -- preparing food and delivering meals to cabins. Critics have charged that they were inadvertently spreading the virus throughout the ship, which has seen more than 600 cases of the potentially deadly COVID-19 disease.
Kato defended Japan's on-board quarantine, telling a TV programme Saturday there was no medical facility large enough to admit more than 3,000 people at once. Speaking at the news conference, Kato said six Australian passengers tested positive after leaving Japan.
Meanwhile, 18 repatriated Americans and one Israeli who returned home from the ship have tested positive, authorities from the two countries announced Friday. Kato also confirmed that a Japanese hospital on Saturday used the anti-influenza medication Avigan, also known as Favipiravir, to treat a patient infected with the virus.
Earlier in the day, Kato said the government would push for the use of such medicines if they were confirmed to be effective. Outside the Diamond Princess, Japan has seen 105 cases of the new coronavirus.
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