Health officials worldwide are working to contain cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus that originated in China.
This map will be updated when more information is available. As of Feb. 23, COVID-19 cases were confirmed in China, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam, the United States, France, Australia, Malaysia, Nepal, Germany, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Finland, India, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Italy, Russia, Sweden, Spain, Belgium, Egypt, Iran, Israel and Lebanon.
More than 79,000 people have been sickened and 2,465 have died of the coronavirus since the start of January, according to NBC News reports, the World Health Organization (WHO) and figures from state government leaders and health officials.
While most of the cases and all but two of the deaths have occurred in mainland China, officials feared that the busy travel season in advance of the Lunar New Year would accelerate the virus’ spread. The chair of the WHO emergency committee said on January 23 that it was "too early" to call the coronavirus an emergency, and on January 30 on the organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global public health emergency.
The Chinese government, which is looking to avoid a repeat of the 2003 SARS outbreak, has warned officials not to cover up the spread of the virus. The South China Morning Post reported that Beijing said anyone who withheld information would be “the sinner of a millennium to the party and the people” and would be “nailed on the pillar of shame for eternity.”
