Death toll due to deadly Coronavirus has reached 170 in China. Believed to have started in China’s Wuhan province, Coronavirus has now spread to over a dozen countries including the United States, Japan and South Korea. Major international airports in India are on high alert and are screening passengers coming from China and other countries. India is also planning an evacuation plan from Indian stranded in Wuhan province of China. Special isolation wards are being established in different hospitals across major cities to observe them. Many people showing symptoms of coronavirus have been quarantined in different cities in India including Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi. One Kerala student evacuated from Wuhan has been tested positive.
As 170 people have lost their lives due to coronavirus-related illness in China and thousands of confirmed cases have been reported from that country. Overseas confirmed cases have been reported from Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, France, the United States, Singapore, Australia, Vietnam, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
A recent study suggested that India is among the top 30 countries with a high risk of Coronavirus outbreak. Thailand ranked the highest having the most risk of Coronavirus pandemic. Many countries including India, the US, the UK and Germany have issued travel advisories and have urged citizens to avoid travelling to China. Beijing too has been asking Chinese not to travel at home and abroad in view of the virus.
Financial Express brings to you the latest updates on coronavirus, stay tuned.
After blocking an earlier departure, Chinese authorities gave a go-ahead to a British evacuation flight that will take 150 British citizens and 50 non-British nationals out of China’s virus-stricken Wuhan city.
Of the 4846 passengers screened at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, 12 people with symptoms of mild cough, fever and cold were admitted to isolation centres. Samples of eight patients tested negative, and the result of four are awaited, reports ANI.
Four men and a woman who had recently returned from China have been admitted to New Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, reports ANI. They have been kept at an isolation ward in the hospital.
The previously unknown coronavirus strain is believed to have emerged in the latter parts of 2018 from illegally traded wildlife at a market in Wuhan, a city of 11 million, in China’s Hubei province, reports Reuters. And some experts believe that the virus strain isn’t as dangerous as the 2002-03 SARS outbreak that killed 800 people.
Three patients quarantined at a Mumbai hospital were discharged after their second sample also tested negative for coronavirus, PTI reported. However, two others were admitted on suspicion of possible exposure to the virus.
Kerala Health Department has said that 1053 people have been kept under quarantine, reports ANI. Of these, 15 people have been admitted to isolation wards, in view of the coronavirus outbreak
The coronavirus outbreak could force companies to re-evaluate their supply chains and result in returning of these jobs to the United States, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said. He was quoted by Reuters as saying that the coronavirus outbreak will make businesses reconsider their decision to move supply chains abroad.
To ascertain their willingness to be evacuated, the Indian government has reached out to over 600 Indians residing in China’s Hubei province, PTI report said. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India’s Mission in Beijing is working round-the-clock on the ground to work out the necessary logistics of evacuating its citizens from virus-hit areas of China. Read More
Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Minister C Vijayabaskar has informed that 78 people who arrived from coronavirus-hit regions of China are under ‘house quarantine’ and being monitored. No positive case of the coronavirus has been detected in the state so far, PTI reported. Read More
Chinese Embassy Spokesperson Ji Rong has said that the mission is maintaining close communication with the Indian government on its efforts in preventing and controlling the coronavirus outbreak. The Chinese side is paying close attention to the report of the confirmed case of coronavirus in Kerala, Chinese Embassy spokesperson was quoted by PTI as saying.
Indian Embassy in Beijing has informed all stranded Indians that they will be quarantined on arrival in India for 14 days. They have not been told of the location where they will be kept in isolation, a PTI report said.
British Airways has suspended its flights to mainland China for a month in view of the coronavirus outbreak. All BA flights to Beijing and Shanghai have been suspended until the end of February, while flights to Hong Kong are unaffected, Reuters reported.
India is preparing to evacuate citizens from China’s Wuhan city, the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus, on Friday evening, the Indian Embassy in Beijing said. India had earlier requested Chinese authorities for permission to operate two flights out of Hubei province to bring back its nationals. Read More
Keeping in view that tourists from all around the world visit Kashmir Valley, the Doctors Association of Kashmir (DAK) has warned that there’s a persistent threat of the virus spreading here. DAK president Suhail Naik told PTI that many countries have direct flights to Kashmir, hence utmost care must be taken to check and contain the spread of the virus.
Indian exporters have asked the government to review the possible impact of the coronavirus outbreak on trade from China. The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has expressed concerns saying domestic mobile manufacturers who import certain components from China will be severely affected if the prevalent situation persists for long. Read More
Swedish furniture major Ikea has announced that effective January 30 it has temporarily closed all of the 30 stores in mainland China until further notice. Read More
Fearing an outbreak within its borders, North Korea has intensified efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus from China. North Korea’s Health Ministry said it has isolated the country by blocking tourists, reducing flights and mobilizing more screening efforts.
Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja: We have directed all hospitals, including private hospitals, to monitor patients coming with similar symptoms (of #coronavirus). The health department is all set to isolate patients and start treatment. (ani)
Several states including Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan have kept some people, with travel history to China, under observation after they showed novel coronavirus-like symptoms. Read More
While bats may be the original hosts of the novel Chinese coronavirus, an animal sold at a seafood market in Wuhan may be spreading the deadly virus to humans, a study published in The Lancet journal suggests. Click to read full report
With at least 10 persons quarantined in three hospitals across Maharashtra for possible exposure to novel coronavirus, a central health department team is likely to visit the state soon to take a review of the preparedness for prevention and management of the disease, an official said on Thursday. At least 27 persons are under observation in the state and as a precautionary measure 10 of them have been quarantined — six at Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai, three at Pune’s Naidu Hospital and another at a hospital in Nanded. (PTI)
China on Thursday allocated nearly USD four billion funding to support efforts to contain the dreaded coronavirus as the death toll from the epidemic jumped to 170, with the foundations of Jack Ma and Bill & Melinda Gates also opening their wallets to help in the fight against the outbreak. (PTI)
After one Kerala student tested positive for new Coronavirus in Kerala, all the three men kept under observation at an isolation ward of the RML Hospital in Delhi have tested negative, a Health ministry official said on Thursday. “Their samples were sent for testing to NIV Pune and they have tested negative,” the official said.
Philippines Health Minister has also confirmed first case of New Coronavirus in the island nation, reports Reuters.
One positive case of Novel Coronavirus has been found, in Kerala. The student was studying at Wuhan University in China. The patient is stable and is being closely monitored. Read More
Australia’s conservative government on Thursday defended its decision to use a detention centre thousands of kilometres from the mainland to quarantine locals evacuated from Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in China. Australia on Wednesday said it would evacuate “isolated and vulnerable” locals from Wuhan as part of a joint operation with New Zealand. (Reuters)
People around the world are buying up protective face masks in hopes of keeping the new virus from China at bay. Some companies have required them for employees. Schools in South Korea have told parents to equip their children with masks and hand sanitizer when they return from winter vacation. But do the masks work? It depends. Click here to read full story
Tibet has reported the first confirmed case of novel coronavirus pneumonia, Chinese health authorities said on Thursday. The first case was reported after a 34-year-old man from China’s Hubei province, the epicentre of the virus, travelled to Tibet and complained of sickness. The patient surnamed Zhang is from the city of Suizhou in Central China’s Hubei province. He came to Lhasa by train from the provincial capital Wuhan on January 24 and was hospitalised on January 25. (PTI)
The Northern Mariana Islands banned all travellers from China and declared a “state of significant emergency” on Thursday, as Pacific island states stepped up measures to protect against the coronavirus outbreak. (AFP)
Trade unions in Hong Kong, including hospital and rail workers, are threatening to go on strike unless the government closes the border with mainland China to stop the spread of a new coronavirus that has sent jitters around the world. While Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has ordered the suspension of the high-speed rail service between the city and mainland China from midnight on Thursday and all cross-border ferry services, the unions said it was not enough. (Reuters)
Tamil Nadu: Manufacturers in Madurai working extra hours to produce N95 masks as demand soars in China due to #CoronaVirus outbreak. Abhilash, MD, AM Mediwear, says, “We’re getting a huge number of orders from Indian exporters who will send masks to China. We’ve doubled our production” (ANI)
The Chinese Football Association (CFA) said on Thursday it is postponing all domestic games due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus epidemic as the total number of confirmed deaths from the newly identified pathogen in the country rose to 170. Chinese health authorities said there were 7,711 confirmed cases of infection as of the end of Wednesday, mostly in Hubei province, while infections have been reported in at least 15 other countries. (Reuters)
Three Japanese evacuated from the epicentre of a deadly new coronavirus outbreak have tested positive for the illness, the government said on Thursday as it faced criticism for the country’s minimal quarantine measures. (AFP)
“Given the complex and dangerous nature of this situation, it would be best if the operating crew is accompanied by the ablest and most experienced members from relevant departments like engineering, commercial and medical to ensure the best on ground support to accomplish this mission safely,” the union said. Read More
With Air India preparing to operate flights to evacuate Indians from Wuhan in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic, a pilots’ union of the carrier has said the airline cannot afford any mistakes and risk spreading the infection. In a letter to Air India chief Ashwani Lohani, the Indian Pilots’ Guild (IPG) said the mission would be quite different from usual rescue and relief efforts, and presents new challenges as well as obstacles to overcome. (PTI)
The new virus has now infected more people in China than were sickened during the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak. On Wednesday, the number of cases jumped to 5,974, surpassing the 5,327 people diagnosed with SARS.
World health officials, back from a visit to Beijing, expressed great concern Wednesday that a dangerous new virus is spreading between people outside of China, even as the number of illnesses continues to grow dramatically inside that Asian nation. (AP)