Over 700 deaths have been reported due to outbreak of Coronavirus in China. Follow LIVE updates as we track the rescue efforts led by different countries from Wuhan

Highlights

Nepal donates 1 lakh protective masks to China

Nepal has donated 1 lakh protective masks to China after coronavirus outbreak resulting in death of more than 700 people, Nepal Foreign Ministry said. (ANI)

France to close two schools near ski resort after coronavirus cases

Two schools near a French ski resort where five Britons have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus will be shut next week as authorities try to determine with whom those infected had been in contact, a regional health official said.

Eleven Britons, including the five who tested positive for the virus, are being examined in local hospitals. (Reuters)

2019-nCoV testing lab set up in Ahmedabad’s BJ medical college

The Gujarat governmenthas set up a laboratory testing facility for the novel Coronavirus in Ahmedabad for timely results and reducing the burden on such facilities in Pune and Mumbai in neighbouring Maharashtra, officials said on Saturday.
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus, officially called 2019-nCoV, in China has put tremendous pressure on medical infrastructure due to a large number of people returning to the country from there. (PTI)

Telengana: Test results of eight awaited for coronavirus

Test results of eight people for novel Coronavirus were awaited in Telangana, officials said on Saturday, even as no positive case of the virus has been reported in the state so far. Samples of 62 people tested negative, they said. The tests for determination of the virus are now being conducted at the state-run Gandhi hospital here. (PTI)

Chinese national, 5 others test negative for coronavirus

Six persons including a Chinese national who were admitted to hospitals in Maharashtra for possible exposure to the novel coronavirus have tested negative, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Saturday. Since January 18, a total of 35 patients were admitted to isolation wards at hospitals in Mumbai, Pune, Ahmednagar and a few other cities. Samples of thirty of these patients tested negative for the virus, while reports of five others were yet to be received from Pune’s National Institute of Virology, an official statement said here. (PTI)

Screening on at Mumbai airport; 30 out of 35 people with coronavirus symptoms tests negative

A total of 18,084 people have been screened at Mumbai International Airport till Saturday, reported news agency ANI. Thirty-five of them had symptoms similar to #CoronaVirus; reports of 30 persons are negative while report of remaining five is awaited.

Brazilian plane evacuates Indian from Wuhan

A Brazilian air force flight has evacuated an Indian national from Wuhan in China along with a group of Brazilian citizens, diplomatic sources said on Saturday. The Indian has disembarked from the plane in Poland, they said. Two of Brazil’s military aircradt flew to Wuhan, epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, to rescue its citizens stuck in the city.

A mother’s fight for toddler stranded in China’s coronavirus epicentre

Amelia Pan is at home in Canada while her 2-year-old daughter Cerena is stranded far away in China’s Hubei province, epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, being cared for by a distant relative after the girl’s father and grand-parents fell ill. (Reuters)

Fear can be more harmful than coronavirus, Singapore PM says after run on shops

Fear can do more harm than the spreading coronavirus, Singapore’s prime minister said on Saturday, a day after the city-state raised its alert level, prompting residents to clear out supermarket shelves of rice, noodles and toilet paper.
Singapore raised its response to “orange” – the same as during the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak and the 2009 H1N1 influenza, which indicates the virus is severe and passes easily between persons. (Reuters)

Singapore says second evacuation flight from Wuhan to return on Sunday

A second evacuation flight bringing back Singaporeans and their family members from virus-hit Wuhan in China was expected to arrive in the city-state on Sunday morning, Singapore’s foreign ministry said on Saturday. The city-state evacuated 92 Singaporeans from Wuhan – the locked down Chinese city that is the epicentre of the outbreak – last Thursday, some of whom have since been confirmed as infected. Authorities said they had to leave some passengers behind who were showing symptoms. (Reuters)

Coronavirus infects over 34,000 people across 24 countries

Novel coronavirus has infected over 34,000 people across 24 countries. India has identified three cases in Kerala.

Five British nationals diagnosed with coronavirus in France: French health minister

Five British nationals have been diagnosed with the coronavirus in France, after a coming into contact with a person who had been in Singapore, Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said on Saturday. The new cases included a child, Buzyn added. She said they were not in a serious condition. The total number of people infected with the virus in France has now reached 11.
All of these British nationals were statying in the same chalet in Ski resort, Buzyn said. (Reuters)

China blocks Foxconn plan to restart factories over virus worries

Chinese authorities have blocked a plan by Apple supplier Foxconn to resume production in China from Monday, the Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday, amid concerns about the spread of the new coronavirus. Public health experts carried out inspections at Foxconn’s factories in the southern city of Shenzhen and told the company that its factories had a “high risk of coronavirus infection”, making them unsuitable for a production restart, the newspaper https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus-outbreak/China-blocks-restart-of-Foxconn-plants-due-to-coronavirus-sources said, citing four people familiar with the matter without identifying them. (Reuters)

Royal Caribbean bans Chinese nationals from cruise ships

The US cruise ship company Royal Caribbean has declared that anybody — passengers and crew — with Chinese passports will be banned from all of its ships regardless of when they were last in China, reported international media The Guardian. The announcement came after four travellers onboard the company’s Anthem of the Seas cruise ship were hospitalised in New Jersey after experiencing symptoms of the virus.

US awaits China’s approval to send in experts as part of WHO team

US experts on infectious diseases, including government officials, are awaiting approval to enter China to help fight the coronavirus epidemic, having been included on a list proposed by the World Health Organization, a US embassy spokesman told Reuters on Saturday. China agreed to allow WHO to form a team of experts to travel to China to learn about the virus and find solutions to the outbreak, the spokesman said. (Reuters)

Why cruise ships are especially vulnerable during outbreaks of disease

The cruise ship Diamond Princess, which has been quarantined in Japan’s Yokohama for two weeks amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, has 3,700 people on board including some 700 Indians. The Japanese government said Saturday at least 64 people on board had tested positive for the virus. The ship, which left a Hong Kong port on January 25, has been quarantined for 14 days after a person who disembarked in Hong Kong was found to have been infected by the virus. MORE Passengers stand on the balcony of the cruise ship Diamond Princess anchored at the Yokohama Port in Yokohama, near Tokyo Friday, Feb. 7, 2020. (AP Photo: Eugene Hoshiko)

China’s Wuhan opens another makeshift hospital to fight virus

The Chinese city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 700 people across the country opened another makeshift hospital on Saturday, providing 1,500 beds, state media reported. The first medical team has arrived at the Leishenshan hospital in Wuhan and patients will be admitted on Saturday, state-run CCTV reported. It said the hospital has 32 wards and a surgical operating room.

200 sick after norovirus outbreak at Louisiana casino

An outbreak of norovirus at a southwestern Louisiana casino has left at least 200 people sick and has prompted an investigation by state health officials 
The Department of Health confirmed Thursday that the illnesses reported at L’Auberge Casino in Lake Charles last weekend were norovirus-related, news outlets reported. The highly contagious gastrointestinal illness that can cause vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain 
The agency’s regional medical director Dr. Lacey Cavanaugh said there were several hundred people at the casino’s most recent events. She said the agency has received at least 200 surveys from people self-reporting virus symptoms.

UAE says total of seven cases diagnosed with coronavirus, as two more cases detected

Two new cases of coronavirus infection have been detected in the United Arab Emirates, bringing the total number of people diagnosed with the disease to seven, the country’s health ministry said on Twitter on Saturday.

Thailand reports seven new coronavirus cases

Thailand’s public health ministry reported seven new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday, including three Thais and four Chinese. The new cases brought the total reported in the country to 32, among the world’s highest number of infections outside of China. “The seven new cases are all in hospital,” said Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, director-general of the Disease Control Department.

Shanghai govt to help Tesla resume production amid coronavirus epidemic

US electric carmaker Tesla’s factory in China’s financial hub of Shanghai will resume production on Feb. 10 with assistance to help it cope with a spreading epidemic of coronavirus, a Shanghai government official said on Saturday. Many factories across China shut in late January for the Lunar New Year holiday that was originally due to end on Jan. 30 but which was extended in a bid to contain the spread of the new flu-like virus that has killed more than 700 people.

Japanese with suspected coronavirus infection dies in China

A Japanese man with a suspected coronavirus infection has died in hospital in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the Japanese foreign ministry said Saturday. The man in his 60s had been hospitalised due to severe pneumonia and the hospital reported his death to the Japanese embassy in China, the ministry said in a statement.

US citizen dies of coronavirus in Wuhan: embassy

A US citizen has died from the new coronavirus at the epicentre of the epidemic in China, the US embassy said Saturday, in what appears to be the first confirmed foreign death from the outbreak. “We can confirm that a 60-year-old US citizen diagnosed with coronavirus died at a hospital in Wuhan, China, on February 6,” AFP quoted an embassy spokesman as saying.

Among the deaths in China, 81 are in Hubei province

Among the deaths in China, 81 are in Hubei province and its provincial capital Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, two in Heilongjiang, as well as one in Beijing, Henan and Gansu, the commission said. By the end of Friday, 26 confirmed cases, including one death, have been reported in Hong Kong. Macao reported 10 cases, while Taiwan reported 16 cases, it said. A total of 4,214 new suspected cases were reported and 1,280 patients became seriously ill, and 510 people were discharged from hospital after recovery, according to the commission.

Japanese authorities have so far tested 273 people

The Japanese government said Friday that 61 people on board the ship, with more than 3,700 passengers, had tested positive, and an additional 41 were found to have contracted the virus. Japanese authorities have so far tested 273 people, who were either showing symptoms or had been in close contact with those who did. The ship, which left Hong Kong port on January 25, was quarantined for 14 days after a person who disembarked in Hong Kong last month was diagnosed with the virus. ‘Today they (the infected) will be sent to hospitals in several prefectures, and we are preparing for that,’ a Health Ministry statement said.The cruise ship Diamond Princess, where 10 more people were tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday, is seen at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan. (Reuters)

What is coronavirus that has spread in China

Indian crew in quarantine: ‘We are in fear.we want to leave’

A resident of West Bengal who is among several Indian crew members onboard a luxury cruise currently quarantined near Yokohama port, Japan, with 64 confirmed cases of coronavirus, has appealed to Indian authorities for help, saying the infection on board the ship is spreading.MORE Officials enter Diamond Princess to transfer a patient to hospital in Yokohama, Japan. (Reuters)

Coronavirus death toll rises to 722 with 86 new mortalities in a single day

The death toll in China’s novel coronavirus outbreak has sharply risen to 722 with 86 new mortalities in a single day, mostly in the worst-affected Hubei province, while the total number of confirmed cases jumped to 34,546, Chinese health officials said on Saturday.

Welcome to Coronavirus outbreak LIVE blog

Welcome to our LIVE blog. Coronavirus has claimed 722 lives in China as of now while the number of confirmed cases has risen to 34,546, Chinese health authorities announced Saturday. Follow to get all the latest updates here!

Coronavirus outbreak LIVE updates: People wearing masks, walk in a subway station, in Hong Kong. (AP)

In other news, three more people on a luxury cruise ship off Japan tested positive for the novel coronavirus Saturday, bringing the number of positive cases to 64. On Friday, the Japanese government had said that 61 people on board the ship, with more than 3,700 passengers, had tested positive, and an additional 41 were found to have contracted the virus.

In India, 15 Kerala students, who were stranded in Hubei province of China, landed at the Cochin International Airport last night and underwent a thermal screening for the infection. “The students travelled to Bangkok from Kunming Airport and then took an Air Asia flight to reach here. When the flight reached Kochi at 11 pm on Friday, they were directly taken to the Kalamassery Medical College Hospital in five sterilised ambulances. The students have been admitted to an isolation ward of the hospital. Relatives of the students had reached the airport but they were not allowed to meet them”, PTI quoted officials as saying.

On Friday evening, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar tweeted that they are monitoring the developments closely. ‘Many Indian crew & some Indian passengers are onboard the cruise ship #DiamondPrincess quarantined off Japan due to #Coronavirus. None have tested positive, as per the latest information provided by our Embassy,’ he said.

Reaching out to the PM directly, the 30-year-old crew member said, ‘Modiji sent Air India flight to a city in China to evacuate Indians. This is Indian culture. Please Modiji, you can do something. The Wing Commander (Abhinandan Varthaman) returned from Pakistan because of you. Modiji is my idol.’

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has said China is doing a good job on its fight against the deadly coronavirus adding that the US was helping them out. “China is working very hard. Late last night, I had a very good talk with President Xi and we talked mostly about the coronavirus. I think they are doing a very professional job,” Trump said.

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