The Center for Disease Control (CDC) on Thursday confirmed the 15th case of novel coronavirus in the United States after a Chinese evacuee was flown to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. A man wears a protective mask as he rides a bike on an empty street on Feb. 13, in Wuhan, China. A Chinese guard wears a protective mask and suit as he waits to check temperatures and register people entering a building in a commercial area on Feb. 21, in Beijing, China.
TOP News
World: China reports fewer coronavirus cases outside epicenter, cases surge in South Korea
- By reuters
- february 23, 2020
CDC is hopeful weather will suppress coronavirus, others unsure of weather's role
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) on Thursday confirmed the 15th case of novel coronavirus in the United States after a Chinese evacuee was flown to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. A man wears a protective mask as he rides a bike on an empty street on Feb. 13, in Wuhan, China.
-
-
-
-
- Supplement Social Security with these 19 tricksAd Microsoft
-
-
-
-
-
- Expert: This is the #1 Cash Back Card on the MarketAd Microsoft
-
-
-
-
-
- The Hottest Stocks for 2020 and BeyondAd Microsoft
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
A Chinese man wears a protective mask as he sits near closed shops in a commercial street on Feb. 18, in Beijing, China. Apple said Monday that it did not expect to meet its quarterly revenue targets due to the coronavirus outbreak in China.
China Expands Chaotic Dragnet in Coronavirus Crackdown
China’s leaders expanded a mass roundup of people possibly sickened with the coronavirus on Thursday, widening their dragnet well beyond the epicenter of the outbreak to at least two more cities in what the government has called a “wartime” campaign to stamp out the epidemic. But the campaign, first announced last week in the city of Wuhan, already has been marred by chaotic conditions that have isolated vulnerable patients without adequate care and, in some cases, left them alone to die. The expansion of the decree to “round up everyone who should be rounded up” in the Wuhan area of central China has deepened the nation’s sense of anxiety.
-
-
-
A man holding his mobile phone walks past a poster by Italian urban artist Salvatore Benintende depecting Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa wearing a protective facemask and holding a mobile phone reading "Mobile World Virus" in a street of Barcelona on Feb. 18, a week after the World Mobile Congress was cancelled due to fears stemming from the coronavirus that sparked an exodus of industry heavyweights.
Novel coronavirus cases top 79,000 amid worsening outbreaks in South Korea and Italy
Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned the novel coronavirus is the worst public health crisis facing the country since its founding, as new outbreaks continued to expand in South Korea and Italy, raising fears of a global pandemic. require(["medianetNativeAdOnArticle"], function (medianetNativeAdOnArticle)
{
medianetNativeAdOnArticle.getMedianetNativeAds(true);
}); Speaking Sunday, Xi said the "current epidemic situation is still severe and complex, and the prevention and control work is at the most critical stage.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, centre, wearing a protective face mask waves as he inspects the novel coronavirus pneumonia prevention and control work at a neighbourhoods in Beijing, on Feb. 10.
Spreading Across Continents, a Lethal Virus Tests a Fraying Global Order
In Iran, a spike in coronavirus infections has prompted fears of a contagion throughout the Middle East. In Italy, one of Europe’s largest economies, officials are struggling frantically to prevent the epidemic from paralyzing the commercial center of Milan. A Chinese man wears a protective mask as he sits near closed shops in a commercial street on Feb. 18, in Beijing, China. Apple said Monday that it did not expect to meet its quarterly revenue targets due to the coronavirus outbreak in China.
-
-
-
-
Paramilitary officers wearing face masks stand guard at the Tiananmen Gate, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Beijing, China on Jan. 27.
‘I Felt Like Crying’: Coronavirus Shakes China’s Expecting Mothers
HONG KONG — The hospital waiting room was filled with dozens of women wearing homemade hazmat suits. Their hair was tucked tightly under shower caps. Their rain ponchos zipped taut over winter coats. All of the women, anxious and pregnant during the coronavirus outbreak, had been waiting hours to see the same doctor. “I don’t feel at ease,” said Vigor Liu, who is five months pregnant with her first child. After waiting for three hours, Ms. Liu finally saw the doctor for a brief 10-minute conversation. His advice: stop reading the news.
-
-
-
-
-
-
Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital where patients infected with a new strain of Coronavirus identified as the cause of the Wuhan pneumonia outbreak are treated in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, on Jan. 20.
Why is Iran's reported mortality rate for coronavirus higher than in other countries?
Iran's reported mortality rate for the illness — about 16 percent — surpasses the rate for other countries by a dramatic margin. At the epicenter of the outbreak in Hubei province in China, the reported mortality rate is estimated at around 2 percent. In South Korea, 11 patients have died from the virus out of 977 cases, for a reported mortality rate of about 1 percent. 1/50 SLIDES © Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters A passenger wearing a mask to prevent contacting the coronavirus sits at a photo-spot at Seoul Railway Station on Feb. 25 in Seoul, South Korea.
-
-
-
-
China’s leaders expanded a mass roundup of people possibly sickened with the coronavirus on Thursday, widening their dragnet well beyond the epicenter of the outbreak to at least two more cities in what the government has called a “wartime” campaign to stamp out the epidemic. But the campaign, first announced last week in the city of Wuhan, already has been marred by chaotic conditions that have isolated vulnerable patients without adequate care and, in some cases, left them alone to die. The expansion of the decree to “round up everyone who should be rounded up” in the Wuhan area of central China has deepened the nation’s sense of anxiety. 
Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned the novel coronavirus is the worst public health crisis facing the country since its founding, as new outbreaks continued to expand in South Korea and Italy, raising fears of a global pandemic. require(["medianetNativeAdOnArticle"], function (medianetNativeAdOnArticle)
{
medianetNativeAdOnArticle.getMedianetNativeAds(true);
}); Speaking Sunday, Xi said the "current epidemic situation is still severe and complex, and the prevention and control work is at the most critical stage. 
In Iran, a spike in coronavirus infections has prompted fears of a contagion throughout the Middle East. In Italy, one of Europe’s largest economies, officials are struggling frantically to prevent the epidemic from paralyzing the commercial center of Milan. A Chinese man wears a protective mask as he sits near closed shops in a commercial street on Feb. 18, in Beijing, China. Apple said Monday that it did not expect to meet its quarterly revenue targets due to the coronavirus outbreak in China. 
HONG KONG — The hospital waiting room was filled with dozens of women wearing homemade hazmat suits. Their hair was tucked tightly under shower caps. Their rain ponchos zipped taut over winter coats. All of the women, anxious and pregnant during the coronavirus outbreak, had been waiting hours to see the same doctor. “I don’t feel at ease,” said Vigor Liu, who is five months pregnant with her first child. After waiting for three hours, Ms. Liu finally saw the doctor for a brief 10-minute conversation. His advice: stop reading the news. 
Iran's reported mortality rate for the illness — about 16 percent — surpasses the rate for other countries by a dramatic margin. At the epicenter of the outbreak in Hubei province in China, the reported mortality rate is estimated at around 2 percent. In South Korea, 11 patients have died from the virus out of 977 cases, for a reported mortality rate of about 1 percent. 1/50 SLIDES © Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters A passenger wearing a mask to prevent contacting the coronavirus sits at a photo-spot at Seoul Railway Station on Feb. 25 in Seoul, South Korea. 
Slideshow by photo services
SHANGHAI/SEOUL (Reuters) - China reported another fall in the new coronavirus infections outside of its epicenter on Sunday, but world health officials warned it was too early to make predictions about the outbreak as new infections and fears of contagion increased elsewhere.
China's health commission confirmed 648 new infections on Sunday - higher than a day earlier - but only 18 were outside of Hubei province, the lowest number outside of the epicenter since authorities started publishing data a month ago.
But new infections outside of China continued to worry world health authorities, with South Korea on Sunday reporting a fourth death due to the virus and 123 new cases, bringing its total to 556, having doubled from Friday to Saturday.
Cases in Italy, Europe's worst hit country, more than quadrupled to 79 on Saturday, with two deaths. Ten new cases in Iran took the total to 29 there, and six deaths, deepening unease at home and in neighboring countries in the Gulf.
The World Health Organization said it was channeling efforts into helping to prepare vulnerable countries, including 13 in Africa. It expressed concern on Saturday about the number of new infections that had no clear link to China, such as travel history or contact with a confirmed case.
Fact Check: Trump addresses nation on coronavirus
President Donald Trump and top U.S. health officials addressed the nation on the new coronavirus, COVID-19, on Wednesday. Here's a factcheck.With more than 81,300 cases worldwide and spreading rapidly beyond China to South Korea, Italy and Iran, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Tuesday the virus would spread in the United States and cause "severe" disruptions across the country. More than half the new cases in South Korea were linked to a Shincheonji Church of Jesus congregation in Daegu, after a woman known as "Patient 31" who attended services tested positive for the virus last week. The woman had no recent record of overseas travel.
The disease has spread to some 26 countries and territories outside China, killing more than a dozen people, according to a Reuters tally. The virus has been fatal in 2% of reported cases, with a risk of death higher for older patients, and relatively few cases among children, according to the WHO.
The potential economic impact of the outbreak overshadowed a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Saudi Arabia, at which the International Monetary Fund chief said the disruption caused by the coronavirus would likely lower China's economic growth this year to 5.6%, down 0.4 percentage points from its January outlook, and shave 0.1 percentage points from global growth.
PATIENT BACKLOG
China's health commission said the number of new deaths from COVID-19, as the disease caused by the virus is known, was 97, all but one of which were in Hubei. Eighty-two of those were in the provincial capital Wuhan.
The official Xinhua news agency reported Wuhan had conducted nucleic tests for all its backlog of patients in a bid to arrest the coronavirus spread, including those confirmed or suspected to be infected or in close contact with confirmed cases and patients with fever.
Guo Shengkun, secretary of the Communist Party's Politics and Law Commission, inspected several jails on Saturday and stressed that China should learn from the infections last week of hundreds of inmates, including taking extraordinary measures and "wartime strategies" to tackle the spread.
In total, China has reported 76,936 cases, and 2,442 deaths. The WHO says the virus remains mild in 80% of patients, and severe or critical in 20%.
Top US General says military preparing for all coronavirus scenarios, including potential pandemic
Top US military officials said the US military is planning for all scenarios as it faces the coronavirus, including a pandemic should the spread of the virus reach that point. "The United States military looks at a wide variety of scenarios," Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said at the Pentagon, adding that "pandemic is the worst case.""Of course we do all kinds of planning in the department of defense," Milley told reporters, adding that the military labs are working on a vaccine. "With respect to the vaccine, yes, the military labs are working very consistently ... South Korea's earlier cases were linked to China but the new infections center in two places, Daegu, a city of about 2.5 million, and a hospital in Cheongdo, a county with about 43,000 people. Both have been designated "special care zones".
In Italy, schools and universities were closed and three Serie A soccer matches slated for Sunday postponed in Lombardy and Veneto, the two regions where the outbreak is concentrated.
The two regions are Italy's industrial heart and jointly account for 30% of gross domestic output.
The announcement by Iranian authorities of multiple cases and deaths over a short period of time has led to criticism and accusations from Iranians online of a cover-up by officials. Authorities had no immediate response.
The United Arab Emirates announced two new cases on Saturday, an Iranian tourist and his wife, raising the total in that country to 13.
Lebanon confirmed its first case on Friday, a 45-year-old woman returning from Qom, Iran.
Iraq announced on Thursday that it had banned border crossings by Iranian nationals, Iraq's state news agency said.
That followed Iraqi Airways suspending flights to Iran, following Kuwait Airways. Saudi Arabia said on Friday it had suspended travel by citizens and expatriates to Iran.
Japan's health minister apologized on Saturday after a woman who was allowed to leave a coronavirus-infected cruise ship docked near Tokyo tested positive for the virus.
The woman in her 60s disembarked the ship on Wednesday following a two-week quarantine on board, but was found to be positive following another test in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo.
"We deeply apologize for the situation caused by our oversight," Health Minister Katsunobu Kato told a news conference. "We will take all necessary measures, like double checks, to prevent a recurrence."
The ministry said it would retest 23 passengers released from the ship.
(Reporting by Emily Chow in Shanghai, Lushu Zhang in Beijing; Additional reporting by Jane Chung in Seoul, Kirsti Knolle in Vienna, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Valentina Za in Milan and; Riccardo Bastianello in Padua; Babak Dehghanpisheh and Aziz El Yaakoubi in Dubai, Stephen Kalin, Andrea Shalal and Leika Kihara in Riyadh, Stanley White in Tokyo; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Kim Coghill))
Top US General says military preparing for all coronavirus scenarios, including potential pandemic .
Top US military officials said the US military is planning for all scenarios as it faces the coronavirus, including a pandemic should the spread of the virus reach that point. "The United States military looks at a wide variety of scenarios," Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said at the Pentagon, adding that "pandemic is the worst case.""Of course we do all kinds of planning in the department of defense," Milley told reporters, adding that the military labs are working on a vaccine. "With respect to the vaccine, yes, the military labs are working very consistently ...
See also
