Coronavirus Update: Cases in Korea Double, CDC Prepares for Pandemic
SATURDAY’S FACTS AND FIGURES
The Chinese National Health Commission reported 397 new confirmed coronavirus cases, a 55% drop from the 889 reported the prior day. This brings the total number of cases in the country to 76,288. The death toll on Friday was 109, bringing the total of those killed by the virus to 2,345.
In Europe, officials in several countries said that the total number of confirmed cases in England is currently at nine, while officials reported 12 in France, 16 in Germany, and 20 in Italy.
The number of coronavirus cases in the United States rose to 34.
The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in South Korea more than doubled. The report that the number of new infections had risen to 889 was a sixfold increase in cases in four days. Of the 431 new cases, 231 were linked to a church in the city of Daegu, while 111 were at the psychiatric ward of a hospital in Cheongdo County. The two clusters of Covid-19 account for roughly 80% of the country’s total number of confirmed cases. Meanwhile, Samsung shut down a factory there after a worker tested positive for the virus.
The death toll from Covid-19 in Iran rose to 5, the highest outside of China.
The Chinese Passenger Car Association reported that new vehicle sales had plunged 92% in the first half of February, citing the coronavirus as the reason for the decline.
The International Air Transport Association said to expect a collection drop of $29 billion in earnings reports by global carriers for the first half of 2020, also as a result of the coronavirus.
CORONAVIRUS NEWS
02-22 Japan’s health minister, Katsunobu Kato, said that 23 passengers on the cruise ship Diamond Princess, which is docked in Yokohama, were mistakenly cleared to leave the ship without having been tested for the coronavirus.
02-22 Meanwhile, dozens of Britsh and European citizens were repatriated from the Diamond Princess after weeks trapped onboard the ship, the British Foreign Office said. The repatriation flight landed at Boscombe Down military base. All 32 passengers were placed in a 14-day quarantine there.
02-21 The CDC said that the number of coronavirus in the United States is almost certain to increase, given that thousand of people who recently traveled to China are now voluntarily quarantining themselves and watching for any possible symptoms during the incubation period.
02-21 The CDC also began to take steps to prepare for a possible pandemic as global cases continue to rise, it said.“We are reviewing all of our pandemic preparedness materials and adapting them to Covid-19,” said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “The materials will serve as a blueprint for the community interventions that we will use here in the U.S.”
02-21 A woman from Los Angeles came forward about a verbal attack on the subway in Los Angeles. Tanny Jiraprapasuke, who is not Chinese, was the victim of a verbal and racist coronavirus rant that she recorded out of fear. The news comes amidst a string of attacks on Asians in the United States as a result of coronavirus hysteria.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
