Coronavirus Update: Number of New Cases Hits 3-Week Low, Incubation Period Could Be Longer Than 14 Days
Tokyo Station, in Tokyo, Japan
MONDAY’S NEWS AND FIGURES
The death toll and number of infections from the Wuhan coronavirus hit a three-week low Monday. Officials in China reported 105 new deaths, bringing the total to at least 1,113, and 2,058 new confirmed cases that were recorded in the previous 24 hours. The total number of confirmed diagnoses of the virus is now 70,558 and the global death toll is 1,775.
CORONAVIRUS NEWS
02-17 The incubation period for the coronavirus could be longer than 14 days, health experts are cautioning. Officials in Henan province in central China reported that two coronavirus cases took “much longer” than the previously estimated 14-day incubation period for the patients to show symptoms. In the city of Xinyang, officials reported that one new case was first confirmed after an apparent 34-day incubation period. Last week, the government of Xinxian county reported that one of its new cases was first confirmed after a 34-day period.
02-17 Hundreds of Americans who had been on board the cruise ship Diamond Princess landed in the United States. The group included 14 passengers who tested positive for the coronavirus but were asymptomatic, according to a joint statement by the Department of State and the Department of Health and Human Services. The 14 were seated in a separate section of the aircraft and were being sent to “an appropriate location for continued isolation and care.”
02-17 Work began in Beijing to convert an industrial building to a mask factory. The factory is expected to be able to manufacturer 250,000 masks per day and the government said it will be up and running by the end of the week.
02-17 The People’s Bank of China, China’s central bank, cut the interest for medium-term lending. The move comes as part of a strategy to lessen the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on businesses in the country.
02-17 The Tokyo Marathon said it will hold its 2020 event as scheduled on March 1, albeit on a much smaller scale. The marathon will be limited to those with elite runner status including wheelchair elite. A total of 38,000 runners are registered for the race. Of that number, 245 are elite runners and 30 are elite wheelchair athletes, Reuters reported.
02-17 The resultant quarantines and travel restrictions from the coronavirus outbreak have produced a shortage of workers for many companies. The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai said that 80% of companies it surveyed lacked the full complement of employees to operate their businesses at full capacity.
02-17 Officials in China’s Hubei Province have told residents to stay at home. About 200,000 rural communities with a population of some 24 million people will go into strict quarantine, even as restrictions in other parts of the country are lifted.
02-16 France announced its first death due to coronavirus and its 12th case. The deceased was an 80-year-old Chinese tourist. The new patient is a British national.
02-16 The Taiwanese government said that a 61-year-old man who was not known to have visited mainland China died as a result of the coronavirus. The man had a history of diabetes and hepatitis B. Health officials there were investigating how he might have become infected.
02-15 The death of another nurse in Wuhan was reported. Lin Fan a 59-year-old health care worker, died as a result of the coronavirus Friday evening, Wuhan Wuchang Hospital said in a post on Weibo.
02-15 After the Westerdam cruise ship docked in Cambodia after being refused entry at port after port, an American passenger who had disembarked and continued on to Malaysia was stopped at the thermal scanners at the airport in Kuala Lumpur. He later tested positive for the coronavirus.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
