Coronavirus Update: 8,000 Cases, 170 Dead, Russia Seals China Border, 7,000 in Quarantine on Cruise Ship
The number of reported cases of coronavirus jumped by 30% in just one day, according to figures reported by officials in China. Over 170 have died from the virus thus far, all of them in China. The number of people with confirmed infections in China is now over 8,000.
Over 100 people in 20 countries outside China have become infected with confirmed cases of the virus as of Thursday.
As a result of the outbreak, Air France, KLM, and Delta Air Lines added their names fo the list of articles suspending or cutting back on flights to China.
Russia closed its 2,485-mile (4,000-kilometer) far-eastern border with China in an attempt to stem the spread of the virus,
Japan and the United States were the first of several countries to operate flights to evacuate diplomatic personnel and citizens, while India and Australia are planning similar rescue missions. Britain’s planned evacuation flight ran into bureaucratic snags and the Foreign Office said it is working “urgently” and “at very senior levels” to resolve the issues.
Meanwhile, over 7,000 people are being held in quarantine at Civitavecchia port on the cruise ship Costa Smeralda after a 54-year-old passenger developed a fever. She and her husband are being tested for the coronavirus. The Costa Smeralda is the fifth largest cruise ship in the world. It is operated by Costa Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival and went into service in 2019.
“All the other passengers are, at the moment remaining on board,” a spokesman for Costa Cruises said in a statement.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra said Thursday it would cancel its East Asia tour as a result of the outbreak.
Meanwhile, another deadly virus, influenza, has infected over 15 million people in the United States and resulted in the death of over 8,200 people in the current season. Indeed the 2019-2020 flu season is on its way to become one of the most deadly in over a decade.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
