02 March,2020 07:40 AM IST | | Agencies
South Korean soldiers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant as part of preventive measures against the spread of the Coronavirus, at Dongdaegu railway station in Daegu; South Korea confirmed 594 more cases on Saturday, taking the national total to 2,
The United States, Australia and Thailand each confirmed on Sunday their first deaths caused by the novel Coronavirus COVID-19 over the weekend. The virus continues to spread globally, with Ireland confirms first coronavirus case Ireland confirming its first case on Saturday. A man who had returned from Italy tested positive, the government said. Health officials in Ireland said the man, from the east of Ireland, was "receiving appropriate medical care" after they followed "established protocols" in testing and diagnosing him with COVID-19.
US President Donald Trump on Saturday said a 50-year-old woman, who had other medical issues besides the virus, passed away overnight in Washington. In Thailand, a 35-year-old man, who was also suffering from dengue fever, succumbed to the virus, said health officials on Sunday. So far, Thailand has reported 42 Coronavirus infection cases.
A 78-year-old man evacuated from the Coronavirus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise liner in Japan died at a Perth hospital on Sunday, becoming Australia-s first fatality from the disease, officials said. His 79-year-old wife was also infected with the disease during the cruise and remains in a Perth hospital, a spokeswoman for the Western Australian state health department told AFP. Japan on Sunday announced that all crew members from the cruise ship have now disembarked.
Trump also said 22 cases of Coronavirus have been reported in the US so far, adding that Washington is prepared to deal with the situation. He added that he would meet with the largest pharmaceutical companies to discuss the development of Coronavirus vaccine.
Administration "working around the clock so hard...it-s a tough one. But a lot of progress has been made," said Trump, during a press briefing. Coronavirus has spread to more than 45 countries including the UK, Singapore, Italy, France, Russia, Spain, and India. The World Health Organisation has declared the outbreak an international health emergency and said the global risk level remains high.
The US stock market fell for the seventh straight day amid fears of global economic damage from the escalating outbreak, and the Federal Reserve took the unusual step of issuing a statement to reassure Americans. In China - the epicentre of the deadly disease - the National Health Commission reported on Saturday at least 47 new Coronavirus deaths, raising the death toll to 2,835 nationwide.
British health authorities on Sunday announced 12 more confirmed cases of the new Coronavirus, bringing the country-s overall tally to 35. The government-s chief medical officer, Prof. Chris Whitty, said one of the new patients "had no relevant travel and it is not yet clear whether they contracted it directly or indirectly from an individual who had recently returned from abroad".
Whitty said medical workers were still investigating the cause of that one infection. Three of the new COVID-19 patients were contacts of an existing patient.
Of the remaining eight new cases, six infected people had recently traveled from Italy and two had arrived from Iran, both countries hard hit by the Coronavirus that emerged late last year in central China.
The Washington health officials fear a possible outbreak at a long-term nursing facility, where two people tested positive for the virus while more than 50 residents and staffers have the symptoms, according to a report by the CNN. A female health care worker, 40, with no known travel outside the US is among the two cases at Life Care Centre in Kirkland. The second is a woman in her 70s who is in a serious condition.
The proportion of Chinese patients who recovered from the virus and were discharged from hospitals continued to rise in the past week to reach 52.1 per cent, a Chinese health official said on Sunday. The recovery rate in Hubei and Wuhan have also increased in the past week, indicating that the overall situation of epidemic prevention and control continues to improve, said Mi Feng, a spokesperson for the National Health Commission.
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