Coronavirus outbreak HIGHLIGHTS: Passengers wearing masks wait in a line to check-in to a flight to Shanghai at the Vaclav Havel International Airport in Prague, Czech Republic, January 27, 2020. (AP Photo)
Coronavirus outbreak HIGHLIGHTS: The Ministry of External Affairs Tuesday said the Centre has started preparations to evacuate the Indians stranded in China’s Wuhan, which is the epicenter of the outbreak of the deadly new coronavirus. This comes as the death toll in China due to coronavirus rose to 106 as the country continued to impose restrictions on travel to curb its spread. China’s national health commission said the number of confirmed cases now stood at 4,515, up from 2,835 a day before.
Three Indian men, who came from China Monday, have been admitted to the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital Delhi. “They walked into the hospital on their own with symptoms of cold and cough which is similar to the coronavirus outbreak,” Dr Minakshi Bharadwaj, medical superintendent of the hospital, said.
Also, a Tardeo resident in Mumbai and a Pune resident are among five in Maharashtra who are in a quarantine ward on suspicion of novel coronavirus (nCoV). In Kerala, over 430 people, most of whom returned from Wuhan province, are under observation. Meanwhile, about 45 Indian medical students at Jianghan University School of Medicine in Wuhan, who are stranded in their hostels, have sought immediate help from Indian authorities. Top sources in Air India said the airline has kept one of its 423-seater jumbo plane ready in Mumbai for the evacuation.
Countries across the world are scrambling to detect and control the virus, as authorities try to evacuate their nationals from China. Health officials in the United States Tuesday said at least 110 people were being evaluated for possible infection in the country, the New York Times reported.
Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS: Workers package medical masks in a factory in Nantong in eastern China's Jiangsu Province, Monday. (AP)
In the wake of the outbreak of coronavirus in China, the Manipur government has taken up necessary precautionary measures to prevent the infiltration of virus into the state.
On Monday, the health department issued an order to depute a team of its officials along the Indo-Myanmar border for screening foreigners and Indians coming into the state from China and its neighbouring countries.
The team, comprising six health officials, will be stationed at the Indo-Myanmar Friendship gate number one and two at the Moreh border town and screen visitors coming into the Indian side.
Manipur shares 398 km of its border with Myanmar, an immediate neighbour to China. Manipur exports a huge quantity of goods from Myanmar, including China-made products through the Moreh border.
A total of 633 people, who returned to Kerala from China in recent days, are under observation for possible exposure to the novel coronavirus, state Health Minister K K Shylaja said on Tuesday. Of the 633, seven are under observation in isolation wards at different hospitals, according to officials. (PTI)
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren Tuesday unveiled a plan that includes fully funding the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's pandemic prevention and response programs. The agency has faced stiff budget cuts under President Donald Trump, including to emergency funds and global health programs that were established following West Africa's Ebola epidemic in 2014.
“Like so much else, Trump's approach to keeping us safe from disease outbreaks is a mess,” Warren wrote in an online post announcing the plan. “But when he's gone, we can fix it.” Warren's proposal comes as the coronavirus has killed more than 100 people in China and the city at the center of the crisis, Wuhan, remains on lockdown. The US has confirmed cases in Washington state, Illinois, Southern California and Arizona. (AP)
Coronaviruses are a large family of respiratory viruses that can cause diseases ranging from the common cold to the Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), as per WHO. So far, the main clinical signs and symptoms reported in the Wuhan outbreak include fever, difficulty in breathing, and chest radiographs showing bilateral lung infiltrates. However, not enough is known about the epidemiology of 2019-nCoV to draw definitive conclusions and the intensity of the human-to-human transmission, and the original source of the outbreak. Read more
Several deadly new viruses in recent years have emerged in China — Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), bird flu, and now the novel coronavirus (nCOV). The reason could lie in the busy food markets dotting cities across the country — where fruits, vegetables, hairy crabs and butchered meat are often sold next to bamboo rats, snakes, turtles, and palm civets. Closely packed stalls in busy marketplaces, the Chinese taste for exotic meats, and the high population density of cities create the conditions for the spread of zoonotic infections, experts say. Read more
MEA makes formal request to China to facilitate evacuation of Indians from Wuhan-epicentre of coronavirus outbreak: Health Ministry statement.
Five suspected cases of the novel coronavirus which has spread fears in China, were reported in Haryana on Tuesday. Two of them are from Gurugram while the other three are from Faridabad, Nuh, and Panipat district. Director-general of state health services Dr Suraj Bhan Kamboj said that the patient have recently traveled to Haryana from China. Kamboj said that as of now, no positive case of coronavirus has been reported from any part of the country. Read more
Even as three Indians have been kept under observation in Delhi over a novel coronavirus scare, Tripura Tuesday issued a high alert across the state, especially in areas adjoining the Indo-Bangladesh border, to check if any patient carrying the virus is entering the country.
Speaking to indianexpress.com, Tripura Health Secretary Dr. Debashish Bose said the state health authorities have received an advisory from the Centre on Tuesday about the standard procedure prescribed to combat the infection. Read more
At least 100 students from Gujarat staying in China had expressed their desire to return home due to the outbreak of novel Coronavirus in Wuhan and some of them are coming back from Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has said.
"Around 100 students from Gujarat had expressed their desire to come back from China. Some of them are coming back from Beijing today while remaining students would return tomorrow. We are working in coordination with Indian as well as Chinese government over the issue," PTI quoted the CM as saying.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Tuesday said the Central government is planning to send an airplane to evacuate Indians stuck in China's Huebei province due to the outbreak of Coronavirus.
"Indian Embassy is in constant touch with the Chinese government. To evacuate students and other Indians from Wuhan, we are planning to send a plane there. Our efforts are on to bring them back. It will take some days. I urge people to trust the government on this," Jaishankar told reporters on his arrival at the Vadodara airport in Gujarat.
"No Indian student has been found to be affected by this virus. Parents need not worry about their children," he said before leaving for Kevadiya by road.
(PTI)
Taiwan raised its travel warning for China on Tuesday saying that people should avoid going unless absolutely necessary amid an outbreak of the new coronavirus there, and said it had begun to release stocks of face masks but would limit purchases.
Taiwan and China have close economic and cultural ties, and the island has reported seven confirmed cases of the virus so far. All of the more than 100 deaths so far have been in China, centred on Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province. (Reuters)
Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam has announced that all rail links to mainland China will be cut starting Friday as fears grow about the spread of a new virus. Both the high-speed rail station and the regular train station would be closed, she said. (AP)
Demand for face masks and hand sanitising liquid has soared in Asian markets, as both local residents and visitors from China stock up on such products as a reassuring precaution against the new coronavirus.
In some parts of Asia, wearing of surgical masks has become mandatory, for now. "Sales of disinfectant products and hygiene masks have been rising since last week. First Chinese tourists came to our store to buy these products to bring back with them. They bought in bulk, like two or three boxes per person," said Varumporn Krataitohg, an employee of the NanBhesaj drugstore in central Bangkok.
Stocks of masks ran out quickly at outlets of South Korea's biggest 24-hour convenience store, CU, at airports, bus terminals and other transportation hubs.
Sales of soap, hand sanitizers and mouthwash more than doubled, said CU's parent company, BGF Retail. Overall, though, there were no immediate signs of major shortages in South Korea, which has reported four cases of the illness.
(AP)
Moscow city authorities have put in place special safety measures at hotels and tourist sites due to fears over the outbreak of coronavirus in China, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Tuesday.
"We have taken special control of hotels and other places where tourists gather en masse. When alarming signs appear, emergency medical teams will be sent to carry out a thorough examination," he wrote on his website. (Reuters)
Reviewing the status of preparedness regarding the new coronavirus, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said, "We are in contact with Chinese authorities to bring back Indians from China. Once they are brought back they will be kept in quarantine for 2 weeks and necessary medical facilities will be provided to them." (ANI)
Oil futures were set for a sixth day of losses as the death toll due to coronavirus rose in China, but the heavy sell-off of recent sessions was curbed by output outages in Libya and OPEC comments designed to calm demand fears.
Brent crude was down 51 cents at $58.81 a barrel at 0925 GMT, having hit a three-month low of $58.50 on Monday as the virus outbreak triggered a global sell-off of riskier assets.
US West Texas Intermediate was down 32 cents at $52.82 a barrel, after slipping to its lowest since early October in the previous session at $52.13. Both contracts are on track for their worst monthly falls since May.
(Reuters)
Government starts preparations to evacuate Indians from Wuhan, Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. Indian embassy is coordinating with Chinese authorities, the statement added.
So far, 20 samples from across India have been sent to NIV Pune for testing. They have all tested negative for the coronavirus.
The World Health Organization's director-general said on Tuesday he is confident in China's ability to control and contain the spread of a new coronavirus, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. At a meeting with authorities in Beijing, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he approved of the Chinese government's measures to curb the outbreak so far, according to a statement posted on the foreign affairs ministry's website.
Japanese shares slipped on Tuesday, with the Nikkei hitting a three-week closing low, as the new coronavirus spread in China and beyond, prompting authorities to take more drastic measures to contain its outbreak. The Nikkei share average shed 0.55% to 23,215.71, the lowest close since Jan. 8. The Topix, which includes all listed shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's main board, slipped 0.6% to a two-month closing low of 1,692.28.
With isolated cases of the dangerous new coronavirus cropping up in a number of countries, health officials across the globe are on high alert. The virus has killed 106 people in China so far and infected more than 4,520 globally, most of them in China. The outbreak has caused alarm because it is still too early to know how dangerous it is and there’s no vaccine to fight it as of now. Wuhan, the Chinese city where the coronavirus is believed to have originated, is under lockdown. Here’s how countries are dealing with the coronavirus outbreak
Mother-son duo hospitalised for possible exposure to novel Coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain. "I have instructed all top officials of my department, including the Principal Secretary and Commissioner, Health Department, to monitor the situation in the entire state and step up the vigil after two persons with suspected Coronavirus infection are found in Ujjain," Madhya Pradesh Health Minister Tulsi Silawat said here on Tuesday.
As many as 436 people who have returned from China, mainly the Wuhan province, are under observation in Kerala for suspected exposure to the novel coronavirus. Of them, five are in isolation wards and others have been quarantined at home. A state health department official said 148 persons were put under observation on Monday, taking the total figure to 436. READ MORE
Authorities in Germany have confirmed the country's first case of the new virus that emerged in central China. The Health Ministry in the southern state of Bavaria said late Monday that the man from Starnberg, south of Munich, is ``in a clinically good condition.'' Officials said the man is being medically monitored and isolated. Persons who were in close contact with the man are being informed about possible symptoms and hygiene measures. The ministry said it considers the risk to the general population in Bavaria to be ``low.''
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed to convene a high-level inter-ministerial meeting to discuss preventive measures against the deadly coronavirus and formulate a comprehensive strategy to tackle the threat. The high-level meeting would be chaired by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Zafar Mirza, according to the Prime Minister's office. Khan directed that the outcome of the meeting along with firm recommendations shall be furnished to his office within one week, Dawn news reported.
Thailand confirms six more coronavirus infections, bringing total to 14 cases, Reuters quoted a health official as saying.
A 28-year-old Mohali resident, who returned from China recently, has been admitted to the isolation ward of PGIMER here after showing novel coronavirus-like symptoms, an official said on Tuesday. This is the first suspected case of novel coronavirus in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh region. The patient, who hails from Uttar Pradesh but lives in Punjab's Mohali, had returned from China last week. The patient complained of fever and respiratory discomfort, said Dr Gagandeep Singh, State programme officer, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, Punjab, on Tuesday. —PTI
Sri Lanka politician and former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's son, Namal Rajapaksa tweeted: "Sri Lanka authorities have taken necessary precautions to ensure the health and safety of all as its priority. Misinformation & unnecessary fear will only complicate measures already in place. Sri Lanka shouldn’t fall victim to #corornavirus propaganda designed to cause public panic."
204 Sri Lankan students are back in the country from China, says Sri Lankan embassy in Beijing. But top sources in Air India says plans to airlift Indian students from Wuhan on hold. Indian students say they plead for a return flight and got 'Take Care' messages from the Indian Embassy.
The Philippines stopped issuing visas on arrival to Chinese nationals on Tuesday, in a bid to keep the southeast Asian nation free of a new virus that has killed 106 and infected more than 4,500 since emerging in China in December. There have been no confirmed cases in the Philippines since the coronavirus outbreak began in China's central city of Wuhan, but infections have been confirmed in Japan, Nepal, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. "We are taking this proactive measure to slow down travel, and possibly help prevent the entry of the 2019-nCov," Jaime Morente, the commissioner of the Philippines' Bureau of Immigration, said in a statement, referring to the virus.
Flag carrier Air India has kept one of its 423-seater jumbo plane ready in Mumbai for the evacuation of Indian citizens from Wuhan province in China in the wake of Cornovirus outbreak in the East Asian country, an official source said on Tuesday. The airline is awaiting necessary approvals from the ministries of External Affairs and Health to operate the special evacuation flight, the source said. The decision follows the government instructions to various ministries to take steps to deal with the issue. "We have kept a Boeing 747-400 ready in Mumbai to operate an evacuation flight to China whenever we get a go ahead from the government," the source said.
According to Dr. Minakshi Bhardwaj, medical superintendent of RML Hospital, three male patients, aged 24, 34 and 48, from Delhi and Ghaziabad, had visited China recently and walked into the hospital on their own on Monday. They have been isolated, and their samples have been sent to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and will be further referred to Pune for tests. Their reports are expected to come in four to five days. Read More
The benchmark equity indices on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and BSE opened marginally higher on Tuesday despite weakness in the broader Asian market. At 9:18 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was at 41,203.13, up 48.01 points or 0.12 per cent, while the Nifty 50 was up 8.10 points or 0.07 per cent at 12,127.10.
A Chinese national on tourist visa in the city has been kept in an isolation ward, after she complained of high fever and rashes, raising suspicion that she could have contracted the deadly novel coronavirus, officials said. She was initially admitted to a private hospital on Sunday and shifted to the Beleghata ID Hospital on Monday, sources said. “We are not taking any risk. She has been kept in an isolation ward,” said a doctor who is treating her. Read More
Countries around the world are planning to evacuate diplomatic staff and private citizens from Chinese areas hit by the new coronavirus, which is spreading quickly. Wuhan, a city of 11 million in the province of Hubei, is the epicentre of the outbreak. Wuhan is in virtual lockdown and much of Hubei, home to nearly 60 million people, is under some kind of travel curb. Click here to know the countries’ evacuation plans, and how they are planning to manage the health risk from those who are returning.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider operating a special flight to Wuhan or a nearby airport to airlift Indians stranded following the outbreak of coronavirus. Vijayan wrote the situation in Wuhan has worsened, requesting the PM to give necessary directions to the Indian Embassy to provide necessary assistance to Indians stranded in Wuhan and Yichang. He also offered the assistance of medical teams in case Indians being evacuated require medical care.
A Kerala health department official said 148 persons were put under observation on Monday, taking the total figure to 436. “The number of people under observation can go up in the coming days if the return of Keralites from China continue. So far, no one has tested positive. We had sent six samples to the virology lab in Pune, but all of them tested negative. Tomorrow, we are sending a few more samples,’’ official said.
In India, patients have been isolated in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kerala, Kolkata and Punjab. As many as 436 people who have returned from China, mainly the Wuhan province, are under observation in Kerala for suspected exposure to the novel coronavirus. Of them, five are in isolation wards and others have been quarantined at home.
More than 45 cases have been confirmed elsewhere in the world. Almost all involve Chinese tourists or people who visited Wuhan. Sri Lanka confirmed its first case Monday. Infections also have been confirmed in the United States, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, France, Canada and Australia.
Before a mysterious respiratory illness emerged in the center of China, spreading with lethal effect through the world’s most populous nation, concerns about the health of the global economy had been easing, replaced by a measure of optimism. The United States and China had achieved a tenuous pause in a trade war that had damaged both sides. The specter of open hostilities between the United States and Iran had reverted to stalemate. Though Europe remained stagnant, Germany — the Continent’s largest economy — had escaped the threat of recession. Read More
China said on Tuesday that 106 people had died from a new coronavirus that is spreading across the country, up from the previous toll of 81. The number of total confirmed cases in China rose to 4,515 as of Jan. 27, the National Health Commission said in a statement, up from 2,835 reported a day earlier.
Three Indians, coming from China, have been admitted to the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital. They walked into the hospital on their own with symptoms of cold and cough which is similar to the coronavirus outbreak, Dr Minakshi Bharadwaj, medical superintendent of the hospital, said. Follow LIVE updates here
Welcome to our Coronavirus live blog. The death toll in China due to coronavirus rose to 106 Tuesday and In the United States, at least 110 people were being evaluated for possible infection. Follow to get all the latest updates here!