Coronavirus outbreak LIVE Updates: Death toll touches 170 in China; GoI plans evacuation of Indians
Coronavirus outbreak HIGHLIGHTS: Pakistan government has decided not to evacuate its citizens from the coronavirus-hit Wuhan city to show “solidarity” with its ally, the special assistant to PM Imran Khan on Health, Dr Zafar Mirza told foreign news website Dawn. “We believe that right now, it is in the interest of our loved ones in China [to stay there]. It is in the larger interest of the region, world, country that we don’t evacuate them now,” he was quoted as saying at a press conference in Islamabad.
Meanwhile, at least 6000 people aboard a cruise in Italy were trapped after the ship was placed on lockdown over the virus scare as two suspected cases came up.
In India, after a Wuhan-return student tested positive for Coronavirus infection in Kerala on Thursday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state was closely monitoring the situation, assuring it was “no cause for panic”. “The Minister for Health KK Shyalaja teacher has briefed me about the situation. We are closely monitoring the situation. While we need to be cautious, it is no cause for panic. Our health network is capable of handling any emergencies,” Vijayan wrote on Twitter. He added that a series of measures had been initiated to tackle the emergency and urged people to not spread rumours on social media.
Adding to the worry about the danger of fast-spreading Coronavirus that has claimed 170 lives in China, three Japanese people evacuated from China have been found to be infected with the flu. Two of them had not even shown symptoms, reported Reuters. The Chinese government on Thursday has confirmed 1,700 new infections, taking the number to 7,736.
📢 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines
Chinese family wearing face masks walk in a pedestrian crossing in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
Highlights
The World Health Organization declared the outbreak sparked by a new virus in China that has been exported to more than a dozen countries as a global emergency Thursday after the number of cases spiked tenfold in a week.
The UN health agency defines an international emergency as an “extraordinary event” that constitutes a risk to other countries and requires a coordinated international response. Click here to know more.
Pakistan has said it will not repatriate citizens stranded in China as it's against national interest. "We believe that right now, it is in the interest of our loved ones in China [to stay there]. It is in the larger interest of the region, world, country that we don't evacuate them now," Dawn quoted Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza as saying.
"This is what the World Health Organisation is saying, this is China's policy and this is our policy as well. We stand by China in full solidarity," he declared.
The deadly coronavirus has hit all provinces in China, including the remote region of Tibet, mostly due to travellers from Wuhan city, the ground zero of the epidemic, as the virus claimed 170 lives, infected 7,736 others and spread to 20 countries, including India. Chinese health officials on Thursday announced 38 more fatalities mainly from the worst-affected central Hubei province, taking the death toll to 170. Chinese health officials on Thursday announced 38 more fatalities mainly from the worst-affected central Hubei province, taking the death toll to 170. Tibet, which till now remained the only Chinese province untouched by the virus, reported its first case on Thursday, with a resident from Wuhan who travelled to the Himalayan region reporting sick.
Some 6,000 people are being kept on board an Italian cruise ship as tests are carried out on a passenger from Macau to see if she has coronavirus, a spokesman for the Costa Crociere cruise company said on Thursday. Some 6,000 people are being kept on board an Italian cruise ship as tests are carried out on a passenger from Macau to see if she has coronavirus, a spokesman for the Costa Crociere cruise company said on Thursday. She subsequently came down with a fever and flu-like symptoms, and both herself and her partner have been placed in an isolation unit about the ship, Costa Crociere said in a statement.
After reviewing the preparedness of various ministries in the light of the Coronavirus outbreak, the Cabinet Secretary told ANI that it had been decided that all those who have come from China after January 15, 2020, shall be tested as there is an incubation period for the virus. The Cabinet Secretary stressed the need for 14 days’ home isolation for all those who have returned from China. "Six more labs will start functioning from today: (1) NIV Bengaluru Unit, (2) Victoria Hospital Campus, KR Road, Fort, Bengaluru (3), AIIMS, New Delhi (4), NCDC, Delhi (5) Kasturba Hospital for infectious diseases, Mumbai (8) NIV – Kerala Unit. Six more labs will start function by 31st January 2020: (1) ICMR – NICED, Kolkata (2) GMC, Secunderabad (3) KGMU, Lucknow (4) SMS, Jaipur (5) IGGMC, Nagpur (6) KIPMR, Chennai," the secretary added.
At the centre of Coronavirus outbreak, the government today has said that it reached out to over 600 Indians living in China's Hubei province to ascertain their willingness to be brought back to India. "We have established contact with over 600 Indians across the province and are individually ascertaining their willingness to be repatriated. Our Mission in Beijing is working round-the-clock on the ground to work out the necessary logistics," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a media briefing.
The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday said 78 people who had arrived from coronavirus-hit China were under "house quarantine" and being monitored but asserted no positive case of the deadly virus has been detected in the state so far. State Health and Family Welfare Minister C Vijayabaskar also said there was no need for any panic as preventive measures had been put in place and the government was paying more attention after one person tested positive for the virus in neighbouring Kerala.
A doctors' body on Thursday warned that there was a potential threat of novel coronavirus spreading to Kashmir as tourists from around the world visit the valley. President of the Doctors Association of Kashmir (DAK) Suhail Naik said China is located near India and there were chances of coronavirus reaching the valley as it is a tourist destination. "Following the recent outbreak of coronavirus in China, there is a potential threat of the novel virus in Kashmir as people from different parts of the world come here as tourists," he said in a statement. (PTI)
British Airways said on Thursday that all its flights to mainland China had been cancelled for a month, in a further sign of the impact that the outbreak of a new coronavirus is having on global travel. A spokeswoman said all flights to Beijing and Shanghai had been suspended until the end of February.BA's suspension of flights began on Wednesday, but initially it had only been in place until Friday while the airline assessed the situation. (Reuters)
"We have established contacts with over 600 Indians living in coronavirus-hit Hubei province in China. We have asked Indians living there whether they want to return to India. We do not have any confirmation about any Indian being affected by Coronavirus," MEA said in a statement during the weekly briefing today.
The patient who tested positive will soon be shifted to the isolation ward set up at the Medical College in Thrissur. Health Minister KK Shylaja and her private secretary will leave for Thrissur soon and will be holding a meeting with the doctors at the Medical college and with district health officials. Meanwhile, results of four more samples are awaited from NiV, Pune.
Russia has said on Thursday that it will be closing its border with China as a precautionary measure in the midst of the Coronavirus outbreak. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin told a government meeting that the order had been signed "to take measures to close the border (with China) in the Far East," Russian news agencies reported.
After the confirmation of a student who returned from Wuhan was tested positive in Kerala of the novel Coronavirus, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan underlined that there was 'no cause for panic' and assured that health networks in the state were capable of handling any emergency. He wrote on Twitter assuring that the state was closely monitoring the patient's situation.
One student in Kerala, who just returned from Wuhan tested positive for Novel Coronavirus, on Thursday. The patient, who had been studying in Wuhan University, is now kept in isolation. She is stable and is being closely monitored, the government of India stated in a press release.
All the suspected Coronovirus patients kept in the isolation ward of the RML Hospital in New Delhi have tested negative, a Health ministry official said on Thursday. “Their samples were sent for testing to NIV Pune and they have tested negative,” news agency PTI quoted an official as saying.
Two of three Japanese people evacuated from China and found to be infected with a new coronavirus had not shown symptoms, the health ministry said on Thursday, adding to worry about the danger of the fast-spreading virus, reported Reuters. The three cases were among 206 Japanese people who were evacuated to Tokyo on Wednesday from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the epidemic that has killed 170 people in China and infected nearly 8,000. While the vast majority of cases have been in China, more than 100 cases have also appeared in about 15 other countries, with Japan's three new cases taking its tally to 11.
The case of a 10-year-old boy who was diagnosed with the Wuhan coronavirus even though he showed no symptoms is raising concern that people may be spreading the virus undetected by the front-line screening methods implemented to contain the epidemic. The boy was part of a family who visited relatives in the central Chinese city over the New Year. Read more...
Sensex has fallen over 250 points to 40,936.97 in morning trade. Asian markets were in the red Thursday amid concerns over the impact of China's coronavirus on the global economy, reported news agency PTI. While China's markets remained closed today, bourses in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea were trading with sharp losses.
In the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak in China, Chinese Football Association said it would postpone domestic games in 2020. The World Athletics Indoor Championships scheduled in the Chinese city of Nanjing in March have been postponed until 2021, reported Reuters.
Hong Kong shares fell for a second straight session on Thursday, amid weakness in healthcare and consumer stocks, as the new coronavirus spread rapidly and pushed up the total number of confirmed cases in the financial city to 10, reported Reuters.
The Hang Seng index fell 1.7% to 26,693.06 by midday, while the China Enterprises Index lost 1.8% to 10,428.74 points. Hong Kong's de facto central bank said it will continue to monitor any possible impact from the spread the virus. In other markets, Asian stocks slipped while gold and bonds were in demand as worries about the spread of the virus sent investors scurrying for safety. In Hong Kong, an index tracking consumer goods and services companies dropped 2.6%.