A second death occurred in Italy. As cases of contamination multiply, The World Health Organization is concerned about the capacity of countries to contain the epidemic.
The coronavirus epidemic continues to spread around the world. It now affects 26 countries and territories outside of mainland China and has left a dozen dead.
Second death in Italy
After the first death in Italy – that of a 78-year-old man – a second person who tested positive for coronavirus died in the country, news agencies announced on Saturday, February 22. This is an Italian who had been hospitalized for ten days and lived in Lombardy, in the north. These are the first Europeans to succumb after being infected with the new coronavirus. A total of 79 people have been affected so far in Italy.
“In areas considered to be hotbeds [of the coronavirus epidemic, neither entry nor exit will be allowed unless there is a specific exemption, ” said Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, also announcing the closure of businesses and schools as well as the cancellation of public events. The main area is around Codogno, 40 miles from Milan. The wave of contamination had already forced the authorities the day before to take drastic measures: public places were closed on Friday for a week in eleven cities in northern Italy.
229 new cases in South Korea
The number of coronavirus infections has almost doubled in a single day in South Korea, with 229 new cases, for a total now raised to 433, authorities said on Saturday. A second person died from Covid-19 disease, the Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention added in a statement.
Among the new patients is an employee of a Samsung Electronics factory in Gumi, 200 kilometers southeast of Seoul, which prompted the tech giant to announce a suspension of activities on this site until Monday. One of the two primary sources of contamination in the country remains Cheongdo hospital, in the south of the country: 95 of the last reported infections are “linked,” according to the KCDC, to patients or staff of this establishment, where the two deceased persons had been admitted.
Another place particularly affected by the virus Shincheonji, Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (SCJ), commonly known as Shincheonji, a Christian sect in the city of Daegu, not far from Cheongdo, of which more than 200 members have been infected.
Coronavirus epidemic caused 109 more deaths on Friday in mainland China, local health officials reported on Saturday, bringing the number of deaths linked to the outbreak to 2,345 since it began in the center from the country.
In its daily report, the National Health Commission reported 397 new cases of contamination on Friday in mainland China, where 76,288 people have been diagnosed with the virus since its appearance.
Iran and the Middle East affected
Iran announced on Saturday one more death among ten new cases of coronavirus in the country, bringing the total number of fatalities to five and that of the infected to 28. The authorities have decided to close schools, universities, and educational centers in two cities, including Qom, in the center of the country, where the first two infections were recorded, the state TV channel announced on Saturday. The establishments in Qom will be closed for two days and those in Arak for a week from Sunday, she said.
Lebanon announced its first case of Covid-19 viral pneumonia on Friday, and Israel said one of its nationals quarantined on the Diamond Princess liner had tested positive. Previously, several cases had been identified in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
Also, the Hebrew State extended on Saturday to South Korea and Japan the measures of the prohibition of entry on its territory within the framework of the fight against the new coronavirus. The restrictions were already in effect for flights from China, Macao, Thailand, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
British “Diamond Princess” returnees
The United Kingdom repatriated on Saturday, thirty British and two Irishmen, who were passengers of the cruise ship Diamond Princess, quarantined in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, since February 5. Their plane, which also had caregivers and government officials, landed around 11:30 a.m. (12:30 p.m. Paris time) at Boscombe Down military base near Salisbury in the southeast from England. They will be placed in quarantine for 14 days.
The 78 Britons who were among the cruise passengers were all able to leave the ship, some boarded flights chartered by other countries, others returned to Hong Kong where they reside, others finally stayed in Japan.
Tokyo admitted on Saturday that 23 passengers had been able to leave the cruise ship without passing all the medical examinations required to detect the new coronavirus. “We deeply regret the operational error on our part that caused this situation,” said health minister Katsunobu Kato at a press conference, speaking that the people concerned would be tested again.
The Diamond Princess remains the most critical source of contagion outside of China. Out of 3,711 people initially in the liner, more than 630 were infected.
World Health Organization worries
According to the World Health Organization, the “window of opportunity” for containing the international spread of the epidemic of the new coronavirus is closing. But “we still have a possibility of containing the epidemic,” said the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. If we waste this opportunity, we will have a severe problem in our hands. “
WHO is also very concerned about the emergence of cases outside China “without a clear epidemiological link, such as travel history and contact with a confirmed case.” “We see that the situation is changing,” said Sylvie Briand, director of the Global Preparedness for Infectious Risks department at WHO: “Not only is the number of cases increasing, but we also see different patterns of transmission in different places. ” WHO refuses, for now, to speak of a pandemic, but considers that there are ” different epidemics, showing different phases,” has she explained.
During a meeting of health ministers of African Union countries in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for “to stand together to be more aggressive” in the fight against the new coronavirus.
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