China sees sharp fall in new cases, but fears grow over global spread
Print Edition
CHINA reported a sharp fall in new deaths and cases of the novel coronavirus yesterday, but a doubling of infections in South Korea and 10 new cases in Iran added to unease about its rapid spread and global reach.
China had 399 new confirmed cases of infections on Friday, down from 892 a day earlier, but only 33 cases were outside of the virus epicenter of Hubei province, according to the National Health Commission.
However, infection numbers continued to rise elsewhere, with outbreaks worsening in South Korea, Italy, Lebanon and Iran, prompting a warning from the World Health Organization that the window of opportunity to contain the global spread was closing.
South Korea saw another spike in infections, with 229 new confirmed cases, taking its tally to 433. Of the new cases, most have been linked to a branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in the southeastern city of Daegu and a hospital in Cheongdo county.
Officials warned that could rise substantially as more than 1,000 people who attended the church had shown flu-like symptoms.
Samsung Electronics said one of the virus cases had been confirmed at its mobile device factory complex in Gumi, causing a shutdown of the facility until tomorrow morning. Gumi is close to Daegu.
Also among the new cases were the first reported infections in Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city, and on Jeju Island, a popular tourist destination.
The government designated both Daegu, which has a population of 2.5 million, and Cheongdo county, home to around 43,000 people, as “special care zones” on Friday. Officials sent military medical staff and other health workers and extra resources, including hospital beds.
More than half of the national cases are linked to a 61-year-old woman known as “Patient 31” who attended religious services at a branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu. The woman had no recent record of overseas travel, authorities said.
Iran, which had no reported cases earlier this week, saw 10 new cases, one of which had died, taking the number to 28 infections and five deaths. The first case of the novel coronavirus in Lebanon was also confirmed on Friday.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed concern yesterday about cases with no clear link to China and called on all countries to invest urgently in preparedness. He made an appeal on Twitter for US$675 million to support the most vulnerable countries.
Two deaths from the new coronavirus sparked fears throughout northern Italy yesterday, as towns shuttered shops and schools to try to halt a rise in new infections.
The death of a 75-year-old woman yesterday near the small town of Codogno in Lombardy came one day after a 78-year-old man succumbed to the virus in neighboring Veneto, marking the first in Italy and Europe.
Japan confirmed 14 new cases yesterday, among those a teacher who had shown symptoms while working at school.
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