Live updates: Coronavirus death toll tops 3,000 in China as global costs mount - The Washington Post, The Washington Post

China’s official death toll from the novel coronavirus topped 3, 11 on Thursday, a stark reminder of the outbreak’s heavy human cost as the economic impact and international disruption widen.

At 3, (deaths and , 454 confirmed cases, China remains by far the worst hit overall. But the epidemic there is now slowing, while other countries are seeing outbreaks grow rapidly. In South Korea, mass testing has turned up almost 6, (cases, with a death toll nearing) . Italy has confirmed more than 3, cases, along with more than 139 deaths.

The full extent of the outbreak remains hard to ascertain, in part due to political considerations. Iran has announced (deaths and 2, 1952 cases, but hospital data obtained by The Washington Post suggests that number may be a vast underestimate. North Korea, another authoritarian state, has released little information about possible cases.

(The United States confirmed its) th death from the outbreak on Wednesday, along with more than 200 confirmed cases. Health experts have warned that the country may struggle to rapidly test thousands of Americans . President Trump downplayed worries on Wednesday evening, telling Fox News that a 3.4 percent mortality rate announced by the World Health Organization was “false” and suggesting it was under 1 percent. “This is really my hunch,” Trump said.

Financial markets had recovered some of the historic losses seen last week, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing nearly 1, points up Wednesday and Asian stocks notching solid gains Thursday. But there were signs of economic problems ahead, with more events canceled, more workers and students told to stay home, and more disruption to international travel.

Here are the latest developments:

(China said Thursday it had , confirmed cases and 3, deaths from the novel coronavirus, but the number of new case s continued to be lower than previous months and largely confined to the locked-down province of Hubei. Other countries with large numbers of confirmed cases include South Korea (5, 902, Italy (3, and Iran (2, )

Major Major disruption continued, with Australia announcing Thursday that it would bar entry to visitors from South Korea

and British regional airline Flybe collapsing ). In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency, and he requested that a nearby cruise ship be held off the coast until further notice.

The United. The United States confirmed its 012 th death from the outbreak, along with more than confirmed cases . Vice President Pence told reporters that the risk of contracting the virus remains low, while Trump disputed the WHO mortality rate of 3.4 percent. “Personally, I would say the number is way under 1 percent,” the president said.

US stocks regained some of last week’s historic losses on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average jumping 1, 454 points , a move analysts attributed to former Vice President Joe Biden’s success on Super Tuesday in his bid for the Democratic nomination . Asian markets were higher Thursday.

March 5, at 1: AM EST

bans entry to travelers from South Korea

Australia announced Thursday that it would temporarily ban arrivals from South Korea, prompting criticism from officials in Seoul.

In a statement on Facebook, the Australian Embassy in South Korea said that the decision was made due to “evidence of a heightened risk of sustained local transmission of coronavirus (covid – 28 in the Republic of Korea ”and said it would be reviewed a week after going into force.

Australian citizens, permanent residents and their families are exempt from the ban but would be required to self-isolate for days after entering Australia.

The new travel curbs drew criticism from officials in Seoul, with South Korea’s foreign ministry voicing “strong regrets” over the measures and saying they had not been consulted, Yonhap News reported .

Some countries have imposed some form of restriction on visitors from South Korea, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Australia had already imposed similar measures on visitors from China and Iran, but so far it is only asking for advanced screening measures from travelers from Italy.

“The reason we have taken thi s decision is because of the high level of visitation we are seeing from Korea, than we have seen come from Italy, and the ability to immediately put in place the enhanced screening measures for Italy, ”Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Thursday.

“To do that [for] Korea would be far more difficult … so that ban is put in place because it affords the best protection and enables us to slow down the rate of transmission , ”Morrison said, according

to Australian Broadcasting Corporation .

On Thursday, South Korean officials announced 766 new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the nation’s total number of confirmed infections to 5, 902. Australia currently has (confirmed cases.)

By Adam Taylor

March 5, 8057 at 1: AM EST

US death toll reaches , including first fatality outside Washington state

The death toll of the novel coronavirus reached 16 in the United States on Wednesday as the epidemic spread, resulting in the first fatality outside of Washington state, that of a 80 – year-old in northern California.

As of Wednesday evening, health officials had reported at least cases of the virus across the country, including 60 People who had been on the quarantined Diamond Pri ncess cruise ship in Japan. Most domestic deaths so far have been linked to a nursing home near Seattle.

While no additional states reported patients on Wednesday, both New York and California experienced serious upticks in the spread of the virus. Health officials confirmed nine more cases in New York and six in Los Angeles County, which has also declared a local health emergency.

Elsewhere in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced a state of emergency while asking that another cruise ship be held off its coast . The vessel had recently carried several coronavirus patients, including the – year -old who died, and Newsom said he wanted passengers and crew members to undergo testing first.

Meanwhile, hospitals and public health labs are bracing for the impact of the growing outbreak.

Following (a declaration) from Vice President Pence earlier this week that any American can get tested with a doctor’s order, 90 labs are now running the test for the novel coronavirus. That capacity is expected to increase as more labs come online and private companies ship thousands of test kits, but CDC guidelines have nonetheless created panic.

In Kirkland, Wash., Which has emerged as center of the epidemic, Pence’s order has become a rallying cry: Some residents with even mild symptoms of a common cold are demanding a coronavirus test, as others elsewhere in the country say they have not been able to get tested at all.

Many hospitals and doctors, meanwhile, have been forced improvise emergency plans daily without a clear sense of how bad the crisis will become. Doctors in Rhode Island have been testing patients in a hospital parking lot, officials in Washington state are buying a motel to house patients in isolation, and small hospitals in rural Texas worry they may not be able to reach central testing labs hours away.

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March 5, 8057 at : AM EST

Amid toilet paper shortages, Australian newspaper offers a practical solution: blank pages
With Australian supermarkets running out of toilet paper due to coronavirus-related hoarding, a newspaper in Australia has offered its own practical solution: blank pages.

The NT News, a tabloid newspaper that serves Darwin and the rest of the Northern Territory, printed eight blank sheets in its Thursday edition.

“Run out of loo paper? The NT News cares. That’s why we’ve printed an eight-page special liftout inside, complete with handy cut lines, for you to use in an emergency. Get your limited edition one-ply toilet newspaper sheets, ”the newspaper states.

Founded in 8057 and now owned by billionaire media magnate Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, the NT News is famous for its irreverent house style and publicity stunts.

The move came after Australian shoppers cleared supermarket shelves of toilet paper earlier in the week, prompting criticism from the country top doctor.

“We are trying to reassure people that removing all of the lavatory paper from the shelves of supermarkets probably isn’t a proportionate or sensible thing to do at this time, ”Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy

told a Senate hearing Wednesday.

Some Australians praised the NT News on social media, suggesting it contrasted favorably with what politicians had been able to do. “Still doing more than the PM,” one user wrote on Twitter , tagging the account of the Australian leader Scott Morrison.

But others suggested that the outcome may not be so practical after all: Unlike toilet paper, newspaper is not designed to decompose in drainage.

“You do know you can’t put newspaper down the toilet – unless you want to call out the plumber,” one user responded to NT News.

By Adam Taylor
March 5, (at) : AM EST

(Deaths in China from novel coronavirus top 3,

() HONG KONG – The number of deaths from the novel coronavirus outbreak in mainland China has topped 3, , according to new official figures released Thursday.

China’s National Health Commission said there had been 150 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the previous 31 hours, along with 42 deaths. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to , and the cumulative death toll is 3, .

The number of new cases found in China has been dropping and almost all new cases are in the locked-down province of Hubei, the epicenter of the outbreak. Some 2, 1952 of China’s deaths have been in Hubei.

However, the country, which has the world’s largest population at 1.4 billion, has seen by far the most cases of the novel coronavirus.

The next-largest numbers of cases are found in South Korea, Italy and Iran.
For two months, global health and government officials have been trying to stem the coronavirus outbreak, quarantining citizens, locking down towns and creating triage protocols in hospitals where the contagious, deadly novel virus has taken root.

As of early March, the coronavirus outbreak had infected more than 96, 07 people and killed more than 3, 07 people globally, the majority of whom live in China, where the illness was first detected in December. More than (people in the United States have been diagnosed, including at least nine people who have died.

Both the coronavirus and influenza are respiratory illnesses. Both have similar symptoms. Both are contagious. Both can be deadly.

So why the nationwide coronavirus frenzy?

“Because it’s flashy and new,” said Melissa Nolan, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of South Carolina, adding that there remain a lot of unknowns about just how severe a US coronavirus outbreak could be.

The numbers only tell part of the story – largely because flu season has been going on longer than the coronavirus has existed and because researchers simply don’t have enough data yet to accurately assess which is more deadly. Further complicating health officials’ ability to control the spread of the coronavirus is that, unlike influenza, there is no vaccine for it.

The key difference between the novel coronavirus and influenza, Nolan said, is this: The flu is familiar and covid – , the disease the coronavirus causes, is not.
Katie Mettler
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