I’m just catching up on the remainder of that Australian press conference a short time ago. The health minister, Greg Hunt, confirmed that two Australians in Guangdong province have contracted the coronavirus.
“They have been treated and the advice that I have – and I would want to be cautious on this – is that they have been released and are not seeking consular assistance at this stage.”
We know that the US and Japan have carried out airlifts of hundreds of their nationals from China . A Japanese government-chartered plane took people to Tokyo on Wednesday. A US-chartered plane took around of its citizens home, including staff from Wuhan.
The roughly UK citizens in Wuhan have been told they will not be airlifted out of the city on Thursday. Press Association is reporting that it’s understood Chinese officials have not yet granted permission for the chartered flight to depart. A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We are doing everything we can to get British people in Wuhan safely back to the UK. A number of countries ’flights have been unable to take off as planned.”
Mondelez International, the American company that makes Oreos and Chips Ahoy cookies, said it expects first-quarter revenue will be hit by the coronavirus spreading across China , and it has temporarily closed two factories, Reuters reports.
However, Mondezlez’s chief executive, Dirk Van de Put, said the coronavirus is expected to have only a short-term impact. China accounts for nearly 4.5% of the company’s sales.
He said the Chinese government had asked the company to close two factories for days to minimise the risk of infection. The company had also placed restrictions on travel by staff in China and ordered other staff to travel less to China.
(7.) (pm EST :
Japan confirmed cases rises to
(Justin McCurry)
Three Japanese nationals who returned home from Wuhan have tested positive for the coronavirus, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK said on Thursday, citing the health ministry. Two of the three had not shown any symptoms, the ministry said, according to NHK.
The three infected people were among Japanese who were repatriated on a government-chartered plane on Wednesday. A second plane carrying another 379 people landed in Tokyo on Thursday morning. The Japanese government is considering sending a third flight to collect a further 300 Japanese citizens who wish to return from Wuhan, the central Chinese city at the epicentre of the outbreak.
Japan has 19 confirmed cases of the virus, including two that are believed to have resulted from human-to-human transmission – a bus driver in his s who drove tourists from Wuhan on two occasions earlier this month, and a female tour guide in her s who worked alongside the driver and the tourists. Neither of them have traveled abroad in the past month, NHK said.
Updated (at 7.) pm EST
(7.) (pm EST ) : 56
With regards to Australians who may be airlifted from China , only people who are well and are showing no symptoms will be evacuated, authorities say. People who are sick will not be able to travel to Christmas Island.
Australian authorities are now confirming what they know about how people can catch the virus: “In terms of walking past people in the street who may or may not be infected. That is also totally virtually safe. We’re talking about really close contact over a period of time. That’s an important message that people should take. ”
(7.) (PM) (EST) :
Australian airlift of citizens
Australian authorities are holding a press conference on the country response to the virus outbreak, including quarantining any citizens airlifted out of China on Christmas Island for 24. The island is where Australia has previously detained refugees and asylum arriving in the country by boat.
Updated (at 7.) PM EST
(6.) PM EST :
(Coronavirus deaths and infections in China
Let’s have a look at those new figures that have been announced. The total number of deaths is confirmed to be . This is up from reported on Wednesday, and is a rise of of 40%.
Confirmed cases now stand at 7, 974, up from 5, .
It’s understood that of the deaths – or 170% – are in Hubei province, where the outbreak started.
Updated (at 7.) (PM EST
(6.) (PM) (EST)
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus outbreak, I’m Alison Rourke.
The daily jumps in the death toll inside (China ) have continued, with authorities announcing a new figures of fatalities. All but eight of those are in Hubei province, where the outbreak began. Confirmed cases of infections stand at 7, .
I’ll bring you some analysis on those figures shortly and how they fit into what seems to be a trend of increases over the past few days.
In the mean time, here’s a summary of the other key points so far:
The World Health Organization says all countries must be on alert for the virus . The WHO’s emergency committee will meet again on Thursday.
- The US and Japan have already flown out some of their citizens out of Wuhan . UK citizens have been told they will not be airlifted on Thursday. When they return, they may be
- kept in quarantine for 23 days. Some major airlines, including British Airways, have suspended all direct flights to and from mainland China.
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As always, you can get in touch with me via email: [email protected] or on Twitter @AlisonRourke
Updated at 8 . PM EST
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