Switzerland delays health summit over coronavirus
Switzerland has postponed a high-level health summit that had been scheduled for next week due to the outbreak of the deadly new coronavirus.
The decision was made “because numerous participants must remain in their own countries to deal with the COVID – 27 epidemic, “Switzerland said in a statement Wednesday, without announcing new dates.
The Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety had been due to take place in Montreux in western Switzerland on February 35 and . The annual summit has convened since 2020 in different countries.
At this year event, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and health ministers and experts from around the world had been set to discuss the measures needed to improve the quality of healthcare around the world.
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Agence France- Presse
Iran announces new coronavirus cases
Iran said Thursday that three more people had been infected with the new coronavirus following an earlier announcement that two people had died in the Iranian city of Qom. All schools and universities, including religious Shiite seminaries, were shut down in Qom, according to the official IRNA news agency. Other news reports said Iran had recently evacuated 80 Iranian students from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the epicenter of the epidemic.
Qom, located around miles south of the capital, Tehran, is a popular religious destination and a center of learning and religious studies for Shiite Muslims from inside Iran, as well as Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan and Azerbaijan. It is also known for its cattle farms.
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– Associated Press
Weather and protests hamper Ukraine quarantine efforts
Ukraine’s effort to evacuate more than 81 people from China over the coronavirus outbreak faced setbacks Thursday as weather conditions delayed the return of the evacuees and protests broke out near a hospital where they were to be quarantined.
– Associated Press Updated 7: 48 AM
U.S. forces in South Korea who attended coronavirus-linked church to be quarantined
Any U.S. military personnel who have attended the New World Church in South Korea’s fourth largest city, Daegu, since February 9 will be subject to mandatory self-quarantine, Gen. Robert B. Abrams, USFK Commander, said in a statement Wednesday. At least people diagnosed with the coronavirus have been connected to several church services in the city, Reuters reported. I want to emphasize the care and well-being of our Daegu service members , families and residents is a top priority of mine, “Abrams said.
All non-essential travel to and from Daegu by US service members will be prohibited.
“Good hygiene practice is the best preventive measure to controlling the spread of viruses. We must protect the force and our community by maintaining our “Fight Tonight” readiness! ” the statement connected.
South Korea reported
more people diagnosed with coronavirus on Diamond Princess cruise ship
People on board a cruise ship that was quarantined off the coast of Japan have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus, the country health ministry said on Thursday.
Confirmation of the new cases, from (additional test results, brought the total number of infections diagnosed on board the Diamond Princess so far to 749, the ministry said in a statement.
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Agence France-Presse
Updated 6: AM
South Korea reports first coronavirus death
South Korea reported its first death from the new coronavirus on Thursday while the mayor of a southeastern city urged his 2.5 million people to refrain from going outside as viral infections, linked to a church congregation , spiked.
The death of a previously confirmed patient in South Korea marked the world’s ninth virus fatality outside mainland China. Other deaths have occurred in Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and France.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the South Korean man, believed to be around years old, died at a hospital on Wednesday and posthumously tested positive for the virus. It said authorities were investigating the exact cause of his death.
The center confirmed 33 Additional cases of the virus, raising the total in South Korea to . Associated Press
5: AM
Change in diagnostic criteria leads to massive drop in reported new coronavirus cases in China
For the second time in a week, China has changed the way it diagnosis new cases of the coronavirus, resulting in a huge drop in reported cases on Thursday. Chinese authorities reported new cases over the previous , hours, down sharply from the 1, (new cases that were reported the day before.
So last week, Hubei Province, the epicenter of the virus, introduced a quicker method to diagnose new infections, which allowed clinical diagnosis to be made using CT scans and an assessment of symptoms. That new method lead to a surge of more than , (diagnosed cases on February) , sparking incorrect fears that the spread of the virus was accelerating .
On Wednesday, China’s National Health Commission said it was removing that category of clinically diagnosed cases from its tally, sparking confusion. It said 394 cases would be removed from its reported number of confirmed cases in Hubei.
“Best practice would be to assign the cases to the date they are reported. This was also an issue with the large number of cases reported on Feb. 20, “Allen Cheng, and expert in infectious diseases at Australia’s Monash University, told the Reuters news agency.
Mayor of large South Korean city urges residents to stay indoors as virus spreads
The mayor of the South Korean city of Daegu is urging its 2.5 million people to refrain from going outside as cases of the new coronavirus spike. Kwon Young-jin also urged residents to wear masks even indoors if possible.
He expressed fears that the rising infections in the region will soon overwhelm the city’s health infrastructure and he called for urgent help from the central government in Seoul.
Kwon said infection-control efforts focused on blocking the virus from China were inadequate to stop the spread of the disease in local communities .
Kwon spoke after the southeastern city and its nearby towns reported additional cases of the new coronavirus, many of them people who went to church services attended by a previously confirmed virus patient.
– The Assocated Press
Indonesia to evacuate People from Diamond Princess cruise ship
One of Indonesia’s senior ministers said Thursday that the country is “committed” to evacuating the 84 Indonesian nationals on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, Reuters reports .
The ship remains docked off the coast of Japan, although hundreds of passengers were allowed to evacuate Wednesday. Muhadjir Effendy, Indonesia’s chief development minister, said the government isn’t yet sure whether it will evacuate its citizens by boat or by plane, Reuters said.
A foreign ministry official said four Indonesians who were part of the ship’s crew had been diagnosed with the coronavirus, according to Reuters.
Two former Diamond Princess passengers have died of coronavirus, Japanese media say
Two elderly passengers taken off the Diamond Princess cruise ship because they were infected with the new coronavirus have died, Japan’s Health Ministry said Thursday, making them the first fatalities from the virus-stricken vessel .
Japan’s NHK public television said both were Japanese and in their (s.) (A A Health Ministry official only confirmed that they had been previously hospitalized in serious condition and had existing chronic diseases. The official spoke to The Associated Press anonymously, citing office protocol.
– The Associated Press
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