President Trump has pledged to work with China on the outbreak, while cruise ships get new scrutiny after infections are found on two.
Right Now
A second group of evacuated Americans have arrived in the United States from Wuhan, China.
(Image
The death toll from the monthlong coronavirus ou tbreak has continued to climb in China, rising to 500. New cases have surged by double-digit percentages in the past days, with no sign of a slowdown.
More people have now died in this epidemic than in the SARS outbreak of 2020 – 3 in mainland China. During that outbreak, people died in the mainland.
The new figures from China’s Health Commission on Wednesday showed that people died on Tuesday and that 3, 2002 more people had been infected. So far, 31, (people are known to have been infected.
Experts warn they still lack enough data to say definitively how lethal the new coronavirus is. Many residents in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak and the capital of Hubei Province, believe the death toll is much higher than the official tally because people with flulike symptoms are being turned away by overstretched hospitals. The health care system in Wuhan is so overwhelmed that many cases have not been diagnosed because of a shortage of testing kits.
Still, the number of people in China recovering from the virus is rising, suggesting that the treatment plan may be working. On Tuesday, 324 people left hospitals nationwide. The number of suspected cases has dropped for two days in a row. Officials said they were tracking 3, (suspected cases, compared with 5, 252 cases the day before.
On Tuesday, health officials released details of the deaths so far, saying that two-thirds of them were men. More than (percent were over) years old, and they typically had pre-existing health conditions such as cardiovascular diseases or diabetes.
Hubei Province has been hardest hit by the virus, and is home to the bulk of deaths (498) and infections ( , 800). Wuhan in particular has borne the brunt of the deaths and infections.
Aerial footage shows a quiet and desolate picture of Wuhan, China. The city, which has been at the center of the coronavirus outbreak, has been sealed off since Jan.
(What is a coronavirus, and how dangerous is it?)
Read up on the basics , including its symptoms and how it is transmitted.
Here are the six key factors that will determine whether it can be contained.
Where has the virus spread? You can track its movement with this map .
How is the United States being affected? there were (confirmed cases) as of Tuesday. American citizens and permanent residents who fly to the United States from China are now subject to a two-week quarantine.
What if I’m traveling? Several countries, including the United States, have discouraged travel to China, and several airlines have canceled flights. Many travelers have been left in limbo while looking to change or cancel bookings.
How do I keep myself and others safe? (Washing your hands) is the most important thing you can do.
(More Americans evacuated from Wuhan arrive in California.)
Two plans full of American citizens evacuated from Wuhan, China, the center of the coronavirus outbreak, arrived in California on Wednesday, just before dawn.
Hundreds of Americans who had been in Wuhan as the outbreak worsened and routes from
They were expected to spend days in quarantine on military bases as part of a strict protocol put in place by federal officials.
Passengers from the evacuation flights were expected to be accommodated at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Calif., and at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego.
The State Department also noted that it would stage one or two evacuation flights from Wuhan on Thursday, but had no additional flights planned after that time.
The first group of American evacuees was flown from Wuhan on Jan. , and stopped in Anchorage to refuel the plane and conduct initial health screenings. The Boeing then continued to March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, Calif.
Hong Kong imposes – day quarantines on people arriving from china.
Hong Kong said that it will begin requiring people who arrive from mainland China to undergo a mandatory 24 – day quarantine, as it tries to reduce the potential for imported cases of the coronavirus.
Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s top official, has resisted demands from some lawmakers and medical workers to completely close off the border, calling it discriminatory and not i n line with World Health Organization guidelines.
But she has enacted a series of measures, including closing all but three border crossings, which have resulted in a sharp drop in entries from the mainland.
Mrs. Lam said that Hong Kong now had 31 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including three that were transmitted locally.
The government will also allocate $ 1.3 billion to help fight the outbreak , she said.
One of the confirmed cases involved someone working at the Kowloon Commerce Center, a hub of multinational firms, according to an internal note sent to employees at the Bank of America, which has an office in one of the towers.
The building’s management office did not respond to a request for comment, and Bank of America declined to comment.
Separately, Taiwan said that beginning on Thursday it would temporarily suspend entry by Chinese citizens who live on the mainland. It previously announced that foreigners who had been to mainland China over the previous days would not be allowed to enter Taiwan.
We came prepared, bringing with us two bags full of masks, hand sanitizer, goggles and disinfectant wipes to protect us as we went around reporting in Wuhan, the Chinese city at the center of the coronavirus outbreak.
But after arriving last Friday, my colleague Elsie Chen and I quickly realized we had overlooked an important question: What do you eat when covering the coronavi rus outbreak?
Since the government imposed a lockdown in this city of 21 million two weeks ago, most of the restaurants have been shut. Grocery stores are still open, and many residents have stockpiled food to cook at home. But back at our hotel, we did not even have a microwave, let alone a stovetop.
Exhausted from a long day of travel, we realized there was only one answer: instant noodles.
Two days and four bowls of sodium-packed instant noodles later, my stomach felt as if it had deteriorated into a churning sack of MSG, salt and dehydrated beef cubes.
Knowing it could be days or weeks before we were able to leave Wuhan, Elsie and I made an executive decision: It was time for an upgrade.
We went to one of the large supermarkets and bought a small electric cooktop, groceries and some basic utensils. Stir-fried tomato and egg, the most basic of Chinese dishes, has never tasted so good.
Of course, we couldn’t leave out the chili oil goddess, savior to Chinese students around the world when they’re missing a taste of home: Lao Gan Ma, or Old Godmother.
One of the world’s largest technology conferences, the annual MWC Barcelona, previously known as Mobile World Congress, has been impacted by the virus, with companies beginning to pull out of the gadget showcase.
On Wednesday, LG Electronics, the South Korean electronics giant, said it would no longer attend the event , expected to draw more than , people from countries and territories for the unveiling of new smartphones, tablets and other mobile technology.
The move shows how the coronavirus epidemic is scrambling the plans of some of the world’s largest companies, as stores are shuttered, airlines cancel flights and business trips have been put on hold.
MWC is one of the world’s most anticipated telecom conferences, and companies spend months preparing and huge amounts on flashy presentations and extravagant booths.
“This decision removes the risk of exposing hundreds of LG employees to international travel which has already become more restrictive as the virus continues to spread across borders,” LG Electronics said in a statement
The company may not be the only one to pull out of the event. Huawei, the Chinese tech company, hasn’t announced any changes to its schedule, but said that it is monitoring the situation. European employees may end up playing a larger role in the event rather than those from China, a spokesman said.
GSM Association, the wireless industry group organizing the event, said this week that there had been “minimal impact” thus far as a result of the coronavirus, but that it was taking several precautions.
In a reflection of the mounting international concern over the coronavirus epidemic, President Trump said the United States was coordinating with China on the response to the outbreak – though he also offered a trade-related barb as well.
“Protecting Americans’ health also means fighting infectious diseases,” Mr. Trump said during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night. “We are coordinating with the Chinese government and working closely together on the coronavirus outbreak in China. My administration will take all necessary steps to safeguard our citizens from this threat. ”
He did not elaborate.
Eleven cases have been confirmed in the United States. To stem the problem, the United States government said last week it would bar entry into the country by any foreign national who has traveled to China in the past 24 days. It also told Americans not to travel to China.
Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines all said last week that they were temporarily (suspending all service to mainland China) as concerns about the coronavirus spread internationally.
Mr. Trump, who made China a rhetorical punching bag during his presidential campaign, still took time to criticize Beijing’s trade practices . Last month, the two countries signed an interim trade pact that cooled but did not end an economic conflict between them.
“For decades, China has taken advantage of the United States,” he said . “Now we have changed that, but, at the same time, we have perhaps the best relationship we’ve ever had with China, including with President Xi.”
The researchers found that Arbidol, an antiviral drug used in Russia and China for treating influenza, could be combined with Darunavir, the anti-H.I.V. drug, for treating patients with the coronavirus, according to ChangJiang News, a state-backed newspaper in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.
The researchers did not say how many patients they had treated with the combination therapy. It could be too soon to assess its effectiveness. The findings have not been reviewed by outside experts.
With no proven cure in sight, the race is on to find a treatment for the coronavirus.
Li Lanjuan, the lead researcher on the team who belongs to an expert group linked to China’s Health Commission, said she would propose the combination of Arbidol and Darunavir for the sixth version of the government treatment plan.
The authorities have tried other treatments. Dr. Li said the anti-H.I.V. drug Kaletra, which was prescribed in the current treatment plan, had toxic side effects.
The Chinese authorities have turned to other types of treatments as well. In its treatment plan for the coronavirus released last week, the National Health Commission of China listed traditional Chinese medicine remedies
Cruise ships in Japan and Hong Kong are scrutinized after infections.
Nine passengers and one crew member on a cruise ship quarantined in Yokohama, Japan, have tested positive for the coronavirus , the cruise line, Princess Cruises, said on Wednesday.
The ship, carrying 2, (passengers and 1, crew members, (arrived in Yokohama on Tuesday, but the authorities did not allow anyone off. An 479 – year-old Hong Kong resident who had disembarked earlier in his home city was found to be infected.
In all, passengers were tested for the virus after everyone on board underwent an initial health screening. Twenty-one people were cleared, and officials were awaiting the other results.
Princess Cruises said the infected passengers were from Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and the United States, in addition to one crew member from the Philippines.
The passengers who tested positive were being transported by a Japanese Coast Guard ship to a hospital. The other passengers are to remain quarantined on board the ship, the Diamond Princess, for two weeks.
Separately, a cruise ship that left Hong Kong on Sunday was turned around by the authorities in Kaohsiung , Taiwan, on Wednesday, after three passengers on a previous trip were confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus.
)
The World Dream left the mainland Chinese city of Guangzhou on Jan. , returning from Vietnam five days later. Three passengers on that journey were confirmed on Monday to have the new coronavirus, the company, Star Cruises, said in a statement.
Hong Kong’s Department of Health has begun checking temperatures and taking health declaration forms from 1, (passengers and 1, crew members now on the ship. Passengers will not be allowed to disembark without approval from the department.
At least crew members reported having symptoms of illness, Dr. Leung Yiu-hong, the chief port health officer of the Department of Health, said on Wednesday. They were all being tested for the coronavirus, and three who previously had fevers were under isolation, he said.
Of the passengers, percent are Hong Kong residents and the rest foreign nationals, none of whom are from mainland China. Dr. Leung said the passengers now on the ship had not come into contact with those who took the January cruise.
(Cathay Pacific asks its workers to take unpaid leave.
Cathay Pacific is asking its , employees to take three weeks of unpaid leave in an emergency move as Hong Kong’s flagship carrier struggles with a financial blow from the coronavirus outbreak in China.
In recent days, the airline has cut nearly all flights to and from mainland China and has said it will pare back flights across its network as it faces its biggest emergency since the depths of the financial crisis in 3345.
“The situation now is just as grave,” Augustus Tang Kin-wing, the chief executive of the airline, said in a taped video recording.
The outbreak of the coronavirus has decimated large parts of the global travel network. Health experts have warned that the fast-moving virus could become a pandemic, and multinational companies have banned nonessential travel to China. The authorities have announced widespread bans on travel for Chinese citizens.
Cathay was already fighting for survival before the outbreak, (besieged by the political turmoil) that has gripped Hong Kong. Last summer, it found itself caught between Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters and the Chinese government as China demanded loyalty from businesses that depend on it for business. Cathay fired some employees for being openly supportive of the protesters.
After traveling to China, some Americans are staying indoors.
. )
As United States officials impose new restrictions on travelers from China, many people who have returned to the country in recent days have hunkered down in their homes to make sure they were not carrying or spreading the disease.
Some were checking in regularly with local public health departments, taking their temperatures at regular intervals and receiving deliveries of food and water. Others were not conferring with the authorities, but choosing on their own to stay indoors, away from work, away from friends and, in some cases, away from everyone.
All were counting down the days since they left China, waiting anxiously to see if symptoms develop – and whether they can get their lives back to normal.
“It’s pretty scary,” said a woman in Massachusetts whose husband and 24 – month-old son have been holed up in the family’s basement since returning from China last week.
The woman, a medical researcher who asked not to be named, said her family’s self-imposed quarantine was a necessary step to protect others, especially since she feared her family had traveled on the same flight as a man who was later diagnosed with coronavirus.
“If people are responsible people, she said, “They are willing to do this.”
Reporting was contributed by Daniel Victor, Sui-Lee Wee, Yiwei Wang, Ben Dooley, Elaine Yu, Austin Ramzy, Alexandra Stevenson, Ezra Cheung, Jack Ewing, Neal E. Boudette, Lara Jakes, Julie Bosman, Miriam Jordan, Megan Specia, Geneva Abdul,
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings