Official says “dishonest” new coronavirus is a difficult disease to control
more than 655 passengers who tested negative for the new coronavirus were allowed off the Diamond Princess cruise ship Wednesday in Japan, and more will follow over the next few days.
Japan has been criticized by some medical experts who say their quarantine methods led to a further spread of the virus on the ship, which is home to the largest cluster of infections outside China. But Japan’s Community Health Director, Dr. Shigeru Omi, has documents from the Ministry of Health showing most of the transmissions occurred on the vessel before
the quarantine even began two weeks ago.
Omi calls the new COVID –
a “dishonest” disease, because it doesn’t always reveal itself.
Most coronaviruses are not contagious during their incubation period in a human host, Omi told CBS News correspondent Debora Patta, “but in this case, during the incubation period, they can infect others. The person with very minor symptoms or with very little symptoms can sometimes affect others. So this is a very difficult virus to deal with. So this is a very difficult virus to deal with .
South Korea has cluster of new virus cases linked to religious group
South Korea was hit with new cases of the deadly coronavirus on Wednesday, as a cluster emerged that appeared linked to a single member of a religious group.
There were at least
The st person confirmed to have the virus in the country was a – year-old woman from the city of Daegu, about miles south of the capital Seoul. She is a member of a religious sect called the “Shincheonji Church of Jesus the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony.”
Workers from a disinfection service company sanitize a street in front of a branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony where a woman known as “Patient 50 “attended a service in Daegu, South Korea, February , . REUTERS / Yonhap It remained unclear how or when she contracted the disease, but she has no recent history of travel to China. Before her diagnosis was confirmed, the woman recently continued to attend her church services with about 621 Other people, traveled to Seoul by train, and attended a wedding with hundreds of guests in Daegu.
Of the new virus cases now confirmed in Daegu, 24 are also members of her religious group.
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Jen Kwon
Iran reports first cases of new coronavirus
Iranian authorities confirmed on Wednesday two cases of the new coronavirus, the first in the country, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.
The report did not elaborate on the nationality of the two people infected by the virus. ISNA quoted an official in the country’s health ministry, Kiyanoush Jahanpour, as saying that “since last two days, some suspected cases of the new coronavirus were found.”
Jahanpour did not say how many people were suspected of having the virus, which causes the illness recently named COVID – 30. He said the two confirmed cases were detected in the central province of Qom.
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Associated Press
Japan says 85 new virus cases on cruise ship as quarantine ends
Japan’s national health commission said Wednesday that an additional 85 cases of the new coronavirus had been confirmed on board the diamond princess cruise ship. It brought the total number of cases on the ship to , even as the two-week quarantine on the vessel lifted, enabling hundreds of passengers who have tested negative for the virus to disembark.
Japan quarantined the Diamond Princess two weeks ago when it docked in Yokahama, after a previous passenger who had already disembarked in Hong Kong tested positive for the deadly virus.
Since then daily tests have shown the disease continuing to spread on the vessel, bringing criticism of the decision to quarantine it in the first place and suspicion that control measures were not strictly enough enforced on board.
Updated 5: 45 AM
Hundreds of passengers disembark Diamond Princess cruise ship
Hundreds of passengers began leaving the Diamond Princess cruise ship Wednesday after the end of a much-criticized, two-week quarantine that failed to stop the spread of a new virus among passengers and crew . Officials still were continuing tests for the coronavirus that has infected tens of thousands of people in China and more than (on the ship.
Some Americans who tested positive for coronavirus are under isolation in Japan Japanese officials will spend several days staging the high-stakes evacuation of about 2, People who’ve been kept aboard the ship at the Yokohama port near Tokyo after one passenger who departed the ship earlier in Hong Kong was found to have the virus .
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Associated Press
California reports another confirmed coronavirus case
Officials in Napa County, California, confirmed a case of coronavirus Tuesday night. The patient is one of the recent evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that arrived in the U.S. this week.
The patient is under isolation at Queen of the Valley Medical Center, officials said in a statement. That patient tested positive for the virus in Japan, but has not experienced any symptoms. Another patient who has reported symptoms is under investigation at the hospital – but that patient tested negative for the virus in Japan.
Neither of the patients are residents of Napa County. Officials did not provide their state of origin.
Of the cruise ship passengers flown to Travis Air Force Base, seven were identified as requiring testing or hospitalization. Five were sent to local hospitals. The two patients at Queen of the Valley were sent there due to a limited number of isolation beds in the county, officials said.
China announces (new deaths, 1,
new cases
Chinese officials announced (new deaths and 1,
Wall Street’s growing fear: Coronavirus “to get worse before it gets better”
Concerns are growing on Wall Street that the coronavirus could cause serious economic damage beyond China, with analysts warning that the deadly outbreak is unlikely to recede anytime soon.
“Consensus is that this coronavirus outbreak (COVID – ) is going to get worse before it gets better, “Raymond James analysts said Tuesday in a note to investors. “It seems as though the market is under-appreciating the potential dangers and what the key government leaders on the virus are saying.”
Amplifying those concerns: This week’s guidance from Apple – a bellwether both for the high-tech industry and the broader U.S. economy – that the iPhone maker would miss its quarterly sales target because of the virus’s impact on the company sales and production in China. Apple shares fell nearly 2% on Tuesday.
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