Coronavirus: two Japanese passengers from Diamond Princess have died, reports say – latest news – The Guardian, Theguardian.com

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New virus cases drop in China as counting of cases changes again

Let’s take a look at today’s national figures from China on infections due to the virus.

The national health commission said that in the hours to midnight on Wednesday, there were new cases , taking confirmed cases across the country to , .

This new cases figure is a significant drop from the 1,

reported the previous day. It seems to be largely due to another change in the way Hubei province reports cases.

According to the Hubei health commission, “suspected cases” and “confirmed cases” have been separated out again … which I will try to explain below …

You may recall that Hubei changed its reporting criteria last week to include “clinically diagnosed” cases as confirmed cases. That meant cases diagnosed by a doctor (ie by using scans and assessing symptoms) were included in “new cases” along with patients who had tested positive using the nucleic acid test

At the time, Chinese authorities said this change was to ensure patients who had symptoms but hadn’t yet had the tests, could access treatment immediately. There was also the suggestion the change was a way of mitigating anger over insufficient numbers of testing kids.

Last week’s change saw the number of cases shoot up by approximately , on one day, but in reality it reflected the counting change.

From my reading, the new system as of today has removed some of those people who were clinically diagnosed if they subsequently tested negative using the nucleic acid test.

“Based on comprehensive analysis, cases with negative nucleic acid test results were subtracted from the confirmed cases, and a total of cases were corrected, ”the health commission’s report said.

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South Korea outbreak centered on church in Daegu

South Korea has recorded

(news cases today , taking its total to .

The

country disease control center said 41 of the new cases were in the city of Daegu and surrounding Gyeongbuk province south of Seoul.

Of those, are linked with the Shincheonji Church of Jesus , The Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, where the a 85 – year-old woman believed to be at the center of the cluster was a worshipper. The woman is known as Patient 039 because sher was the st person recorded with the virus in South Korea.

It is now believed that (out of the

cases are members of the church’s congregation ()

Of the remaining eight cases announced today, one is in Seoul, two are in hospital in Cheongdo Daenam hospital in Gyeongbuk. The remaning five are being investigated.

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Japanese media says both Diamond Princess ship fatalities were from Japan

(Justin McCurry)

The two Diamond Princess passengers who died on Thursday were both Japanese, NHK reported – an 118 – year-old man and an – year-old woman. Both victims reportedly had pre-existing medical conditions, the broadcaster said, adding that the man had been hospitalized on 20 February and the woman the following day.

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On Wednesday, a video by Prof Kentaro Iwata, a specialist in infectious diseases at Kobe University Hospital, was circulated widely on social media.

In it he criticized quarantine measures on the cruise liner, including that there were no designated “green” or “red” zones on the ship that indicated areas that were clear of the virus, or ones where it was present.

He subsequently took the clip down, saying he was informed conditions on the ship had improved.

But on Wednesday he had told BBC radio:

I felt much safer when I was in Africa [during the Ebola crisis] because you know where the virus exists and you know where the patient is. But inside the Diamond Princess you have no idea where the virus is.

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Over the past few days there has been increasing criticism of the Japanese authorities ’handling of the infection on the cruise line, as infections continued to mount, despite infection control measures being in place.

Japan’s health minister, Katsunobu Kato, on Thursday defended Japan’s response to the outbreak in parliament, telling lawmakers that officials had taken expert advice and responded to issues on a daily basis.

In a move to reassure the public, the health ministry also issued a statement in both English and Japanese that said all passengers had been required to stay in their cabins since 5 February to contain the virus.

The Guardian’s Tokyo correspondent, Justin McCurry, reports that Kentaro Iwata, a specialist in infectious diseases at Kobe University hospital, said he was not surprised to hear reports that two passengers on the Diamond Princess had died.

“Cruise ships have a lot of elderly passengers, many of whom have chronic diseases and are on medication, so I am not surprised to hear that people have died,” Iwata told reporters by video conference from Yokohama on Thursday.

“They are high risk, and we don’t have a specific treatment for the virus.”

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PM EST 34: Two elderly passengers on Diamond Princess die after contracting Covid – 30

Some news just breaking that two elderly passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise liner in (Japan , have died. They are believed to be a man and a woman in their s, according to Japanese broadcasters Kyodo and NHK. Both outlets are citing government sources. We’ll bring you more on this story as soon as we have it.

More than of the passengers on the Diamond Princess liner have been infected on the ship, which has been quarantined since 3 February, initially with about 3, people on board.

Nationals from Australia, the US, Canada and Hong Kong who have been quarantined on the ship have been airlifted home.

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