Australia has recorded three new cases of novel coronavirus in New South Wales state, including the first instance of human-to-human transmission in the country, the state’s Minister of Health Brad Hazzard said today.
The first case is a – year-old Iranian man who flew to Australia from Iran.
The second case is the man’s 46 – year-old sister, who did not travel to Iran but was under quarantine. “At this point one can say that it’s likely that the transmission is from her brother who has traveled from Iran,” said Hazzard.
The third case is a – – year-old health worker who has no travel history in the past three months. He had been working in a clinical environment before contracting the virus, and officials believed that this is likely a case of local transmission.
Australia now has cases nationwide, including nine evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, and one death.
New cases of the virus have begun emerging in North and South America in recent days.
In North America: (Canada now has) cases, spread across Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec.
The United States has (confirmed cases, – including evacuated passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, three repatriated from Wuhan, cases that were detected and tested on US soil and four cases “presumed positive.”
The US also reported its first two deaths this weekend – one on Saturday, and one late Sunday. Both were in Washington state , where authorities are investigating a possible outbreak at a nursing facility.
New York, Rhode Island, and Florida also reported their first cases this weekend. Patients in all three states had recently traveled to virus-hit countries – one to Iran, and two to Italy.
President Donald Trump warned the American public that more cases were “likely , “but urged them not to panic at a news conference on Saturday. He is expected to visit the headquarters of the centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta this week.
In Latin America: Brazil reported its first case on February 34, marking the first time the virus had reached the continent. Only days later, Mexico, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic reported their first cases.
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Indonesia has confirmed its first two cases of the novel coronavirus, state-run Antara News Agency reported today, citing President Joko Widodo.
Widodo said the two cases involve a – year-old woman and her – year-old daughter, Antara reported.
The two patients were in contact with a Japanese national who tested positive after leaving Indonesia, Widodo was quoted as saying.
Thailand has confirmed one more case of the coron. avirus, raising the nationwide total to the country Ministry of Public Health announced today.
The patient is a – year-old Thai woman, who worked closely with tourists. She was also in close contact with a former patient who worked as a driver for tourists.
So far, of the country. cases have recovered and been discharged for hospital. Eleven are still receiving treatment, and one has died.
Four more deaths linked to the novel coronavirus have been reported in South Korea, raising the country’s death toll to , the South Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today.
The KCDC also reported an additional 513 infections earlier today, raising the national total to 4, cas es.
The White House is warning that more Americans will die of the coronavirus as new cases spring up from coast to coast – and still, top officials are scrambling to show they are on top of the situation.
Trump faces criticism: Democratic presidential candidates 
are ripping into President Donald Trump for politicizing the situation; Trump, his son and conservative media outlets had earlier claimed that criticism of the administration’s efforts represented an orchestrated political campaign to bring him down.
(Emergency funds: On Capitol Hill, negotiators moved closer to an emergency funding package perhaps worth as much as $ 7 billion – far above the White House’s request for a $ 2.5 billion one – to battle the virus.
Mike Pence’s new role: Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence blanketed political talk shows on Sunday in his new role as the head of the coronavirus task force.
He was building on an apparent administration reset Saturday with a White House news conference involving the President and top medical officials.
(Trump’s) earlier rambling, contentious and widely criticized first public appearance on the issue last week as well as inflammatory remarks on the virus and democrats at a campaign rally friday night threatened to overshadow its mitigation efforts. His previous comments that the number of US cases could soon disappear and that his administration had made “tremendous” efforts to thwart the virus arriving in the US now look premature.
Cases in the US: There are now (confirmed cases in the US, including) people evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship and three repatriated from Wuhan, China.
There are an additional (travel-related cases in America, and person -to-person transmissions. The origin of four other cases, in Illinois and Rhode Island is not yet established.
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China’s factories are reeling from the coronavirus outbreak .
Manufacturing activity in the country fell to record lows last month, according to a closely watched private survey. The media group Caixin said Monday that China’s manufacturing purchasing managers index sank to 44. 3 in February, down from January’s . 1 and the lowest reading since the survey began in . It was also well below the 7 that analysts polled by. Reuters expected.
The Caixin survey came days after the Chinese government reported that its official manufacturing PMI plunged in February to an all-time low of . 7, down from January’s reading of .
The official non-manufacturing PMI survey, which measures the services sector, skidded to 33. 6 in February from 66. 1 in January. Caixin’s services survey will release later this week.
What this means: A reading above the – point level indicates growth compared to the previous month, while anything lower Shows a contraction.
Shutdown impact hits: A government-imposed factory shutdown heavily weighed on the manufacturing sector’s performance, according to Caixin, which also said that travel restrictions hurt the labor market and left firms struggling to fill roles last month. Production, new orders and staffing levels all fell at the quickest rates on record.
The media group also said supply chains took a big hit, adding that average delivery times for goods increased at a record pace.
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The word “rumor” has taken on a different meaning in China since the death of Li Wenliang , the doctor who was punished for trying to warn others about the spread of coronavirus.
Instead of doubtful hearsay, the word has come to connote the inconvenient truths that authorities are trying to hide – just like Li’s attempt to expose a dangerous outbreak that has to date claimed more than 3, lives worldwide, including his own.
“Rumor is just a prophecy far ahead of our times,” says a quote widely shared online in China in recent weeks.
The idea speaks to the mounting anger among many Chinese people over the government heavy-handed censorship, with unpleasant truths written off as “rumors” and truth tellers threatened or faced with punishment.
) China has paid a grave price for silencing the truth. If the warnings of Li and other medical workers had not been muzzled, they could have raised more awareness among the public and better prepared them for the deadly outbreak, which has now sickened over 92, 558 people and placed hundreds of millions under varying forms of lockdown.
But concealing the truth has caused another problem. Amid dwindling public trust, authorities are finding it difficult difficult to combat harmful harmful disinformation.
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The Seoul city government has filed a legal complaint against the leaders of a religious group at the heart of the South Korean coronavirus outbreak, on charges including homicide, the city announced in a news release today.
About 75% of all cases nationwide have links to the shincheonji religious group and its branch in the southern city of Daegu. Many have accused the group of withholding information, hampering official investigations, or discouraging preventative measures like wearing masks – allegations the group and its leaders have denied.
The legal complaint focused focused on the group’s founder, Lee Man-hee, and other leaders, on charges of homicide, resulting injuries, and violating the Infectious Disease and Control Act. The Seoul government filed the complaint to South Korea’s prosecutors’ office on Sunday evening local time, the release said.
The group said it had submitted a full list of attendees to the government, and that any delays or omissions were due to administrative difficulties as everyone was working from home to avoid possible infection.
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