Hong Kong reported its first death from the coronavirus on Tuesday – only the second outside China – as the death toll from the outbreak rose to at least 425 and China admitted “shortcomings and difficulties” in its response to the flu-like infection.
The Hong Kong victim was a 39-year-old man from Wuhan, where the virus first originated, who had underlying health problems, the authorities said. It was the second death recorded outside China – the first was in the Philippines on Sunday.
Meanwhile, China’s National Health Commission reported 64 new fatalities as of midnight on Monday – the biggest daily increase since the virus was first detected late last year. Wuhan, and the surrounding province of Hubei, have been effectively sealed off from the rest of the country for more than a week.
There are now 20,438 people confirmed to have the infection.
Late on Monday, the Standing Committee of the Politburo – the country’s top leadership – met in Beijing and acknowledged “shortcomings and difficulties” in China’s response to the outbreak.
“This very rare sort of language to hear,” Al Jazeera’s Adrian Brown said from Hong Kong, where he is reporting from the border. “This was the senior leadership of the party essentially admitting they had failed the people. They said officials who had made mistakes would be punished. And they said China would have to improve the way it responded to this sort of national emergency in the future.”
Other countries have rushed to evacuate their citizens from Hubei and its capital city, Wuhan, while many have also imposed extraordinary travel restrictions on travellers to and from China.
About 150 cases have been reported in two dozen other countries, with the United States reporting the second case of human-to-human transmission on Monday.
Here are the latest updates:
Tuesday, February 4
Hyundai suspends domestic production
South Korea’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor will suspend all domestic production this week because of a lack of parts due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, it said.
“Hyundai Motor has decided to suspend its production lines from operating at all of its plants in Korea,” the carmaker said in a statement.
The order of suspensions would vary, it said, but all production would cease by the end of the week.
Japan’s ANA to slash flights to Beijing from Tokyo
Japan’s biggest carrier ANA Holdings said it will slash the number of flights between Tokyo and Beijing by two thirds beginning February 10 for at least seven weeks.
ANA will reduce flights from Tokyo’s two airports, Haneda and Narita, to the Chinese capital from 21 flights per week to seven, the airline said in a statement.
ANA’s local rival Japan Airlines Co, in a separate statement, said it also planned to reduce services to China over the next several weeks, including cancellations and the use of smaller aircraft on some routes.
Repatriated Belgian tests positive for coronavirus
A Belgian person, one of nine repatriated from Wuhan in China on Sunday, has tested positive for the coronavirus, Belgium’s health agency said.
The agency said all nine had undergone a series of tests in a military hospital in the capital Brussels. Eight of them tested negative.
No details were given about the person who tested positive, but the agency said they were in good health and not currently showing any symptoms of the virus.
Malaysia confirms first citizen infected with virus, total cases now 10
Malaysian health authorities confirmed the first citizen to be infected with the new coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 10.
They said the 41-year-old Malaysian had travelled to Singapore for a meeting last month with colleagues from China – including one from Wuhan. But he only showed symptoms on January 29, nearly a week after he returned to Malaysia.
Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said lab results on February 3 confirmed that the man, along with a 63-year-old man from Wuhan who had been under observation, had contracted the virus.
China moves virus patients into new facilities
China has begun moving patients suffering from the deadly new virus into rapidly built or adapted facilities, although the degree of medical isolation among them appears to vary widely.
The first 50 patients were moved into Huoshenshan Hospital, a pre-fabricated structure on the outskirts of the city of Wuhan.
Taiwan to restrict entry of foreigners from China
Taiwan’s foreign ministry said the island will deny entry to all foreign nationals who had been to China during the past 14 days starting from Friday.
The new incoming travel ban includes all foreign nationals who have been in China since February 7, Taiwan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
It extends an existing ban on visitors from China but does not include visitors from Hong Kong and Macau.
Macau to close casinos for two weeks over virus
Macau will close all its casinos for two weeks because of the coronavirus, the leader of the semi-autonomous territry announced.
Gaming forms the backbone of Macau’s economy.
“We will suspend the gambling industry and related casino businesses for half a month,” chief executive Ho Iat-seng said.
South Korean woman tests positive for coronavirus after Thailand visit
A South Korean woman has tested positive for coronavirus after visiting Thailand, South Korean officials said, the first foreign tourist reported to have been infected after a visit to the southeast Asian nation.
The 42-year-old, identified only as Patient 16, flew back to South Korea on January 19 after holidaying in Thailand, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said in a statement.
Treated since developing chills and other symptoms from January 25, she did not improve until Sunday, the KCDC added, and was confirmed positive on Tuesday, following checks at Chonnam National University Hospital.
Chinese cities far from virus epicentre sealed off
Two more cities in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang, far from the epicentre of the health emergency, have restricted the movement of residents.
The city of Taizhou and three Hangzhou districts – including the area that is home to the main office of Chinese tech giant Alibaba – will only allow one person from each household to go outside every two days to buy necessities, city officials said.
Between them the areas are home to more than nine million people.
China tells domestic airlines not to cut international routes
China’s civil aviation authority has urged domestic carriers to continue flying international routes, except to countries with travel bans as a result of the coronavirus epidemic, state news agency Xinhua said.
The comments of the Civil Aviation Administration of China were reported on Xinhua’s account on messaging app Weibo.
Malaysia evacuates citizens from Wuhan on chartered AirAsia jet
Malaysia on Wednesday brought back 107 people – including citizens’ non-Malaysian partners and children – from Wuhan and placed them in quarantine for 14 days.
The chartered AirAsia aircraft landed in Kuala Lumpur at 6:00am (22:00 GMT) and the evacuees, as well as the 12 crew and 14 government officials on board were taken to a separate building for screening, the National Disaster Management Agency said in a statement.
Of the 107, two did not pass the health screening and were admitted to Kuala Lumpur’s main hospital, it said.
Taiwan calls China ‘vile’ for restricting island’s access to WHO on coronavirus
Taiwan’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday China is “vile” for restricting the island’s access to the WHO during the coronavirus outbreak, adding to tensions with Beijing over the health crisis. China said on Monday that it had shared full information on the virus with authorities in Taiwan, where there have been 10 confirmed cases, and that channels of communication were “unblocked”.
Hong Kong reports first death from coronavirus
Hong Kong reported its first death from the coronavirus on Tuesday morning; a 39-year-old man with underlying health issues, as the territory closed all but three of its border crossings and health workers stepped up a strike over the government’s handling of the outbreak.
Chief executive Carrie Lam refuted the medics claims.
“I certainly would not agree with the allegation that we are not addressing this public health concern adequately,” Lam told reporters at a media conference on Tuesday. “Certainly, I do not agree with the allegation that we are putting politics above public health.”
Taiwan evacuates first group from Wuhan, announces mask curbs
Taiwan has evacuated the first group of an estimated 500 Taiwanese stranded in Wuhan.
Taiwan had complained that China had not responded to requests to fly out its citizens, even as Beijing gave such permission to other governments, including the United States and Britain.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement on Tuesday that 247 people had arrived at Taipei’s main international airport late on Monday. They will be quarantined for 14 days, and anyone showing symptoms of the virus will be sent to the hospital.
Separately, Taiwan said it would begin rationing face masks, with people limited to two masks each week on presentation of their national insurance cards.
China says US should not overreact on coronavirus outbreak
China’s foreign ministry reiterated on Tuesday the United States should refrain from overreacting over the coronavirus outbreak and called on Washington to work with Beijing and the international community to deal with the epidemic.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, in a statement issued by the ministry, also said Beijing notes the repeated offer from the US to China for assistance in fighting the outbreak. Beijing hopes that Washington will provide the offered aid soon, she said.
Japan quarantines cruise ship in Yokohama
Japan has quarantined a cruise ship with 3,500 people on board after a passenger who got off the liner in Hong Kong tested positive for the virus.
Television footage showed images of several quarantine officers entering the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama on Monday evening to check the health of all 2,500 passengers and 1,000 crew.
An 80-year-old passenger who disembarked on January 25 in Hong Kong tested positive for the deadly virus.
Australian Wuhan evacuees arrive on Christmas Island
The first plane-load of Australians evacuated from Wuhan has arrived in the Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island, where they will be quarantined for two weeks to prevent the spread of the virus, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said,
The plane carrying 243 passengers, 14 crew, four pilots and officials from the Department of Health first landed at a military airbase about 1,200 kilometres (746 miles) north of Perth, and a pregnant woman and her partner were put into isolation in Perth, Morrison said.
Morrison said Australia was now working with China on a second evacuation flight, and was working with New Zealand to secure Australian nationals a seat on their plane.
Russia postpones annual investment forum
Russia is postponing an annual investment forum in the Black Sea city of Sochi that had been scheduled to take place next week because of concerns about the coronavirus concerns, a government order said.
The Russian Investment Forum, which is attended by a string of high-ranking officials and foreign investors, had been set to take place from February 12-14. The government order did not say when it would now be held.
United Airlines suspending US-bound mainland China flights a day earlier
United Airlines said on Monday it will bring forward its temporary suspension of US-bound flights from mainland China by one day to Tuesday.
The airline, which is the last US airline still operating China flights said on Friday it planned to fly its last flight from China on Wednesday because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Delta Air Lines suspended flights over the weekend, while American Airlines ended its flights from mainland China on Friday. United said Monday it still plans to resume flights to and from China on March 28.
World Bank calls for global effort against virus
The World Bank called on Monday for countries to step up programmes to fight the new coronavirus outbreak and said it was considering mobilising its own resources against the disease.
“We are calling on all countries to strengthen their health surveillance and response systems, which is essential to contain the spread of this and any future outbreaks,” the institution said in a statement.
It added that it was reviewing financial and technical resources that could be mobilised quickly to support affected countries and ways to accelerate the international response.
Source: Al Jazeera