Deaths from the 2019 novel coronavirus yesterday rose to 490 in China, while new cases on a Japanese cruise ship and in Hong Kong showed the increasing spread of the outbreak and renewed attention toward containing it.
Ten people from the cruise ship tested positive and were taken to hospital, while all 3,700 crew and passengers were to be quarantined on board for up to 14 days, Japanese Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Katsunobu Kato said.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) said that all people entering the territory from mainland China, including Hong Kong residents, would be required to undergo 14 days of quarantine.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Lam said the measure are to take effect on Saturday to allow Hong Kong day travelers to make the necessary arrangements.
She also said two cruise terminals — including one where a cruise ship is under quarantine — will be shut down.
The government has been vigilant and is not shying away from introducing stringent measures to stem the spread of the virus, Lam said, after thousands of medical workers had gone on strike in the territory to demand that the border with the mainland be completely shut.
The government had kept two crossings open, in part to allow food from the mainland to enter.
Lam said that she remains optimistic that the territory could overcome the epidemic, but urged all citizens to “put aside our differences and get our act together.”
With the outbreak epicenter, Wuhan, cut off by rail, air and road to try to contain the virus, the US and other nations were organizing more evacuation flights for their citizens still in the central Chinese city.
The latest Chinese data showed an increase of 65 deaths from the previous day, all the new deaths in Wuhan. The number of new cases increased to 24,324, a rise of 3,887 from the previous day.
Outside China, at least 180 cases had been confirmed, including two fatalities, one in Hong Kong and another in the Philippines.
To treat the thousands of patients, China rushed to build hospitals and converted a gymnasium, exhibition hall and cultural center in Wuhan.
Patients were being moved into a new, 1,000-bed hospital with prefabricated wards and isolation rooms. A 1,500-bed hospital also specially built opens in days.
The hospitals, in converted public spaces to treat patients with mild symptoms, have a total of 3,400 beds, the simple cots placed in tight rows in cavernous rooms without any barriers.
One man, Fang Bin, said that he saw wards so crowded during a visit to Wuhan No. 5 Hospital on Saturday last week that some patients were forced to sit on the ground.
“There are too many patients, it’s overcrowded,” Fang said.
He said he was taken from his home and questioned by police after he posted a video of what he saw online.
South Korea raised its total to 18, with the new cases raising concern about the illness spreading from nations other than China.
The South Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that a man who attended a business conference in Singapore met a Malaysian there who had the virus.
Another case confirmed yesterday was the daughter of a woman who contracted the coronavirus when traveling in Thailand.
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