The global spread of the new coronavirus: Where is it?

PARIS (AFP) -- The new coronavirus that emerged in central China at the end of last year has now killed more than 2,400 people and spread around the world. Outside mainland China there have been 26 deaths and more than 1,500 infections reported, with cases concentrated in South Korea and the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined off Japan. Here is a roundup of the areas where cases of COVID-19, the virus's official designation, have been confirmed: CHINA  ===== As of Sunday some 77

Feb. 24, 2020

Xi says China facing 'big test' with virus, global impact spreads

BEIJING (AFP) -- China's leader said Sunday the new coronavirus epidemic is the communist country's largest-ever public health emergency, but other nations were also increasingly under pressure from the deadly outbreak's relentless global march. Italy and Iran began introducing the sort of containment measures previously seen only in China, which has put tens of millions of people under lockdown in Hubei province, the outbreak's epicentre. Italy reported a third death while cases spiked and

Feb. 24, 2020

Italy announces three deaths linked to coronavirus

ROME (AFP) -- An elderly cancer patient became the third person known to be infected with the coronavirus to die in Italy, health officials said on Sunday, as the number of people contracting the virus continued to mount. The death of the woman in a hospital in the small city of Crema in Lombardy, the centre of Italy's coronavirus scare, followed that of a 77-year-old woman on Saturday and a 78-year-old man on Friday, the first victim of coronavirus in Europe. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte u

Feb. 24, 2020

China's Hubei province reports 96 new virus deaths

BEIJING (AFP) -- The death toll in China from the coronavirus epidemic rose past 2,400 on Sunday after 96 more people died in Hubei province, the hard-hit epicentre of the outbreak. The vast majority of the deaths were in the provincial capital of Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December, according to the daily update from the Hubei health commission. The province also reported 630 new confirmed cases, bringing the total within China to around 77,000. The coronavirus has spread to mo

Feb. 23, 2020

Two Australian evacuees from Japan ship have coronavirus

SYDNEY (AFP) -- Two Australians evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have tested positive for coronavirus, authorities said Friday, raising questions about Japan's policy of allowing evacuees to return home after testing negative. "We have two people who are positive for the COVID-19 virus. Those two people have mild illness," said Dianne Stephens, acting chief health officer for the Northern Territories. Hundreds of people have been allowed to leave the ship after testin

Feb. 21, 2020

New threats emerge in outbreak while China voices optimism

BEIJING (AP) -- Chinese health officials expressed new optimism Thursday over the deadly virus outbreak while authorities in South Korea's fourth-largest city urged residents to hunker down as fears nagged communities far from the illness' epicenter. The confidence voiced by China's government came as it reported a reduced number of new infections. But doubts remained about the true trajectory of the epidemic as China again changed its method of counting and new threats emerged outside the cou

Feb. 21, 2020

Iran announces 3 new cases of new virus after 2 deaths

TEHRAN (AP) -- Iran said Thursday that three more people have been infected with the new virus that originated in central China, following an announcement the day before that two people had died of the illness caused by the virus in the Iranian city of Qom. All schools and universities, including religious Shiite seminaries, were shut down in the holy city of Qom, according to the official IRNA news agency. Other news reports said Iran had recently evacuated 60 Iranian students from Wuhan, th

Feb. 21, 2020

Two former Japan cruise ship passengers die: media

TOKYO (AFP) -- Two former passengers of the coronavirus-wracked Diamond Princess have died, local media reported Thursday, as fears mount about those who have left the ship after testing negative for the virus. A man and a woman in their 80s who had been infected have died, public broadcaster NHK and others reported, which would be the first fatal cases among the more than 600 on board the cruise ship. Both had underlying conditions and had been taken off the ship on February 11 and 12 before

Feb. 20, 2020

China revokes 3 Wall Street Journal reporters' credentials

BEIJING (AP) -- China revoked the press credentials of three reporters for The Wall Street Journal over a headline for an opinion column the government said Wednesday was racist. The expulsions come after the Trump administration on Tuesday designated five state-run Chinese news outlets that operate in the United States as "foreign missions," requiring them to register their properties and employees in the US China said it reserves the right to respond to what it called a mistaken p

Feb. 20, 2020

At least eight killed in shootings in Germany: police

HANAU (AFP) -- At least eight people were killed in two shootings at shisha bars in Germany, with an unknown number of attackers still at large, police and media said. The shootings late Wednesday targeted bars in Hanau, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Frankfurt, according to local media, where police launched a huge manhunt for the gunmen. The first attack occurred at the "Midnight" bar in the centre of the city around 10pm (2100 GMT), police and reports said. Witnesses reporte

Feb. 20, 2020

WHO warns against novel coronavirus 'blanket measures'

GENEVA (AFP) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday warned against "blanket measures" over the novel coronavirus outbreak, pointing out the epidemic outside of China was only affecting a "tiny" proportion of the population. WHO also said that -- with a mortality rate of around 2 percent -- COVID-19 was "less deadly" than other coronaviruses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). WHO officials rejecte

Feb. 18, 2020

China virus death toll passes 1,800: govt.

BEIJING (AFP) -- The death toll from China's new coronavirus epidemic jumped past 1,800 on Tuesday after 93 more people died in Hubei province, the hard-hit epicentre of the outbreak. In its daily update, the province's health commission also reported 1,807 new cases, a smaller number of infections compared to those declared on Monday. The new cases mean more than 72,300 people have now been affected across the country. Most of the cases are in Hubei, where the virus first emerged in Decembe

Feb. 18, 2020

Japan confirms 99 more cases of new virus on cruise ship

TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese officials have confirmed 99 more people infected by the new virus aboard the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess, bringing the total to 454, the Health Ministry said Monday . The ministry has been carrying out tests on passengers and crew on the ship, docked in Yokohama, a port city near Tokyo. The 14-day quarantine for those on the ship was due to end Wednesday. Outside China, the ship has had the largest number of cases of the COVID-19 illness caused by the vi

Feb. 17, 2020

UK consumers hit by post-Brexit customs: retailers

LONDON (AFP) -- British consumers will face higher prices and limited ranges of goods in the event of a return to customs controls after the Brexit transition period, an industry body warned Monday. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) issued the gloomy warning in a report entitled A Fair Deal for Consumers: EU Trade Roadmap -- which outlined its priorities for London's trade talks with Brussels. Britain left the European Union on January 31 but remains bound by its r

Feb. 17, 2020

China virus toll reaches 1,765: govt.

BEIJING (AFP) -- The death toll from China's new coronavirus epidemic jumped past 1,700 on Monday after 100 more people died in hard-hit Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak. In its daily update, the province's health commission also reported 1,933 new cases. At least 70,400 people have now been infected nationwide. Most are in Hubei, where the virus first emerged in December before spiralling into a nationwide epidemic. The number of new cases in the province had been declining si

Feb. 17, 2020

Xi's early involvement in virus outbreak raises questions

A recent speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping that has been published by state media indicates for the first time that he was leading the response to a new virus outbreak from early on in the crisis. The publication of the Feb. 3 speech was an apparent attempt to demonstrate that the Communist Party leadership had acted decisively from the beginning, but also opens Xi up to criticism over why the public was not alerted sooner. In the speech, Xi said he gave instructions on fighting the v

Feb. 16, 2020

China toll leaps past 1,600 as first death reported outside Asia

BEIJING (AFP) -- The death toll from the new coronavirus outbreak surpassed 1,600 in China on Sunday, with the first fatality reported outside Asia fuelling global concerns. More than 68,000 people have now been infected in China from a virus that emerged in central Hubei province in December before spreading across the country and some two dozen countries. Amid criticism over the handling of the crisis, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for tighter policing to protect social stability, whi

Feb. 16, 2020

China virus death toll nears 1,500 but new cases fall

BEIJING (AFP) - The death toll from China's coronavirus epidemic rose to 1,483 on Friday but the number of new infections in hard-hit Hubei province fell after a change in case definitions caused a massive increase the previous day. The central province's health commission reported 116 more deaths and 4,823 new cases, the majority involving "clinically diagnosed" patients. The province, the epicentre of the outbreak, had 242 more deaths and over 14,800 new cases on Thursday. More t

Feb. 14, 2020

Sanders, Buttigieg emerge as frontrunners in Democratic race

MANCHESTER (AFP) -- Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg stepped forward Wednesday as undisputed frontrunners in the race to take on President Donald Trump in November after finishing first and second in the New Hampshire primary. The 78-year-old leftist senator from neighboring Vermont and the young former mayor of South Bend, Indiana took 26 and 24 percent of the votes in Tuesday's voting. Last week in Iowa's caucuses they also finished as the top two -- with Buttigieg narrowly beating Sanders.

Feb. 13, 2020

China virus death toll reaches 1,110: govt.

BEIJING (AFP) -- The number of fatalities from China's new coronavirus epidemic jumped to 1,110 nationwide on Wednesday after hard-hit Hubei province reported 94 new deaths. In its daily update, Hubei's health commission also confirmed another 1,638 new cases in the central province, where the outbreak emerged in December. There are now more than 44,200 confirmed cases across China, based on previously released figures from the government. The new virus is believed to have emerged last year

Feb. 12, 2020