February 11 coronavirus news

A group of evacuees will be free to leave March Air Reserve Base in California Tuesday if they aren’t showing any symptoms of the novel coronavirus, Riverside County Public Health Department said in a statement.

No one in the first group of Americans evacuated on a flight from Wuhan, China has tested positive for the virus, health officials said a day before their quarantine expires.

The group of 195 people have been quarantined at the base in Riverside since they arrived from Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, on January 29.

Keep reading here.

Authorities in Hong Kong are investigating whether two residents on different floors of the same high-rise tower may may have contracted the coronavirus from fecal matter due to a possible design flaw in the building’s piping system.

Health officials have traced at least two confirmed cases of the coronavirus to Hong Mei House in Tsing Yi, a small residential island in Hong Kong.

Parts of the building were evacuated while health officials and engineers carried out emergency checks.

There are now 49 confirmed cases of coronavirus and one confirmed death in Hong Kong.

The Chinese table tennis team has flown to a Qatar training base to avoid returning home in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

The squad of nearly 30 flew to Doha at the conclusion of the German Open and have settled into the Aspire Academy Arena ahead of the Qatar Open, which gets under way on March 3.

The Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA) has provided meals, accommodation, 15 practice tables and 2,000 balls.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pictured in Beijing on January 28.

The Wuhan coronavirus poses a “very grave threat for the rest of the world,” the head of the World Health Organization said Tuesday at the start of a two-day meeting in Geneva on the outbreak.

“With 99% of cases in China, this remains very much an emergency for that country, but one that holds a very grave threat for the rest of the world,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, Reuters reported.

Tedros also said that there had been some “concerning instances” of onward transmission from people who had no travel history to China, including cases in France and the UK.

The Westerdam cruise ship is seen moored at Incheon, South Korea, in February 2019

The MS Westerdam, which has more than 2,000 people on board, has now been denied entry by at least four different ports over fears of the Wuhan coronavirus.

Thailand’s Prime Minister said the country would try to assist the ship but that it would not allow the boat to dock in Thailand to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

No cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed on the ship so far.

The ship had originally departed Singapore on January 16 and called into ports in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Hong Kong, according to marinetraffic.com.

In Hong Kong, the ship disembarked 1,254 guests and embarked 768 guests before departing, cruise company Holland America said.

Where was it meant to go? The ship planned to make stops in the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and finally China but revised the ship’s final destination from Shanghai to Yokohama following a warning by the US CDC on January 28th, according to the company. The Philippines and Taiwan announced closure of their ports to cruise ships due to the fear of coronavirus, and Japanese authorities announced they would deny the ship entry – leaving it in a “holding pattern” in the sea.

The cruise liner later announced plans to dock in Laem Chabang, Thailand to allow its passengers to disembark.

But at a press conference Tuesday, Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha said:

Medical staff convene at a temporary hospital in Wuhan on Monday.

A total of 108 people in mainland China died from the Wuhan coronavirus on Monday, according to the country’s National Health Commission (NHC), marking the first time the single-day death toll has crossed into triple digits.

The number of deaths per day in mainland China has steadily risen over the past few weeks, since the Chinese authorities began issuing daily updates.

Here’s the breakdown from the NHC:

Chinese authorities said 17 people had died from the virus before January 23.

Chinese officials studying the Wuhan coronavirus say most of the cluster cases they have observed from a study are within families.

Cluster cases generally refer to “more than two infected cases within a limited space,” Wu Zunyou, a virus expert with China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Wu told reporters Tuesday that from a study of more than 1,000 cluster cases, 83% were identified as family clusters. 

Other cluster cases appeared to be from schools, supermarkets or places of work which appeared to be caused by “poor awareness of protection,” such as not wearing masks.

How do you protect yourself and others?

Officials at Tuesday’s press conference reminded the public: if you have infected family members, rooms should be well ventilated, practice good hand hygiene, avoid public gathering and meal-sharing, and employ good health practices if you have to take public transportation.

The World Health Organization has advised people to avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness, such as coughing and sneezing.

Scientists believe this coronavirus started in another animal and then spread to humans, so health officials recommend cooking meat and eggs thoroughly.

But in general, the public should do “what you do every cold and flu season,” said Dr. John Wiesman, the health secretary in Washington state – where the first US case of Wuhan coronavirus was confirmed.

That includes washing your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, covering your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze, and disinfecting the objects and surfaces you touch if you are ill.

If you or your doctor suspect you might have the coronavirus, the CDC advises wearing a surgical mask.

Health workers gather outside Hong Mei House in Hong Kong on Monday, after coronavirus cases were confirmed at the residential complex.

Health officials in Hong Kong have confirmed seven additional cases of the virus, bringing the city-wide total to 49.

Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Dr. Chuang Shuk-Kwan of the Center for Health Protection said four of the additional cases can be traced back to previous confirmed cases.

Chuang said one case number involves a patient who was a co-worker of a confirmed case who contracted the virus whilst eating hotpot at a dinner party.

Three of the cases are not connected to previous community cluster cases, according to Chuang, who added that two of the three remaining cases have no recent travel history.

The human cost of China’s coronavirus outbreak is tragic, mounting and already readily apparent. The cost to businesses around the world could also become severe in the coming weeks.

Manufacturers around the world have come to depend on parts from China to keep their own supply chains going. Experts fear that factories across the globe could ground to a halt if many of the plants across China remain closed this coming week.

Auto plants could be among the first to feel the impact. That’s because of the massive size of the Chinese auto parts industry and the fact that you can’t build a car with only 99% of its parts.

Read the full story here.

An assembly line is pictured at the Dongfeng Honda plant in Wuhan in November 2019.

People wear protective face masks as they enter a railway station in Shanghai on Monday.

The coronavirus that was first identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan continues to spread through China and around the globe. New cases have been confirmed in the past few hours in Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.

Global numbers: 43,105 confirmed cases; 1,018 deaths 

Mainland China:  42,638 confirmed cases;  3,396 cured and discharged; 1,016 deaths

Monday updates: 108 people killed, 2,478 new infections confirmed

Outside mainland China: 467 cases confirmed in  27 countries and regions. Two deaths reported last week, in the Philippines and Hong Kong.

Stuck on a ship

Thousands remained trapped on the Diamond Princess cruise liner in Japan, and 135 people have been infected by the virus on the ship, which has been quarantined since last week. Twenty-four of them are American.

The Westerdam, a cruise liner that has no suspected patients on board, cannot find a home since docking in Hong Kong. Holland America, the company that owns the ship, previously said it would stop in Thailand tomorrow, but now Thai officials have said they won’t allow the ship to dock.

The company said in a statement it is “actively working this matter and will provide an update when we are able. We know this is confusing for our guests and their families and we greatly appreciate their patience.”

Coronavirus in the pipes of a Hong Kong tower?

Authorities in Hong Kong are also investigating whether two residents of the same high-rise tower have contracted the coronavirus from fecal matter due to a possible design flaw in the building’s piping system.

Health officials have traced at least two confirmed cases of the coronavirus to Hong Mei House in Tsing Yi, a small residential island in Hong Kong.

Parts of the building were evacuated while health officials and engineers carried out emergency checks.

Researchers have yet to confirm if the novel coronavirus can be transmitted via feces.

An official stands guard at an entrance to the Hong Mei House residential building in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

Two Japanese citizens who had initially tested negative for coronavirus have now been diagnosed with the disease. Japan now has confirmed 163 cases.

The two new patients, both men, were evacuated from China to Japan. One is in his 50s and the other in his 40s, the ministry said, and both have no connection to the Diamond Princess, the cruise ship docked off the coast of Yokohama on which 135 have been infected by the virus.

The men were retested after developing fevers.

In this file photo, an airplane carrying South Korean citizens repatriated from Wuhan lands in Seoul, South Korea, January 31.

South Korea is sending a third chartered plane to Wuhan to repatriate its nationals and their Chinese families, vice minister of health and welfare Kim Gang-lip said Tuesday.

Kim said 170 people are expected to board the plane and South Korean authorities are considering allowing Chinese family members of its citizens to board the plane.

The flight will leave South Korea’s Incheon airport Tuesday evening at 8:45pm local and will arrive back in Gimpo airport in Seoul Wednesday morning, Kim said. Those repatriated will be quarantined at Korea Defense Language Institute, a military school facility located in a rural area, Kim said. 

There were about 2,000 South Korean citizens living in Wuhan before the epidemic, according to the Health and Welfare Ministry. More than 700 South Korean nationals were repatriated on the first two flights.

Seoul also announced Tuesday that it will include the semiautonomous Chinese cities of Hong Kong and Macao in its “contaminated zone” list.

The designation will go into effect Wednesday at midnight. Those entering South Korea from the two cities will be required to fill out a health questionnaire and be checked for fever. They might also be subject to a “quarantine/epidemiological investigation.”

Those presenting symptoms, including a fever, will be subjected to a check-up and, if suspected of carrying virus, will be immediately isolated or put under watch.

The Ministry also recommended South Korean nationals avoid travel to Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.

Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong announced on Twitter that his pro-democracy group Demosisto has imported 100,000 masks from the United States to the semiautonomous Chinese city.

He wrote on Twitter:

Since the coronavirus outbreak has exploded, people have scrambled to get medical supplies such as face masks and hand sanitizer. On Friday, the World Health Organization warned of a global “chronic shortage” of equipment that could shield individuals from the coronavirus.

“We’re sending testing kits, mask, gloves, respirators and gowns to countries in every region. However the world is facing a chronic shortage of personal protective equipment,” World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a briefing in Geneva.

The worldwide mask shortage prompted electronics giant Foxconn, the maker of the Apple iPhone, to set up a production line of facial masks at its facility near Shenzhen in southeastern China.

The United Arab Emirates confirmed its eighth coronavirus case late Monday night, the country’s Ministry of Health said in a statement posted to Facebook.

The Indian national had recently interacted with another person who had contracted the virus.

The ministry also announced Sunday that a 73-year-old Chinese patient had been cured – the country’s first recovery from the virus.

A three-month-old baby girl and 55-year-old woman are the latest people in Vietnam to contract coronavirus, according the country’s state-run Vietnam News Agency (VNA).

The two patients are among 10 people in the northern Vinh Phuc province to have been infected. Across Vietnam, 15 people have the virus.

The baby was tested after her grandmother was diagnosed with the virus. She had previously spent four days at her grandmother’s house. The baby is in quarantine and in a stable condition.

The 55-year-old woman is the neighbor of an infected patient who had recently been to Wuhan.

She was in a stable condition at a local clinic on Sunday

Taiwan has raised its travel warnings for several regions in Asia that have been affected by the Wuhan coronavirus, its Ministry of Health and Welfare said in a statement.

Here are the new warnings:

Hong Kong and Macao: Taiwan has raised the travel alerts for the two semi-autonomous Chinese cities to level three, which urges the public not to travel to a location unless it’s “necessary.” Hong Kong has confirmed 42 cases and one fatality, while Macao has identified 10 infected patients.

Singapore: Taiwan raised the travel alert to Singapore to level two, which urges citizens to take “protective measures” if they travel there. Forty-five cases have been identified in the city state.

Thailand: Taiwanese authorities raised the travel alert to Thailand to level one, urging people heading there to “adhere to local preventive measures.” The country has confirmed 33 coronavirus cases.

A second Canadian plane carrying 185 passengers from Wuhan arrived in Vancouver just before 1 a.m. Eastern Time, according to CTV. 

Francois-Philippe Champagne, the country’s minister of foreign affairs, told the television station that the plane had brought back the last group of Canadians who had asked to be repatriated from the Chinese city due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The plane will refuel in Vancouver then fly to the Canadian Forces Base in Trenton, Ontario, the foreign affairs minister said in a tweet. 

Repatriated Canadians and their family members are being quarantined at Canadian Forces Base Trenton for 14 days for health assessments and observation.

In this file photo, the Westerdam is docked at Fort Lauderdale on November 18, 2012.

Thailand has confirmed another case of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections in the country up to 33.

The latest patient is a 54-year-old Chinese woman who traveled from Wuhan before the city was put on lock down, according to Thailand’s Department of Disease Control.

The news came as the Thai authorities announced they would not allow the Westerdam to dock outside Bangkok over concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.

The cruise liner has been stuck at sea for days, with more than 2,000 people on board. None of its former or current passengers have been infected with coronavirus, but after the cruise liner stopped in Hong Kong it has been unable to find a country willing to let it dock.

Holland America said in a statement Monday the ship would dock in Laem Chabang in Thailand on February 13 and that passengers would be allowed to disembark there. The company also said all guests on board the Westerdam would be fully refunded and receive future cruise credit.

However, a senior Thai government official said at a news conference Tuesday that the country’s health authorities are not allowing the ship to dock in Thailand.

CNN has reached out to Holland America for comment and more information on its proposed route. 

A 2-year-old girl has been diagnosed with coronavirus in Singapore, the city-state’s Ministry of Health said. The toddler had been evacuated from Wuhan on January 30 and placed under quarantine until the infection was confirmed on Monday morning.

A 37-year-old Singaporean with “no recent travel history to China” was also confirmed to have the virus on Tuesday.

That brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Singapore up to 45, according to the ministry.

Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) arrived in China today to assist with controlling the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, after the death toll topped 1,000.

Chinese health authorities said 108 people died from the virus in mainland China on Monday, with the majority of those deaths occurring in Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak.

The WHO’s organization’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the team in Beijing would “lay the groundwork for a larger international team,” which will join them “as soon as possible.”

The WHO group in China is led by Bruce Aylward, who helmed the body’s response to Ebola, as well as initiatives for immunization, communicable diseases control and polio eradication.

Their arrival comes as the WHO is facing increasing criticism for its initial decision not to declare a global health emergency, and for officials’ effusive praise of China’s handling of the crisis, even as Beijing faces outrage domestically for, among other things, the death of whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang, and the subsequent censorship of that news.

Read more here:

Medical personnels wearing protective suits wait near a block's entrance in the ground of a residential estate, in Hong Kong, early on February 11, 2020, after two people in the block were confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus according to local newspaper reports. (Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP) (Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article Wuhan coronavirus: Deaths top 1,000 as WHO team arrives in China

Two senior officials of the Health Commission in Hubei province, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, were fired on Tuesday, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The commission’s party secretary, Zhang Jin, and its director, Liu Yingzi, were both removed from office by the Hubei Provincial Party Standing Committee.

The state-run People’s Daily newspaper reported both positions have been replaced by Wang Hesheng, who recently served as vice-minister of the National Health Commission.

Japan’s Health Ministry will likely not test all passengers and crew on board the Diamond Princess for the Wuhan coronavirus due to “capacity” issues, a top official said.

“After 14 days, if people have no symptoms, logically we can say these people are not infected by this virus,” Japan vice minister of health, labor and welfare, Gaku Hashimoto, told CNN in an exclusive interview on Monday.

The Japanese health minister told reporters Monday that the government was considering testing all on board. However, a government official later in the day said it was not feasible.

Japan has a limited number of testing kits and it appears the government is wary of using them all up.

“They are spending time with a lot of anxiety every day in a small space, and 14 days is a long time in a circumstance like this. We need to take care of people who have pre-existing conditions, and also people who are elderly. We are trying to be ready for testing people who have high risks first.”

Watch more from CNN’s interview here:

Rebecca Frasure is currently in a sealed room at a Tokyo hospital after testing positive for coronavirus.

She and her husband, Kent, were among more than 2,500 people on board the Diamond Princess ship, when it was revealed some passengers had been infected with the virus. A total of 135 have now tested positive.

The couple has been keeping video diaries for CNN from the cruise ship and the hospital. They started filing on Friday, soon after Rebecca tested positive.

Friday

Rebecca:

Kent

Saturday 

Rebecca:

Sunday 

Rebecca:

Monday

Kent:

(later Monday…)

Rebecca:

Tuesday

Kent:

Officials wearing protective gear stand guard outside an entrance to the Hong Mei House residential building, on February 11.

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam said Tuesday officials are investigating whether an exhaust pipe led to the spread of coronavirus among residents of a high-rise tower.

Two residents living in Unit 7 of the same block on different floors on Hong Mei House, a building in Tsing Yi, northwestern Hong Kong, have contracted the virus.

A team of experts will enter the building Tuesday to check the safety of its air pipes, Lam said.

Sophia Chan, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Food and Health, said residents living in the same tower block have been evacuated to quarantine camps as a precautionary measure.

She added that four more residents have showed virus symptoms and are now in hospital.

With travel advisories across the globe, four cruise ship were put in some form of lockdown over growing concerns of the novel coronavirus. 

Here’s what you need to know about each ship:

Another ship, the Anthem of the Seas, was docked in New Jersey for an extra two days after four returning passengers were sent to the hospital to be tested for the coronavirus. The four family members, and another 23 passengers, were all cleared of the virus and the ship has set sail.

People wear protective masks as they ride in the street during the rush hour on Monday in Beijing.

China’s response to the rapid spread of the coronavirus has exposed the extent of the country’s vast surveillance system.

A senior official with China’s National Health Commission gave state broadcaster CCTV one example:

In 2020, China is using lessons learned from decades of crackdowns on dissidents and undesirables to combat the virus.

Read more here

This file photograph from April 2019 shows Japanese carmaker Honda Motor Company's plant in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

The human cost of China’s coronavirus outbreak is tragic, mounting and already readily apparent. The cost to businesses around the world could also become severe in the coming weeks.

Manufacturers around the world have come to depend on parts from China to keep their own supply chains going. Experts fear that factories across the globe could ground to a halt if many of the plants across China remain closed this coming week.

Auto plants could be among the first to feel the impact. That’s because of the massive size of the Chinese auto parts industry and the fact that you can’t build a car with only 99% of its parts.

“It only takes one missing part to stop a line,” said Mike Dunne, a consultant to the auto industry in Asia and the former head of GM’s operations in Indonesia.

Read more here

A Chinese woman in South Korea has been diagnosed with the Wuhan coronavirus, authorities in Seoul said Tuesday.

The woman, aged 30, tested positive for the virus while she was in self-quarantine. She is the 28th confirmed infection in South Korea.

A 13th person in the United States has tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The patient arrived in the US last week at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar on a flight from Wuhan and has been held at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center. 

No further details on the patient’s condition were provided.

The patient is the seventh person in California who has contracted the virus. Others have been confirmed in Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, Washington state and Wisconsin.

Read more about the previous cases here.

The Diamond Princess is seen in Yokohama near Tokyo on Monday.

An official from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is in Tokyo to assist the US Embassy with its support of Americans on board the Diamond Princess, CNN has learned.

Passengers have been stuck on the cruise ship since February 4, after reports emerged that one of its passengers was infected with the coronavirus that has swept through China.

Since then, 135 people have been confirmed infected, including at least 24 Americans.

“We believe the Japanese authorities and cruise lines are working hard to keep all passengers – and the public – safe,” a State Department official told CNN.

“We ask passengers on board for their patience and understanding and to fully cooperate with and follow the instructions of global medical authorities and the Japanese government.”

Over the weekend, the CDC sent a letter to Americans on board the Diamond Princess advising them of hygiene procedures. “Remaining in your room on the ship is the safest option to minimize your risk of infection,” the letter said.

Consular officers are also visiting American cruise ship passengers who have been sent to hospitals in Tokyo.

An official wearing protective gear stands guard outside an entrance to the Hong Mei House residential building at Cheung Hong Estate in Hong Kong's Tsing Yi district on Tuesday.

Health officials in Hong Kong evacuated some residents from an apartment block following concerns two people contracted the coronavirus via the building’s piping system.

“As the pipeline that transfers feces is connected to the air pipe, it is very likely for the virus in the feces to be transmitted through the air fan into the toilet,” Professor KY Yuen said during an impromptu midnight press conference held Tuesday morning local time.

Health officials have traced at least two confirmed cases of the coronavirus to Hong Mei House in Tsing Yi, a small residential island in Hong Kong.

Parts of the building were evacuated while health officials and engineers carried out emergency checks. Professor Yuen said the transmission route is not clear yet, so the evacuation was taken as a precautionary measure to protect the building’s residents.

Hong Kong now has 42 confirmed cases of the Wuhan coronavirus. Some are believed to have been locally infected, according to Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection. 

The total number of cases and deaths related to the Wuhan coronavirus continue to rise, as officials attempt to stop the virus from spreading.

Here are the latest updates on the virus: