Latest News: Virus epidemic in China stable, with 143 new cases

BANGKOK (AP) – The latest news on the virus epidemic (hourly local):

8:40 a.m.

The epidemic of the new coronavirus in China continues.

Health authorities on Friday reported 143 new cases of infection and 30 new deaths, almost all at the Wuhan epicenter and in surrounding Hubei province where the virus was first detected in December.

This brings China's total to 3,042 deaths and 80,552 cases. It still accounts for more than 80% of cases worldwide, although outbreaks are increasing elsewhere, particularly in Italy, Iran and South Korea.

China said 53,726 people were declared cured and released. Of those returned home, 27,354 were in Wuhan.

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8:20 a.m.

The Prime Minister of South Korea criticized Japan's 14-day quarantine on all visitors from South Korea due to its viral epidemic, demanding that Tokyo immediately withdraw the excessive and irrational measures.

Prime Minister Chung Se-kyun made the comments at a government meeting on quarantine strategies on Friday and said that Seoul will pursue unspecified countermeasures.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday that Japan would quarantine all visitors from China and South Korea for 14 days before granting them entry permits. They will be sent to a government institution for quarantine and will not be allowed to use public transportation.

Japan and South Korea spent most of their feud in 2019 over issues related to trade and the history of war.

South Korea on Friday reported another 196 cases of the new coronavirus, bringing its total to 6,284. This is the second highest total behind China, which has more than 80,000 .

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6:30 am.

Families of residents of the Seattle suburban nursing home, where nine people died from the new coronavirus, are angry at conflicting reports about their loved ones.

The families held a press conference Thursday outside the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington.

Kevin Connolly, spokesperson for the group, said that a woman had been informed that her mother had died, but had later received a call from another staff member telling her that her mother was fine. This caused him distress because his mother had in fact died.

The federal centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have sent inspectors to Life Care as well as experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to understand how the coronavirus epidemic occurred there and to determine if the Nursing home followed infection prevention guidelines.

Washington State has reported 70 confirmed cases of COVID-19, almost all in the Seattle area.

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5:30 a.m.

The announcement of a case of a new coronavirus in Las Vegas is not a surprise for at least one public health expert, who says that what is happening in Vegas does not necessarily stay in the center touristic.

Brian Labus is an assistant professor of public health at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas and a former senior epidemiologist in the Southern Nevada Health District.

Labus says: People bring things here all the time and also bring them home.

He predicts that it won't be long before other infections are discovered in the city. Especially among players playing with cards and dice.

Labus says: You do not know what is on a surface that someone has touched before you. "

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3:50 a.m.

The plenary session of the European Parliament originally scheduled for next week in Strasbourg, France, will take place in Brussels because of the new coronavirus.

President of Parliament David Sassoli said Thursday that, according to the medical services of the legislature, "health risks are considered to be significantly higher" if lawmakers meet in Strasbourg.

Sassoli says that the necessary security conditions are not in place for the usual transfer from the European Parliament to Strasbourg.

Thursday, there were 50 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Belgium, against 377 in France.

The city of Strasbourg is the official seat of the European Parliament, plenary sessions are also regularly organized in Brussels.

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3:40 a.m.

California authorities say they have confirmed a third case of a new coronavirus from a passenger who traveled last month on the cruise ship Grand Princess from San Francisco to Mexico.

Authorities said on Wednesday that a passenger on the cruise from 11 to 21 February has died and another is infected.

Sonoma County health officials said Thursday that a third passenger had tested positive for the virus. They identified this person as a resident of Sonoma County who is being treated in a hospital with the other infected passenger, who was also a resident of Sonoma County.

A Coast Guard helicopter on Thursday delivered test kits to the cruise ship off the coast of California. Officials say the ship started another trip to Hawaii after last month's Mexico cruise and now has passengers on board with flu-like symptoms.

In addition, San Francisco on Thursday announced the first two cases of the virus in the city itself.

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3:30 a.m.

Italian grandparents ignore the government's call to stay at home to contain the spread of the new coronavirus and instead act as last-minute babysitters after schools close nationwide.

With 148 deaths from viruses, Italy is the epicenter of the epidemic in Europe. It also has the oldest population in the world after Japan. And the elderly are particularly vulnerable to the new virus.

Schools across the country were closed on Wednesday, leaving 8.4 million students with no place to go for the next two weeks.

Thus, despite a government decree which aims to limit the spread of the virus among the most vulnerable, the Roman playgrounds indicate that the measures had the unintended boomerang effect of sending elderly people on duty in ferries sand, swings and gymnasiums in the jungle.

A grandfather, Lorenzo Romano, says he is happy to take care of his grandchildren, whatever the risk to his health, because he wants them more around him.

3:10 a.m.

Seattle's notoriously congested freeways have become much easier to navigate since authorities urged commuters to stay at home when possible during the coronavirus epidemic.

Major employers in the Seattle area such as Microsoft and Amazon have told workers not to go to work. Between them, the tech giants employ more than 100,000 people in the region.

Washingtons Governor Jay Inslee and local leaders have implored workers to telecommute if they can.

The Washington State Department of Transportation said travel times during the Thursday morning trip have decreased significantly. Transportation officials say the 24-mile trip from the Federal Way suburb north of Seattle took an average of 36 minutes instead of the usual 56 minutes.

Ten people died in Washington State due to COVID-19. Authorities reported 70 confirmed cases in the state on Thursday, up from 39 the day before.

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1 h 55

The Vatican says it is working with Italian authorities to coordinate measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the tiny city-state, where Pope Francis is recovering from a cold.

Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni declined to elaborate on possible measures. It seems likely that the Vatican will suspend Francis' weekly general audience, given the Italian ban on large public gatherings and recommendations that people should be kept three feet apart. Several future Vatican conferences have been canceled or postponed.

A Vatican official was placed in protective quarantine in France after a priest from the French church in Rome tested positive for the virus upon arrival. The official, who is not sick, lives in the same church.

Bruni says the 83-year-old pope is continuing his positive recovery from the cold that forced him to cancel several formal hearings and miss a week's spiritual retreat.

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1 h 45

Colombian President Ivn Duque was tested for the new coronavirus after attending a conference in Washington attended by several people who may have been exposed to the disease.

The Colombian Ministry of Health announced on Thursday that the Duques coronavirus test was negative.

Officials said they considered the president's potential exposure to the virus at the recent American and Israeli public affairs commission event to be low risk, but decided to test it as a precaution.

According to AIPAC, a group of New York conference attendees may have had contact with someone diagnosed with the coronavirus before attending and is now on a self-quarantine list.

The organization says more than 18,000 people are attending the event.

Colombia currently has no confirmed cases of coronavirus.

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12:20 p.m.

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 virus in New York State overnight doubled from 11 to 22.

Governor Andrew Cuomo gave the figures on Thursday. New cases diagnosed include two patients hospitalized in New York and a man hospitalized in Long Islands Nassau County.

The other positive tests were done in people with mild symptoms – or none – in Westchester County, where a group of cases emerged earlier in the week. One of the previously diagnosed Westchester County patients was hospitalized.

Overall, the United States has recorded 11 deaths among more than 3,300 people worldwide who have died from the new coronavirus.

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12 midnight

A patient with an underlying medical condition in south-east England died after being tested positive for the new coronavirus, the first person in the UK to succumb to the disease.

The person, who has not been identified, is one of 115 people in the UK who tested positive for the new virus. Switzerland also reported on Thursday its first death from the virus.

Italy has by far the highest number of deaths in Europe with 148 people. France has reported six deaths.

The chief medical officer of England said on Thursday that British authorities had largely gone from efforts to contain the new coronavirus to now trying to delay its spread. Chris Whitty said there was evidence that the virus is spread from person to person in the UK.

He said that the official response from Britains had gone from mainly overdue to mostly overdue.

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11:30 p.m.

The head of the World Health Organization says that nations cannot stop their battle against the coronavirus that is sweeping the world.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking Thursday in Geneva, told reporters: "This is not an exercise. This is not the time to give up. This is not not the time for an apology. This is the time to pull all the stops. "

He added that "countries have been planning scenarios like this for decades. Now is the time to act on those plans."

He said that "the worst thing that can happen to any country or even any individual is to give up. So WHO says not to give up. Do not to surrender."

U.S. health officials, meanwhile, said on Thursday they expected the virus’s mortality rate to be far below the current estimate of 3.4% of the WHO – saying it ignores mild cases that are not counted. Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services Brett Giroir, citing a model that included mild cases, said the United States could expect a death rate of between 0.1% – like the seasonal flu – and 1%.

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10:50 p.m.

An American envoy said the United States had offered humanitarian aid to Iran to help it cope with the coronavirus epidemic, but "the regime has rejected the offer ".

The U.S. Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, spoke on Thursday at a press conference in Paris. Iran has reported 107 deaths from the virus, as has Italy, the two hardest hit countries outside of China.

In a later interview, Hook said, "We asked the regime to identify what its needs are," but Iran did not respond. He said the offer would be maintained.

Hook also said that the United States had asked Iran to release all Americans from its prisons "on medical leave", fearing that the coronavirus would infest the country's prisons. He said five Americans were detained in Iran. He added that Washington was working across Switzerland on this and could not provide more details.

Hook attributed the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Iran to government mismanagement.

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10:30 p.m.

A school district north of Seattle with 22,000 students will close for up to two weeks due to coronavirus problems.

The 26 schools in the Northshore School District will be closed for up to two weeks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and protect vulnerable staff, said the district director in a letter to parents. Much of the neighborhood is in Bothell, Washington, 20 miles north of Seattle.

There have been at least 39 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Seattle area. Ten people died.

Northshore school district superintendent Michelle Reid said school officials will consult with health officials on other recommendations.

The district closed a high school for two days last week due to concerns about exposure to the coronavirus. Reid said that about 20% of the students had been absent recently, the parents having decided to self-quarantine the students at home.

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9 p.m.

South Africa has announced its first confirmed case of new coronavirus.

Health Minister Zwele Mkhize said a 38-year-old man returned this week from Italy with his wife and other travelers. He fell ill at his home in KwaZulu-Natal province on Tuesday and was tested. A health team now contacts all the people with whom it has been in contact.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will meet with the nation on Thursday as part of the health challenge posed by the virus.

South Africa is the first country in southern Africa and the third in sub-Saharan Africa to register a case of new coronavirus. To date, seven African countries have registered cases: Algeria, Senegal, Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Tunisia and South Africa.

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8:35 p.m.

Italy has imposed temporary restrictions on parent visits to nursing homes and urges older people not to go out unless absolutely necessary.

The Italian government, which has closed schools across the country in an attempt to contain the coronavirus, has launched a campaign to urge ordinary Italians to do their part to limit infections as Italy's elderly population is at risk to overwhelm the public health system with cases of viruses.

Italy, the epicenter of the epidemic in Europe, has the oldest population in the world after Japan. The elderly are particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus. The 107 people who have died so far in Italy are all elderly, sick with other complications or both.

In a decree that comes into force on Thursday, the government limits access to the elderly in retirement homes to avoid possible contagion.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte justified the extraordinary measure to close schools and universities nationwide until March 15, warning that there may not be enough units intensive care to treat patients if the virus continues to spread exponentially.

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6:10 p.m.

Facebook says it is temporarily closing an office in Seattle after a worker has been diagnosed with the new virus.

A contractor based in our Stadium East office has been diagnosed with COVID-19, the company said. We have warned our employees and are following the advice of public health officials to prioritize everyone's health and safety.

Facebook said the last time the worker came to the office was on February 21, so it will close the office until March 9, when the incubation period ends. The company follows the advice of local authorities and encourages Seattle staff to work from home until March 31.

An Amazon employee at the office of e-commerce giants in Seattle is also said to have tested positive for the virus this week.

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6 p.m.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan would impose a 14-day quarantine on all visitors from China and South Korea before obtaining an entry permit.

They will be sent to a government institution for quarantine and will not be allowed to use public transport, Abe said on Thursday as authorities intensified their efforts against the spread of the virus.

Japan has more than 1,050 confirmed cases, including 706 from a quarantined cruise ship, as transmission to Japan has accelerated. Abe said the week or two weeks were a crucial time for Japan to contain the epidemic as his government faced pressure to contain the virus before the Tokyo Olympics.

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5.30 p.m.

According to Swiss authorities, a 74-year-old woman infected with the new virus has died, the first death confirmed in the country.

The Federal Office of Public Health announced Thursday that the death had been reported by the authorities of the canton of Western Vaud. The woman has been hospitalized since Tuesday.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 58 infections had been confirmed in Switzerland.

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5:25 p.m.

Sri Lankan health officials said they have decided to quarantine all Sri Lankan passengers from Italy, South Korea and Iran for 14 days.

They will be quarantined in a center that will be installed in a public hospital formerly used to treat leprosy patients on the outskirts of the capital, Colombo. Soldiers are now converting the hospital into a quarantine center.

Sri Lanka officially eliminated leprosy in 1995 and the facility was used for the remaining 16 patients from the country, who will now be transferred to another hospital.

More than 104,000 Sri Lankans live in Italy, more than 60% of them in the Lombardy region, hard hit by the virus. More than 20,000 Sri Lankans live in South Korea.

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5:25 p.m.

The virus epidemic could not have come at a worse time for millions of Hindus who are preparing to celebrate Holi, the festival where people get their face dirty with colored powder.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Hindu nationalist leaders have declared that they will not attend any celebration on March 10 due to the coronavirus epidemic and advise people to exercise proof of restraint.

Modi tweeted that he would not be celebrating Holi because experts have advised to reduce mass gatherings.

Community leaders cancel street celebrations and large gatherings of people in co-ownership.

Across India and Nepal and in countries with Indian migrants, Hindus celebrate Holi, the joyous festival of color, getting dirty with red and yellow powders and spraying themselves with water guns. Balloons filled with water are also used for coloring.

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4:00 p.m.

China says a visit by its president, Xi Jinping, to Japan has been canceled because the two countries are focusing on fighting the virus epidemic.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the two sides would be in close touch over a new time for the visit.

"Both countries agree that President Xi Jinping's state visit to Japan must take place within the most appropriate time, environment and atmosphere, and must be a complete success," said Zhao said during a daily press briefing on Thursday.

The visit was expected in April.

China has strived to improve relations with Japan, as the two are subject to U.S. tariffs intended to punish them for their business practices. However, mutual suspicion is strong on both sides, driven in China mainly by memories of Japan's brutal occupation of parts of the country in the last century and by China's claim to islands in the East China Sea controlled by Japan.

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