Saturday February 22, 2020
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Coronavirus is rampant in northern Italy: the Veneto region’s health authorities report the first European casualty and impose strict precautionary measures. Meanwhile, the number of infected people is exploding in South Korea. The situation in China remains “bleak and complicated”.
The first European to die of the novel corona virus in Italy. The victim was a 78-year-old Italian, says Italy’s Minister of Health Roberto Speranza. At the same time, the World Health Organization (WHO) reacted alarmed to new sources of infection of the virus outside of China: South Korea reports a rapid increase in fatal lung disease.
According to the Italian Minister of Health, the late Italian was treated for another illness about ten days ago in a hospital in the Veneto region in northern Italy before he tested positive for the virus. Two cases of infection had previously been confirmed by local authorities in Veneto and 15 cases in neighboring Lombardy.
In Codogno, Italy, employees of the local hospital carry boxes to the clinic.
(Photo: picture alliance / dpa)
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Due to concerns about a further spread of the viral disease, the authorities ordered on Friday in at least ten northern Italian cities that schools, authorities and other public buildings remain closed for the time being. In the affected areas, this also applies to grocery stores, bars, discos and sports centers for at least one week. Around 50,000 people are affected.
New foci of infection outside of China
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also warned that the “time window” to contain the epidemic was closing. Previously, new sources of infection from both China and several other countries had been reported. Four people in Iran have already died of Covid-19 lung disease.
“We are still at a stage where containment is possible,” said Ghebreyesus. “But the time window is closing more and more.” If the world does not now act “hard” against the virus, it will face a “serious problem”.
A cleaning company employee disinfects an offshoot of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in the South Korean city of Daegue.
(Photo: REUTERS)
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The situation is particularly worrying in South Korea, where the number of newly infected people has skyrocketed: The South Korean authorities are currently reporting 346 cases – 142 more than on Friday and the second highest outside of China. The starting point is a 61-year-old follower of the Christian sect “Shincheonji Church of Jesus”. She initially refused a virus test and, despite the illness, continued to attend services in the city of Daegu.
Situation “dark and complicated”
The virus could also spread from the cruise ship “Diamond Princess”, which lies off the Japanese coast. After around 500 passengers were allowed to leave the ship after a two-week quarantine on Wednesday, several of the ex-passengers who originally tested negative proved to be infected. Six German passengers were flown out of Japan on board an Italian plane on Friday, as the Federal Foreign Office announced on Twitter.
On the other hand, authorities from China, the epicenter of the virus outbreak, reported falling infection rates and deaths again on Saturday: 109 people have died since Friday from the virus, which has increased the death toll to over 2,300. According to the authorities, a total of around 76,000 people are now infected with the virus.
China’s head of state Xi Jinping said at a Politburo meeting that the epidemic had “not yet reached its climax,” and the situation in Hubei province in particular was still “bleak and complicated”. In December, the cause of the respiratory disease Covid-19 was first identified in humans in Hubei.
In around 25 other countries, including Germany, a total of around 1100 infections were detected. 14 infected people have died so far.
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