The coronavirus epidemic appeared in China in December and appears to have peaked there. But elsewhere in the world, it is spreading and now affects 40 countries, including 13 in Europe.
According to the latest official report released Wednesday February 26 by the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 81,000 contaminations and 2,761 deaths have been recorded worldwide. The virus is responsible for 2,718 deaths in China and more than 50 worldwide.
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Italy, the most affected European country
Italy, which has 12 dead linked to the epidemic of coronavirus on its soil, announced Wednesday evening to have reached the bar of 400 cases. A previous official count reported on Wednesday morning, 374 people infected.
In his new assessment Wednesday evening, the head of civil protection Angelo Borrelli, however, did not announce a new death and said that three people are definitively healed. These are three patients treated in Rome since early February: a couple of Chinese tourists and a young man who has returned from China. They were the first cases of coronavirus in Italy.
“The message to Italians is that we are cured of this disease! “, welcomed Wednesday, in front of television cameras, Francesco Vaia, director of the reference hospital for infectious diseases in Italy, the Spallanzani, in Rome. This hospital used a “Experimental antiviral therapy” to treat patients, he said. According to medical sources, doctors have experimented with treatment with antiviral agents and drugs used against the Ebola virus.
Among the 400 cases identified Wednesday, only 36 people are in intensive care, also said Angelo Borrelli.
Lombardy, which includes Milan, the country’s economic capital, remains the region most affected by the virus, with 258 cases. Codogno – along with nine other cities and one village in Veneto – has been in quarantine since he was hospitalized there Mattia, 38, on “Patient number 1”, to which most cases of Lombardy are connected.
Veneto is the second most affected region, with 71 cases, and recorded the very first death of an Italian – and European – national on Friday. In total, nine regions are affected by the epidemic, but the authorities add Lazio (Rome), which was able to treat its three patients, unrelated to the epidemic of the North.
In Europe, the neighboring countries of Italy decided to keep their borders open, despite the spread to Tuscany, Sicily and Liguria. But several governments encourage their nationals to postpone their trips.
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Movement restrictions in Iran
Iranian authorities announced on Wednesday restrictions on free movement in the country for those infected or suspected of being infected with the coronavirus, which has killed 19 people in the country, the heaviest after China.
“Rather than quarantining cities, we will implement restrictions on the movement of those who are suspected of being infected or who are infected”, said Minister of Health Said Namaki in a press briefing.
“It was decided to place teams at the entrance to many cities where there is a lot of movement. “
“I ask people not to travel”continued the minister, adding that anyone ‘Suspicious’ to be infected with the Covid-19 virus “At the entrance to a city” will be “Definitely quarantined for 14 days”.
Nearly 140 people, including the deputy minister of health, were infected in Iran and most of the neighbors of the Islamic Republic have implemented travel restrictions and quarantine measures. On Wednesday, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Kianouche Jahanpour, announced the death of four new people among the 44 new infections detected in the last twenty-four hours.
Many schools, universities and cultural or sports centers have been closed and many events postponed to allow disinfection of public places and transport. In infected areas, schools will be closed, while universities will be closed for a week (starting Saturday), according to Namaki.
Police responsible for fighting cybercrime also announced the arrest of 24 internet users accused of having spread “Alarmist rumors” on the spread of the virus in Iran.
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Brazil, the first Latin American country hit
The coronavirus arrived in Latin America on Wednesday. A first case of contamination was confirmed in Brazil on a patient from Sao Paulo (South-East), aged 61, who stayed in Italy from February 9 to 20. “The patient is fine, he is at home, placed in isolation until the symptoms disappear”, said Jose Henrique Germann Ferreira, health secretary of Sao Paulo.
The health authorities are looking for his relatives and all those who were in close contact with this first patient. Brazil currently has 20 suspected cases of Covid-19 contamination, 12 of which are people who traveled to Italy, authorities said on Wednesday.
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First cases in North Macedonia, Greece, Pakistan and Georgia
A first case of the new coronavirus was registered on Wednesday in North Macedonia, at an infectious disease clinic in Skopje, diagnosed in a woman who returned from Italy, announced Minister of Health Venko Filipce. “Three people have been tested and one is positive for the coronavirus”, he told reporters. She is a Macedonian national born in 1970.
A 38-year-old woman who recently traveled to northern Italy is the first case identified in Greece. The government adopted a decree on Tuesday providing for temporary travel bans to and from affected countries but also to close schools or performance halls if the epidemic becomes massive.
The government of Pakistan, a border crossing between China and Iran, the country where the deaths linked to the new coronavirus are the most numerous, announced on Wednesday its first two cases. “I can confirm the first two cases of coronavirus in Pakistan. Both cases are managed according to standard clinical protocols and both are stable ”, Zafar Mirza, public health advisor to Prime Minister Imran Khan, said on Twitter.
The Georgia announced Wednesday that it has registered its first case of contamination by the new coronavirus, which also makes it the first case for the South Caucasus. “A Georgian citizen has tested positive for the new coronavirus”said Georgian Minister of Health Ekaterina Tikaradze at a press conference. The man arrived in Georgia from Iran via Azerbaijan, she said, adding that he had been hospitalized in the capital, Tbilisi.
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