In China, another 25 people have died from the corona virus. This brings the number of deaths to 106, Chinese authorities report. Germany is the second European country where the virus has appeared.
In Hubei, the Chinese province in which the city of Wuhan is located where the virus broke out last month, 24 people were killed. One death was reported in Beijing. Hubei is completely closed off from the outside world. Across China, the number of people known to be infected has risen to more than 4,500. Yesterday, 2,800 infections were reported.
South Korea and Japan have announced that they will evacuate civilians from Wuhan. Next night a first charter flight with around 200 Japanese will fly home. Several European countries are already trying to get their citizens back from China.
The Netherlands is considering the evacuation of the 20 or so Dutch people staying in Wuhan. The embassy in Beijing calls on Dutch people in Hubei to contact.
First German infected
The first coronavirus infection was diagnosed in Germany last night. This is a man in the Starnberg district in Bavaria, reports the Ministry of Health in Munich. Whether he has been to China is unknown. More about this case will be announced later today.
According to a special unit that deals with the virus, the patient is in good condition. “He is being watched and is isolated.” People who have been in close contact with him are informed.
A ministry spokesperson stressed that the risk of infection is currently low for the Bavarian population.
Fairs falling
Concerns about the virus outbreak push the mood on Asian stock markets. The Nikkei in Tokyo, for example, has reached the lowest level in three weeks. The South Korean stock market also fell. No shares are traded today in China and Hong Kong due to the celebration of the Chinese New Year.
The virus is spreading mainly in China. In Europe the virus was only found in France until yesterday. The number of infections since Friday is three. The patients had all been in China.
Correspondent Sjoerd den Daas traveled yesterday to the border with the province of Hubei, where the outbreak started. The province is locked, with all the inconvenience this entails:
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