Fears mounted Saturday over the rise of new cases and fatalities outside China from the new coronavirus outbreak, as the World Health Organization warned of a shrinking window to stem the spread of the deadly disease.
The warning came as the first European died from the new COVID-19 strain, which first emerged in December in central China but has now spread to over 25 countries and caused more than a dozen deaths outside the country.
A 78-year old Italian man died after testing positive for the virus, with the death toll reaching four in Iran, and a number of cases reported across the Middle East, including the first infections in the Zionist entity and Lebanon.
A second person died in South Korea, authorities reported Saturday, as the number of cases in the country spiked.
Italy has locked down ten towns and asked over 50,000 people to stay home — a move with echoes of China’s lockdown of entire cities in Hubei province at the center of the outbreak.
In China, the number of cases outside Hubei, where millions remain under quarantine, has been generally declining, although new hotspots were found in several prisons and hospitals Friday.
But just 31 new cases were reported outside the central province Saturday, as the national number of cases rose past 76,000.
The outbreak has now claimed 2,345 lives in China.
A WHO-led team of experts are set to visit Wuhan, the capital of the province, on Saturday.
Meanwhile, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the “window of opportunity” to contain the international spread of the outbreak was “narrowing”, as cases surged across the Middle East and in South Korea.
He warned that if countries did not quickly mobilize to fight the spread of the virus, “this outbreak could go in any direction. It could even be messy.”
International spread of Coronavirus
Cases of the deadly virus were reported in a range of countries in the Middle East on Friday, with the first cases in Lebanon and the Zionist entity.
Iran said four people there had died and 18 been infected from the outbreak.
Iraq and Kuwait, which share borders with Iran, were on high alert for a potential outbreak after banning travel to and from the Islamic republic, although they have not confirmed any cases domestically.
Nearly 350 people have been infected in South Korea, including two deaths, making it the hardest-hit country outside China.
Drop in Coronavirus Cases in Mainland China
Nearly 400 new cases were reported nationwide in China on Saturday, less than half the number of new cases the previous day.
The drop in new cases of the novel coronavirus came as officials in Hubei province were ordered to revise figures to clear “doubt” around the data.
Officials retroactively revised upwards previously reported data for two days in the last week — the latest in a string of amendments to the figures officially reported at the epicenter.
China has said the slowing cases are evidence that its containment measures are working.
In a letter to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation thanking the organisation for its financial support, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China was at a “critical moment” in the fight against the outbreak.
Xi said the “unprecedented measures” were “delivering substantial results”.
Many nations have banned travellers from China and airlines have suspended flights to and from the country.
Source: AFP (edited by Al-Manar English Website)
