February 26 – Corona in various countries

Updates from the Confederation of Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania (CMAO)

 

  • 5 new cases in Germany: including a 25-year-old man near Stuttgart who is reported to have contracted the disease during a trip to Milan.
  • 1st case in Romania: a person who had returned from Italy 3 weeks ago.
  • 1 new case in Spain (Canary Islands): a woman who works in Italy.
  • 1st case in Norway: the person had returned from China last week. Now isolated at home.
  • 147 new cases and 1 new death in Italy: a 69-year-old man from the Lodi area who was hospitalized in Emilia Romagna and had existing respiratory problems. The virus has now spread in more than half of the Italian’s regions:- Lombardy: 305 cases and 9 deaths
    – Veneto: 87 cases and 2 deaths
    – Emilia Romagna: 47 cases and 1 death
    – Liguria: 16 cases
    – Marche: 3 cases (all in the Pesaro area
    – Lazio: 3 cases
    – Sicily: 3 cases
    – Tuscany: 2 cases: including a Norwegian student (first case of a student) at the University of Florence who had returned from Norway (via Munich) 5 days ago.
    – Piedmont: 1 case (2 retracted as false positives)
    – Campania: 1 case
    – Puglia: 1 case (a 33-year-old Taranto resident who had visited Codogno in Lombardy)
    – Alto Adige: 1 case.A total of at least 35 cases are currently in intensive care.
    – Lombardy governon cancels scheduled press conference and announces in a video that he is going to self quarantine after his close assistant tested positive.
    – Schools most probably will be closed for at least another week.
    – British Airways cancels 22 flights from Milan due to cancellations. Milan (population of about 1.5 million people) has 2 confirmed cases. For comparison, among travelers returning from Milan, there are at least 5 confirmed cases: in Croatia, Germany, France, Spain, and Finland.
    – Tourism: 90% cancellation rate in Rome.
    – Israel to impose quarantine for travelers from Italy.
    – The United States issues a Level 2 (“Excercise Increased Caution“) travel advisory to Italy.
  • 3 new cases in the United States: 2 from the Diamond Princess cruise ship and 1 who had been repatriated from Hubei on Feb. 7 and was put on quarantine upon entering the United States at JBSA-Lackland base in Texas. [
  • President Trump news conference on Covid-19 (scheduled for 6:00 PM ET).
  •  The U.S. CDC yesterday suggested that the risk of a coronavirus pandemic is likely and is alerting the public to begin preparing for community spread in the United States. Dr. Anne Schuchat, the CDC’s principal deputy director declared: “It’s not a question of if. It’s a question of when and how many people will be infected.”  CDC on Feb. 21: “Tremendous Public Health Threat. Likely that Community Spread may eventually happen in the United States.” The city of San Francisco declared a state of emergency on Tuesday even if at the moment there are no confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the area.
  • 1 new case in France: the wife of a confirmed case hospitalised in Annecy.
  • 1st case in Georgia: a 50-year-old man, Georgian citizen, who returned home from Iran via Azerbaijan.
  • 1 new case in Sweden: a person in Gothenburg who developed fever and respiratory symptoms 3 days after returning home from northern Italy.
  • 1 new case in Lebanon, a 45-year-old woman linked to the first case, who returned to Lebanon after a seven-day religious visit to Iran.
  • 1st case in North Macedonia: a woman who had recently returned from Italy.
  • 2 new cases in Pakistan (1st cases in the country). “No need to panic, things are under control” says Pakistani Minister of Health, Zafar Mirza. 
  • 1 new case in Finland: a woman of working age who had travelled to Milan.
  • 1 new case in Lebanon: a woman who had returned last week from Iran on the same flight as the first case.
  • 1 new case in Germany (in North-Rhine Westphalia): a 47 year-old with pre-existing conditions. He had been in contact with an acquaintance who had recently returned from China. He is in critical condition.
  • 3 new cases in Spain, two of which had recently returned from Italy:
    – a 62 year old man in Sevilla (Andalusia).
    – a 36 year old Italian woman resident in Barcelona (Catalunya) who had travelled to Northern Italy.
    – a 24 year old man in Madrid who travelled to Italy.
  • 3 new cases and 4 new discharged patients in Singapore
  • 1 new case in Canada (Ontario).
  • 1st case in Greece: a 38-year-old woman from Thessaloniki who recently returned from a trip to northern Italy. She is now suffering from viral pneumonia but is in good condition. The patient has no existing health problem.
  • 14 new cases on the Diamond Princess cruise ship: 9 crew members and 5 passengers.
  • UK: About 30 schools have shut for a fortnight after pupils return from half term ski trips to Italy.
  • 3 new cases and 1 new death in France: a 60 year old teacher from the Oise region.
  • 4 new cases in Hong Kong: 2 of which from the Diamond Princess cruise ship:
    – a 21-year-old woman who had a fever on board the ship on Feb. 12 and was fine afterwards.
    – a 16-year-old man (youngest confirmed patient to date in Hong Kong) who had runny nose on the ship on Feb. 17 and is currently hospitalized at Queen Mary Hospital.
  • 1 new case in Australia is a former passenger of the Diamond Princess cruise ship. 8 of the 23 cases in Australia had been on the ship.
  • 44 new cases and 3 new deaths in Iran.
    – Epicenter of the outbreak is the central city of Qom.
    – Schools and cultural institutions closed for a week in over 10 provinces as of Tuesday Feb. 25 in order to “prepare schools” which have to be disinfected and sanitized.
    – More than 1750 tests performed.
    – Iran’s Deputy Health Minister falls ill with coronavirus
    – Iranian Government Spokesman Ali Rabiyee cautioned yesterday that “those regional states which have kept the number of their coronavirus-infected patients confidential will be bombarded by media reports about their conditions in the next few days.”
  • 284 new cases and 1 new death in South Korea: Death of a 73-year-old male
  • 14 new cases in Kuwait: a woman coming from Iran, an additional 6 citizens who had traveled to Iran, and other 7 cases when the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health announced that the total had increased to 25 cases.
  • 1 new case in Croatia: the brother of the first case, infected after visiting Milan in Italy.
  • 3 new cases in Bahrain: Bahraini women who had returned through indirect flights from Iran. Testing was conducted immediately upon their arrival at the Bahrain International Airport in the hall designated for testing.
  • 1 new case in Taiwan: a 27-year-old female foreigner with only a slight throat discomfort. She is linked to the clustering incident in a hospital for which 53 people among patients and caregivers have been tested, resulting in 5 confirmed cases, 141 negatives, and 7 awaiting results.
  • 11 new cases and 1 new death in Japan: an elderly person in Hakodate, Hokkaido.
  • 3 new cases in Thailand. Health Minister Anutin urges citizens to avoid traveling abroad if possible. “For the airlines, please reduce promotions,” he said. “Even though tickets are cheap, it could be your last holiday.” Health officials have been prohibited to visit at risk countries, which are: China, Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Italy, Iran, and Japan. “We are entering a full war with Covid-19” Anutin said.