China

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong will close two cruise terminals and will put anyone coming from mainland China into compulsory quarantine for 14 days, its leader Carrie Lam said on Wednesday.

Lam said the measures were aimed at curbing the cross-border flow of people to prevent the spread of a new coronavirus, which originated on mainland China. Some medical staff have been on strike for the past three days, demanding a full border closure.

There have been 21 confirmed cases in Hong Kong, Lam said.

BEIJING (AP) — Deaths from a new virus rose to 490 in mainland China on Wednesday while new cases on a Japanese cruise ship, in Hong Kong and in other places showed the increasing spread of the outbreak and renewed attention toward containing it.

Ten people from the cruise ship tested positive and were taken to hospitals, while all 3,700 crew and passengers on the ship will be quarantined on board for up to 14 days, Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said. More tests are pending.

4 February 2020; AFP: As the deadly coronavirus has spread worldwide, it has carried with it xenophobia -- and Asian communities around the world are finding themselves subject to suspicion and fear.

When a patient on Australia's Gold Coast refused to shake the hand of her surgeon Rhea Liang, citing the virus that has killed hundreds, the medic's first response was shock.

HONG KONG, Feb 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Standing at the picket line, just 200 metres from her hospital entrance, Kaddy Chan wished she could report for duty as usual.

For weeks now, the outpatient nurse and her colleagues have been grappling with shrinking supplies of surgical masks and hazmat suits, avoiding trips outside the wards, so as to keep their protective gear free from contamination.

“If we don’t close the border, no amount of resources would be sufficient to deal with the onslaught of sick people,” said Chan.

BEIJING (AP) — The death toll in mainland China from the new type of virus has risen to 425, with the total number of cases now standing at 20,438, officials said Tuesday.

The new figures come after the country opened a new hospital built in 10 days, infused cash into tumbling financial markets and further restricted people’s movement in hopes of containing the rapidly spreading virus and its escalating impact.

Japanese officials were deciding whether to quarantine more than 3,000 people on a cruise ship that carried a passenger who tested positive for the virus.

3 February 2020; AFP: China said Monday it urgently needed medical equipment and surgical masks as the death toll from a new coronavirus jumped above 360, making it more deadly than the SARS crisis nearly two decades ago.

BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese health authorities Monday said it received reports of 2,829 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 57 deaths on Sunday from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

Among the deaths, 56 are in Hubei Province and one in southwest China's Chongqing, according to China's National Health Commission.

Another 5,173 new suspected cases were reported on Sunday, said the commission.

(AP) --- A viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 17,300 people globally.

Cases confirmed as of Monday morning in Beijing:

— China: 17,205 cases on the mainland. In addition, Hong Kong has 14 cases and Macao has seven. Most of the 361 deaths have been in central Hubei province, where illnesses from the new type of coronavirus were first detected in December.

— Thailand: 19

— Japan: 20

— Singapore: 18

— South Korea: 15

— Taiwan: 10

— Malaysia: 8

— Australia: 7

— Germany: 10

BEIJING (AP) — China sent medical workers and equipment Monday to its just-completed, 1,000-bed hospital for treating victims of a new virus that has caused 362 deaths and more than 17,300 infections at home and abroad.

BEIJING, Feb 2 (APP): The selfless support of Pakistan’s leadership and people to China in the fight against the new coronavirus epidemic is very laudable and once again embodies the special friendly relations between China and Pakistan and the two people.