Fri 31 January 2020:
The United Kingdom has confirmed its first two cases of the new coronavirus, a day after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a global emergency.
At least 213 have died in China, as more countries announced plans to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak.
Beijing said there are at least 9,809 people confirmed to have the infection, which has spread from Wuhan’s Hubei province to every one of China’s 31 provinces.
Another 102,000 people were also reportedly under medical observation with possible symptoms of the respiratory ailment.
Here are the latest updates:
Friday, January 31
Delta says it will suspend all US-China flights
Delta Air Lines Inc said it will temporarily suspend all remaining US-China flights after the US State Department elevated a travel advisory over concerns about the coronavirus.
Delta said earlier this week it was halving its US-China schedule to about 21 weekly flights.
Delta said the last China-bound flight departing the US will leave on Monday, February 3 with the last return flight back to the US departing China on February 5. The suspension is set to last through April 30.
China envoy says no need for ‘unnecessary panic’ over virus
China is decisively working to control the deadly outbreak of the novel coronavirus, its ambassador in Geneva said, insisting there was no need for countries to impose “excessive measures” like border closures.
“There is no need for unnecessary panic, and no need for excessive measures,” Ambassador Chen Xu told reporters in Geneva.
Russia says it will begin bringing citizens out of China
Russia said it would begin moving its citizens out of China via its Far Eastern region on Saturday, regional authorities said.
Vietnam Airlines to suspend flights to Chinese destinations
Vietnam Airlines will suspend its flights to destinations in China from next week over coronavirus concerns, the company said.
Its flights between Vietnam and Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen will be suspended from Tuesday, Chengdu from Wednesday, and Macau from Thursday, the company said in a statement.
Vietnam Airlines will also suspend all flights between Hanoi and Hong Kong from Thursday, and cut its flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Hong Kong to seven from 10 a week, it said.
India bans export of protective masks, clothing
India said it had banned the export of personal protection equipment such as masks and clothing amid a global coronavirus outbreak.
German coronavirus cases climb to six after child infected
A new coronavirus has been confirmed in a child in Germany, the southern state of Bavaria said, bringing the total number of known cases in Germany to six.
The new case is a child of an employee at the same firm where four more individuals in the Munich area were infected, the state health ministry said in a statement.
All affected persons are in stable condition, the ministry said.
Plane carrying Britons and others from Wuhan lands in UK
A plane carrying 83 British and 27 foreign nationals landed in Britain after flying from China’s central city of Wuhan.
The plane arrived at the Royal Air Force base at Brize Norton in central England and the Britons will be taken to a National Health Service facility where they will be quarantined for 14 days.
It is due to continue on to Spain, where the home countries of European Union citizens will take responsibility for the remaining passengers.
French car parts maker PSA extending plant closures in China
French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen said its three plants in China’s Wuhan will remain closed until February 14, in line with the Chinese government’s guidance.
Valeo, a French car parts maker, said earlier its three sites in Wuhan will stay closed until at least February 13.
Wuhan mayor: Containing virus still ‘severe, complex’ task
The task of containing and preventing the spread of the coronavirus outbreak in the central Chinese city of Wuhan remain “severe and complex”, its Mayor Zhou Xianwang said.
Supplies of masks and other medical resources are still inadequate, Vice Mayor Xu Honglan said.
Armenia suspends visa-free travel for Chinese citizens
Armenia will suspend its visa-free travel regime for Chinese citizens from February 1 until March 31, Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan wrote on social media.
Pakistan halts China flights
Pakistan temporarily suspended all direct flights with China, affecting Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Air China and China Southern Airlines.
“We have suspended all the direct flights to and from China with immediate effect till February 02,” Abdul Sattar Khokhar, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), he told AFP news agency.
The spokesperson did not comment on the reason for the flight suspensions. A decision on whether flights will be resumed will be made on Sunday.
“We have received a notification from civil aviation authority regarding the flight suspension to China, since it is a decision from the regulatory body we will obey its directions,” said PIA spokesman Aamir Memon.
Germany expects coronavirus vaccine within months
Germany’s research minister said she expected a vaccine for coronavirus to be developed within months.
“If we want to contain this illness then it is good if we have a vaccine in a relatively short time and we assume this will be in a few months,” said Research Minister Anja Karliczek.
She made the announcement after biopharmaceutical company CureVac AG and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) said they were working together to develop a vaccine against the virus.
Tokyo 2020 Olympics dismiss cancellation fears
Tokyo 2020 Olympics organisers dismissed rumours that the Games were endangered by the spread of the coronavirus.
“We have never discussed cancelling the Games. Tokyo 2020 will continue to collaborate with the (International Olympic Committee) IOC and relevant organisations and will review any countermeasures that may be necessary,” organisers said in a statement to the German news agency DPA.
The IOC also said that preparations for the July 24-August 9 Games were continuing as planned.
China court censures police crackdown on doctors
China’s highest court chastised police for a crackdown on doctors in the central city of Wuhan who spread
“rumours” about the new coronavirus in the earliest days of its outbreak.
The Supreme People’s Court said while doctors may have been incorrect in telling patients the new virus was a renewed outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), warning the public could have slowed down the spread of the virus.
“If the public had listened to this ‘rumour’ at the time, it would have adopted measures such as wearing a mask, strict disinfection and avoiding going to the wildlife market” in Wuhan.
Russia confirms first cases of coronavirus, cancels flights
Russia reported its first two cases of coronavirus, saying the infected patients were Chinese nationals who had now been isolated.
Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said the patients are in the Zabaikalsky region, which borders China, and in the Tyumen region, which borders Kazakhstan.
Golikova told reporters that all direct flights to China from Russia would be halted from 21:00 GMT on Friday.
Read more about which countries have confirmed cases of coronavirus here.
Companies in Beijing to resume work on February 10
China’s capital Beijing has said that companies in the province will postpone reopening until February 10 in order to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, government newspaper Beijing Daily reported.
The measure is applicable to government and private companies but not to utilities and some other firms such as medical equipment companies, pharmaceutical companies and supermarkets, the newspaper reported.
Myanmar turns back China Southern flight
Authorities in Myanmar have turned back a China Southern flight from Guangzhou with almost everyone on board after one of the passengers was found with flu symptoms similar to the fast-spreading coronavirus, a government spokesman said.
The plane arrived in the commercial capital Yangon and the passenger, a Chinese national, was sent to a hospital in the city where he will be quarantined, said government spokesman Zaw Htay.
Two Myanmar nationals who also disembarked have agreed to isolate themselves in their homes for 14 days, he told reporters at a news conference.
The plane returned to Guangzhou with everyone else on board. Myanmar has no confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
-AL JAZEERA NEWS AGENCY
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