Coronavirus — February 3rd, 2020 Facts

▶️ The coronavirus outbreak has killed at least 426 people and infected more than 20,400 globally as it continues to spread beyond China. “There’s no sign that it’s getting better,” said Leo Poon, division head of the public health laboratory sciences department at the University of Hong Kong.

▶️ Some deaths still go unreported, and many residents in Wuhan say they believe the true number of deaths across China may be higher than the official tally, because many of the ill have been turned away by overstretched hospitals. Several residents said they had heard of people dying at home.

▶️ Hong Kong reports the city’s first death related to the new coronavirus.

▶️ The Chinese National Health Commission reported that there had been 475 recoveries.

▶️ Nearly 60 million people remain under lockdown in Chinese cities.

▶️ 11 Confirmed Cases Of Coronavirus In U.S.

▶️ The first US patient to have a confirmed case of Wuhan coronavirus, a man in his 30s, has been discharged from the Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington.

▶️ Wuhan’s new Huoshenshan hospital began accepting patients as of 9 a.m. on Tuesday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

▶️ The head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council gave a directive on Monday to launch an “urgent air bridge” to evacuate Sudanese nationals in Wuhan to Khartoum directly.

▶️ The US State Department has recommended that Americans who remain in China take precautionary measures like avoiding large groups and stocking up on food.

▶️ Walmart said it is cutting rents and management fees in half for business tenants in community stores and Sam’s Club, a membership-based line of stores selling goods in bulk at wholesale prices, from Jan. 25 to Feb. 8. The company, which has more than 400 retail locations throughout the country, said last week it donated 1 million yuan to provide medical supplies and increased support to Hubei province.

▶️ A Facebook group with more than 12,000 Lyft and Uber drivers had many of its members say they did not want to pick up riders of Asian descent and that it was unsafe to do so.

▶️ Carnival Corp.’s Princess Cruises said it will delay disembarking passengers on board a ship in Japan by as much as 24 more hours, after a passenger tested positive for coronavirus on Feb. 1. Japan’s health authority is currently testing the health of the 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew.

▶️ U.S. health officials are seeking emergency approval to roll out a test for the coronavirus that can be used by hospitals and state health authorities, instead of having samples shipped to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for analysis.

▶️ In addition to respiratory droplets, the novel coronavirus may also transmit through the digestive tract, specifically the fecal-oral route, according to a report. Scientists from the Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University and the Wuhan Institute of Virology of the Chinese Academy of Science recently discovered “virus genetic material” in stool samples and rectal swabs from some patients, Chinese state media reported, according to Bloomberg.

Photo by Chinatopix via Associated Press

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