Coronavirus spreads to four continents, 41 dead in China
The virus has been detected in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Nepal, France, the United States and Australia
The deadly coronavirus, which originated in China has already spread in four continents -- Asia, North America, Europe and Australia.
41 death has been reported in China so far. More than 1,400 people have been infected with the virus in China, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Nepal, France, the United States and Australia.
Doctor Liang Wudong, 62, at Hubei Xinhua Hospital in Wuhan, the city where the virus first appeared and which is in virtual quarantine, died from the virus, China Global Television Network reported in a tweet.
China's President Xi Jinping, saying the country is facing a grave situation, held a politburo meeting on measures to fight the outbreak, state television reported on Saturday.
The newly-identified coronavirus has created alarm because there are still many unknowns surrounding it, such as how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between people.
It can cause pneumonia, which has been deadly in some cases.
Confirmed cases of coronavirus across the globe
Australia on Saturday confirmed its first four cases, Malaysia confirmed three and France reported Europe's first cases on Friday, as health authorities around the world scrambled to prevent a pandemic.
France's Health Ministry confirmed three cases of the coronavirus late Friday, the first reported infections in Europe.
The United States is arranging a charter flight on Sunday to bring its citizens and diplomats back from Wuhan, the central Chinese city that is the epicentre of the outbreak, the Wall Street Journal reported.
US President Donald Trump, who is negotiating a trade agreement with China, on Friday praised its efforts to control the outbreak and thanked Xi, reports Bloomberg.
In Hong Kong, with five confirmed cases, the city's leader Carrie Lam said flights and high-speed rail trips between the city and Wuhan will be halted.
Schools in Hong Kong that are currently on Lunar New Year holidays will remain closed until Feb. 17 and education authorities have asked universities to extend leave for students.
Japan's health authorities confirmed a second case on Friday, Kyodo news agency reported, saying the patient was a man in his 40s who was originally from Wuhan and on a trip to Japan.
The country's first case was reported by the health ministry last week: a man who had visited Wuhan and was hospitalised on January 10, four days after his return to Japan.
Nepal's health authorities on Friday confirmed their first case — a 32-year-old man arriving from Wuhan, China. It is the first South Asian country to report the deadly disease.
Singapore has announced at least three cases: a 66-year-old man and his 37-year-old son, who arrived in Singapore Monday from Wuhan, and a 52-year-old Wuhan woman, who arrived in the city-state on Tuesday.
South Korea confirmed on Friday its second case of the virus. The health ministry said a South Korean man in his 50s started experiencing symptoms while working in Wuhan on Jan 10. He was tested after his return earlier this week, and the virus was confirmed.
The country reported its first case on January 20 — a 35-year-old woman who flew in from Wuhan.
In Taiwan, authorities on Wednesday confirmed the first case on the self-ruled island of Taiwan — a Taiwanese woman in her fifties, living in Wuhan, who returned to the island on Monday with symptoms including fever, coughing and a sore throat.
Thailand has detected four cases so far — three Chinese nationals from Wuhan and a 73-year-old Thai woman who came back from the Chinese city this month.
Vietnam confirmed two cases of the virus on Thursday. An infected man from Wuhan travelled to Ho Chi Minh City earlier this month and passed the virus onto his son.
Bangladeshi students in Coronavirus-hit China cry for help
Bangladesh Embassy in Beijing has said its officials are in regular contact with the Bangladeshi students living there to assist them following an outbreak of deadly Coronavirus.
"We already have spoken to some of the students at Hubei University in China," Bangladesh Ambassador to China Mahbub Uz Zaman told UNB adding that the Bangladesh Embassy in Beijing opened a hotline number - + (86)-17801116005 for smooth communication round the clock.
Britain tested 31 people so far
The United Kingdom's Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England have said that over 30 people have now been tested for coronavirus in the UK.
As of Saturday afternoon, some 31 tests have now concluded, all of which were confirmed as negative for the virus, reports The Guardian.
China locks down more cities, restricting 56 million people
Some 56 million people are now affected by transport bans around the epicentre of China's virus outbreak as five more cities announced travel restrictions on Saturday to contain the disease.
The rules include closing public transport links and access to highways in the cities, local authorities said.
A total of 18 cities now have some sort of travel restrictions in central Hubei province.
First four cases in Australia
In Australia, three men, aged 53, 43 and 35 in New South Wales were in stable condition after they were confirmed to have the virus after returning from Wuhan earlier this month.
A Chinese national in his 50s, who had been in Wuhan, was also in stable condition in a Melbourne hospital after arriving from China on Jan. 19, Victoria Health officials said.
State-run China Global Television Network reported in a tweet on Saturday that a doctor who had been treating patients in Wuhan, 62-year-old Liang Wudong, had died from the virus.
It was not immediately clear if his death was already counted in the official toll of 41, of which 39 were in the central province of Hubei, where Wuhan is located.
US coffee chain Starbucks said on Saturday that it was closing all its outlets in Hubei province for the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, following a similar move by McDonald's in five Hubei cities.
Workers checking temperatures of passengers entering the subway in Beijing
In Beijing on Saturday, workers in white protective suits checked temperatures of passengers entering the subway at the central railway station, while some train services in eastern China's Yangtze River Delta region were suspended, the local railway operator said.
There are fears the transmission could accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel during the Lunar New Year holiday, although many have cancelled their plans.
Airports around the world have stepped up screening of passengers from China, though some health officials and experts have questioned the effectiveness of such screenings.
While China has called for transparency in managing the crisis, after cover-up of the 2002/2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome spread, officials in Wuhan have come in for criticism over their handling of the current outbreak.
In rare public dissent, a senior journalist at a Hubei provincial newspaper run by the ruling Communist Party called on Friday for an "immediate" change of leadership in Wuhan on the Twitter-like Weibo. The post was later removed.
