More cities locking down in China over virus outbreak fears

More Chinese cities are putting in place restrictions on movement in a cautionary measure to prevent or slow down the spread of a new coronavirus epidemic in China and beyond, as Hong Kong records its first death from the disease.

The authorities imposed restrictions on movements in the city of Taizhou, parts of Hangzhou City — including the district that is home to the headquarters of Chinese tech giant Alibaba — and some districts of Ningbo City on Tuesday, affecting about 12 million people in total.

The new measures include allowing only one person per household to go outside every two days to buy necessities.

Meanwhile, hospital staff in Hong Kong said that a 39-year-old male patient who had been suffering from an underlying illness and had visited the Chinese city of Wuhan — the epicenter of the outbreak — last month died from the new coronavirus on Tuesday morning.

His death marks the second fatality outside mainland China after a 44-year-old Chinese man died in the Philippines on Sunday after travelling there from Wuhan.

The virus has killed more than 420 in China so far, while total infections in the country have jumped to 20,438.

The flu-like virus has already spread to more than 20 countries, with at least 151 cases scattered around the globe.

China virus death toll posts grim record rise, passes 400

China said it would welcome assistance from the United States to fight a coronavirus outbreak, a day after it accused Washington of scaremongering, and as the death toll rose on Tuesday by a new daily record to more than 420.

Medical workers in Hong Kong are on a second day of a strike to demand the closure of all the city’s borders with mainland China, a day after Chief Executive Carrie Lam decided to leave three remaining checkpoints open.

“As Carrie Lam refused to close the border, more (deaths) might come... We are not threatening the government, we just want to prevent the outbreak,” Cheng, a 26-year-old nurse taking part in the strike, said.

Lam has rejected calls to seal the entire border, saying such a move would be “impractical.”

There are 15 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Hong Kong, including one that was transmitted locally.

Some countries, including the United States, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, and Vietnam, have denied entry to foreign nationals who have recently visited China.

Cruise ship passengers quarantined in Japan

More than 3,700 people on board a cruise ship were placed under quarantine by Japanese officials on Tuesday after a Hong Kong man who sailed on the vessel in January tested positive for the coronavirus.

The 80-year-old man arrived in Japan and boarded the Carnival Japan Inc-run ship, Diamond Princess, in Yokohama on January 20 and disembarked in Hong Kong on January 25.

Japan, which has 20 confirmed coronavirus cases, began denying entry to foreigners who have been in China’s Hubei Province — where Wuhan is located — on Saturday.

Vietnam to quarantine citizens returning from China

Vietnam has assigned the military to quarantine 950 citizens coming back from China, state media reported as a new coronavirus case was confirmed in the southeast Asian country on Tuesday.

The 950 people will be isolated at two military camps outside the capital, Hanoi, for at least 14 days.

Vietnam’s Health Ministry said a new case of the virus had been confirmed, bringing to nine the number of coronavirus cases in the country.

Taiwan bans foreign travelers from mainland China

Taiwan, which has reported 10 cases of the virus, said on Tuesday that it would deny entry to any foreigners travelling from China.

The government of the autonomous Chinese territory said in a statement on Tuesday that any foreigners who had been to China during the past 14 days would be denied entry starting next Friday.

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