The number of confirmed cases leapt by 523 from the previous day, to a total of 1,501, Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raisi told a news conference.

TEHRAN: Iran said Monday that novel coronavirus had killed 12 more people in the Islamic republic, raising the country’s overall death toll to 66.

The number of confirmed cases leapt by 523 from the previous day, to a total of 1,501, Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raisi told a news conference.

“We are announcing 523 new cases infected (and) 12 new deaths. The total number of deaths is therefore 66,” Raisi said. 

The worst-hit places were Tehran, the central province of Qom and Gilan in the north, the official said, adding that 291 people had recovered. 

Qom, a Shiite holy city, was the scene of Iran’s first reported cases and deaths from the outbreak that began in China.

The official news agency IRNA reported on Monday the death of Mohammad Mirmohammadi, 72, a member of the Expediency Council which advises the supreme leader.

IRNA did not specify the cause of death but said he had died at Tehran’s Massih Daneshvari Hospital, the capital’s main centre for patients suffering from the new coronavirus.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan revealed that two new patients, one in New Delhi and the other in Telangana, caught the deadly bug that has already killed over 3,000 people.

NEW DELHI: With India back on the active Coronavirus map, as two persons tested positive on Monday, the Centre said it will pay more attention to community surveillance for people with travel histories from highly-infected countries, a step experts warned might be not enough.

On the last count, the virus had travelled to 72 countries and territories, besides a Japanese cruise ship.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan revealed that two new patients, one in New Delhi and the other in Telangana, caught the deadly bug that has already killed over 3,000 people and infected over 90,000 globally.

While the Delhi patient returned from Italy recently, the one in Telangana had been to Dubai. Their condition is said to be stable.

The government is now trying to identify and isolate people who came in contact with them.

The two new cases are in addition to the three from Kerala earlier. 

“At the moment, passengers from 12 countries are being screened for possible infection at airports and seaports. If a need arises on the basis of scientific evaluation, we could screen travellers from more countries in the days to come,” Vardhan said.

But officials in the health ministry conceded that the expanding footprint on the virus could make it tougher for India to combat it.

“It was still easier till the outbreak was mostly localised in China. But with passengers arriving from countries that are reeling from high number of infections, we are feeling more pressure,” a senior ministry official told this newspaper.

Going forward, the government wants to increase community surveillance, for which a training module of state officials will be held this week.” These officials will then train healthcare personnel at the district level,” another official said.

However, experts feared these steps might not be adequate.

“Given the fact that the virus has an extended incubation period, it’s now necessary to take initiatives like testing pneumonia patients without definitive diagnosis in major hospitals, random testing for virus in influenza patients through influenza surveillance programme and equip our hospitals for possible outbreaks,” said Dr G Arun Kumar, a senior epidemiologist with Manipal Institute of Virology.

Travellers from 12 countries including  Nepal, China, Hong Kong, Iran, under watch at 21 airports across the country.

5 samples test positive

As many as 3,245 samples scanned, out of which five have tested positive for COVID-19 while reports of 23 are awaited right now.

Borders under vigil 

Over 10.24 L people screened in the villages of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim.  

Grapplers cancel camp

Six women grapplers in Olympic weight categories including Vinesh Phogat cancelled Ukraine camp because of coronavirus. Vinesh will now go to Norway.

Faizan Rizwan

Since the outbreak of the new corona virus, the highly contagious virus caused great concern in the international community. Here are the precautions for the World Health Organization and China to prevent the virus.

Basic protective measures against the new coronavirus

(1) Maintain hand hygiene. Wash your hands with running water after coughing, before or after meals, after touching or handling animal waste, or use alcohol-free hand sanitizer.

(2) Maintain indoor air circulation. Avoid closed, airless public places and crowded places. Wear masks if necessary. Cover your mouth and nose with tissue paper or elbow flexion when coughing and sneezing to prevent droplets from spreading.

(3) Be sure to wear a suitable mask when visiting a hospital or accompanying a doctor.

(4) Good and safe eating habits. Separate cutting boards and knives for raw and cooked food. Cook meat and eggs thoroughly during cooking.

(5) Try to avoid contact with wild or farmed animals without protection.

Though 10,844 people had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, the commission said in its daily report said that 7,264 people were still suspected to be infected by the deadly virus.

BEIJING: China reported 105 new deaths due to the new coronavirus on Monday, pushing the overall death toll to 1,770, as officials announced stringent measures such as closing non-essential public venues and traffic restrictions to control the epidemic in the worst-hit Hubei province.

The National Health Commission said 2,048 new cases of the virus have been confirmed, taking the total number of COVID-19 infected cases to 70,548, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Of the new deaths, 100 were from Hubei Province, three in Henan, and two in Guangdong.

Though 10,844 people had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, the commission said in its daily report said that 7,264 people were still suspected to be infected by the deadly virus.

By Sunday, 57 confirmed cases including one death had been reported from Hong Kong, 10 in Macao, and 20 in Taiwan including one death.

Hubei, where 18 cities with over 50 million people are under lockdown since January 23, announced a slew of more stringent measures to control the epidemic, including enforcing province-wide traffic restrictions on all non-emergency vehicles and closing all non-essential public venues.

A circular by the provincial government said the health screening campaign should be strengthened and no one should be missed.

Also, companies should not resume production unless allowed by local authorities.

Those that have resumed work including public institutions should follow strict prevention measures.

The measures came as the situation remains “grave”, the circular added.

However on Sunday, the commission announced a “significant drop” in new cases, suggesting that epidemic control measures were taking effect.

“In Wuhan, the epicentre of the epidemic, the proportion of severe cases among the confirmed cases fell from a peak of 32.4 per cent on January 28 to 21.6 per cent on February 15,” Mi Feng, a spokesperson with the NHC, said during a media briefing.

Meanwhile, a 12-member team of World Health Organisation experts began assisting their Chinese counterparts to control the virus.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said international experts were now on the ground in China to understand the outbreak and inform the next steps in the global response.

Ghebreyesus also met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference.

He said “given the misinformation about the novel coronavirus epidemic, WHO has communicated with some companies including Google to ensure that the public will get the authoritative information from the WHO”.

He said one of the goals of the joint mission is to rapidly inform the public of the next steps and preparedness activities in China and globally.

“Particular attention will be paid to understanding the transmission of the virus, the severity of disease and the impact of ongoing response measures.”

In Beijing, the NHC said the joint mission will pay field visits in China’s three provincial-level regions to learn the implementation and effectiveness of the epidemic control measures.

The virus, first identified in China on December 31, has killed more than 1,000 people, infected over 42,000 and reached some 25 countries.

GENEVA: The head of the World Health Organisation on Tuesday warned the novel coronavirus was a “very grave threat” for the world as he opened a conference to combat the epidemic.

“With 99% of cases in China, this remains very much an emergency for that country, but one that holds a very grave threat for the rest of the world,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva.

Some 400 scientists will review how the virus is transmitted and possible vaccines at the two-day forum.

“What matters most is stopping the outbreak and saving lives. With your support, that’s what we can do together,” Tedros said.

The virus, first identified in China on December 31, has killed more than 1,000 people, infected over 42,000 and reached some 25 countries.

Participants will also discuss the source of the virus, which is thought to have originated in bats and reached humans via another animal such as snakes or pangolins.

There is no specific treatment or vaccine against the virus, which can cause respiratory failure.

Tedros, who has repeatedly urged countries affected to share their data, called for global “solidarity”.

“That is especially true in relation to sharing of samples and sequences.

To defeat this outbreak, we need open and equitable sharing, according to the principles of fairness and equity,” he said.

“We hope that one of the outcomes of this meeting will be an agreed roadmap for research around which researchers and donors will align,” Tedros said.

Several companies and institutes in Australia, China, France, Germany and the United States are racing to develop a vaccine — a process that normally takes years.

Asked whether scientists from Taiwan would be allowed to take part in this week’s Geneva conference, WHO officials said that they would do so but only online — along with colleagues from other parts of China.

While the WHO does not deal with Taiwan directly and only recognises Beijing, Taiwan was often allowed to attend annual assemblies and sideline meetings as an observer.

But in recent years it has been frozen out as Beijing takes an increasingly combative stance towards democratic Taiwan, which it considers its own territory.

Dubai: An Indian national has been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus in the UAE, bringing the total number of confirmed infection cases to eight, the country’s health ministry has said.

The death toll in China’s coronavirus outbreak has gone up to 1,016 while the confirmed cases of infection have soared to 42,638, Chinese health officials said on Tuesday.

The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) said on Monday that the Indian national was infected after he interacted with a recently diagnosed person.

“The Ministry of Health and Prevention announced today the eighth confirmed case of new coronavirus in the UAE, which is an Indian national who had interacted with a recently diagnosed person.

On Sunday, the ministry said that the two new patients, a Chinese national and a Filipino, had been diagnosed with the disease and were receiving medical care as per the highest health standards available in the country.

It said that all health facilities will continue to report any new cases suspected to have coronavirus.

Last week, a family of four who arrived from Wuhan for a holiday in Dubai were diagnosed with coronavirus. A fifth patient, who also arrived from the Chinese city, was confirmed to have been infected with the virus, but is reportedly in a stable condition.

China and countries around the world are scrambling to contain the spread of coronavirus which fiirst surfaced in Wuhan city in the Central Hubei province of China. Apart from China, two deaths have occurred in Hong Kong and the Philippines.

Besides Germany, Britain and Italy, other European nations with cases of the virus include France, Russia, Belgium, Sweden, Finland and Spain.