More Americans diagnosed with virus on ship as death toll jumps

Updated 22m ago

U.K. declares virus a “serious and imminent threat”

The U.K. Department of Health declared the coronavirus a “serious and imminent threat” to the British public on Monday, increasing its powers to keep people quarantined, but saying the overall risk level to the public remained “moderate.”  

“The risk to the public has not changed,” the department of health said on Twitter. “This is a legal term which we announced this morning as part of changes to make it easier for health professionals to do their job.”

According to BBC News, a British citizen who was on the first evacuation flight from Wuhan, China — the center of the outbreak — has threatened to leave quarantine, and health care providers wanted to be able to prevent him from doing so.

“Currently the regulations are not strong enough to stop him leaving before the 14-day period is up so they brought in these new regulations to try and compel him to stay put,” BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said.

Britain's Foreign Office has organized two flights to evacuate British citizens from Wuhan. The evacuees are quarantined at two locations in the U.K. They signed contracts committing to spend 14 days in isolation upon their return to Britain, the BBC said, but those contracts don't give authorities the power to prevent people leaving before the two-week period is up, as the one man is reportedly threatening to do.

There were eight confirmed cases of the new virus in the U.K. as of Monday.

Updated 6:19 AM

WHO chief warns virus could still spread widely outside China

The head of the World Health Organization has warned that confirmed cases of coronavirus being transmitted by people who have never travelled to China could be the “tip of the iceberg.” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus's remarks come as members of a WHO-led “international expert mission” flew to China to help coordinate a response to the outbreak. 

“There've been some concerning instances of onward #2019nCoV spread from people with no travel history to (China),” Tedros tweeted Sunday, using the virus's provisional scientific name. “The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries; in short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg.”

While the spread of the virus outside China appeared to be slow, Tedros warned it could accelerate.

“Containment remains our objective, but all countries must use the window of opportunity created by the containment strategy to prepare for the virus's possible arrival,” he said.

– CBS/AFP

6:08 AM

Dozens more test positive on quarantined cruise ship

The cruise line that owns a ship quarantined off Japan's coast said Monday that 66 more passengers had tested positive for the new coronavirus, nearly doubling the number of people affected aboard the Diamond Princess. Princess Cruises said in a statement Monday morning that 11 of the newly-confirmed cases were Americans. 

In total 136 passengers from the ship have tested positive for the new virus, all of whom had been brought off the ship or were about to be taken off for treatment in Japanese hospitals. 

Most of the 3,711 passengers and crew on the Diamond Princess remained isolated in their cabins as the vessel sat in the port of Yokohama, near Tokyo.

“Since it is early in the quarantine period of 14-days, it was not unexpected that additional cases would be reported involving individuals who were exposed prior to the start of the quarantine,” Princess said in it's statement. But for anyone who was in contact with confirmed cases, that 14-day quarantine period starts anew from the time their diagnosed friends of family leave the vessel.

Princess referred all questions “on the timeline, test results and reporting protocols” to Japanese health officials.

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Updated 5:56 AM

Mother of doctor who died after warning about coronavirus wants explanation

-tge The mother of a physician who died last week in Wuhan said in a video released Sunday that she wants an explanation from authorities who reprimanded him for warning about the virus in December.

The death of Li Wenliang, 34, prompted an outpouring of public anger at Wuhan officials. Some postings left on his microblog account said officials should face consequences for mistreating Li.

“My child was summoned by the Wuhan Police Bureau at midnight. He was asked to sign an admonishment notice,” Lu Shuyun said in the video distributed by Pear Video, an online broadcast platform. “We won't give up if they don't give us an explanation.”

The video shows flowers in her home with a note that says, “Hero is immortal. Thank you.”

– Associated Press

Updated 5:55 AM

Chinese economy taking a hit as coronavirus outbreak lingers

On Monday, a large number of workplaces and schools remain closed and many white-collar employees will work from home, according to Reuters. Communist Party officials have ordered virtual lockdowns, canceled flights, and closed factories and schools, Reuters points out.

Reuters said the financial market in China has taken a hit, as shares dropped and investors chose safe-havens like gold, bonds and the Japanese yen.

The Chinese government has said it will liaise with transport officials to ensure a smooth process in having employees return to key industries such as food and medicines, Reuters reported.

According to Reuters, Chinese have taken to the country's social media platform Weibo to vent their frustration over the distrust of information provided by the government.

Updated 5:52 AM

Coronavirus cases in China increase despite reduction a day before

On Monday, China's health ministry said another 3,062 cases had been reported over the previous 24 hours, raising the Chinese mainland's total to 40,171. Monday's rise was a turnaround from a significant reduction in new cases reported Sunday, 2,656, down by about 20% from the 3,399 new cases reported in the previous 24-hour period. That had prompted optimism that the “joint control mechanism of different regions and the strict prevention and control measures have worked,” in the words of a spokesman for the National Health Commission, Mi Feng.

Also Sunday, new cases were reported in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, the U.K. and Spain. More than 360 cases have been confirmed outside mainland China.

— The Associated Press