Coronavirus: Death Toll in China Rises to 490, WHO Says Virus Can Still be Halted

In India, five of those who were shifted to the Army's Base hospital from Manesar camp tested negative for coronavirus. After the third case of coronavirus was tested positive on Monday, Kerala declared it ‘state disaster’.

New Delhi: A total of 65 new fatalities in China were reported on Wednesday taking the overall death toll to 490. In Japan, at least 10 new positive cases have been reported. Japan has quarantined the vessel carrying 3,711 people and was testing those onboard for the virus after a former passenger was diagnosed with the illness in Hong Kong.

In India, five of those who were shifted to the Army’s Base hospital from Manesar camp tested negative for coronavirus. After the third case of coronavirus was tested positive on Monday, Kerala declared it ‘state disaster’.

Britain on Tuesday urged all of its citizens in China to leave the country because of the outbreak of respiratory illness from a new virus, while Belgium became the latest nation to announce a confirmed case. Belgium reported its first case of coronavirus on Tuesday.

Despite the outbreak, there’s a window of opportunity, the World Health Organization said. “While 99 per cent of cases are in China, in the rest of the world we only have 176 cases,” Tedros said in a technical briefing to the WHO’s Executive Board in Geneva.

Tedros said the WHO had received complete case report forms for only 38 per cent of the cases outside China. “Some high-income countries are well behind in sharing this vital data with WHO. I don’t think it’s because they lack capacity,” he said. “Without better data, it’s very hard for us to assess how the outbreak is evolving, or what impact it could have, and to ensure we are providing the most appropriate recommendations,” he said. More than 20,400 cases of the virus have been confirmed in China since the virus was first detected on December 31.

(With Agency Inputs)