01/29/2020 05:49
(Act. 29.01.2020 05:50)
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A policeman with a protective mask on Tiananmen Square in Beijing
© APA / AFP
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In China, there are apparently first successes in containing the new corona virus. As can be seen from the figures published in Beijing on Wednesday, the number of new infections has decreased for the first time. Specifically, 1,459 new cases were confirmed on Tuesday, compared to 1,700 on Monday. The death toll rose from 26 to 132. On Monday, 24 people were killed.
After the outbreak of the disease in Hubei province, the authorities had imposed drastic containment measures, from barring the exit to the complete stop of local public transport. According to the latest figures, the disease remains largely confined to the Hubei province. Only one new death outside the province was recorded on Tuesday.
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Australian researchers have reported a “major breakthrough” in the search for an antidote to the new virus. In the laboratory of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infections and Immunity in Melbourne, the virus was successfully reproduced. It was taken from an infected patient. Now, in collaboration with other institutes and the World Health Organization WHO, work can be done on an antidote. In the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, meanwhile, according to a media report, clinical studies have started on the possible use of HIV drugs against the coronavirus.
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With a total of 5,974 patients, the number of cases is now higher than at the time in the SARS epidemic. In 2002 and 2003, 5,327 people in mainland China were affected by SARS.
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Outside of China, a total of around 50 cases of virus infections have been recorded to date, spread over 15 countries. So far there have been four cases of illness in Germany – all in Bavaria. So far, several suspected cases have not been confirmed in Austria.
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Japan and the USA flew citizens of their countries out of the metropolis of Wuhan in Hubei on Wednesday. The virus was first detected in humans in the city. A machine from Wuhan with around 200 Japanese on board landed at Tokyo Airport in the morning. The passengers did not use the normal flight terminal for regular passengers, but were brought to a medical facility in a special bus, it said. The same evening, another machine should start to Wuhan, the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported, citing a government official.
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A plane with US citizens on board also took off from Wuhan on Wednesday, according to the State Department in Washington. According to the Alaska State Department of Transportation, where the machine was supposed to stop for fuel, 240 citizens should travel on the plane.
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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also announced an evacuation operation. A separate quarantine zone will be set up on the Christmas Island for the compatriots who have flown out, in which those affected first have to stay for 14 days.
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The European Union wants to get hundreds of EU citizens out of China. According to the EU Commission, the first plane is due to start in France on Wednesday morning and fly around 250 Frenchmen home. The second plane is slated to follow later this week, bringing more than 100 Europeans home from other EU countries.
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Austria continued to endeavor to enable two citizens willing to leave the Hubei region. The State Department raised the security level for China because of the spread of the disease. The entire country had been facing an increased security risk since Tuesday (level 2 of 5), and Hubei had been facing a high security risk since Friday (level 3).
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However, the epidemic is having an ever greater impact on economic life. The US coffee house chain Starbucks closed 2,000 of a total of over 4,000 stores in China and said that the business outlook for 2020 is now uncertain. The US company Apple, which is heavily dependent on production facilities in China, also admitted uncertainties. While there are alternatives for suppliers in Wuhan, the effects on other parts of the country are “less clear,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a conference call on Tuesday.
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