Sunday February 16, 2020
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Authorities in China are again reporting a surge in coronavirus infections. The death toll is also increasing. While a cruise ship is quarantined in Japan, the isolation of a hundred returnees from China could end this Sunday in Germany.
The number of infections and deaths from the novel corona virus has increased again in China. According to the Beijing Health Commission, 142 patients died again, bringing the official total number of victims in China to 1,665. In addition, new infections with the pathogen Sars-CoV-2 were detected in 2009. This means that there have been more than 68,500 cases since the onset of the disease in mainland China approved. However, experts suspect a high number of unreported cases.
There have been 16 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Germany. Three patients have now left the clinic as cured. In Bavaria, 13 people are still being treated who are related to the auto supplier Webasto. A Chinese employee had introduced the virus there.
Several Germans are also affected by the epidemic abroad. The German embassy in Tokyo announced on Saturday evening, among the infected passengers of the cruise ship “Diamond Princess” are two German citizens. The embassy claims to be in contact with them, but has not commented on their condition. According to the embassy, the ship had a total of ten Germans on board. On the ship, which is quarantined in Yokohama, 355 people have now tested positive for Sars-CoV-2. The infected are treated in local hospitals. According to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, all passengers should be tested by Monday, so the results will be available by Wednesday. There are around 3,700 passengers and crew on the ship.
“Westerdam” passenger infected with virus
Another coronavirus case was found on another cruise ship, the “Westerdam”. It is an 83-year-old American who went ashore in Cambodia. The Malaysian health authority said that she had been tested positive for her onward journey through Malaysia and taken to the hospital in Kuala Lumpur. The health agency said that she was one of 145 passengers who wanted to fly home via Malaysia. Upon arrival, the woman and her husband had been diagnosed with symptoms of the new virus. The 83-year-old is now being treated in the isolation ward. The 85-year-old husband, who tested negative, was monitored in the hospital.
The “Westerdam” had completed an odyssey through Asian waters, as several countries had banned the ship from fearing the corona virus. Only Cambodia finally agreed to this. The first of almost 2,300 people in Sihanoukville were allowed to leave the cruise ship on Friday, including 57 Germans.
Meanwhile, the quarantine for the more than 100 returnees from China could end this Sunday in a Bundeswehr barracks in Germersheim, Palatinate. They have been isolated for about two weeks now. However, the results of further tests for the corona virus are expected first. If these are negative as in the previous three tests, a final medical examination is planned. Then it is decided whether to quarantine.
On Saturday, the first death was reported in Europe by the virus. According to the French Ministry of Health, an 80-year-old tourist from China died in a Paris hospital of the pathogen-induced lung disease Covid-19. More than two dozen countries have reported more cases, including most recently Egypt. The virus has now reached Africa.
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