The death toll from the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 in China rose to 2,236 as of Friday, February 21 after 118 new deaths were reported on Thursday. Of the total deaths, 115 deaths were reported from China’s Hubei province, the epicentre of the virus outbreak.
Hubei also reported 411 new confirmed cases of the virus on Thursday, compared to 349 the previous day. While the province’s total number of cases rose to 62,442, the overall confirmed cases in China climbed to 75,685, reportedThe Economic Times.
Beijing also reported 1,109 new cases, up from 349 the previous day. Outside China, the number of deaths rose to 11.
Meanwhile, South Korea reported its first death. With 52 more cases, the country’s overall toll reached 156, making South Korea the worst-infected country outside China. As 41 of the 52 cases were reported in the southeastern city of Daegu, South Korea’s central government declared the area a “special management zone” on Friday morning.
Two people who were evacuated from the quarantined Japanese cruise ship – Diamond Princess – tested positive for the deadly virus in Australia. The country had evacuated 170 citizens from the ship on Thursday, February 20.
Furthermore, Japan’s health ministry on Thursday said that two elderly passengers of the ship, who were hospitalised with the infection have died. Till date, 634 people on board the vessel have tested positive for the virus, including 8 Indians.
Meanwhile, India’s first coronavirus patient who was being treated at the Government Medical College Hospital, Thrissur was discharged on Thursday. With this, all three patients infected with the virus in the country – all reported from Kerala – have recovered from the virus. The other two students had been discharged earlier after their final tests for the virus turned negative.
“The health condition of the third patient at Thrissur Medical College Hospital is satisfactory. The second consecutive test result of the blood sample of the student, sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune, has returned negative,” Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja had said in a release on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Air India has cancelled flights to Shanghai and Hong Kong till June 30.