Coronavirus death toll rises to 425 in China
The number of confirmed deaths from coronavirus outbreak in China has risen to 425, after 64 new fatalities announced by authorities in the province of Hubei.
Hong Kong on Tuesday became second out of mainland China to announce a coronavirus patient’s death as movement restrictions were imposed on two more cities far from the epicentre.
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The 39-year-old man’s death in Hong Kong came as the semi-autonomous town closed all but two land crossings with the Chinese mainland to prevent the virus spread.
The Philippines announced on Sunday the death of a Chinese man from Wuhan, the central city at China’s health emergency epicenter.
Until now, the virus has spread to more than 20 countries, prompting the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency, several governments to institute travel restrictions and airlines to suspend flights to and from China.
Hong Kong was especially at the frontline of the virus, as it rekindled memories of the 2002-03 outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 300 people in the financial hub and 349 people in the mainland.
Earlier Tuesday, China reported 64 more deaths that was a one-day high, from the new coronavirus, raising the toll to 425, with more than 20,000 infections nationwide.
It is suspected that the disease has arisen in a market in Wuhan that sold wild animals, rapidly spreading as people traveled late January for the Lunar New Year holiday.
