Coronavirus
tourist was hospitalised with the virus.
Italy has confirmed 374 cases of the disease and 12 deaths, and says the virus has spread to some southern regions as well.
On Wednesday, a 60-year-old man became the second French victim of the virus in the country, the health ministry announced. France reported four new cases in the past 24 hours, including two returning from Italy, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 17.
With cases being reported in more countries, traders are growing increasingly fearful about the impact on the global economy that has already been hit by its dependence on China.
World stocks tumbled for the fifth day on fears of prolonged disruption to supply chains across the world. Stock markets globally have wiped out $3.3 trillion of value in the past four trading sessions, as measured by the MSCI all-country index.
Indian equities fell for a fourth consecutive day following sustained global sell-off over coronavirus fears. Wall Street stocks, however, opened higher on Wednesday after suffering a second straight rout a day before despite officials warning that the outbreak was inevitable.
However, WHO’S Europe director Hans Kluge said at a press conference in Rome on Wednesday that there was no need to panic as the mortality rate for the disease was 2% and had fallen to 1% in China, which accounts for over 96% of all coronavirus infections. “Bear in mind that four out of five patients have mild symptoms and recover,” Kluge said.
In the Middle East, Iran has been hit the hardest, with a total of 139 cases and 19 deaths. Even the country’s deputy health minister Iraj Harirchi said he has contracted the virus.
In Asia, South Korea remains the worst-affected country after China, reporting 284 new infections on Wednesday. It was the country’s largest daily increase in the number of cases to date, taking the overall national tally to 1,261, and the death toll rising to 12.
Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus, but both patients were in a “stable” condition, the health minister said, adding that “things are under control”.
In the United States, which has 57 cases, health authorities urged local governments, businesses, and schools to take precautions. “It’s not a question of if. It’s a question of when and how many people will be infected,” the US’S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention principal deputy director Anne Schuchat said on Tuesday. based, among other things, on the fact that animals are multicellular, highly developed organisms, which first appeared on Earth when oxygen levels rose, they said.
“It’s not yet clear to us how the parasite generates energy,” Huchon said.
“It may be drawing it from the surrounding fish cells, or it may have a different type of respiration such as oxygen-free breathing, which typically characterises anaerobic non-animal organisms,” she said.
According to Huchon, the discovery bears enormous significance for evolutionary research.
“It is generally thought that during evolution, organisms become more and more complex, and that simple single-celled or few-celled organisms are the ancestors of complex organisms,” she said.
“But here, right before us, is an animal whose evolutionary process is the opposite. Living in an oxygen-free environment, it has shed unnecessary genes responsible for aerobic respiration and become an even simpler organism,” Huchon added.