Fears spread as outbreak hits sub-saharan Africa
Nigeria, New Zealand confirm their first cases; China reports 44 new deaths
BEIJING/ ABUJA/ WELLINGTON: Nigerian authorities on Friday reported the first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus in subsaharan Africa as the outbreak spread to a region with some of the world’s weakest health systems. Cases of the virus were confirmed in Egypt and Algeria in north Africa in recent days.
The health commissioner for Lagos, Africa’s largest city with more than 20 million people, said an Italian citizen who entered Nigeria on Tuesday from Milan on a business trip fell ill the next day. The man was stable with no serious symptoms.
Belarus and Azerbaijan also reported their first cases on Friday. The outbreak that began in China has infected more than 83,000 people globally and caused over 2,800 deaths.
New Zealand confirmed its first coronavirus case on Friday, saying a recent arrival from Iran who travelled to Auckland via Bali had tested positive. Health officials said the person, aged in their 60s, was being treated in Auckland City Hospital.
Officials said the person, reportedly a female New Zealand citizen, arrived in Auckland on Wednesday and family members went to the hospital after becoming concerned about the individual’s condition.
South Korea reported 571 new cases on Friday, taking its total number of infections to 2,337, the largest outbreak outside China. The outbreak has killed 13 people in the country.
In China, the death toll from the outbreak stood at 2,788 with 44 new deaths reported until early Friday, authorities said, adding that the total number of infected persons was nearly 79,000.
Among the deaths, 41 were in the worst-hit central Chinese Hubei province, two in Beijing and one in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
In China, the national health commission said 2,308 people were still suspected of being infected. A total of 36,117 people were discharged from hospitals. The condition of nearly 8,000 people continues to be severe.