Britain, Russia, Sweden report first coronavirus cases

BERLIN — Britain, Russia and Sweden reported their first cases of the quickly spreading coronavirus Friday as more countries tightened travel and border crossings with China.

There have been 9,692 cases confirmed in mainland China and 213 deaths, according to state media on Friday, a day after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global emergency.

More than 100 other people have been sickened in about two dozen countries across the globe.

One study says that up to 75,800 people may have been infected.

The modeling research, led by Gabriel Leung of the University of Hong Kong and published in The Lancet, also suggests that other Chinese cities might have already imported dozens of infections “in numbers sufficient to initiate local epidemics.”

Lack of detailed information on confirmed infections means the “true size of the epidemic and its pandemic potential remains unclear,” the authors say.

Britain confirmed its first cases in two people from the same family. The pair were being treated at a hospital in Newcastle, but public health officials have released few details about the patients.

The announcement came shortly before a plane carrying 83 Britons and 27 foreign nationals who had been stuck in Wuhan, China, landed in Britain. The passengers will now be quarantined for two weeks as a precaution.

Several countries have already flown their citizens out of China — including the United States, Japan, South Korea and Jordan — with a slew of other governments like Germany and India with plans in the works.

The U.S. on Friday announced a public health emergency in order to preempt a coronavirus outbreak.