Virus cases rise in UK; France reports deaths
LONDON: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United Kingdom has risen to 206, a rise of 43, British health officials said on Saturday.
So far in Britain, two patients who had confirmed positive for the virus have died, the health ministry and the Public Health England agency said.
Facebook said on Friday it is closing its London offices until Monday after a visiting employee from Singapore was diagnosed with coronavirus.
“An employee based in our Singapore office who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 visited our London offices on Feb.24-26, 2020,” Facebook said in a statement.
“We are therefore closing our London offices until Monday for deep cleaning and employees are working from home until then.”
France’s Health Ministry said on Saturday that two more people had died from the coronavirus, bringing the total death toll to 11 people.
One of the two fatalities was confirmed in the northern part of France, the other in Normandy, the ministry said in a statement.
France has now 716 confirmed cases of coronavirus an increase of 103 compared with a day earlier, the ministry said.
Malta’s first case of coronavirus has been detected in a 12-year-old Italian girl who lives on the island, Health Minister Chris Fearne said on Saturday.
The girl tested positive for the illness early on Saturday and is receiving treatment in the infectious diseases unit of the state hospital, the minister said, adding she “is doing well.”
South Africa on Saturday confirmed a second case the novel coronavirus, a 39-year-old woman who had travelled to Italy as part of a group with the first confirmed case.
The South African authorities said the woman, originally from the inland province of Gauteng, had come into direct contact with the first case from Kwa Zulu-natal when they travelled back in a group of 10 from Italy on March 1.
The number of coronavirus patients in Germany stood at 684 on Saturday morning, the country’s public health agency, the Robet Koch Institute, said, an increase of 45 over Friday evening.
Spain reported five new deaths due to the novel coronavirus on Friday, bringing the toll to eight as officials shuttered elderly care centres across Madrid after a spike in cases.
A son of a top medical official in Georgia said on Saturday he had contracted the new coronavirus after being in contact with people who travelled to Italy.