Coronavirus reaches Europe as France confirms 3 cases

Three cases of the deadly respiratory illness that originated in China have been confirmed in France. In contrast to the SARS pandemic in 2003, health officials have praised China for providing transparent information.

French officials on Friday confirmed three cases of the new coronavirus from China, marking the first time the deadly virus was detected in Europe.

Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said two of the infected individuals had recently traveled to China and were placed in isolation. The third person is a close relative of one of the other two.

Buzyn added that more cases were likely to be discovered.

"We know that since the patient has been on French soil they have had contact with a dozen people, we are going to contact them," she said of one of the infected patients.

"You have to treat an epidemic as you treat a fire, quickly to locate the source" and "contain it as quickly as possible," Buzyn added.

The virus, which is thought to have originated at an animal market in Wuhan, spread to humans and can be transmitted from person to person.

France's announcement came as more than a dozen countries around the world reported infections. Nepal also confirmed a case on Friday — the first in a South Asian country.

More than 800 cases and 26 fatalities have been reported in China, and officials there have placed a lockdown on at least 13 cities covering more than 36 million inhabitants in an attempt to contain the virus' spread.

Authorities have also canceled various events relating to the Chinese Lunar New Year, which begins Saturday and is a time when millions of Chinese travel to be with family and gather for large public celebrations.

Read more: Chinese New Year: Entering the Year of the Rat amid the coronavirus crisis

Praise for China

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognized that China faces a national health emergency, but stopped short of declaring the outbreak a global health emergency.

Officials fear the coronavirus outbreak could mirror that of

SARS pandemic, a respiratory virus that originated in China in 2002 and spread quickly, eventually infecting some 8,000 individuals worldwide and killing 800.

At the time, China faced criticism of having covered up the initial situation surrounding the SARS virus. In contrast, health officials have recently praised China for transparently providing information on the coronavirus.

Read more: SARS remembered — how a deadly respiratory virus hit Asian economies

WHO's director- general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, after an emergency meeting on Thursday thanked Beijing for its "cooperation and transparency" and approved of the measures China was taking to try and contain further transmission of the virus.

Following a second confirmed case of the virus in the US, President Donald Trump on Twitter thanked the Chinese president for the country's response.

Germany's health minister, Jens Spahn, also approved of how China has been handling of the coronavirus outbreak. In an interview with Bloomberg TV from the sidelines of the World Economic Forum at Davos, Spahn said, "There's a big difference to SARS. We have a much more transparent China. The action of China is much more effective in the first days already."

Spahn also highlighted international cooperation and communication pertaining to the coronavirus, and said that Germany's center for disease control was checking the situation daily. cmb/stb (EFE, AFP, dpa)

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Chinese officials have called off some Lunar New Year celebrations to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus