South Korea reports 1st death from coronavirus
SEOUL/ BEIJING: South Korea reported its first death from the novel coronavirus on Thursday while the mayor of a southeastern city urged 2.5 million people to refrain from going outside as viral infections, linked to a church congregation, spiked.
The death of a previously confirmed patient in South Korea marked the world’s ninth virus fatality outside mainland China. Other deaths have occurred in Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and France.
Two elderly passengers taken off the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess because they were infected with the virus have died, Japan’s health ministry said Thursday, becoming the first fatalities from the virus-stricken vessel.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the South Korean man, 63, died at a hospital on Wednesday and posthumously tested positive. It said authorities were investigating the exact cause of his death. The centre confirmed 22 more cases of the virus, raising the total in South Korea to 104.
The mayor of Daegu urged its 2.5 million people to stay home and wear masks even indoors, after the city and its nearby towns reported 35 additional cases of infection with the new coronavirus. The 35 cases didn’t include the additional 22 that were reported later on Thursday.
Mayor Kwon Young-jin also expressed fears that the rising infections in the region will soon overwhelm the city’s health infrastructure and called for urgent help from the central government in Seoul.
The South Korean CDC said 28 of 35 new patients had gone to church services attended by a previously confirmed virus patient or contacted her at other places inside a Daegu church.
On Thursday morning, China reported 114 deaths, taking the toll to 2,118 until Wednesday night. In a positive sign, Chinese health officials said the mainland reported the “biggest drop in new infections in almost a month”, with 394 new confirmed cases.
The total number of confirmed infections is 74,576, health officials said.