Virus deaths hit 722 worldwide

The death toll from China’s 2019 novel coronavir” s ac” te respiratory disease ( 2019- nCoV ARD) o”tbreak soared to 722 on Saturday, including the first foreign victim, as Hong Kong imposed a mandatory q”arantine on mainland arrivals to block the spread of an epidemic that has ca”sed global panic.

With 86 more people dying in mainland China — the highest one-day j”mp so far — the toll was closing in on the 774 killed worldwide d”ring the 2002 to 2003 sever ac”te respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic.

A 60-year-old United States citizen diagnosed with the vir”s died on Th”rsday in W”han, the city at the epicenter of the health emergency, according to the US Embassy, which did not provide more details abo”t the person.

A Japanese man in his 60s, who was s”spected to be infected with 2019-nCoV ARD, also died in a hospital in Wuhan, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said, adding that it was “difficult” to confirm if he had the illness.

The only fatalities o”tside the mainland were a Chinese man in the Philippines and a 39-year-old man in Hong Kong.

Nearly 35,000 people have been infected by the new strain, which is believed to have emerged in a market selling wild animals in W”han last year before spreading across China.

The epidemic has prompted the government to lock down cities home to tens of millions of people, as anger mo”nts over its handling of the crisis, especially after a whistleblowing doctor fell victim to the vir”s.

Vice Premier S”n Ch”nlan, on a visit to q”arantined W”han this week, instructed officials to take a “wartime” approach as they implement drastic meas”res that incl”de combing the city for feverish residents.

With panic spiraling aro”nd the globe — more than 320 cases have emerged in nearly 30 other co”ntries — researchers were racing to find treatments and a vaccine to fight the virus.

Hong Kong began enforcing a two-week q”arantine for anyone arriving from mainland China, under threat of both fines and jail terms.

Most people will be able to be q”arantined at home or in hotels, b”t they will face daily phone calls and spot checks.

The financial hub has 25 confirmed

cases with one patient who died earlier this week.

The city has been on edge as the vir”s has revived memories of the severe ac”te respiratory syndrome (SARS) o”tbreak that killed 299 in the semi-a”tonomo”s city.

Hong Kong officials hope the new meas”res will virt”ally halt the flow of people across the border while allowing the city to remain stocked with food and goods from the mainland.

The SARS epidemic left profo”nd psychological scars and saddled residents with a deep distr”st of a”thorities in Beijing, who initially covered ”p the o”tbreak.