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Tag: China

  • First Coronavirus death outside China, infections soar to 14,000

    First Coronavirus death outside China, infections soar to 14,000

    The first overseas death from the growing epidemic of a coronavirus that originated in China, has been confirmed as infections in China jumped by a daily record to top 14,000 cases and deaths soared beyond 300.

    The overseas death was recorded in the Philippines on Sunday.

    The Philippines Department of Health said a 44-year-old man from Wuhan city in central Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, had died after developing severe pneumonia. It was the first death out of more than 130 cases reported in around two dozen other countries and regions outside of mainland China.

    The man who died was a companion of a 38-year-old Chinese woman, also from Wuhan, who was the first and only other person to test positive for the virus in the Philippines. Both patients arrived in the Philippines via Hong Kong on Jan. 21.

    The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in China had reached 304 as of the end of Saturday, state broadcaster CCTV said on Sunday, citing the country’s National Health Commission.

  • Coronavirus: Countries shut borders to Chinese arrivals

    Coronavirus: Countries shut borders to Chinese arrivals

    Countries around the world have closed their borders to arrivals from China, as officials work to control the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

    The US and Australia said they would deny entry to all foreign visitors who had recently been in China, where the virus first emerged in December.

    Earlier, countries including Russia, Japan, Pakistan and Italy announced similar travel restrictions.

    But global health officials have advised against such measures.

    “Travel restrictions can cause more harm than good by hindering info-sharing, medical supply chains and harming economies,” the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

    The WHO recommends introducing screening at official border crossings. It has warned that closing borders could accelerate the spread of the virus, with travellers entering countries unofficially.

    China has criticised the wave of travel restrictions, accusing foreign governments of ignoring official advice.

    “Just as the WHO recommended against travel restrictions, the US rushed in the opposite direction,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said. “[It is] certainly not a gesture of goodwill.”

    BBC

  • Coronavirus: Nigerians can travel to China – Lai Mohammed

    The Federal Government will not stop Nigerians from travelling to China or any other country where coronavirus has manifested.

    Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made this known while addressing newsmen shortly after a meeting of the inter ministerial and multi-sectoral committee on coronavirus held at the Ministry of Health, Abuja on Friday.

    He said that rather than impose travel ban, there will be travel advisory that will help Nigerians who wished to visit China to do so without any encumbrances to their health and wellbeing.

    “We know it is a bit difficult to ban people from travelling. Another thing is that this is not a basis to stigmatise people who come from there. Even if we have Nigerians who are there, unless they indicate interest that they want to come home, we can’t force them.

    “I know we have Nigerians in Wuhan; our Embassy in China has confirmed that we have about 16 Nigerians in Wuhan and they are in touch with them. They have, however, not indicated their interest to come home. They will, however, contact our embassy if they like to come home,” he said.

    The minister said there was need for the general public to be enlightened and for Nigerians travelling to be absolutely transparent.

    “We need a lot of public enlightenment. We need to let people who travel know that there is the need for absolute transparency and absolute honesty when they are filling out forms.

    “Some people don’t take the forms seriously and they do mislead authorities when they are asked to declare their status.

    “One of the major advantages of the declaration of global emergency for coronavirus by WHO is that they understand that combating it can be really expensive and there are states that cannot afford it.

    “But there are partners that can help such countries. But right now, we are in the stage of working together inter-ministerially to make sure we address the epidemic,” he said.

    The coronavirus committee is made up of several line ministries, including Health, Aviation, Transport, Information and Culture, Police Affairs, Internal Affairs, Agriculture and Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    Also, the committee involves various government agencies and parastatals as well as state governors where international airports are located, Lagos, Enugu, Rivers and Kano.

    The World Health Organisation has declared the coronavirus as a public health emergency of international concern.

  • Ighalo in surprise move to dump Chinese club for Man Utd

    Ighalo in surprise move to dump Chinese club for Man Utd

    THERE are strong indications last night that Manchester United m ay strike a deal for former Super Eagles striker Odion Ighalo before the end of the January Transfer Window today.

    Since last week, words were rife that the struggling English Premier League side had been linked with a shock move for the former Watford striker United from Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua as a late injury replacement for Marcus Rashford.

    English tabloid Daily Mirror further hinted last night that Ighalo is mulling over the possible switch from China to England following the spread of the Coronavirus in the Asian country.

    “Ighalo is currently in limbo due to the coronavirus health scare, which has forced the Chinese Super League to delay the start of the 2020 season,” declared London Daily Mirror. “As a result of the delay, Ighalo is due to fly to Europe later today(Thursday) , which would allow him to put pen to paper on a move before the window slams shut on Friday.”

    Incidentally, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) had expressed fears that the rapidly spreading of coronavirus might force several stars out of the Chinese Super League while announcing the postponement of all domestic games.

    “Chinese Super League stars could be tempted into looking for new clubs after the Chinese Football Association (CFA) announced the postponement of all domestic games due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus,” Sky Sports Football tweeted the CFA notice.

    Only on Monday, sources close to Ighalo informed NationSport that the 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) top scorer is unperturbed with the Manchester United transfer rumours.

    “Ighalo is not disturbed with the rumours linking him to Manchester United and that’s why he has chosen not to make any statement about the transfer speculation,” the source close to the player told NationSport few days ago.

    Just last year, Ighalo reportedly turned down a short-loan move to Catalan giants, FC Barcelona, saying he preferred a longer contact than an ‘a six-month loan and strictly as a back-up striker’.

  • Coronavirus: China reschedules 2020 football season

    Coronavirus: China reschedules 2020 football season

    China announced on Thursday the suspension of all domestic football and postponed indefinitely the top-flight Chinese Super League (CSL) season in response to the deadly viral outbreak sweeping the country.

    The CSL 2020 campaign had been due to kick off on February 22, but was shelved along with “all types of football matches” in order to “carry out prevention and control of the pneumonia epidemic,” said a Chinese Football Association statement.

    The announcement comes just a few hours after the World Indoor Athletics Championships, scheduled to take place in the Chinese city of Nanjing in March, were postponed until 2021 after advice from the World Health Organisation.

    Football is fanatically followed in the world’s most populous nation with cash-rich clubs importing expensive foreign signings such as Brazilians Hulk and Oscar, and Argentina’s Carlos Tevez in recent years.

    It becomes the latest sport to be hit by the virus which by Thursday had seen more than 7,700 cases confirmed in China with at least 170 fatalities.

    The virus has spread from the epicentre of Wuhan to more that 15 countries, with about 60 cases in Asia, Europe, North America and, most recently, the Middle East.

    On Wednesday, World Cup skiing races, the first test events for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, were cancelled because of the outbreak.

    The men’s downhill and super-G races were scheduled for February 15 and February 16 in Yanqing, 70 kilometres (45 miles) northwest of Beijing.

    In Australia, China’s women’s football team has been quarantined in a Brisbane hotel after arriving for an Olympic qualifying competition which had been originally due to take place in Wuhan.

    The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Wednesday ordered all four Chinese clubs’ first three fixtures in the continent’s Champions League’s group stage in February and March to be played away from home.

    The AFC said the decision was a “precautionary measure to ensure the safety and well-being of all participating players and teams”.

    The CFA said any decision on postponing or moving international fixtures would be made at a later date.

    China is due to host the Maldives in a World Cup qualifying match on March 26 and travel to Guam for another qualifier on March 31.

    “The CFA will continue to maintain close communication with national authorities, and decide each event’s timing separately based on the actual development of the epidemic situation in each locality,” the statement said.

    Earlier this month the International Tennis Federation moved next week’s Fed Cup’s Asia/Oceania Group I event from Dongguan, southern China, to Kazakhstan on February 4-8.

    The Asian indoor athletics championships planned for February 12-13 in Hangzhou have also been cancelled.

     

  • Coronavirus: FG orders suspension of traveling schedules to China

    The federal government has advised all travellers from Nigeria, including Nigerians, planning to travel to China, to suspend their travel plans until further notice.

    Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, who dropped the advisory Wednesday evening while addressing State House Correspondents in Abuja, was speaking in regards to Nigeria’s preparedness to prevent the new global health scourge, the Coronavirus, from spreading in Nigeria.

    The Minister, who was one of those who briefed the State House Press Corps of the outcome of the the maiden 2020 Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, also said those arriving in the country from China or any of the countries with a major outbreak of the disease would be under watch.

    According to the Minister, all government agencies in charge of health issues development monitoring agencies had been set on alert at all ports of entry into the country.

    He also advised that those coming into the country from China or any other country with a history of a spread of the disease, although who might not have observed any symptoms of the disease, to self-isolate for about two weeks to observe themselves.

    “In view of the trending stories around the Coronavirus, it has become very necessary to issue a travel advisory to Nigerians. The first is that all Nigerians and all from Nigeria, intending to travel to China should delay all their travel plans until further notice, except it is extremely essential for them to do that trip.

    “All persons arriving from China or any country that has a major outbreak is advised, if they have no symptoms at all, to self isolate, meaning that they stay indoors in their homes for at least two weeks and if they develop any symptoms, like cough, catarrh, sneezing, breathing difficulties within this period, to report to the nearest health facility.

    “We are also advising all airlines to report any case of a passenger falling sick on-board before the plane lands. That is a requirement in the agreement. Nigerian Port Health Services, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control are on alert at our airports and other points of entry. That is the advisory.

    Asked about Chinese who are expected to return into the country from their Lunar Year holiday in China, the Minister explained that the advisory does not use nationality as a criterion.

    “We don’t have statistics on the number of Chinese returning to this country, but what I can telling you is that for those who traveled and meet the conditions we mentioned can come back to their work.

    “I also want to remind you that there are very many Nigerians in China who will be coming home, not only Chinese and other people who have works to do in Nigeria from that area. We are not using your nationality as a criterion, we are using your state of health”, he said.

  • China women placed in quarantine over coronavirus fears

    China women placed in quarantine over coronavirus fears

    The China women’s football team are being held in quarantine in Australia over concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.

    Queensland’s chief health officer confirmed the state had its first case of the virus on Wednesday.

    The Chinese team, who arrived in Brisbane for Olympic qualifiers, have been asked to remain in their hotel rooms until 5 February.

    Dr Jeannette Young confirmed that none of the squad are showing symptoms.

    There have been more than 5,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, which originally appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan, and more than 100 people have died.

    Dr Young said a 44-year-old Chinese national from Wuhan is “stable” in the Gold Coast University Hospital.

    The 2020 Olympic qualifiers were originally moved from Wuhan to Nanjing but the Asian Football Confederation decided on 26 January to move them to Sydney.

    Football Federation Australia said in a statement: “The safety of all players, officials and fans is of paramount importance to Football Federation Australia and the Asian Football Confederation, and we are confident we will host a successful tournament here in Sydney.”

    The qualifiers were due to begin on 3 February but because of the Chinese team being placed in quarantine, the FFA has announced tickets will not be going on sale yet as “the health and wellbeing” of all those involved is their primary concern.

    China are set to play Thailand, Chinese Taipai and Australia in the third round of qualifying.

    BBC

  • Coronavirus: British Airways, others suspend flights to China

    Coronavirus: British Airways, others suspend flights to China

    Some foreign airlines suspended flights to and from China on Wednesday as global fears mounted over a coronavirus epidemic that has killed 132 people and infected nearly 6,000.

    The announcements came hours after countries began airlifts to evacuate foreigners trapped in Wuhan, the quarantined central Chinese city of 11 million people at the epicentre of the health emergency.

    A growing number of governments, including the United States, Britain and Germany, have in recent days advised their citizens to avoid non-essential travel to China over concerns about the viral outbreak.

    China has itself urged its citizens to delay trips abroad, with at least 15 countries having confirmed cases of the disease.

    The United Arab Emirates reported the first known case in the Middle East on Wednesday.

    British Airways was the first major airline to announce a total suspension of flights to and from China, citing the travel advice of the foreign office.

    “We apologise to customers for the inconvenience, but the safety of our customers and crew is always our priority,” BA said in a statement on Wednesday.

    Indonesia’s Lion Air Group, Southeast Asia’s biggest carrier by fleet size, then said it would halt services to and from China from Saturday “until further notice”.

    In Myanmar, the three airlines that have routes into neighbouring China also said those flights would also be suspended from Saturday.

    Cathay Pacific also cut flights, citing low demand and the Hong Kong government’s response plan against the virus.

    And in one of the most dramatic measures, the tiny Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea announced Wednesday that travellers from Asia would not be allowed in.

    However many other airlines said they were continuing their China services.

    China has taken other extraordinary measures to try and stop the disease spreading, including bans on tour groups travelling overseas, suspending schools and extending the Lunar New Year holiday.

    Authorities also last week imposed transport bans in and around Wuhan in an unprecedented quarantine effort, leaving more than 50 million people shuttered in their homes.

    “This is the first day since the lockdown that I’ve had to go out,” a man in his 50s told AFP on the mostly deserted streets of the industrial city on Wednesday.

    “I have no choice because I need to buy food today.”

    Thousands of foreigners have been among those trapped in Wuhan, which has become a near ghost-town with car travel banned and residents staying indoors.

    Countries have scrambled for days to try and get their citizens out of Wuhan safely, but have faced huge logistical, medical and bureaucratic hurdles

  • Coronavirus: Japan to repatriate 200 citizens from China’s troubled city

    Coronavirus: Japan to repatriate 200 citizens from China’s troubled city

    Japan will send a chartered flight to the central Chinese city of Wuhan later in the day to repatriate about 200 of its citizens, the government says.

    The government will also send doctors, nurses and quarantine officers so that those Japanese citizens can undergo checkups on a plane, according to the health ministry.

    The aircraft is scheduled to come back to Japan on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi says.

    Since a total of 650 Japanese in Wuhan wish to return, the government will send more flights to take them home, Motegi says.

    China and countries around the world are scrambling to contain the spread of the coronavirus that has killed at least 106 people and infected more than 4,500.

    Germany has reported its first case of the virus, as the U.S., and Canada upgraded travel warnings to advise their citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to China.

    More than 56 million people in almost 20 Chinese cities – including Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province and the epicentre of the virus – have been prevented from travelling in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus during the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, traditionally China’s busiest travel season.

    The director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) is currently in China.

    The agency has acknowledged that the respiratory illness is an emergency in China but said last week that it was too early to declare the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

    It has described the global risk from the virus as high.

  • Panic as Coronavirus kills 41 in China, spreads to more countries

    Panic as Coronavirus kills 41 in China, spreads to more countries

    China said 41 people have now died from a new coronavirus that has infected more than 1,300 people globally, as health authorities around the world scramble to prevent a global pandemic.

    The total number of confirmed cases in China now stands at 1,287, the National Health Commission said in a statement on Saturday.

    The death roll has risen from 26 reported on Friday. All the latest deaths occurred in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak that has been in virtual quarantine as China scrambles to contain the virus spread.

    The vast majority of the cases and all of the confirmed deaths to date have been in China, but the virus has also been detected in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Nepal, France and the United States.

    Human-to-human transmission has been observed in the virus, which health authorities believe to have originated in a market in Wuhan that traded illegally in wildlife.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new coronavirus an “emergency in China” this week but stopped short of declaring it of international concern.

    However, the virus continues to spread globally.

    Wuhan, a city of 11 million and the capital of central Hubei province, is in virtual lockdown.

    Nearly all flights at Wuhan’s airport have been cancelled and checkpoints block the main roads leading out of town. Authorities have since imposed similar lockdowns on more than 10 cities near Wuhan as part of the ongoing containment effort.

    As Wuhan slides into isolation, pharmacies have begun to run out of supplies and hospitals have been flooded with nervous residents. The city is rushing to build a 1,000-bed hospital by Monday, state media said.

    Hubei’s health authority said on Saturday there were 658 patients affected by the virus in medical care, 57 of whom were critically ill.

    “It must be confusing and infuriating that on the weekend the government reassured citizens that the virus did not spread between humans and was under control, and then, only four days later, to initiate an unprecedented lockdown of Wuhan and other cities,” said Mary Gallagher, director of the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Michigan.

    The newly-identified coronavirus has created alarm because there are still many unknowns surrounding it, such as how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between people.

    It can cause pneumonia, which has been deadly in some cases.

    Symptoms include fever, difficulty breathing and coughing. Most of the fatalities have been in elderly patients, many with pre-existing conditions, the WHO said.

    Airports around the world have stepped up screening of passengers from China, though some health officials and experts have questioned the effectiveness of such screenings and of the lockdown.

    Health officials fear the transmission rate could accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel at home and abroad during week-long holidays for the Lunar New Year, which began on Saturday