The death toll in China from the coronavirus epidemic rose past 2,400 on Sunday after 96 more people died in Hubei province, the hard-hit epicentre of the outbreak while four people died and at least 556 people were reportedly infected in South Korea. The vast majority of the deaths were in the provincial capital of Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December, according to the daily update from the Hubei health commission.
The province also reported 630 new confirmed cases, bringing the total within China to around 77,000. The coronavirus has spread to more than 25 countries and is causing mounting alarm due to new pockets of outbreak in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. China has sowed confusion about its numbers by repeatedly changing its counting methods, which could further complicate efforts to track the contagion. 123 more coronavirus cases in South Korea
South Korea reported 123 more coronavirus cases on Sunday, taking the nationwide total to 556, as well as two additional deaths which brings the toll to four. The fourth death was a man at a hospital in Cheongdo, a southern city connected to a religious sect, where around 100 cases were reported.
Among the latest cases, 75 were connected to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in the southern city of Daegu, the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement. Hundreds of members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus have now been infected, starting with a 61-year-old woman who developed a fever on February 10 but attended at least four church services in Daegu before being diagnosed.
Daegu — which is South Korea’s fourth largest city with a population of 2.5 million and Cheongdo — the birthplace of Shincheonji’s founder Lee Man-hee — were designated as ‘special care zones’ on Friday.
Italy reports first death
Meanwhile, the streets are silent, shops are shuttered and the few people who venture from their homes shun company in the small Italian town of Codogno under the shadow of a new coronavirus outbreak. “It’s a ghost town, it’s horrible for us,” a young woman named Paola told AFP as she walked down a deserted street near the station on Saturday night. “People are locked in their houses, there’s nobody in the streets,” she added.
The station, like most parts of the town of 15,000 people, was closed. No one was selling tickets, no passengers awaited trains. Italy became the first European country to report the death of one of its own nationals from the virus on Friday, followed by a second death on Saturday, amid a sudden rise in confirmed cases of contamination now totalling 79.
Codogno in the Lombardy region was labelled by health officials on Saturday as the epicentre of the new wave of cases in Italy’s north. Italian authorities have imposed travel restrictions on about a dozen towns, where special permission will be needed to enter or leave. The virus which broke out in China in December where more than 2,200 people have died has now spread to more than 25 countries.
In Codogno’s centre, the pharmacy remained open on the orders of the local authorities. “We’re all scared, but we keep our fingers crossed,” the pharmacy’s owner Rosa Cavalli told AFP. She said protective masks had long sold out but customers were stocking up on disinfectants, alcohol and bleach.
‘Most of the masks came from China and they’ve kept them, they need them, they’re in trouble,” she added. One woman ventured out to buy drinks and snacks from one of the few vending machines in the town. “We’re trying to stay calm because in these situations it’s easy to panic,” said Erica, who only gave her first name, adding that she was buying food because it wasn’t clear whether supermarkets would remain open.
“I’m a little scared because we can all be infected. I work in a restaurant and have a lot of contact with people,” she added.
