Coronavirus: France announces first COVID-19 death in Europe

World Sunday 16/February/2020 09:02 AM
By: Times News Service
Coronavirus: France announces first COVID-19 death in Europe

French health minister Agnes Buzyn reported the first death from COVID-19 in Europe on Saturday.

The victim, an 80-year-old Chinese tourist, and his daughter had been receiving treatment at Paris's Bichat hospital since January 25 and were subject to strict isolation measures, said Buzyn in a statement.

The daughter's health is not a cause for concern and she should be able to leave hospital soon, added the minister. Both individuals were from Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak.

World Health Organization (WHO) emergency chief Mike Ryan told DW on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference that the virus is still not spreading fast internationally.

"The virus has been outside China now for a number of weeks and we still have only got just over 500 cases in 24 countries, and those countries are significantly containing the virus."

He added that countries may not be able to slow it down entirely and it may take the development of vaccines to finally stop the disease.

"But what we can do is save a lot of lives, what we can do is take care of our vulnerable populations and get them the treatments they need. So it's not time for white flags. This is the time for action," said Ryan.

Only three deaths had been recorded from the virus outside of China — in the Philippines, Hong Kong and Japan. France has 11 cases of the virus.

New infections fall for third day, nearly 70,000 people infected

China's National Health Commission reported a fewer number of new coronavirus cases for the third day in a row on Sunday, with 2,009 new infections reported, bringing the total to 68,500 confirmed cases since the outbreak began in December.

The death toll on mainland China from COVID-19, a disease stemming from a new form of coronavirus, now stands at 1,665, officials said.

This toll did not include the first death reported in Europe.

Cause for celebration on Cambodia cruise ship

More than half the passengers on a luxury cruise finally got to disembark on Saturday at a Cambodian port after the ship was turned away from the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Thailand due to fears about the virus.

A Cambodian official announced the development, saying that the decision was made after tests on 20 people came back negative. The official added that the people had been tested "out of an abundance of caution."

An 83-year-old American passenger later tested positive to the virus after undergoing a test in Malaysia. The Malaysian Health Ministry said the woman was in a stable condition, and that her husband had also shown symptoms but had tested negative. The ministry added that the couple were the only individuals among the 145 passengers who flew onward to Malaysia to show symptoms,

Most of the 1,200 people who disembarked from the ship at the Sihanoukville port were intending to head to the capital for further travel, said a government spokesperson.

German ship docks in Thailand

Meanwhile, the German cruise ship "Aidavita" docked at Laem Chabang port in Thailand on Saturday morning, after being turned away from Vietnam due to fears that those on board may have the virus. The 1,100 passengers, mostly from Germany, and 400 crew members are expected to be able to leave the ship on Sunday morning.

There were no suspicious cases aboard the ship, the ship's company spokesman said in a statement. No guest or crew member on board had been to China within the last 14 days.