SEOUL (South Korea): China and South Korea reported more coronavirus cases that has been concentrated in North Asia but is causing global worry as clusters grow in the Middle East and Europe. China reported 508 new cases and another 71 deaths, 68 of them in the central city of Wuhan, where the epidemic was first detected in December. The updates bring mainland China's totals to 77,658 cases and 2,663 deaths.
South Korea now has the second-most cases in the world with 893 and has had a near 15-fold increase in reported infections in a week, as health workers continue to find batches in the southeastern city of Daegu and nearby areas, where panic has brought towns to an eerie standstill.
Of the 60 new cases reported by South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 49 came from Daegu and the surrounding areas of North Gyeongsang province. The country also reported its eighth and ninth fatalities from COVID-19. The government has vowed to fully mobilize public health tools to contain the outbreak to the region surrounding Daegu, but says it isn’t considering restricting travel. All Daegu citizens exhibiting cold-like symptoms, estimating around 30,000 people, will be tested for the virus. The country is also restricting exports to deal with nationwide shortages in masks.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised Americans to “avoid all nonessential travel to South Korea” in its highest travel alert notice. Japan's Foreign Ministry urged citizens to avoid unessential trips to Daegu and North Gyeongsang province. Clusters have also emerged in Iran and Italy, and there are concerns the new outbreaks could signal a serious new stage in the global spread of the illness. Schools were closed in Iran for a second day, and daily sanitizing of public buses and the Tehran metro, which is used by some 3 million people, was begun.
In several countries that reported their first cases on Monday - Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, the infected patients had links with Iran. Iraq and Afghanistan closed their borders with Iran in an effort to stop the further spread. In Italy, where 229 people have tested positive for the virus and seven have died, police manned checkpoints around a dozen quarantined northern towns as worries grew across the continent.
Austria temporarily halted rail traffic across its border with Italy. Slovenia and Croatia, popular getaways for Italians, were holding crisis meetings. Schools were closed, theater performances were cancelled and even Carnival celebrations in Venice were called off. As outbreaks grew in more countries, the World Heath Organization said COVID-19 had the potential to be a pandemic but wasn't one yet.
