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News > China

First Coronavirus Death Reported Outside of China

  • Staff members wearing protective masks check a passenger at Shanghai railway station in Shanghai, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, February 2, 2020.

    Staff members wearing protective masks check a passenger at Shanghai railway station in Shanghai, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, February 2, 2020. | Photo: Reuters

Published 2 February 2020
Opinion

The virus has been reported in several contintents and countries across the world, as the total number of cases tops 14,000.

The first Coronavirus-related death outside of China has been reported by the Philippines Department of Health on Sunday, raising the death toll to 305 since the start of the new year.

According to the Philippines Department of Health, a 44-year-old Chinese man from Wuhan, the city with the largest number of Coronavirus cases, died on Saturday due to the illness.

The Chinese man was rushed to a hospital in the city of Manila, where he later succumbed to the virus, the Philippines Department of Health said in their statement.

Some 304 people have died in China, the country’s National Health Commission said on Sunday. Infections in China jumped to 14,380 as of Saturday, after their biggest daily rise, the commission added. At least another 171 cases have been reported in more than two dozen other countries and regions, including the United States, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Britain.

Beijing is facing mounting isolation as the countries introduce travel restrictions, airlines suspend flights and governments evacuate their citizens, risking worsening a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.

China’s central bank said it would inject a hefty 1.2 trillion yuan ($173.8 billion) worth of liquidity into the markets via reverse repo operations on Monday as the country prepares to reopen its stock markets after an extended Lunar New Year holiday.

Authorities have pledged to use various monetary policy tools to ensure liquidity remains reasonably ample and to support struggling firms.

China Evergrande Group, the nation’s third-largest property developer, said in an internal note on Sunday it would extend its Lunar New Year holiday to Feb. 16, and suspend construction work at all of its 1,246 sites until Feb. 20.

In Beijing, some malls stayed open, but staff stood outside offering to take customers’ temperatures. Many other shops and cafes in the capital chose to close.

“We can’t work and have no income. I would rather work than stay at home and do nothing,” said 32-year-old restaurant worker Wu Caixia in the capital.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Coronavirus a "global emergency" following the exponential rise in cases across the world. 

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