Latest Updates

February 21 (GMT):

• 45 new cases in South Korea.

• 1 new case in the United States (Humboldt County, in Northern California). A close contact who has symptoms is being tested as well. They are both "doing well" and self-isolating at home.

February 20:

• 2 new cases in Australia, passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

• 1 new case in Italy: a 38 year-old man, currently being treated in intensive care.

• 5 new cases in South Korea, including a 22 year-old Navy sailor on the southern island of Jeju who had recently visited his hometown, Daegu.

• 411 new cases and 115 new deaths were confirmed by Hubei province for February 20.

• 1 new case in Singapore. 3 more discharged. [Pdf from Ministry of Health]

• 13 new cases on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan.

• 10 new cases in Japan, including:




• a woman in her 60s, wife of previous case in Kyushu. She had chills on the Feb. 17 and fever the next day.

• a man in his 80s who got infected at the "Sagamihara Central Hospital."

• a man in his 80s in Okinawam but with no contact with the passengers of the cruise ship.

• a woman in her 70s who had a 38° fever for a few minutes on Feb. 14, then went on a bus tour until Feb. 16, visited a medical institution on Feb. 18, and showed symptoms of pneumonia on Feb. 19.

• a man in his 40s who reported chills, sweating and malaise on Feb. 15, and had symptoms such as fever, muscle pain and cough on Feb. 18. The man has no recent travel history abroad and attended the Sapporo Snow Festival where a previously infected case was present

• 2 government employees who had done office work on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

• 3 new cases in Iran: two in Qom and one in Arak. All three patients are Iranian nationals. (The Islamic Republic News Agency).

•  1 death in South Korea.

• The mayor of Daegu (South Korea), Kwon Young-jin, urged its 2.5 million residents to refrain from going outside and to wear masks even indoors if possible. He called for urgent help from the central government in Seoul. Meanwhile, Vice Health and Welfare Minister Kim Kang-lip cautioned that: "at this stage, (the government) judged that COVID-19 is spreading locally with a limited scope." Virus alert was not raised, with its level kept at "orange" (third highest).

• The Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu, attended by the 31st case (a possible "super spreader"), has been shut down after about 10 members tested positive for the virus. About 1,000 members attended worship at the church.

• 22 new cases in South Korea (in the city of Daegu): all associated with the the first confirmed patient in the region.
  

•  2 deaths among the passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan: a man and a woman in their 80s. The man had pre-existing conditions which included bronchial asthma.

• 1 new case in Taiwan, bringing the total to 24. The source of infection for this latest case has not been traced. Possible community-based transmission is being investigated. Patient is a 60-year-old woman with no travel history abroad in the last two years. She had a fever and cough on Jan. 22, went to the clinic four times and was diagnosed with common cold and other diseases. Symptoms worsened with shortness of breath. Diagnosed with pneumonia on Jan. 29, hospitalized on Jan. 30, transferred to the intensive care unit on Feb. 10.

• 60 new cases and 6 new deaths occurred outside of Hubei province in China on February 19, as reported by the National Health Commission (NHC) of China.

• 24 new cases in South Korea (31 cases, of which 24 announced after midnight GMT and 7 cases reported previously). Cases have more than doubled (+165% increase) in the last 24 hours, rising from 31 to 82 (+ 51).