Wuhan virus claims nearly 40 more lives in a day
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Medical staff in protective suits treat a patient with pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, on Jan 27, 2020.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
The number of casualties from the Wuhan epidemic surged dramatically yesterday, as countries around the world rushed to evacuate their citizens from the besieged Chinese city.
The death toll rose to 170 from 132 the day before, while the number of those infected soared past 7,700 in China alone, with at least another 75 cases around the world.
Experts said the coronavirus appears to be spreading more aggressively than the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003. An infected person can pass on the Wuhan virus even during the incubation period, when he is not displaying symptoms.
Yesterday, the far-flung region of Tibet became the last province in China to register its first case of infection.
The Philippines, India, Finland and the United Arab Emirates also reported their first cases, all originating from Wuhan.
As more countries arranged to extricate their stranded citizens from the epicentre, Japan discovered three infected citizens on an evacuation flight to Tokyo.
The rapid spread of the disease prompted the World Health Organisation to convene its third meeting last night to decide if it should declare the widening epidemic a global health emergency. "Although the numbers outside China are still relatively small, they hold the potential for a much larger outbreak," warned its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
