In Brief: Philippines reports its first patient

MANILA • The Philippines yesterday reported its first case of the Wuhan virus.

A 38-year-old Chinese woman at a hospital in Manila tested positive for the virus, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said.

She arrived on Jan 21 from China's Wuhan city via Hong Kong, and had been to Cebu and Dumaguete, popular tourist destinations in central Philippines. She went to a hospital last Saturday for mild coughing.

Dr Duque said she was not showing signs of the disease caused by the coronavirus.

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S. Korea sees first case of local transmission

SEOUL • South Korea reported yesterday the first local case of human-to-human transmission of the Wuhan virus.

Its Centres for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed two more cases, bringing the total to six. The sixth patient, a South Korean man, was diagnosed after being "in contact with the third patient" in South Korea.

The rest were diagnosed after arrival from China's Wuhan city.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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Indian student tests positive

BENGALURU • India reported its first case of the new coronavirus yesterday, saying a woman in southern Kerala state has tested positive. The patient, an Indian student of Wuhan University in China, was in stable condition.

REUTERS

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Thailand denies PM Prayut has coronavirus

BANGKOK • Thailand's Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul denied that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha may have the novel coronavirus after he became unwell.

Mr Prayut cancelled some engagements yesterday after getting symptoms resembling a cold, government spokesman Narumon Pinyosinwat said. The Premier had visited the main international airport in Bangkok a day earlier to inspect screening measures for the virus.

BLOOMBERG

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6,000 in lockdown on cruise ship

CIVITAVECCHIA (Italy) • Over 6,000 tourists were being kept on a cruise ship in Italy yesterday after it was placed on lockdown over two suspected cases of the Wuhan virus.

Samples from a Chinese couple were sent for testing, after a medical team boarded the ship in Civitavecchia port to tend to a woman running a fever, the local health authorities said.

A 54-year-old woman from Macau was placed in solitary confinement at the on-board hospital with her travel companion, said the liner's owner Costa Crociere.

The couple reportedly flew to Milan from Hong Kong last Saturday, before getting on the cruise.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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2 arrested in Thailand for posting fake news

BANGKOK • The Thai authorities arrested two people for posting "fake news" about the coronavirus, as a senior official yesterday warned Internet users to think twice before sharing incorrect information about the pathogen.

Digital Economy Minister Buddhipongse Punnakanta said a man and woman were charged with violating the Computer Crimes Act - which can carry up to five years in prison - over their social media posts. One was a misleading video clip, while the other promoted false information about an alleged case.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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Russia to close border with China

MOSCOW • Russia said yesterday that it was closing the border with China to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus and would stop issuing electronic visas to Chinese nationals.

Russia does not have any confirmed cases so far.

A government order said cross-border travel would be suspended from today. A number of checkpoints will be affected, including that between Blagoveshchensk and Heihe, and Khabarovsk and Fuyuan.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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Travel curbs hinder delivery of test kits

BASEL • Swiss drugmaker Roche is struggling to deliver diagnostic tests for the coronavirus to large Chinese cities after the government stopped people from entering and leaving in a bid to halt the spreading outbreak.

"Getting the goods to hospitals has been a real challenge," Roche diagnostics boss Thomas Schinecker said yesterday.

Chief executive Severin Schwan said Roche was the first company to supply tests to diagnose the virus.

REUTERS