In Brief: Philippines probes first possible case of virus
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Medical staff transfer patients to the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where patients infected with a new strain of coronavirus are treated, on Jan 20, 2020.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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Philippines probes first possible case of virus
MANILA • Philippine health officials are yesterday investigating what may be the country's first case of an infection involving a mysterious Sars-like coronavirus first detected in China's Wuhan province.
A five-year-old boy was taken to a hospital in Cebu City, in central Philippines, just hours after he arrived with his mother from Wuhan on Jan 12. He was coughing and had a fever.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque said the Bureau of Quarantine is now working with airlines and the airport authorities "to strengthen border surveillance", and the Epidemiology Bureau will be stepping up its community surveillance.
REUTERS, PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
Suspected Aussie case isolated at home
CANBERRA • A man showing symptoms of a Sars-like virus after visiting China is being held in isolation at his Australian home, in the country's first suspected case of the coronavirus, health officials said yesterday.
Australia said it would introduce from tomorrow heightened medical screening for travellers arriving on three weekly flights in Sydney from Wuhan.
Passengers would be given an information pamphlet and asked to present themselves if they had a fever or suspected they might have the disease. Australia said the measures offered only limited protection.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
India widens thermal screening at airports
NEW DELHI • India is expanding thermal screening of passengers arriving from China, including Hong Kong, to seven airports, said the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
On top of three airports - New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata - identified earlier, airports in Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kochi have been added.
India has so far been spared from the outbreak, with not a single suspected case.
Free cancellation for Wuhan travel bookings
SHANGHAI/BEIJING • Chinese travel booking platforms from Trip.com to Alibaba Group's Fliggy said yesterday that they would offer free cancellations on bookings made for Wuhan amid mounting fears over a viral outbreak in the central Chinese city.
The companies, which also include Meituan Dianping and Qunar.com, said in separate but similar statements that the policy would be extended to users who had been put under quarantine or diagnosed with the new coronavirus.
At least nine Chinese airlines have issued policies allowing travellers who had been quarantined or diagnosed with the virus to reschedule or cancel their flights for free, the Beijing Daily reported.
REUTERS
First confirmed case of virus in Taiwan
TAIWAN • Taiwan yesterday reported its first confirmed case of the new Sars-like coronavirus as the government warned the public against travelling to the Chinese city of Wuhan where it emerged.
The patient is a Taiwanese woman in her 50s, living in Wuhan, who returned to the island on Monday with symptoms including fever, coughing and a sore throat.
She reported her symptoms to quarantine officials upon arrival at Taoyuan airport and was immediately taken to a hospital for treatment, said the island's Centres for Disease Control.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Measures in place at UAE airports, ports
DUBAI • The United Arab Emirates (UAE), a major international transit hub, has made sure that its airports and ports are ready to handle coronavirus cases following the outbreak, state news agency WAM reported.
No cases of the virus have been reported in the country, it said.
The report did not disclose whether any new countermeasures had been introduced since the outbreak.
REUTERS
