Coronavirus: what you need to know

Monday, 17 February 2020

Medical workers provide treatment to a new coronavirus patient at a hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. The vast majority of Covid-19 cases and deaths have been in Hubei.

The official coronavirus death toll topped 2000 overnight Wednesday, while two more New Zealanders on board the cruise ship Diamond Princess were found to have the Covid-19 disease.

Another six Kiwis from the ship were were evacuated on an Australian government-chartered flight and were expected to arrive in Auckland on Thursday evening.

Iran announced its first two cases of Covid-19 and said both the people involved had died. Hong Kong has reported its second death from the disease.

The first reported cases of the viral respiratory disease now known as Covid-19, were in December. It's likely the coronavirus involved – Sars-CoV-2 – came from an animal, and it's suspected a live animal market in Wuhan is the original source but that has not been confirmed.

People quarantined for two week at a military facility on Whangaparaoa Peninsula reunited with their families.

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The Ministry of Health says there are no confirmed cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, but the likelihood of importing a case is high.

On Thursday the number of confirmed cases of the disease worldwide was around 75,300 of which about 74,200 were in mainland China. The number of deaths was 2014, all but a handful in mainland China and fewer than 100 outside of Hubei province of which Wuhan is the capital.

The Diamond Princess docked in Yokohama.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:

Six New Zealanders evacuated from Diamond Princess cruise liner

Six New Zealanders were evacuated from the coronavirus-stricken cruise ship Diamond Princess, berthed in Japan, on board an Australian government-chartered flight. They were expected to arrive in Auckland on Thursday evening.

Once the flight arrives in Auckland, those on board will be taken to the Whangaparāoa military training base to begin their 14-day quarantine.

Eight of the 11 New Zealanders quarantined on board the ship were initially expected on the flight, but two were held back in Japan after testing positive for Covid-19 and are being treated in hospital.

Earlier, another two New Zealanders who had been on the ship were hospitalised in Japan after contracting the virus.

Wuhan evacuees leave Whangaparāoa quarantine

The 157 people quarantined at a military facility on Whangaparāoa Peninsula after being evacuated from Wuhan were allowed home on Wednesday after a 14-day quarantine period.

Two of the group were initially held back after - one who displayed mild symptoms consistent with the virus, and the person sharing their living quarters.

By Wednesday evening, the Ministry of Health said both had returned negative tests and would be allowed to leave the centre.

Diamond Princess 'chaotic' and 'scary'

At the latest count 624 people linked to the ship, which is quarantined in Tokyo Bay, have been confirmed as having the virus, including 79 new cases confirmed on Wednesday. Passengers who have tested negative for the coronavirus disease were also allowed to start disembarking on Wednesday.

Japanese infectious disease specialist Kentaro Iwata, a professor from Kobe University, who visited the quarantined ship described the scene there as 'chaotic' and 'scary'.

He was left troubled by the lack of virus-control protocols, such as designated 'red zones' on the ship, which has been on lockdown at a dock in Yokohama for more than two weeks.

'I was so scared of getting Covid-19 because there was no way to tell where the virus is, no green zone, no red zone - everywhere could have the virus,' he said in English.

The Diamond Princess has the largest coronavirus outbreak outside mainland China.

Iran reports two coronavirus deaths, Hong Kong reports second death

The first coronavirus deaths in the Middle East were reported from Iran. The deaths were also the first Covid-19 cases reported by Iran.

A spokesman for Iran's ministry of health, said the two people had tested positive for the virus in preliminary results and died due to immune deficiencies and old age.

The two, who died in the city of Qom, had acute lung infections due to their infection with the coronavirus.

Hong Kong reported its second death - a 70-year-old man who had underlying illnesses.

China expels three Wall Street Journal journalists

China ordered three journalists from the Wall Street Journal to leave the country, as a result of an early February article headlined 'China is the real sick man of Asia'.

The article - which was not written by any of the expelled journalists - called the authorities' initial response to the coronavirus 'secretive and self-serving' and said global confidence in China had been 'shaken'.

China said the article was 'racist' and 'denigrated' Chain's efforts to combat the outbreak.

The move came less than one day after United States officials announced they would be treating five major Chinese state-run media companies as effective extensions of the Chinese government. But the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the expulsion of the WSJ staff was specifically in reaction to the article.

Chinese study finds Covid-19 more contagious than SARS or MERS

A study of more than 72,000 confirmed and suspected cases of the novel coronavirus by Chinese scientists found it to be more contagious than the related viruses which cause SARS and MERS, CNN reported.

While the resulting disease, Covid-19, was not as fatal on a case-by-case basis, its greater spread had already led to more deaths than its related coronaviruses.

Among patients aged 80 and above, the crude fatality rate was 14.8 per cent. Among those with pre-existing conditions, those with cardiovascular disease were found to be most at risk, with a fatality rate of 10.5 per cent.

Government's $11m support for tourism sector

The Government has come up with an $11m tourism package to support the sector, following the impact of coronavirus.

Tourism New Zealand is getting $10m of it to diversify its marketing portfolio in other countries, to offset the fall in Chinese traffic, in order to stimulate the economy. The remainder is for domestic marketing by regional tourism organisations.

Proposals to help the logging industry were also being investigated.