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Saturday, February 29, 2020, 22:40
US has 4 mystery infections, France bans large gatherings
By Agencies
Saturday, February 29, 2020, 22:40 By Agencies

A person leaves North Bay Vaca Valley Hospital, where a woman diagnosed with coronavirus previously sought treatment, on Feb 27, 2020, in Vacaville, California. (NOAH BERGER/AP)

WASHINGTON/LONDON/FRANKFURT/PARIS - US public health officials said they have identified four “presumptive” coronavirus cases believed to have emerged from community transmission of the infection, signaling a turning point in efforts to contain the disease in the United States.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a statement on Friday citing three such cases newly diagnosed by state public health authorities - one each in California, Oregon and Washington state, brining the infection tally in the country to 62.

If confirmed by the CDC, together with a previous case of unknown origin announced on Wednesday in California, that would bring to four the number of diagnosed individuals in the United States with no history of travel to a country where the virus is circulating and no close contact with an infected person.

The three latest cases of apparent community transmission, plus the one identified earlier this week in California, are a sign the virus is now spreading within at least four separate locations up and down the US West Coast

The three latest patients were diagnosed based on results obtained in their respective states from CDC-supplied test kits and are considered “presumptive positive” cases pending CDC confirmatory testing, the US agency said.

A fourth presumptive positive was also announced in Washington state on Friday, but that one is “likely travel-related,” the CDC said.

Still, the three latest cases of apparent community transmission, plus the one identified earlier this week in California, are a sign the virus is now spreading within at least four separate locations up and down the US West Coast.

READ MORE: WHO says risk of coronavirus 'very high' at global level

They span nearly 900 miles from California’s Silicon Valley region in Santa Clara County north to the Puget Sound near Seattle.

“What we know now is that the virus is here, present at some level, but we still don’t know to what degree,” said Dr. Sara Cody, the chief public health officer for Santa Clara County, speaking of the newly diagnosed case there, the latest of three in her county and the 10th statewide.

Even as confirmation was pending there, the CDC sent a team to assist local authorities in tracing close contacts the patient had with others in a bid to curb transmission.

Faulty test kits

New York health officials are trying to get their own coronavirus testing kits up and running after getting stuck with faulty tests from the federal government that they said left them unable to diagnose people quickly in the nation’s most populous city.

New York state’s Department of Health filed an emergency application on Friday with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be allowed to use a testing kit for the new coronavirus it has developed in-state, according to an official involved in the process.

“Upon FDA approval, which we believe is imminent, New York State’s public health laboratory, the Wadsworth Center, can immediately begin testing,” Jonah Bruno, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Health, wrote in an email.

A tourist wearing a mask takes a selfie outside the Louvre museum, Feb 28, 2020 in Paris. (RAFAEL YAGHOBZADEH/AP)

Ontario confirms 8th case

Canada’s province of Ontario confirmed its eighth case of the COVID-19 disease in its capital city of Toronto, health officials said late on Friday.

The infected individual was identified as a man in his 80s who had a travel history to Egypt, officials said in a statement.

The authorities are actively tracing the man’s contacts, the statement said.

France bans gatherings of more than 5,000 

The French government banned public gatherings with more than 5,000 people on Saturday due to the coronavirus outbreak as France reported 16 new cases.

“All public gatherings of more than 5,000 people in a confined space are temporarily banned across France,” Health Minister Olivier Veran told journalists.

He also that the number of confirmed cases had risen to 73 and that there had been no new deaths.

A woman with a face protection mask walks along the high street in Brighton, the United Kingdom, Feb11, 2020. (FRANK AUGSTEIN/AP)

Johnson says coronavirus top priority

In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said slowing the spread of the coronavirus was now his government’s top priority, shortly after news on Friday that the first Briton had died of the disease after contracting it on a cruise ship moored in Japan.

Boris Johnson said slowing the spread of the coronavirus was now his government’s top priority, shortly after news on Friday that the first Briton had died of the disease after contracting it on a cruise ship moored in Japan

The country was right to be concerned about the virus, he said, as the number of people infected in Britain rose to 20.

“The issue of coronavirus is something that is now the government’s top priority,” he told broadcasters in his first statement on the disease, adding that he would be chairing a meeting of ministers and officials on the subject on Monday.

ALSO READ: Recovered coronavirus patients found not to be infectious 

Britain’s health ministry said the most recent person to be infected was the first to have caught the virus in Britain, rather than during a trip abroad, and that it was trying to find the source of the infection.

Britain reported its first confirmed coronavirus case on Jan 31 but there have been no deaths in the country so far.

The disease is now spreading across the globe, with the first case reported in Nigeria on Friday and 888 people infected in Italy, Europe’s worst-hit country.

Germany boosts border checks

A German government crisis committee on Friday widened cross-border travel guidelines and canceled major international events, measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

People wearing face masks look through a window of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary Island of Tenerife, Spain, Feb 28, 2020. (JOAN MATEU/AP)

It expanded regulations for air and sea travel, requiring passengers from South Korea, Japan, Italy and Iran to report their health status before entry.

Some guests leave Canary Islands hotel 

At least 50 guests left a Tenerife hotel in small groups on Friday, four days into a 14-day quarantine imposed because of the coronavirus. Nearly 700 holidaymakers remained stranded in the compound.

The Canary Islands regional government on Thursday cleared 130 of the guests to leave the hotel, but most of those released so far were Spaniards, while the departure of foreign visitors will continue until Sunday, regional health chief Teresa Cruz told reporters.

The remaining guests must stay cloistered in the hotel until March 10 unless their home government organizes charter flights that comply with isolation protocols, Canaries regional leader Angel Victor Torres said.

Mexico has 3 cases

Health officials confirmed three coronavirus cases in Mexico, all with mild symptoms and likely from the same source, according to remarks from a press conference late Friday.


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