The coronavirus epidemic is the most serious health emergency to hit China since the founding of the communist regime in 1949, President Xi Jinping acknowledged on Sunday.
The viral pneumonia epidemic, which has infected nearly 77,000 people in China, including more than 2,400 fatally, " is a crisis, a great ordeal for us, " he said, according to remarks reported by national television. . Xi Jinping also recognized " gaps " in the response to the coronavirus.
• 11 isolated cities in Italy
Italy announced Saturday, February 22, the isolation for about two weeks of a dozen northern cities, after the discovery of more than 100 cases of contamination with the new coronavirus, and two deaths.
Read also: Coronavirus: Italy puts a dozen cities in isolation
• Maximum alert level in South Korea
South Korea has raised its alert level " to the highest " concerning, after several consecutive days of worrying rise in cases of contamination, particularly within a Christian sect. The number of sick in the country increased Sunday by 169 cases, bringing to 602 the number of people infected with Covid-19. Three people also died, bringing the number of victims of this virus to five.
The Covid-19 epidemic is “ at a turning point. The next few days will be crucial, "President Moon Jae-in said Sunday after a government meeting on the subject. " The government will raise the alert level to the highest level of severity, in accordance with the recommendations of the experts, in order to considerably strengthen the measures intended to respond to this epidemic, " he added. The president also called on the authorities to take " unprecedented measures " to contain the epidemic.
Read also: Coronavirus: maximum alert level in South Korea, three new deaths in Iran
Of the 169 new cases reported this Sunday, 95 are related to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in the city of Daegu, according to the Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). In total, more than 300 infected people have a link with this Christian sect. The contagion was caused by a 61-year-old woman who had a fever on February 10 and attended at least four religious services in Daegu before being diagnosed with coronavirus.
• Three new dead in Iran
Iran announced on Sunday the death of three patients with the new coronavirus among a total of 15 people newly tested positive for the virus.
The new figures bring the number of people killed by Covid-19 disease to 8 out of a total of 43 infected, said health ministry spokesman Kianouche Jahanpour, quoted by state television.
• A third passenger of the "Diamond Princess" died in Japan
A third passenger died after contracting the new coronavirus on board the quarantined liner Diamond Princess in Yokohama, Japan, NHK television reported on Sunday.
The victim is an octogenarian who tested positive for Covid-19 who had been evacuated then hospitalized, said NHK. The Japanese Ministry of Health did not immediately confirm this information.
Read also: Coronavirus: the infernal camera behind closed doors on the Diamond Princess
