A 44-year-old man in the Philippines died from the Wuhan virus, marking the first coronavirus death outside China since the outbreak first took place in December.
Health officials of Philippines announced this Sunday that a 44-year-old man who tested positive for the new coronavirus died on Saturday after arriving into the country from Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic.
Officials from the health department also said the person was a companion of the individual in the first confirmed case, a 38-year-old woman who arrived in the country on January 21.
Both of them belong to Wuhan, China. Earlier Sunday, official stated the virus has ruined 304 lives and infected around 14,380 people in China.
“This is the first confirmed case outside China. Anyway, we need to keep in mind that he came from Wuhan, China,” a World Health Organization representative in Philippines Dr Rabi Abeyasinghe said on Twitter.
Officials said the 44-year-old man was taken to the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila on January 25 after showing signs of a fever, sore throat and cough.
After stabilizing in his last few days, he developed serious pneumonia due to bacterial and viral infections. The man’s health, however, worsened continually during his last 24 hours, officials said.
“I would like to say that this is an imported case with no proof of local transmission. We’re currently functioning with the Chinese Embassy to assure the dignified management of the remains according to national and international criteria to contain the virus,” says Philippines’ Secretary of Heath Francisco T. Duque III.
Hours prior to the announcement, the Philippines said it was temporarily excluding non-Filipino travelers coming from mainland China, Macau and Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong, which is a semiautonomous territory of China, a new union representing health care workers announced to strike on Monday to force the city’s authorities to ban travel from mainland China.
Fears in the city mounted after another case was reported and officials didn’t strongly eradicate the possibility that the infected person, an 80-year-old man, had been infected within Hong Kong.
New Zealand said Sunday it might temporarily deny entry to visitors arriving from or traveling through mainland China for at least two weeks starting on Monday.
Residents of New Zealand will be given entry from China but will be required to quarantine themselves for a 14 days period, Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of the country said.
“Ultimately, this is a public health decision,” Arden said, adding that the restrictions were warning measures to keep New Zealand coronavirus-free and to limit the worldwide outbreak.
In Israel, PM Benjamin Netanyahu called a meeting of ministers in Jerusalem on Sunday to make decisions about national preparations to contain the new coronavirus. “Because we estimate that the virus will arrive,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
Along with measures to isolate those who have been infected and treat them for two weeks at home, the country had closed “land crossings, airports and seaports to arrivals from China.
Israeli citizens in China will be allowed to return, says the Prime Minister.
Australia and the U.S. have also expanded travel restrictions, for the time being excluding noncitizens who recently traveled to China.
