This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/feb/23/coronavirus-outbreak-woman-tests-positive-after-disembarking-diamond-princess-live-news
The article has changed 18 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Coronavirus outbreak: woman tests positive after disembarking Diamond Princess – live news | Coronavirus outbreak: woman tests positive after disembarking Diamond Princess – live news |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Infection raises questions over quarantine attempts while other countries report new cases and deaths | Infection raises questions over quarantine attempts while other countries report new cases and deaths |
| In South Korea’s fourth-biggest city, Daegu, 90 new cases were confirmed on Sunday, bringing the city’s total to 247. | |
| More than half of the people confirmed to have been infected are either members of – or connected to – the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a secretive religious sect with a strong presence in Daegu. | |
| The mayor asked all Shincheonji members with symptoms to come forward and be tested, with hundreds yet to be reached by authorities. | |
| Moon described the situation in Daegu and Cheongdo - the birthplace of Shincheonji’s founder Lee Man-hee - as a “national crisis”, adding the cities will receive “full support” for any lacking medical supplies and personnel. | |
| Shincheonji, accused of being a cult by mainstream Christian groups, claims its founder has donned the mantle of Jesus Christ and will take 144,000 people with him to heaven on judgement day. | |
| But with more church members than available places in heaven, they are said to have to compete for slots and pursue converts. | |
| In a video statement read out by its spokesman, Shincheonji apologised for “causing concern”, but insisted it was cooperating with health authorities for the “early cessation” of the situation. | |
| The spokesman refuted public criticism blaming his church over the spike in the number of infections, noting the virus had broken out in China. “Please be aware that the Shincheonji Church of Jesus and its members are the biggest victims of the COVID-19,” he said. | |
| A repatriation flight carrying 32 Britons and Europeans from the coronavirus-infected cruise ship Diamond Princess landed in the UK on Saturday – amid growing fears for the welfare of some UK passengers left behind in Japan. | |
| President Moon Jae-in said South Korea was raising its alert level on the new coronavirus to the “highest” in the face of a sudden spike in the number of infections. | |
| “The Covid-19 incident faces a grave turning point. The next few days will be crucial,” Moon said following a government meeting. | |
| “The government will raise the alert level to the highest level according to experts’ recommendations,” he added. | |
| South Korea has seen a rapid surge in the number of coronavirus cases in recent days after a cluster of infections emerged from a religious sect in the southern city of Daegu last week. | |
| The national toll of 556 cases is now the highest outside China, apart from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan. | |
| A dozen towns in northern Italy in effect went into lockdown on Saturday after the deaths of two people infected with the coronavirus from China. | |
| In some Lombardy and Veneto towns, schools, businesses and restaurants have closed. The mayor of Milan, Italy’s business capital and the regional capital of Lombardy, shuttered public offices. | |
| A 78-year-old man infected with the coronavirus died in Veneto, and a postmortem performed on a 77-year-old woman in Lombardy came back positive, although it wasn’t clear if illness from the virus caused her death. | |
| Late on Saturday, civil protection officials said 79 people had contracted the virus, including the two who died, and one who recovered. Of the remaining 76 people infected, 54 were in Lombardy, 17 in Veneto, two in Emilia-Romagna, two – a Chinese couple from Wuhan – in Lazio, and one in Piedmont. | |
| It comes amid a growing cluster of cases in the country with no direct links to the origin of the outbreak abroad. | |
| Lombardy government authorities said the region’s cases were traceable to a 38-year-old Italian who had not travelled to China, but it remained unclear how this man had been infected. Ten towns in Lombardy received orders to suspend nonessential activities and services. | |
| Luca Zaia, the Veneto regional president, said on Saturday that the contagion showed that the virus was transmitted like flu, and that trying to pinpoint a single source for the cases or to establish a link to China were no longer effective containment measures. | |
| Welcome to this morning’s coronavirus live blog. I will be here to give you updates on the latest news throughout the day. | Welcome to this morning’s coronavirus live blog. I will be here to give you updates on the latest news throughout the day. |
| A summary of the news on Sunday: | A summary of the news on Sunday: |
| Japan has confirmed that a woman who tested negative and left the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship later tested positive, raising more questions about the effectiveness of quarantine measures. | Japan has confirmed that a woman who tested negative and left the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship later tested positive, raising more questions about the effectiveness of quarantine measures. |
| A dozen towns in northern Italy in effect went into lockdown on Saturday after deaths of two people infected with the coronavirus from China, and a growing cluster of cases with no direct links to the origin of the outbreak abroad. | A dozen towns in northern Italy in effect went into lockdown on Saturday after deaths of two people infected with the coronavirus from China, and a growing cluster of cases with no direct links to the origin of the outbreak abroad. |
| South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, on Sunday put the country on the highest possible alert in its fight against the coronavirus. The measure empowers the government to lock down cities and take other sweeping measures to contain the outbreak. | South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, on Sunday put the country on the highest possible alert in its fight against the coronavirus. The measure empowers the government to lock down cities and take other sweeping measures to contain the outbreak. |
| Russia has denied allegations that it is spreading disinformation about the new coronavirus outbreak. US officials said Russian-linked accounts were making unfounded claims on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram through thousands of profiles that the US started the outbreak. | Russia has denied allegations that it is spreading disinformation about the new coronavirus outbreak. US officials said Russian-linked accounts were making unfounded claims on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram through thousands of profiles that the US started the outbreak. |
| Almost a third (31%) of UK consumers will consider avoiding foreign travel if the coronavirus outbreak continues, new research indicates. The consultancy firm Retail Economics, which commissioned the poll of more than 2,000 people, calculated that this could result in £17bn of holiday spending being put on hold. | Almost a third (31%) of UK consumers will consider avoiding foreign travel if the coronavirus outbreak continues, new research indicates. The consultancy firm Retail Economics, which commissioned the poll of more than 2,000 people, calculated that this could result in £17bn of holiday spending being put on hold. |
| As dozens of evacuees from a coronavirus-hit cruise ship begin their two-week quarantine in the UK, more than 100 others rescued from China are due to be released from isolation. | As dozens of evacuees from a coronavirus-hit cruise ship begin their two-week quarantine in the UK, more than 100 others rescued from China are due to be released from isolation. |