Coronavirus claims first life outside China as Wuhan enforces quarantine for all suspected patients

Philippines reports death of 44-year-old visitor from China, as total number of fatalities rises to 361, with more than 17,000 confirmed cases

Wuhan government says anyone showing symptoms of infection will be sent to dedicated isolation zone, whether they like it or not

Reading Time:4 minutes

The first coronavirus death outside China was confirmed at the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila, Philippines on Sunday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Cissy Zhou,Liu Zhen,Wendy Wu,Alice YanandZhuang Pinghui

Published: 6:42am, 2 Feb 2020Updated: 12:47am, 15 Feb 2020

As the Philippines on Sunday became the first country outside China to report a death from the new coronavirus, authorities in Wuhan announced plans to quarantine all suspected patients and those known to have been in close contact with a confirmed case.

The victim in the Philippines was identified only as a 44-year-old man from Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei province at the heart of the outbreak.

Within mainland China, the death toll has risen to 360, while the number of confirmed cases increased to more than 17,000, China’s National Health Commission.

On Saturday, Wuhan confirmed 894 new cases, in line with a sharp upwards trend, after 576 were reported on Friday, 378 on Thursday, 356 on Wednesday and 315 on Tuesday.

Despite the spike, a study by scientists from the University of Hong Kong published in The Lancet on Saturday said that as of Tuesday, as many as 75,815 people in Wuhan may have been infected with the new coronavirus.

The research was based on the assumption that each infected person could have passed the virus on to 2.68 others.

Two weeks after China confirmed that the coronavirus could pass from human to human, and 10 days since Wuhan was placed on an almost total lockdown, authorities in the city on Sunday ramped up their efforts to contain the contagion.

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Coronavirus claims first life outside China as Wuhan enforces quarantine for all suspected patients

Philippines reports death of 44-year-old visitor from China, as total number of fatalities rises to 361, with more than 17,000 confirmed cases Wuhan government says anyone showing symptoms of infection will be sent to dedicated isolation zone, whether they like it or not

Philippines reports death of 44-year-old visitor from China, as total number of fatalities rises to 361, with more than 17,000 confirmed cases

Wuhan government says anyone showing symptoms of infection will be sent to dedicated isolation zone, whether they like it or not