New cases in South Korea exceed those in China as coronavirus sweeps the globe

Deadly illness has now spread to every continent except Antarctica, as China’s situation shows signs of stabilising

Respiratory disease expert Zhong Nanshan says China has much to share with other countries in fighting the epidemic

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Pictured is a transmission electron microscopic image of an isolate from the first US case of the Covid-19 coronavirus, with the spherical viral particles, colourised blue, containing cross-sections through the viral genome, seen as black dots. At least 20 countries have reported their first coronavirus cases in the past week. Photo: Hannah A Bullock and Azaibi Tamin/Centres for Disease Control and Prevention handout/AFP

Published: 10:32pm, 27 Feb 2020Updated: 9:48pm, 28 Feb 2020

The coronavirus epidemic is spreading around the world at a more worrying pace than in China, with South Korea for the first time reporting a larger number of confirmed cases in a single day than the country where the outbreak began.

South Korea reported 505 new cases as of 4pm on Thursday, bringing its total infections to 1,766 – the highest number reported in the country in a single day.

In mainland China, there were 433 new cases recorded across the nation, including 409 in the central province of Hubei, the epicentre of the epidemic.

Some 78,631 people in the Chinese mainland have tested positive for the new virus strain – which causes a disease called Covid-19 – since the outbreak began in December. The national death toll stands at 2,747 after another 29 deaths were reported on Thursday. China’s health commission said 32,804 patients had recovered.

Outside China, at least 20 countries have confirmed their first coronavirus cases in the past week. The deadly pneumonia-like illness has now spread to every continent except for Antarctica, affecting people from an unorthodox and secretive church in South Korea to a holy Shiite city in Iran.

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