• Two more deaths and new cases in Iran
• South Korean city declared ‘special management zone’ following spread from church
• Total number of infections stands over 76,000 globally
• Last healthy travelers to leave stricken cruise ship Diamond Princess in Japan
• China reports spike in coronavirus cases in prisons
• China says earliest coronavirus vaccine to be submitted for trials late April
Ukrainian police detained 24 over quarantine clashes
Novi Sanzhary, a village in central Ukraine’s Poltava region, is calmer today after Thursday’s clashes over evacuees brought from Coronavirus-stricken Wuhan, China, according to media reports and a statement from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Poltava region police said 24 people were detained yesterday, 23 of whom have been released, after local residents resisted a government plan to quarantine 45 Ukrainians and 27 foreign citizens at a facility, despite assurances from authorities that none were carriers of the virus.
In Thursday’s clashes, nine police officers were injured and five are still in the hospital, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, while two hundred law enforcement officers are patrolling the facility around the clock.
In order to “reassure” local residents, Minister of Health Zoryana Skaletska announced on her Facebook page that she will spend the next 14 days in quarantine with the people evacuated from Wuhan to the town of Novi Sanzhary.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk put in an appearance in the town, and said that he talked to people in quarantine and made sure there is everything needed. “The facility is under the care and supervision of infectious disease physicians. The situation is under the complete control of the government,” he said.
In a session in Parliament Friday he said: “The events that took place yesterday, in my opinion, are the result of an information war, which continues in our country both from the inside and from the outside. I expect that the provocations will continue.” — Oksana Parafeniuk
Two more deaths in Iran, as 13 news cases are confirmed
Kianoush Jahanpour, a spokesperson for the Iranian Health Ministry, confirmed 13 new cases of coronavirus in Iran in a tweet on Friday. Two more people died Friday, bringing the total numbers of virus-related deaths in Iran to four.
Seven new cases were confirmed in the city of Qom, four in the country’s capital, Tehran, and two in Gilan province. The total number of cases in Iran now stands at 18. — Amin Khodadadi
South Korea declares ‘special management zone’ following spread from church
The mayor of South Korean city of Daegu said it was facing an “unprecedented crisis” after a series coronavirus infections linked to a single church service, as worries mounted in the country.
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The number of cases of coronavirus in South Korea has doubled in 24 hours, reaching 204
As the government works to prevent the spread of the virus, events have been cancelled and delayed, and some facilities are being closed down until further notice.
The total number of COVID-19 cases stemming from “patient 31” in the city of 2.5 million people— which is two hours south of the capital, Seoul — comes to 58 and of the total 42 made contact at the church.
Another 15 were infected in contact at the local hospital, one person infected at the hospital has died, according to a briefing from Korea’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Shincheonji Church of Jesus — whose leader claims he is an angel of Jesus — has become the biggest cluster of viral infections in South Korea, where a surge in new cases raises fears that the outbreak is getting out of control.
Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin on Thursday urged the city’s 2.5 million people to stay home and wear masks even indoors if possible.
Little is known about the woman known as “patient 31″ except that she is in her early 60s, had no recent record of overseas travel and was diagnosed with pneumonia last weekend. — Stella Kim
Total number of infections stands over 76,000 globally
More than 76,000 people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, and at least 2,200 people have died as of Friday. The vast majority of the deaths are in mainland China.
In Hubei province — the epicenter of the virus outbreak — the number of new confirmed cases in the province was revised from 411 to 631, and the total number of confirmed cases was revised from 62,442 to 62,662 as of Friday. — Dawn Liu
Japan to let off last healthy cruise travelers
Japan’s health minister said the last cruise ship passengers who tested negative for a new virus will leave the Diamond Princess on Friday after a much-criticized quarantine of the vessel ended.
The ship docked at Yokohama has the most COVID-19 cases outside of China, with 634 cases from the ship confirmed as of Friday. Two former passengers have died.
Health Minister Katsunobu Kato told a news conference the mass disembarkation into Japan of passengers from the ship is set to end Friday, while dozens of foreign passengers are flying back to their home countries on flights chartered by their governments.
This will leave roughly 1,000 passengers who tested negative but shared a room with a COVID-19 positive passenger, as well as the ship’s crew. They will be transported to a government facility to be quarantined and monitored for symptoms in isolation starting on Saturday.
Japan’s government has been questioned over its decision to keep people quarantined on the ship, given the tight quarters and the difficulty of isolating sick people from the healthy. — Arata Yamamoto and the Associated Press
More than 500 cases reported in Chinese prisons
Hundreds of new coronavirus cases in China on Friday traced back to four prisons on the mainland, including two in Hubei, the center of the outbreak.
In Hubei, the Wuhan Women’s prison has 230 cases, and the Shayang Hanjin prison reported 41 on Friday.
Rencheng Jail in eastern China’s Shandong province has also confirmed 207 cases of the virus.
The Shandong government said that a prison guard at the jail started showing symptoms in early February. All 2,077 people held or working at the prison were given the nucleic acid test and, as of Thursday, 200 prisoners and seven prison officers had tested positive for the virus.
In Zhejiang province, 34 prisoners have been infected at Shilifeng jail. The provincial government said these were imported cases from Wuhan, and two prison officials had been removed from their roles. — Dawn Liu
China says earliest coronavirus vaccine to be submitted for trials late April
The earliest vaccine for the coronavirus that has killed more than 2,000 in China alone will be submitted for clinical trials around late April, China’s Vice Science and Technology Minister Xu Nanping said on Friday. — Reuters
Santa Clara patient fully recovered
As of Thursday, the patient with the first confirmed case of novel coronavirus in Santa Clara County has fully recovered and has been released from isolation.
He was isolated at home and monitored by public health staff for the duration of his isolation. The second case remains in isolation.
The Public Health Department continues to work closely with healthcare providers, hospitals, and its partners to address novel coronavirus. Currently, there is no evidence that novel coronavirus is circulating in Santa Clara County and risk remains low. — Todd Miyazawa