• Residents in Singapore stock up on food and necessities after the Singapore Ministry of Health raised its Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) level from yellow to orange with regards to the coronavirus outbreak, meaning that the virus is spreading but is still being contained. EPA
    Residents in Singapore stock up on food and necessities after the Singapore Ministry of Health raised its Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) level from yellow to orange with regards to the coronavirus outbreak, meaning that the virus is spreading but is still being contained. EPA
  • A Chinese woman wears a protective mask and rubber gloves as she walks by the Drum Tower in Beijing, China. Getty Images
    A Chinese woman wears a protective mask and rubber gloves as she walks by the Drum Tower in Beijing, China. Getty Images
  • Passengers on board a bus shortly before their departure from Tuen Mun in Hong Kong to Shenzhen, via the Shenzhen Bay Bridge. AFP
    Passengers on board a bus shortly before their departure from Tuen Mun in Hong Kong to Shenzhen, via the Shenzhen Bay Bridge. AFP
  • Canadian Forces personnel stand by to assist Canadians evacuated from China as they disembark from a plane at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Trenton, Ontario, Canada. Reuters
    Canadian Forces personnel stand by to assist Canadians evacuated from China as they disembark from a plane at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Trenton, Ontario, Canada. Reuters
  • Customers walk by an almost empty shelf of canned food and instant noodles at a supermarket in Singapore. EPA
    Customers walk by an almost empty shelf of canned food and instant noodles at a supermarket in Singapore. EPA
  • Medical workers in protective suits are seen at the Wuhan Parlor Convention Center, which has been converted into a makeshift hospital following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Reuters
    Medical workers in protective suits are seen at the Wuhan Parlor Convention Center, which has been converted into a makeshift hospital following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Reuters
  • A customer walks by an almost empty shelf of canned food and instant noodles at a supermarket in Singapore. EPA
    A customer walks by an almost empty shelf of canned food and instant noodles at a supermarket in Singapore. EPA
  • A worker measures body temperature of people leaving a supermarket in Qingshan district following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Reuters
    A worker measures body temperature of people leaving a supermarket in Qingshan district following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Reuters
  • A volunteer helps residents who are affected by the measures to prevent and control the novel coronavirus to purchase daily necessities from a store in Tangshan, Hebei province, China. Reuters
    A volunteer helps residents who are affected by the measures to prevent and control the novel coronavirus to purchase daily necessities from a store in Tangshan, Hebei province, China. Reuters
  • A Chinese woman wears a protective mask as she waits for a bus in Beijing, China. Getty Images
    A Chinese woman wears a protective mask as she waits for a bus in Beijing, China. Getty Images
  • Flight attendants wearing protective clothing and masks serve snacks to Canadians, who had been evacuated from China due to the outbreak of novel Coronavirus on an American charter plane, on another aircraft taking them to Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Trenton, from Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. Reuters
    Flight attendants wearing protective clothing and masks serve snacks to Canadians, who had been evacuated from China due to the outbreak of novel Coronavirus on an American charter plane, on another aircraft taking them to Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Trenton, from Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. Reuters
  • A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer wearing a mask checks Canadians evacuated from China. Reuters
    A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer wearing a mask checks Canadians evacuated from China. Reuters
  • Staff from the US embassy board a cargo plane, chartered by the US State Department to evacuate Americans and Canadians from China. Reuters
    Staff from the US embassy board a cargo plane, chartered by the US State Department to evacuate Americans and Canadians from China. Reuters
  • Passengers wearing masks, following the coronavirus outbreak in China, arrive at the Tom Jobim International Airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters
    Passengers wearing masks, following the coronavirus outbreak in China, arrive at the Tom Jobim International Airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters

Asia

Coronavirus: latest updates as death toll exceeds SARS fatalities

Two more people diagnosed in the UAE as number of cases and deaths surges globally

The National

February 09, 2020

  • English
  • Arabic

Two new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the UAE on Saturday, bringing the number of people with the illness in the Emirates to seven.

The death toll from China’s coronavirus outbreak soared to 811 early on Sunday as Hong Kong imposed a mandatory quarantine on mainland arrivals to slow the spread of an epidemic that has caused global concern.

The toll exceeded the 774 who died worldwide during the 2002-2003 Sars epidemic.

More than 37,000 people have been infected by the new strain, which is believed to have originated at a market selling wild animals in the central city of Wuhan last year before spreading across China.

Professor Peter Piot, one of the people who discovered the Ebola and HIV viruses in Africa, said this coronavirus poses more danger than Ebola.

Here are the main developments:

UAEChina