CORONAVIRUS: Death toll rises to 1,113 as 39 people on cruise ship are infected

The death toll arising from the spread of the deadly coronavirus which has quickly spread across the globe has jumped to 1,113 with 39 more people on a cruise ship off Japan diagnosed with the infection.

Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Wednesday that the 39 people on board the Diamond Princess Cruise ship anchored off Yokohama have been confirmed to have the coronavirus.

“Out of 53 new test results, 39 people were found positive,” he told reporters. Some 174 people on the ship which has 3,711 passengers and crew now have the infection,” Kato said.

Health officials in China reveal that 94 deaths were reported on Wednesday in the hardest-hit province of Hubei, the central region where about 56 million people are living under increasingly severe restrictions.

READ ALSO: Ghana quarantines 2 suspected carriers of coronavirus

This comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) is holding a conference in Geneva on combating the outbreak warned that the virus – now named COVID-19 – posed a “grave threat” to the world.

WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the coronavirus could have “more powerful consequences than any terrorist action”.

The latest development comes after an official guide on how to treat the deadly coronavirus was sent by the government of China to Nigerian authorities as the death toll from the outbreak of the virus continues to increase.

The development was confirmed on Monday in a statement by the Chinese embassy in Nigeria which disclosed that the official guide on coronavirus was also shared with other countries.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now