UAE records 1st case of coronavirus as China death toll reaches 132

Health authorities in the United Arab Emirates have revealed that it has recorded its first case of coronavirus which was diagnosed in a family from China, but did not say how many people had been infected.

The Ministry of Health and the government communications office however noted that those diagnosed with the coronavirus infection were in stable condition and under medical observation.

Meanwhile, the death toll arising from the outbreak of the deadly MERS & SARS-like disease in China has risen from 106 to 132 with the number of cases reaching nearly 6,000 – more than during the SARS epidemic of 2002-03.

READ ALSO: Africa may have second coronavirus case, as Kenya probes case from visiting student

Reports also reveal that Japan and the United States have immediately started evacuating hundreds of citizens from Wuhan, the city at the centre of the outbreak.

Speaking to state news agency Xinhua, respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan, who heads China’s team of experts for the control and prevention of the virus said while it was difficult to estimate the peak, there should be no “large-scale increases” after a week or 10 days.

“There are two keys to tackling the epidemic; early detection and early isolation,” Zhong said. “They are the most primitive and most effective methods.”

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