Coronavirus Cases Outside of China Rise to 92

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently reported that there have been 92 cases of human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus in 12 countries outside of China. However, officials clarified that there is no evidence of “sustained local transmission” aside from specific circumstances such as onboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan.

“Clearly there has been more transmission than expected on the ship,” Dr. Michael Ryan, WHO’s executive director of health emergencies program, said. “Japanese authorities are adjusting to reality and taking necessary public health measures to evacuate people and deal with their follow up.”

Officials have tallied over 73,250 cases of the virus around the world, which has resulted in at least 1,868 deaths. According to Fox News, only five of those deaths have occurred outside of China, including in Hong Kong.

Human-to-human transmitted coronavirus cases recorded outside China rises to 92, WHO reportshttps://t.co/k2xX23qtp2

— jdifrancis (@jdifrancis) February 18, 2020

“On Monday, two U.S. State Department-chartered planes carrying more than 300 Americans who were passengers on the ship, including 14 who had tested positive for the coronavirus, landed at military bases in California and Texas. Officials said that the 14 confirmed cases were asymptomatic while on the flight and isolated from other passengers,” reported Fox News.

The Diamond Princess cruise ship has the largest concentration of cases recorded outside of China. The cruise ship served as a floating quarantine for the 3,711 passengers in the Japanese port of Yokohama. At least 542 of the passengers tested positive for the virus.

“Obviously the quarantine hasn’t worked, and this ship has now become a source of infection,” Dr. Nathalie MacDermott, an outbreak expert at King’s College London, said. “We need to understand how the quarantine measures on board were implemented, what the air filtration on board is like, how the cabins are connected and how waste products are disposed of.”

Cases of human-to-human transmission in the U.S. include a Chicago couple who have since made a full recovery. Another is a California couple wherein the husband had recently traveled to Wuhan and caught the illness. The virus was later transmitted to his wife when he returned to the U.S. Both patients stayed at home.