February 16 coronavirus news

CNN’s live coverage of the coronavirus outbreak has moved here.

There were 100 more deaths due to the coronavirus in China’s Hubei province Sunday, the health authorities there said. That raises the death toll at the center of the outbreak to 1,696.

The global death toll now stands at 1,770, with the vast majority of those deaths in mainland China.

More than 1,900 additional cases of the virus were confirmed Sunday, Hubei authorities said, bringing the total number of cases in the center of the outbreak to 58,182.

The global tally: There have been more than 71,204 cases of the virus recorded worldwide, with the vast majority in mainland China.

China’s National Health Commission is expected to release numbers for all of China’s provinces later.

Authorities in the United States acknowledged reports that an 83-year-old American woman in Malaysia contracted the novel coronavirus while on a cruise ship, a State Department official said.

More than 300 passengers, mostly American citizens, from the Diamond Princess cruise ship are aboard the two airplanes chartered by the US government, a State Department spokesperson told CNN.

In its communications to passengers on the cruise ship Saturday, the US embassy in Tokyo said American citizens would be able to bring their non-American immediate relatives.

All travelers were screened for symptoms of coronavirus prior to departure and will be screened by staff from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention upon arrival in the United States, another State Department spokesperson said in a statement.

“Only those who were asymptomatic were allowed to board the flights,” the spokesperson said.

“Our primary goal remains ensuring the welfare and safety of all US citizens involved,” the spokesperson added. “The Department of State has no higher priority than the welfare and safety of US citizens abroad.”

Two airplanes chartered by the United States government to evacuate American passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan have departed Tokyo.

The first plane is heading to Kelly Field/Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. The second plane is going to Travis Air Force Base in Solano County, California.

The planes took off more than four hours after 10 buses brought the passengers from the cruise ship in Yokohama to Haneda Airport in Tokyo.

US officials have not discussed the number of people who asked for a seat on the charters.

People wearing protective masks walk towards Merlion Park in Singapore on February 12.

Singapore has identified three new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the citywide total to 75 confirmed cases, the country’s health ministry said.

Two of the cases are linked to the Grace Assembly of God church, which is the largest community cluster of cases in Singapore.The third one is related to a separate case.

None of those patients have traveled to China recently, the ministry said.

As of Sunday, a total of 19 patients have fully recovered from the virus and have been discharged from the hospital.

Dr. John Wiesman, the health secretary in Washington state – where the first US case of Wuhan coronavirus was confirmed – says the public should do “what you do every cold and flu season.”

That includes washing your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

If you’re the one feeling sick, cover your entire mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze. But don’t use your hands. Use either your bent elbow or a tissue that you throw away immediately afterward.

WHO also recommends staying at least 3 feet or 1 meter away from anyone who may be infected.

Is there a cure for novel coronavirus? No. Patients can be treated and may recover from their symptoms, but there is no known cure for the novel coronavirus yet.

Read the full story here

A large group of Americans who were on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan were spotted boarding a chartered flight at the Haneda Airport in Tokyo.

US passengers queue to enter in a plane at the Haneda Airport, in Tokyo on February 17 after disembarking in Yokohama from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Nearly 400 Americans on board of the Diamond Princess were sent a notice Saturday laying out plans to evacuate them to the United States. They are among thousands of travelers who had been stuck in their cabins under mandatory quarantine since February 3.

Those who chose to take part in the US government’s voluntary evacuation arrived in 10 buses at the airport earlier today.

The novel coronavirus has spread throughout the world since the first cases were detected in central China in December, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

Meanwhile, a number of countries, such as the United States and Japan, have evacuated their nationals on flights from Wuhan, capital of the Hubei province and the epicenter of the outbreak.

Here’s map showing places outside mainland China with confirmed cases of the coronavirus:

Buses carrying passengers from the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship leave a port in Yokohama, near Tokyo, Monday, February 17.

Americans from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan who chose to take part in the US government’s voluntary evacuation have arrived at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. Led by a police convoy, they arrived in 10 busses.

They will board two Boeing 747s chartered from Kalitta Air, and will soon depart for Travis Air Force Base in California. The passengers will have to undergo another quarantine, lasting 14 days, upon arrival in the US.

The Defense Department confirmed today that two charter planes carrying about 400 Americans from the Diamond Princess cruise ship will be arriving at two military bases in support of efforts by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

One of the aircrafts will land at Travis Air Force Base, California and the other will land at Kelly Field/Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, the statement said.

The DOD said that — as previously announced — “these individuals will be subject to a CDC managed 14-day quarantine. HHS will ensure that no evacuated personnel are transferred to any DOD installation if they test positive for the COVID-19 virus. Any evacuees who test positive or become symptomatic will be transferred to a suitable off-base facility at the direction of CDC.”

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) and Senegal's Foreign Affairs minister Amadou Ba arrive to hold a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Dakar on February 16.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaking to reporters Sunday in Senegal said, “I think we all need to be mindful of the serious nature of the threat that is posed” by the spread of the coronavirus.

“[W]e are prepared to do everything that the United States can do to reduce the risk to populations,” Pompeo said.

Pompeo added that he was especially concerned about countries “where there is not significant capable healthcare infrastructure. That presents a lot of risk and we are already doing our best.”

Japan has identified six more positive cases of novel coronavirus not from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare announced.

That brings the total number of cases in Japan to 412, of which 356 are from the Diamond Princess and 56 are not.

People wear face masks and walk at a shopping mall in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, January 31.

A Taiwanese man in his mid-60s who tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus has died, the Taiwanese Health Ministry announced on Sunday morning. 

The deceased man, who had a history of hepatitis B and diabetes and no history of traveling abroad, is the first person in Taiwan to die from the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, the ministry said in a statement.

Another case of the virus was also confirmed in Taiwan on Sunday, the health ministry said.

The man in his 50s who is currently asymptomatic, bringing the total number of confirmed cases on the island to 20.

Jumbo jets arrived to evacuate US citizens from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new COVID-19 coronavirus, at the Haneda airport in Tokyo on February 16.

Two Boeing 747 charter airplanes believed to be for Americans being evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship today have just landed in Tokyo.

The two planes from Kalitta Air touched down at Haneda Airport at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Passengers watch as the Westerdam cruise ship arrives at the port in Sihanoukville on Cambodia's southern coast on February 13.

The company that owns the Westerdam cruise ship, which docked in Cambodia, has acknowledged that one of its disembarked passengers has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The company says that no other guests or crew, “on board or on their way home,” have reported being ill.

 “On Feb. 10, 2020, all 2,257 passengers and crew on board Westerdam were screened for illness including the taking of individual temperatures. No individual was identified with an elevated temperature. Also during disembarkation in Cambodia guests underwent an additional health screening including the completion of a written health questionnaire,” the company said.

Holland America added: “Furthermore, the passports of everyone on board were reviewed to ensure no one had traveled through mainland China in the 14 days prior to the cruise. During the voyage there was no indication of COVID-19 on the ship. The guest who tested positive did not visit the ship’s medical center to report any symptoms of illness.”

Passengers are seen on balconies of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with thousands of people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new coronavirus, at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama port on February 14.

The US plan to evacuate Americans and their families from the Diamond Princess cruise ship appears, on its face, to be the case of a powerful government coming to the aide of its most vulnerable citizens.

Thousands of people have been stuck in their cabins under mandatory quarantine aboard the Diamond Princess, which is docked off the Japanese port city of Yokohama, since Feb. 3.

With 356 confirmed cases of coronavirus on board, 70 of which were announced Sunday, the ship has the largest concentration of novel coronavirus cases outside mainland China. On Feb. 19, the controversial quarantine period was set to finally end.

But on Saturday afternoon, the US embassy in Tokyo sent a notice to Americans on board the Diamond Princess laying out plans to evacuate nearly 400 Americans back home. 

Once there, another 14 days of mandatory quarantine would begin, and anyone who chose not to get on the flight would have to wait another 14 days in Japan to ensure they were symptom-free before returning to the US.

Some exhausted passengers aboard the ship are angry. 

One reason the passengers are so upset is because, as early as last week, experts had been questioning the Japanese government’s decision to quarantine people on the ship.

What all of this may mean: The abrupt change in US policy led some to believe that Washington lost faith in the effectiveness of the Japanese response.

Earlier this week, it emerged that some 1,000 crew on board the ship had not been kept in quarantine, eating meals together with masks off and working side by side.

Read the full story here.

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio has announced his government is planning to bring back 35 Italians currently on Diamond Princess cruise in Japan.

In a statement released on Sunday, Di Maio said a flight is expected to depart to bring the Italian citizens back, without giving more specific details of the flight.

“Italy never leaves its citizens alone. We are Italians, no one should be left behind,” the statement added without giving specific details about the flight.

Di Maio thanked all of those in his country and abroad providing support to his citizens.

The Diamond Princess cruise ship, which has thousands of quarantined onboard due to fears of the new COVID-19 coronavirus, is seen through a fence at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama port on February 16, 2020. 

A British man quarantined on board the Diamond Princess has said British nationals on board the cruise liner feel “forgotten,” as other countries start to evacuate their citizens from the ship. 

Outside China, the largest outbreak of novel coronavirus is on board the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship quarantined at Yokohama, a port south of Tokyo. Thousands of passengers have been under strict controls on board for almost two weeks now, and on Sunday, a US government chartered flight is expected to evacuate nearly 400 Americans from the ship back to the United States where they will be placed in another 14-day quarantine.

On Saturday, Canada also announced plans to charter a plane to evacuate its citizens from the Diamond Princess. 

A spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in a statement:

Hong Kong authorities says one more coronavirus case has been confirmed, after a 54-year-old man tested positive.

The man initially did not show symptoms but was later confirmed to have the virus after a second test Saturday evening. He had not been in contact with high-risk patients, authorities said on Sunday.

Hong Kong cases: This new case brings the total confirmed coronavirus cases in Hong Kong to 57, including one fatality.