Two more suspected coronavirus cases reported in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Two more suspected cases of coronavirus have been reported in Hyderabad where a woman and a man were shifted to isolation ward of Civil Hospital on Thursday night, private TVs reported.

Both patients had returned from Iran a few days ago. According to details, Shafi Bibi had returned 10 days ago while Muhammad Zafar returned on February 12 from Iran where coronavirus epidemic has claimed 26 lives so far and the tally of infections reached 245.

According to Additional Medical Superintendent (AMS) Civil Hospital, blood samples of both patients have been taken and sent to laboratory. He said that they would be kept under continuous observation and nobody would be allowed to meet them.

On the other hand, some 82,560 people have been infected worldwide by coronavirus and 2,813 have died, according to the latest toll from official sources on Thursday.

The number of deaths in mainland China — excluding the semi-autonomous territories of Hong Kong and Macao — stands at 2,747, out of 78,497 cases. Over the previous 24 hours, 433 new infections have been recorded there.

In latest count, 66 people have died outside mainland China since the start of the epidemic, out of 4,063 people infected, with 863 new cases

But the fatality rate in China slowed, with 29 new deaths on Thursday, the smallest number for almost a month.

The coronavirus has appeared in ten new countries — Brazil, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Norway, Northern Macedonia, Pakistan, Romania and The Netherlands — bringing the number of countries and territories hit to around 50.

South Korea has announced 1,766 infections — by far the largest outside China — and 13 deaths.

The number of infections in Italy, the hardest hit country in Europe, hits 528, with 14 deaths.

Iran announces a total of 26 deaths and more than 245 infections. France has confirmed cases more than doubled in a day from 18 to 38, according to media reports.