First Coronavirus Death Outside of China

On February 2, 2020, a 44 year old man from Wuhan, China dies in the Philippines, making him the first death from the Coronavirus outside of China, according to Austin Ramzy and Tiffany May of the New York Times. He and a 38 year old woman arrived in the Philippines on January 21, trying to escape the outbreak. After the man was hospitalized, the woman was detained and put under observation. She tested positive for the virus but was eventually cleared by Filipino health officials. As of now, their names have not been released.

The Coronavirus has caused many countries to put in place travel restrictions on Chinese travelers and citizens returning from China. Some of these countries are the United States, Australia, the Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, New Zealand, Italy, and Israel. This was done to try to help contain the outbreak. There are confirmed cases in other nations, but no other deaths so far. Even Hong Kong is trying to block Chinese residents from coming from the mainland, as neighboring province Guangdong has also become infected with the Coronavirus. The worst outbreaks were in Wuhan in the Hubei province and Guangdong province. Hong Kong has state-of-the-art medical facilities, but wants to reserve them for its own citizens should the virus get in. China announced they are going to build a new hospital in Wuhan to specially treat Coronavirus victims.

Symptoms and effects of Coronavirus include coughing, fevers, or shortness of breath. Some have compared the effects of Coronavirus to the common cold in milder cases or like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in worse cases. Coronavirus has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization. However, in the United States, the risk of infection is very low. The Center for Disease Control recommends frequent hand washing and staying home if you are sick to further reduce the likelihood of contamination. The best thing to do is prevent the spread of fake news that would create panic.