Coronavirus outbreak: 8 more countries report first confirmed cases in 24 hours

As many as eight countries have reported first confirmed case of coronavirus epidemic in the past 24 hours as the virus hit more international shores. This includes Pakistan, Greece, Norway, and Brazil, North Macedonia, Georgia, Algeria, and Romania. Amongst the eight countries, Pakistan reported two confirmed cases of the virus. While the rest of the countries reported one case each, as per the Spectator Index.

 

So far, coronavirus has claimed more than 2,700 lives and affected around 80,000 people in China, the epicentre of the virus. While China lowers its emergency response level as the number of new cases continues to slow, other countries witness a spike in the number of cases reported,

Aljazeera reported.

The eight countries reported their first case amid Iran and Italy witnessing a surge in the number of people affected with the disease. Iran reported 139 cases, while Italy reported 470 confirmed cases of the virus. Iran's deputy health minister and an MP have both tested positive for the new coronavirus, as it struggles to contain an outbreak that has killed 15,

BBC reported.

The outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020 by World Health Organization (WHO).

Pakistan affected with coronavirus

Pakistan's Health Minister Zafar Mirza confirmed the first two cases of coronavirus in the country. Mirza tweeted: "Both cases are being taken care of according to clinical standard protocols and both of them are stable." He further wrote: No need to panic, things are under control. I will hold press conference tomorrow on return from Taftan."

The UN health agency put the number of new cases in China at 411 on Tuesday and those registered outside the country stood at 427. There are now more new cases of the coronavirus reported each day outside China than inside the hardest-hit country, the WHO noted.

Expressing his concerns over the outbreak that is likely to become pandemic, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “Yesterday, the number of new cases reported outside China exceeded the number of new cases in China for the first time,” reported Aljazeera .