Two elderly coronavirus patients from a quarantined cruise ship off Japan have died, media reports said on Thursday, citing a government source. A man and a woman in their 80s who had been infected have died, public broadcaster NHK and other media said.
No immediate confirmation was available from the health ministry. They would be the first fatal cases among more than 600 confirmed on the ship. The overall death toll in China due to the deadly coronavirus has increased to 2,118, with a total of 74,576 confirmed cases, health authorities said on Thursday.
The National Health Commission said that it had received reports of 394 new confirmed cases and 114 deaths on Wednesday from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, reports Xinhua news agency. Among the deaths, 108 were in Hubei province and one each in Hebei, Shanghai, Fujian, Shandong, Yunnan and Shaanxi.
Another 1,277 new suspected cases were reported on Wednesday, said the Commission. Also on Wednesday, 1,779 people were discharged from hospital after recovery, while the number of severe cases decreased by 113 to 11,864. The Commission added that 4,922 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus. A total of 16,155 people had been discharged from hospital after recovery so far.
As of Thursday morning, the number of reported cases outside of China were Japan (705), Singapore (84), South Korea (82), Hong Kong (65), Thailand (35), Taiwan (24), Malaysia (22), Germany (16), Vietnam (16), Australia (15), the US (15), France (12), Macau (10), the UK (nine), the UAE (nine), Canada (eight), India (three), the Philippines (three), Italy (three), Russia (two), Iran (two), Egypt (one), Spain (two), Cambodia (one), Finland (one), Nepal (one), Sri Lanka (one), Sweden (one) and Belgium (one), according to figures published by the South China Morning Post. Hong Kong (two), the Philippines (one), Japan (one) and France (one) have reported deaths.-Agencies
