The deadly coronavirus epidemic spread further outside China on Monday with a surge of infections in South Korea making it the biggest hotspot abroad, while outbreaks worsened in the Middle East and Europe.
The number of fatalities in China also continued to soar, with 150 more confirmed deaths, taking the official death toll to nearly 2,600.
Chinese authorities insist they are making progress in containing the virus, citing slowing infection rates thanks to unprecedented travel lockdowns and quarantines in or near the outbreak’s epicenter.
But a rising number of new cases and deaths in other parts of the world have deepened fears about a potential pandemic, with South Korea, Italy and Iran emerging over the past week as new front lines.
Afghanistan, Bahrain and Kuwait also announced on Monday their first cases of the virus, and the death toll in Iran climbed to 12 – the most outside China.
South Korea has seen a rapid rise in infections since a cluster sprouted in a religious sect in the southern city of Daegu last week.
More than 200 infections and two more deaths were reported in South Korea on Monday, bringing the total cases to more than 830 – by far the most outside China.
Eight people have died from the virus in South Korea, where President Moon Jae-in over the weekend raised the country’s virus alert to the highest “red” level.
As part of the containment efforts, kindergarten and school holidays were extended nationally and the start of the new K-league football season, scheduled for this weekend, was postponed.
At the main high-speed train station in Daegu, a normally bustling city of 2.5 million people, just a small trickle of commuters were seen.
A long line of cabs waited for passengers outside the station, and the streets were eerily still, with masks and gloves standard for the few out and about.
