On Wednesday, 1,737 new confirmed cases, 38 new deaths and 4,148 new suspected cases were reported, the commission added.

Among the total infections, 1,370 patients have been in serious condition and 124 people had been cured and released from hospitals.

The authorities have traced 88,693 people who have had close contact with the infected patients, and 2,364 of them were freed from medical observation on Wednesday while 81,947 are still under medical observation, according to the commission.

The number of confirmed infections rose to 10 in Hong Kong, seven in Macao and eight in Taiwan, the commission reported.

Hubei province remains the center of the outbreak. It had confirmed 4,586 cases of the novel coronavirus as of Wednesday, the provincial health commission said on Thursday morning.

The number of confirmed cases in Hubei increased by 1,032 and the death toll climbed to 162, a rise of 37, the commission said.

By the end of Wednesday, 90 patients had been cured and released from hospitals, 4,334 were hospitalized with 711 people showing serious symptoms and 277 in critical condition, it said.

In Wuhan, provincial capital of Hubei, 356 new confirmed cases and 37 new deaths were reported on Wednesday, bringing the number of confirmed infections to 2,261 with 129 fatalities in the city.

Fever clinics across the province received 32,309 people on Wednesday, according to the Hubei provincial health commission.

Work on several mega development projects may be hampered if the situation over coronavirus does not improve soon.

Many Chinese nationals working under those projects are now home on leave to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Given the situation in China, they might not be able to return and join work on time, said officials linked to the projects.

They also said the authorities of one of the projects have extended the leave of several hundred Chinese nationals by a week and that there could be further extension. Besides, several other project authorities were mulling similar steps, they said.

The projects include Padma Bridge, Padma Bridge Rail Link, Payra 1320MW Thermal Power Plant, Chittagong to Cox’s Bazar (Ramu) Rail Link, construction of a tunnel under the Karnaphuli river, and upgrading the Dhaka Bypass Road.

The projects involved several Chinese companies and are being implemented under the Bridges Division, Bangladesh Railway, Power Division and Roads and Highways Department (RHD), the officials said.

The Daily Star could not confirm how many Chinese nationals are currently working at the projects or how many of them are in China on leave.

But officials in Dhaka say the projects employ “thousands of Chinese nationals, including officials, engineers and workers”.

Last week, many of them left for home to join the Chinese New Year celebrations that began on January 25. It is their longest holiday of the year.

Recently, China reported the outbreak of coronavirus, which until last night claimed more than 100 lives in the country.

The Chinese authorities have confirmed the presence of the deadly virus in almost all the provinces. Yesterday, the health authorities in the country announced that 4,515 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) had been reported in 30 provincial-level regions.

To prevent further spread of the virus, the authorities have locked down Wuhan city, the epicentre of the outbreak, and several other cities for two weeks. There are now strict transport restrictions in and out of those areas.

In Bangladesh, the government have directed the authorities concerned to screen anyone coming from China. In the last nine days, around 3,000 people were examined at the capital’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport after they arrived from China.

No coronavirus case has been detected in Bangladesh.

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, Dewan Abdul Kader, an executive engineer of the Padma Bridge Project, said about 1,100 Chinese nationals work at the Padma Bridge and related projects and at least 250 of them were on leave.

He said they asked the Chinese nationals not to go back to their workplace within two weeks from January 22.

Those in Bangladesh were asked not to visit China for now, he said. “We have made the decision taking the current situation into consideration.”

Golam Fakhruddin Ahmed Chowdhury, project director of the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project, said almost half of the Chinese officials, engineers and workers involved in the project went on leave.

“We are discussing the [coronavirus] issue, but haven’t made any decision,” he said.

Replying to a query, he said, “The project may be hampered a little [if the situation does not improve].”

Another official said some 800 Chinese nationals work are employed under the project.

The authorities of Bangladesh China Power Company Limited, which is constructing the 1320MW Payra Thermal Power Plant in Patuakhali, has extended the leave of several hundred Chinese employees by a week.

“The authorities may extend the leave further if the situation does not improve,” Shahid Ullah Bhuyan, manager (Facility) at the BCPCL, told The Daily Star yesterday.

He said around 2200 Chinese nationals, including officials and engineers, work under the project and around 40 percent of them either went on leave or left the workplace after the completion of a part of the project work.

Many, who are on leave, were supposed to return at the end of this month, but the project authorities extended the leave due to the situation in China, he added.

Shahid feared the leave extension would hamper the project activities.

Asked, Mofizur Rahman, director of another project involving Chinese nationals, said they were awaiting government decision in this regard. “We’ve asked them to take precautionary measures.”

The project is aimed at constructing a single line dual gauge railway track from Dohazari of Chattogram to Cox’s Bazar.

He said no employee from China returned to the worksite recently.

An RHD official linked to the Dhaka Bypass Road Project said only two of 50 Chinese nationals working in the project are now in Bangladesh.

“They were supposed to return later this month or early next month. But in this situation, I think their return may be delayed,” he told this newspaper.

So far, the country has confirmed four cases of the novel virus, with the latest one reported on Monday.

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), 112 people experienced signs of the new virus strain, and 97 have tested negative and been released from observation and isolation.

The agency will provide more details about ongoing tests on suspected cases later in the day.

Of the four confirmed cases, the first was reported on Jan. 20, with the others coming on Friday, Sunday and Monday. Authorities said they are also keeping close tabs on people who may have come in contact with those infected.

Of the four cases, the third and fourth patients were asymptomatic upon arrival here from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the fast-spreading virus, raising concerns that they may have spread it to others unknowingly.

Common symptoms of the coronavirus, thought to have originated in Wuhan, central China, include fever, sore throat and breathing difficulties, with more acute cases involving chills and muscle pain.

South Korea has already raised the country’s infectious disease alert level one notch from “yellow” to “orange,” the third highest.

The whole of China has been categorized as a “coronavirus risk area,” and Seoul has strongly advised its citizens not to visit the central Chinese city.

Airports across South Korea have set up checkpoints to screen passengers from China and other countries for signs of illness, with local authorities accelerating quarantine efforts to contain the virus as people return from visiting relatives and from foreign travels.

China had confirmed 5,974 people infected with the virus as of early Wednesday.

The total number of infected cases worldwide has reached 6,052.

Outside China, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, Macao, Hong Kong, France, Germany, Australia, Canada and the United States have reported confirmed cases of the new virus. (Yonhap)

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that two out of the three new cases were from amongst the Patient-Under-Investigation (PUI) group.

Meanwhile, one case was from close contact with infected patients.

“All of the (seven) positive 2019-nCoV cases are Chinese nationals,” he said in a statement early Wednesday (Jan 29).

The two PUI cases involved a four-year-old girl currently being treated at an isolation ward at the Hospital Sultanah Maliha in Langkawi and a man, 52, who is receiving treatment at the isolation ward of Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Johor Baru.

In the close contact case, Dr Noor Hisham said it involved the daughter-in-law of the man who was the first 2019-nCoV positive case in Singapore.

“The woman whose status was previously negative decided to stay in Malaysia to look after her two children who are being treated at the Hospital Sungai Buloh isolation ward after they tested positive,” said Dr Noor Hisham.

From Jan 10 to Jan 28, the cumulative number of PUI cases for 2019-nCoV stood at 78 people, whereby 39 are Malaysians, 36 Chinese, and one each from Jordan, Brazil and Thailand.

From this PUI group, three cases were confirmed to be positive 2019-nCoV, 74 negative and one case still awaiting lab results.

As reported previously, Dr Noor Hisham said 25 people who were close contacts with the positive 2019-nCoV cases in Singapore and Johor had been identified.

From this, the four of them who were confirmed to be infected with 2019-nCoV are being treated at the isolation ward of Hospital Sungai Buloh and are in stable condition.

Meanwhile, lab tests on the other 21 close contacts found them to be 2019-nCoV negative and the individuals were released from quarantine.

The 2019-nCoV, which originated from Wuhan, China has so far claimed 107 lives there and infected over 4,000 people in more than 15 countries.

With three confirmed cases within the last 24 hours, the trend of infection among Chinese nationals from Wuhan’s Hubei province in Singapore is accelerating, in line with the sharp increase in global infection rates, said the ministry.

This presents a heightened risk to Singapore, although there is as yet no evidence that the virus has spread in the community.

So new restrictions will include no entry or transit for travellers with passports issued in Hubei or those who have travelled there recently.

In addition, there are about 2,000 recent travellers from Hubei who are in Singapore, and those assessed to be of higher risk and with a recent travel history to Hubei will be quarantined.

Quarantine orders have legal force, with severe penalties for non-compliance, including possible jail time.

Announcing enhanced measures on Tuesday, the authorities said that they apply to three groups: recent travellers from Hubei already in Singapore; returning residents of Singapore or long-term pass holders with travel history to Hubei or with China passports issued in Hubei, and new visitors with a travel history to Hubei or China passports issued in Hubei.

Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, is the capital city of Hubei province.

For the first group – recent travellers from Hubei already in Singapore – the ministry has started contacting individuals with Hubei travel history and China nationals with Hubei passports.

There are an estimated 2,000 such individuals here, about 1,000 are on short-term visit passes. Half are visitors and half are residents.

Those assessed to be at higher risk will be quarantined.

For the second group – returning residents and long-term pass holders with travel history to Hubei or with China passports issued in Hubei – they will be quarantined on their return.

And from noon on Wednesday (Jan 29), there will be no entry or transit through Singapore for all new visitors with recent Hubei travel history within the last 14 days, or holders of China passports issued in Hubei – the third group in question.

With immediate effect, those with China passports issued in Hubei will have a suspension of issuance of all forms of new visas, previously issued short-term visit passes and multiple-visit visas, and visa-free transit facility.

Like the previous five cases, the two new patients are from Wuhan.

One is a 56-year-old Chinese national, who arrived in Singapore on Jan 19.

He developed a cough on Jan 25, and went to Changi General Hospital on Sunday.

The death toll from the pneumonia caused by the coronavirus had reached 132 across the mainland. Twenty-six died on Tuesday.

The number of patients with serious symptoms was 1,239 on the mainland on Tuesday.

A total of 103 patients on the mainland had recovered and been released from the hospital by the end of Tuesday.

In addition to the confirmed cases, another 9,239 people on the mainland were highly likely to have been infected with the coronavirus, provisionally called 2019-nCoV, by the end of the day.

A total of 3,248 mainland residents were suspected of being infected on Tuesday, including the first suspected case in Tibet, the only provincial-level region on the mainland still free from the highly contagious disease.

There had been eight confirmed infections in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, seven in the Macao SAR and eight in Taiwan, the commission said.

Health authorities across the mainland have traced 65,537 people who had met face-to-face with infected people. A total of 59,990 of them are still under medical observation, according to the commission.

In Central China’s Hubei province, where the epidemic originated, 3,554 infection cases had been confirmed as of Tuesday, including 125 deaths, the provincial health commission said on Wednesday.

The number of confirmed infections in Hubei increased by 840 on Tuesday, and the death toll rose by 25 on the same day.

By the end of Monday, there had been 4,515 confirmed infections of the highly contagious pneumonia on the mainland as well as eight in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, seven in the Macao SAR and five in Taiwan, the commission said on its website.

The number of patients with serious symptoms reached 976 on the mainland on Monday.

It added that 6,973 people on the mainland are highly likely to have been infected with the coronavirus, provisionally called 2019-nCoV. Sixty patients had been cured and released from the hospital by the end of Monday.

All of the provincial-level regions, except the Tibet autonomous region, have reported infections in their jurisdiction.

Twenty-six patients with the pneumonia, which many medical experts said originated from a seafood market in Wuhan, capital of Central China’s Hubei province and epicenter of the disease, died on Monday, bringing the death toll to 106 on the mainland, according to the commission.

Health authorities across the mainland have traced 47,833 people who have met face-to-face with infected people. A total of 44,132 of them are under medical observation, according to the commission.

In Hubei, the most affected province in the respiratory disease outbreak, the number of confirmed infections increased by 1,291 on Monday, and the death toll rose by 24 in the province.

By the end of Monday, Hubei had reported 2,714 confirmed infections including 100 deaths, the provincial health commission said on Tuesday.

Currently 2,567 people are hospitalized in Hubei. Among them, 563 patients have serious symptoms and another 69 people are in critical condition, it noted.

TAIPEI (CNA) — Another Taiwanese woman who returned from the Chinese city of Wuhan has been diagnosed with the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), the fifth such confirmed case in Taiwan, according to the Taiwan Centers of Disease Control (CDC) Monday.

The woman, in her 50s, had been working in Wuhan since October last year and returned to Taiwan on Jan. 20, before seeking medical attention Jan. 25 after developing a fever and muscle aches, the CDC said.

Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said the woman was on the same flight as another woman who returned from Wuhan and was later confirmed as the first case of the coronavirus in Taiwan.

The CDC reported that the woman did not visit the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, a wet market, in Wuhan where the coronavirus is believed to have been passed from animals to humans.

She is currently in a stable condition under hospital quarantine, the CDC added.

As of noon Monday, 402 suspected cases of the new type of coronavirus had been reported in Taiwan, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center.

While infection has been ruled out in 190 of those cases, five have been confirmed.

Due to concerns over the coronavirus epidemic that originated in Wuhan, Hubei Province, Taiwan’s CDC has extended its highest travel warning to Hubei, urging people to avoid unnecessary travel to the area.

Currently there are about 200-300 Taiwanese businesspeople in Wuhan, said Tsai Chih-ju (蔡志儒), an official at Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council.

The minister said Jia Jianhua, 60, travelled from Wuhan city, where the outbreak originated, to Sihanoukville with three family members – Wang Lingzhen, 57; Xiao Yan, 38; and Jia Ruixuan, 33. Their aeroplane landed at Sihanoukville International Airport on January 22.

On January 25, Jia developed a high fever, runny nose, and other flu-like symptoms, and on Monday, Cambodian experts confirmed he had contracted the virus. His other family members tested negative.

“They travelled from Wuhan city to Sihanoukville and then took a taxi to the Independence Hotel where they stayed for two nights. They later moved to Queenco Hotel.

“In the afternoon of January 25, Jia Jianhua said he had a fever after swimming in the pool for two hours. That same day, his wife called relatives in China to tell them Jia was feeling ill,” Bun Heng said.

He said the following day, provincial authorities – including the director of the provincial department of health as well as emergency response officials of the Ministry of Health –investigated the case after being informed by Preah Sihanouk provincial governor Kuoch Chamroeun.

Jia is in a stable condition and has only minor symptoms like sneezing, Bun Heng said. He and his family have been placed under quarantine.

The authorities are now on the lookout for individuals that may have come into contact with Jia to test them for the virus. They will also disinfect places where the family stayed to eliminate any trace of it.

Meanwhile, Cambodian aviation authorities on Monday announced that all flights between Cambodia and Wuhan city have been cancelled.

This comes after Chinese authorities banned all local and international flights to the central Chinese city, State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA) standby secretary of state and spokesman Chea Aun told The Post.

On Monday, the virus claimed its 81st victim in China, according to official numbers. There are now nearly 3,000 cases in that country alone. The virus has also spread to at least 14 other nations, including Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Nepal, Japan and South Korea.

SSCA deputy director and spokesman Sin Chansereyvutha

spokesman Sin Chansereyvutha told The Post on Monday that only two airlines operate regular flights between Wuhan city and Cambodia – Lanmei Airlines and JC Airlines.

“This is not our decision or the decision of the airlines. The Chinese government was the one that decided to cancel all flights in and out of the city,” he said.

According to Chansereyvutha, Cambodia operates more than 200 flights a week to China.

The Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said 23 Khmer students are now in Wuhan city.

Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong told The Post on Monday that they are all in good health. He said the students are receiving support from Cambodian embassies and consulates in China.

“The consuls have regular contact with the department of foreign affairs in Hubei province and the schools. They are asking them to help care for and provide food to the students. The authorities in Hubei province said they will do all they can.

“Wuhan University is providing three meals a day for foreign students free of charge. Canteens in the other schools are open as are convenient stores and supermarkets near the schools,” he said.

The students are enrolled at Wuhan University, Huazhongkeji University, Hubei University, Wuhan Ligong University, Huazhong Normal University and the Naval University of Engineering.

On Monday, China announced that it will adopt a host of measures including delaying and reducing conferences and major events, extending the Spring Festival holiday and supporting work online to curb the spread of the virus, China Daily reported.

The impact of the virus could be more severe than that of Sars 17 years ago, Thailand’s The Nation reported.

Preliminary estimates of the impact on tourism and related businesses in Thailand and other Asian nations are at around 80 billion to 100 billion baht ($2.6 billion to $3.2 billion), if the spread of the virus is contained by early March.

Although the people in Wuhan are allowed to go outside, Soares Chen (pic) said, they are not allowed to drive and there is no public transport.

He said they were spending all day at home, watching TV and browsing the Internet.

Chen, who grew up in Penang, is based in Leipzig, Germany. He is a programming language enthusiast.

In a series of tweets, he said he is currently healthy but is under lockdown in Wuhan.

“I am sharing some of my own thoughts on the coronavirus from ground zero perspective, ” he posted.

Chen said he had boarded a flight to Wuhan based on reports then that there was no known human-to-human transmission.

He said he understood that it might cause more harm than good to flee the city at the time as there was a risk of carrying the virus to other places or getting infected during the journey out.

“The best course of action is to stay home and minimise risk of getting infected, ” he added.

He said the locals were not so much worried about the virus itself but rather at the “incompetency” of the government in handling the outbreak.

“Since the lockdown, everyone is trapped at home and have no idea what is really happening in the city, ” said Chen, who is now at his in-laws’ place.

He also mentioned about “no shortage of food, people are just panicking to stock food. But I don’t go to the market so I can’t personally verify”.

Chen said the rumours about overcrowded hospitals were making people nervous.

“What worries us the most right now is whether we can even get diagnosis and treatment in the hospital if we get infected, ” he added.

“We need more information on what is happening in Wuhan right now to make the right decisions. We have the right to know it for our own safety, ” he said.