Coronavirus news – live: UK hospitals instructed to create secure pods for patients as emergency Cobra meeting called
Newborn infant diagnosed just 30 hours after birth
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Coronavirus could be capable of passing from a mother to her baby inside the womb, doctors fear, after a newborn tested positive for the disease just 30 hours after birth.
It came as cruise ship passengers were quarantined in Japan after 10 people aboard were found to be infected with coronavirus. Some 3,700 passengers and crew are now locked down on the Diamond Princess, including a number of Britons.
Hundreds of people are being held aboard another cruise ship in Hong Kong, where medical staff are demanding leader Carrie Lam completely close the border with China.
In the UK, The Independent can exclusively reveal that NHS hospitals have been ordered to create secure coronavirus testing areas to keep pressure off A&E departments.
While the professor leading the NHS’s coronavirus response claimed the measures were “appropriate” to ensure daily services were not affected, Dr Bharat Pankhania at the University of Exeter said the pods “could raise the risk of infection” as a result of “all sorts of issues about ventilation and air clearance”.
In the letter obtained by this paper, NHS 2019-nCoV lead, Professor Keith Willet, said the pods would need to be decontaminated in line with Public Health England guidance after every patient.
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Beijing admits failings
China’s leadership has finally admitted what doctors and international health experts have been warning for some time - that there were “shortcomings and deficiencies” in its emergency response to the novel coronavirus outbreak, writes Adam Withnall.
President Xi Jinping, chairing a second meeting of the top decision-making Politburo Standing Committee since the outbreak began, said China faced a “race against the clock” to stem the tide of new infections.
Tech hit
Foxconn, the huge Taiwanese electronics manufacturer, has said it intends to "gradually" begin working its factories in China back up to speed next week, Reuters reports citing an anonymous source.
However, full production capacity is apparently not expected until late in February.
Foxconn makes iPhones, among other popular tech. The coronavirus effect is likely to dent its 2020 profits.
'Keep fighting'
"Keep fighting" is the message from a Thai taxi driver who recovered from coronavirus, after catching it from Chinese tourists.
"Even I can beat it. So can you," the driver told people in Wuhan as he was discharged from hospital. "I watched the news every day from my quarantine room and send my support to Wuhan."
The unnamed cabbie added: "When I found out I had the virus, I cried because I have to take care of my family. But I don't have a bad feeling against tourists or the Chinese. I drive a taxi, tourists are my breadbasket."
Share and share alike
South Korea is planning to crack down on citizens who stockpile face masks and hand sanitiser gel amid the coronavirus outbreak, the BBC reports.
Anyone found guilty reportedly could be fined or jailed for two years.
Hong Kong clamps down
Hong Kong is to impose a mandatory two-week quarantine on all people coming over from mainland China.
It will also close two terminals where cruise ships dock as it seeks to halt the spread of coronavirus.
The city has already clamped down on border crossings and has seen 21 infections so far.
Medical staff went on strike for a second day, demanding full closure of the border with China.
More China deaths
The coronavirus death toll in mainland China has risen to 490, authorities said early on Wednesday.
Total cases have risen to 24,324, as officials move patients into newly built or converted hospitals in the hardest-hit city of Wuhan.
The latest figures are up from 425 deaths and 20,438 confirmed cases on Tuesday.
'Rely on the facts'
Senior medical and assistance experts have urged travellers to keep the risks of the new coronavirus in perspective, writes Simon Calder.
Dr Mark Parrish, regional medical director for International SOS, told The Independent: “A 2 per cent death rate for this virus is lower than 35 per cent for coronavirus when it mutated into Middle East respiratory virus, which is still happening, and 10 per cent for Sars.
Tesla halts deliveries
Tesla will temporarily delay a planned delivery of some Chinese-made Model 3 vehicles that was due in early February, an executive has said.
Difficulty policing outbreak
Chinese authorities are arresting a growing number of people for breaking quarantine rules and hiding the fact they've visited coronavirus-hit areas of the country, according to a report from CNN.
State media further reported a specific case in which a man who worked in Wuhan returned home, failed to isolate himself, lied to officials about where he'd been and concealed symptoms including fever.
The man's son - who had travelled abroad - also came with him, the state media outlet said. Both are infected with coronavirus.
Baby risk
Doctors in a Wuhan children's hospital say coronavirus may be transmittable from mother to baby, after a newborn was confirmed to have been infected, Reuters reports citing state television.
A woman gave birth to a baby on 2 February who tested positive just 30 hours later.
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