Vietnam confirmed its 15th infection, a three-month-old baby who possibly got the virus from her grandparents. The country said a total of six patients recovered from the infection.
Reports were not immediately clear how the grandparent got the virus. The 15th case in the country was confirmed after Vietnam's health ministry required that all tourists coming from Singapore to undergo 14-day self-quarantine.
Singapore reported 45 cases of the novel coronavirus. The country also raised its Disease Outbreak Response System Condition to its second-highest alert level.
Five of the cases in Singapore were linked to people who visited a church on Paya Lebar Road. At the same time, nine cases were tracked to the Yong Thai Hang traditional Chinese medicine.
Singapore is also among the first countries to report local transmission where residents got the virus even without a history of travel to China. At the same time, a British man who infected others in a French resort contracted the virus from attending a business meeting in Grand Hyatt in Singapore. One hundred businessmen attended the event; hence, there are now fears of bigger transmission than what has been currently traced.
With the growing case of local transmission, the World Health Organization said what has been known so far about the virus is just the "tip of the iceberg." On Tuesday, a team of WHO experts arrived in China to work with local health officials in looking deeper into the matter.
In Thailand, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnivirakul refused requests for passenger's onboard Holland America's MS Westerdam to disembark in one FO the country's port. Indeed, the ship said its passengers were not quarantined because they haven't confirmed any cases of infection among its passengers.
The measure was put in place after Japan confirmed 66 cases of infections among passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise liner. Most recently, Japan allowed elderly passengers to disembark, citing concerns over chronic health conditions. In total, 135 passengers were infected on board.
In Malaysia, local officials confirmed new 17 cases, including a 65-year-old woman. She was the mother-in-law of the Malaysian man who got infected after attending a business meeting in the Grand Hyatt. The family got together for the Chinese New Year. Separately, as added preventive measures, Malaysia also banned flights coming from Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces.
The Philippines quarantined 32 Filipinos it evacuated from Wuhan even if none of them have shown symptoms. As of Sunday, the country has been monitoring 284 suspected cases. The Philippines was the first to report death outside China.
Meanwhile, doubts surround Indonesia's lack of any confirmed case considering its proximity to China and the high volume of air travel from Wuhan. Either the country is failing on its monitoring capabilities or hiding information, according to critics.
In Australia, local officials pressed for a "Do Not Travel To China" travel warning for all citizens. However, officials said there should be no discrimination against the Chinese community in the country. The country had 15 confirmed cases and 10 of them were already stable.
In the United States, San Diego, California reported its first confirmed case. The patient was aboard the first flight that evacuated from Wuhan.
In all of these developments, analysts at Capital Economics said the coronavirus outbreak remains the biggest economic threat worldwide. Chief economist Neil Shearing said China is at the center of the global supply chain. Damage in China could creep to other countries because of its significant position within the worldwide market.
