The coronavirus outbreak, with epicenter in Hubei, China, has reached the Middle East region with Kuwait, Bahrain, Afghanistan, Iraq and Oman reported their first confirmed cases.
Kuwait had three cases, Oman two, Bahrain one and Iraq one. The Middle East region, excluding Iran now has nine confirmed cases. The Kuwaiti government said the three patients were among the 700 people who were evacuated from Iran last week.
Iran now has the highest death tolls outside China. The death of twelve people in the country compelled its nearest neighbors to close their borders to Iran. The country also has 61 confirmed cases so far.
There had been accusations that Iran is covering up the real extent of the outbreak in the country. This was after Parliament representative Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani made claims that there are actually 50 deaths inside Iran. This was denied by the country's health minister, but, suspicions remain strong.
Whether 50 deaths or only 12 deaths, the number of fatalities in the country is smaller than South Korea, Japan, Italy that have the highest cases outside China.
All eyes are on Iran because the situation in the country could define whether the outbreak is pandemic. For one, Iran is far away from Wuhan. Second, Iran is the second-largest country in the Middle East and the 17th largest country in the world. The possibility is indeed causing concern.
There are now 31 countries and regions outside China that reported cases of infections. The World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called for governments worldwide to act on mitigation because the window of opportunity to stop the virus is closing rapidly.
Meanwhile, Italy confirmed 219 cases. It has the largest number of infected patients in the European region. The Italian government has imposed strict travel bans and has placed 12 of its towns - about 50,000 people - on a lockdown.
In the United States, White House is reportedly requesting a $1 billion allocations for its coronavirus response. According to anonymous sources who spoke with The Washington Post, the US lawmakers will send the request in the next few days.
The report comes as President Donald Trump says coronavirus is under control in the country. The US also decided to cancel military training with South Korea due to the outbreak.
In Ontario, Canada, a woman in her 20s tested positive for the virus but has since been improving.
In New Zealand, as many as 120 people were tested but everyone so far has tested negative of the virus.
In Switzerland, more than dozens of its people are on mandatory quarantine.
