US President Donald Trump moved to quell fears about the novel coronavirus after the first death on US soil was confirmed Saturday.
The US fatality occurred in Washington State's King county, which includes Seattle, a city of more than 700,000 people, said health officials. The victim was not immediately identified, but Trump told reporters that the victim was a woman in her late 50s. "We've taken the most aggressive actions to confront the coronavirus," he added. "Our country is prepared for any circumstance. There is no reason to panic at all. Deaths in Iran from coronavirus have hit 43, the highest number outside China, and the total number of infected people has risen to 593, an Iranian health official said on Saturday. The country is at the epicentre of the outbreak in the region, with several countries in the Middle East reporting cases of the coronavirus stemming from Iran.
"Unfortunately nine people died of the virus in the last 24 hours, increasing the death toll to 43," Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told state TV, calling on people to stay at home. Qatar's health ministry reported on Saturday the first case of coronavirus infection in the country.
The patient is a 36 year-old Qatari who returned recently from Iran, the ministry said in a statement, adding that he is a stable condition. With Qatar reporting its first infection, Saudi Arabia becomes the only Gulf country not to have signalled any coronavirus case. France on Saturday cancelled all gatherings of 5,000 people or more in a bid to contain the coronavirus outbreak which has infected 100 people throughout the country.
The virus has now hit 61 countries across the globe, with more than 2,900 people killed and nearly 86,000 infected since it was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. South Korea, which has the most infected people outside China, reported its biggest surge in new cases on Saturday with 813 more patients confirmed, bringing its total to 3,150.
Italy, the hotspot of the outbreak in Europe, also reported a jump in new cases on Saturday, its number of infections exceeding 1,000 and the death toll jumping by eight to 29.
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