The coronavirus outbreak that is raging in China continued to spread Monday, with just over 40,000 cases and 908 deaths now confirmed. Those numbers far exceed the toll of the 2003 SARS outbreak, in which 8,098 were infected and 774 died worldwide, the Associated Press reported. Outside China, more than 440 cases have been reported, including two deaths. As of Monday morning, a total of 23 Americans onboard a quarantined cruise ship in Japan have also now tested positive for the virus, according to the AP. So far, a total of 136 passengers on the Diamond Princess, docked in Yokohama, Japan, have confirmed illness and 600 0f the 3,711 passengers have requested medications. Late last week, a 60-year-old man living in Wuhan, China, became the first American citizen to die from the new coronavirus that first surfaced in that Chinese city. The man, whose name has not been disclosed, died Thursday at Jinyintian Hospital in Wuhan, the U.S. Embassy in China said Saturday. According to the Washington Post, the embassy issued a statement with “our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss. Out of the respect for the family’s privacy, we have no further comment.” It’s not clear why the man was not able to leave Wuhan on one of a number of U.S. State Department evacuation flights that brought hundreds of Americans to…  read on >

A 60-year-old man living in Wuhan, China, has become the first American citizen to die from the new coronavirus that first surfaced in the Chinese city. The man, whose name has not been disclosed, died Thursday at Jinyintian Hospital in Wuhan, the U.S. Embassy in China said Saturday. According to the Washington Post, the embassy issued a statement with “our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss. Out of the respect for the family’s privacy, we have no further comment.” It’s not clear why the man was not able to leave Wuhan on one of a number of U.S. State Department evacuation flights that brought hundreds of Americans to the United States over the past week, but he may have already been too ill to fly. In Tokyo, Japan’s Foreign Ministry also announced the death from coronavirus of the first Japanese citizen, a man in his 60s living in Wuhan, the Post reported. Only two people living outside of China have so far died of coronavirus, the Post noted — a Wuhan man in the Philippines and a man in Hong Kong. Also on Saturday, the death toll in China took it’s biggest one-day jump ever, with 86 new deaths recorded over the past 24 hours, Chinese officials said. That puts the total number of deaths from the outbreak at 723. Confirmed cases on…  read on >

More Americans were evacuated from the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in China late Thursday, as the number of cases worldwide surpassed 31,000. Two chartered planes carrying about 300 Americans have left Wuhan, the U.S. State Department said Thursday night. Both flights will stop at Travis Air Force base in northern California, the Associated Press reported. Anyone showing symptoms of illness will be quarantined there, while the planes continue on to military bases in San Antonio, Texas, and Omaha, Neb., the wire service said. But U.S. health officials said it is unlikely there will be any ill passengers on board either plane, the AP reported. These are the fourth and fifth flights to evacuate Americans from China in the past week. About 540 Americans are already quarantined at two military bases in California, NBC News reported. On Wednesday, two planes carrying 350 Americans landed at Travis Air Force base. Some of those passengers were then flown to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar near San Diego. Both groups were put under a 14-day quarantine, U.S. health officials said. The first group of evacuees, who were flown out of Wuhan, China, a week ago, were moved off Travis Air Force Base in anticipation of the new arrivals, the AP reported. That first group was told on Wednesday that they have all tested negative for coronavirus, health officials…  read on >

More Americans are expected to be evacuated from the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in China, as U.S. health officials reported a 12th domestic case of coronavirus late Wednesday. Earlier Wednesday, two planes carrying 350 Americans landed at an Air Force base in California. Some of those passengers were then flown to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar near San Diego. Both groups were put under a 14-day quarantine, U.S. health officials said. At least one more plane is expected to fly more American evacuees to military bases in Nebraska and Texas this week, The New York Times reported. In total, more than 500 Americans have already been evacuated. The first group of evacuees, who were flown out of Wuhan, China, a week ago, were moved off Travis Air Force Base in anticipation of the new arrivals, the Associated Press reported. That first group was told on Wednesday that they have all tested negative for coronavirus, health officials said. But they were to remain in quarantine for about another week, the Times reported. On the more recent evacuation flights, five people — three adults and two children — showed signs of cough or fever and were taken to hospitals for evaluation, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Times reported. “CDC staff are there meeting the planes and assessing the health of…  read on >