Japan, US begin evacuating citizens from hardest-hit city of Wuhan as number infected surpasses 2002-2003 SARS epidemics. Coronavirus in China 132 Deaths, 5,974Confirmed cases, 9,239Suspected cases and 16 other countries with confirmed cases

The death toll in China from a deadly new coronavirus rose to 132 with new cases reaching nearly 6,000 - more than during the SARS epidemic of 2002 and 2003 - as Japan and the United States began evacuating hundreds of citizens from Wuhan, the city at the centre of the outbreak.

The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, met China's President Xi Jingping on Tuesday. President Xi met WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Beijing and said: "The virus is a devil and we cannot let the devil hide."

Confirmations of person-to-person transmission in Germany, Vietnam, Taiwan and Japan - as opposed to travellers bringing the virus from China - have heightened concern about the spread of the virus.

Leading Chinese respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan, who heads a team set up for the control and prevention of the virus, told Xinhua news agency: "I think in one week or about 10 days, it will reach the climax and then there will be no large-scale increases."

China agreed for the World Health Organization (WHO) to send international experts to the country to help understand the virus and guide global response efforts.

Two Suspected Patience Discharge After Test Turns Negative In Nepal, India Stepped Up Vigil At Nepal Border For Coronavirus

Two patients suspected of coronavirus infection, who were admitted at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, were discharged from the hospital. The patients were discharged after the coronavirus test reports provided by the National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) turned out negative.

Nepal has started through checking of passengers coming Coronavirus affected countries like China at Tribhuwan International Airport. NPHL has started testing coronavirus in its laboratory from today. The laboratory had borrowed reagents for comprehensive tests of the virus from the Centre for Molecular Dynamics Nepal.

India, which has been facing bigger challenge to contain the disease, has stepped up its vigilance to Nepal Border.

In India one of the most affected states is Kerala where the number of people under observation has gone up to 288. According to Indian media, In Kozhikode district alone, 60 persons are under observation.

Special focus is on travelers from Nepal visiting religious and other tourist places in India, said health ministry in a statement.

Hospital staff is seen outside the Special Isolation Ward set up to provide treatment to any suspected case of the coronavirus (CoV), in Hyderabad on Monday.

With a confirmed case of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) reported from its neighboring Nepal, India has stepped up vigil at the Nepal border, and is screening people travelling across the border.

Union health secretary Preeti Sudan on Monday chaired a meeting through video conference with chief secretaries of the five states bordering Nepal — Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim, to review their preparedness.

Special focus is on travellers from Nepal visiting religious and other tourist places in India, said health ministry in a statement.

Special health teams have already been deployed at border outposts in Jhulaghat and Jauljibi in district Pithoragarh (Uttarkhand), and at Panitanki entry point in West Bengal, and will be soon be expanded in the other states that share borders with Nepal, added the ministry statement.

“Secretary reviewed the preparedness of these bordering states in terms of orientation of health and other agencies; adherence of various prevention and management protocols; awareness regarding prevention of coronavirus among the people being screened and those transiting the border with Nepal; self-reporting by these people; isolation wards; protective gear etc.,” said the ministry statement.

As part of extra vigil, the Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar governments have started medical examination of people coming from Nepal, said a senior health ministry official. Orientation sessions have been conducted of teams from the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), the medical personnel, and health officials in these states.

Credit: Various International News Agencies