Hong Kong reports coronavirus death, marking 2nd fatality outside China

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Second coronavirus death reported outside Chinese mainland

A new coronavirus death has been reported in Hong Kong as health experts say the outbreak is increasingly looking like a global pandemic; Jonathan Serrie reports from Atlanta.

A second coronavirus death outside of China has been reported by Hong Kong as the number of cases surpasses 20,600 worldwide. The fatality in Hong Kong reportedly involves a 39-year-old patient who died in the hospital Tuesday morning.

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The news comes just days after the Philippines confirmed that a 44-year-old Chinese man who traveled from Wuhan died at a hospital in Manila. In response to the death, the Philippines announced that it would deny entry to non-citizens from China in an effort to prevent more infections.

While the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak has risen to at least 425, 99 percent of the cases have occurred in mainland China. However, as of Tuesday at least 25 other countries have reported cases, including the U.S., which has recorded 11.

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The virus has been confirmed to spread between humans, which wasn’t established until weeks after the first cases were reported in Wuhan back in December. At the time, health officials were adamant that all cases were linked to a food market in the city which sells livestock. It has now been established that many cases involve patients who never visited the market.

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In the U.S., there have been two cases of human-to-human transmission, including a Chicago man who did not travel to China but whose wife was diagnosed with the virus after returning from the country, and a California man who was diagnosed with the illness upon returning to the U.S. and gave it to his wife.

As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) works to expand testing capabilities across the U.S., the Trump administration said it would deny entry to any foreign nationals who pose a risk of transmitting the virus.

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In addition, the Department of Homeland Security announced, since Sunday, flights coming to the U.S. from China have been funneled through seven airports that are equipped to screen passengers for symptoms of the virus.