Latest On Coronavirus

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th February, 2020) Starting Wednesday, Sputnik will publish a brief daily digest with some of the most important updates on coronavirus.

According to the online medical community website DXY, as of 19:00 GMT, there are 48,182 coronavirus cases confirmed across the world, 30,313 instances of recovery and 2,770 deaths. However, these numbers do not include the first case of infection in Latin America � a 61-year-old Brazilian was confirmed to be infected in Sao Paulo, the Brazilian health authorities said Wednesday. Also absent from the statistics is the first infection case in Georgia.

In Asia, China has more cases of the virus than any other country � 45,399, South Korea registered 1,227 cases, Japan 154, Iran 120. The first two cases of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have been confirmed in Pakistan, Health Minister Zafar Mirza said on Wednesday.

Out of Europe's 386 cases, 361 are in Italy.� In North America, there are 61 cases � 54 in the United States and seven in Canada. At the same time, the United States Forces Korea tweeted earlier in the day that the first case was registered among the US troops in South Korea.

The government of the Czech Republic asked its citizens to avoid traveling to northern Italy or postpone leaving the country altogether.

Salvador banned people coming from South Korea and Italy from entering the country to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, Salvadoreans as well as diplomats who come from those countries will have to spend 30 days in quarantine, according to the president.

Russia has delivered to North Korea 1,500 test systems for quick laboratory diagnostics of the novel coronavirus at Pyongyang's request, to prevent the virus from spreading there, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. At the same time, Moscow announced it was suspending air travel with South Korea starting March 1. In addition, Russia will suspend issuing visas � other than business or humanitarian � for those coming from Iran.

Abkhazia will ban all foreigners, except Russians, from entering the country because of the threat of coronavirus spread, Sputnik Abkhazia reported on Wednesday citing Prime Minister Valery Bganba.

There is no confirmed effective treatment for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), but clinical trials continue to determine the effectiveness of HIV drugs and antivirals, WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge said on Wednesday.

Wall Street stocks were down for their biggest two-day decline since 2018 amid the virus scare. Oil prices have also been falling. Both WTI and Brent lost more than 6 percent each of their value since the beginning of the week.

More than 750,000 South Korean citizens have signed a petition calling for the impeachment of President Moon Jae-in over his handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

The Afghan presidential office cited coronavirus rumors among the reasons to postpone the inauguration of newly re-elected President Ashraf Ghani until March 9, as opposed to February 27, as originally scheduled.

Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) told Sputnik that the preparations for the Olympic Games in Tokyo were ongoing. The Summer Olympics are expect to open on July 24.