China virus outbreak death toll rises to 170.
The health ministry has announced that another novel coronavirus (2019-nC0V) case has been confirmed today, bringing the total number of positive cases to eight.
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the new patient, also a China national, is what is considered as a “close contact” case as she is the wife of the seventh patient who contracted the virus.
“This eighth case is a China national, aged 49, and had been admitted to an isolation ward in Hospital Permai, Johor. The patient is reported to be in stable condition,” he said in a statement today.
Currently, Hisham said, the eight confirmed cases comprised three patients under investigation (PUI) and five close contact cases.
He added that the number of PUI has also increased to 89, comprising 44 Malaysians, 42 China nationals, and one patient each from Jordan, Brazil and Thailand.
From the total number of PUI cases, three have been confirmed to be carrying the virus, 81 tested negative and five more are pending the lab results.
He added that 32 individuals who were in close contact with the reported positive cases had been identified, placed in isolation and were being closely monitored by the ministry.
From the 32, five have been confirmed to have contracted the virus and four of them have been admitted to isolation wards in Hospital Sungai Buloh and one in Hospital Permai. All are reported to be in stable condition.
The Health DG added that authorities were cooperating to identify more suspected cases and implementing measures to minimise the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Among others, he said students and lecturers returning from their holidays in China will be placed under home surveillance and issued health warning cards as well as home assessment tools.
The 78 Malaysians the government is working to bring home from Wuhan, China will also be screened, tested and quarantined for two weeks, he added.
This morning, China confirmed that its death toll from the 2019-nCoV epidemic has risen to 170 while the number of verified infections grew to 7,711.
Global health officials will meet today to discuss possibly declaring an international health emergency, after the virus continued appearing in new locations despite efforts to contain it in Wuhan that is believed to be the source.
The 2019-nCoV has now been confirmed in 20 countries spanning Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America.