Coronavirus case confirmed in San Diego as global death toll tops 1,000

A three-month-old baby in Vietnam has been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, the country's 15th confirmed case, according to Reuters. The baby, who tested positive for the virus on February 9, was infected by her grandmother. 

China's daily death toll from the novel coronavirus topped 100 for the first time, pushing the global total to over 1,000 dead, authorities said Tuesday.

The National Health Commission said in its daily update 108 deaths had been reported over the previous 24 hours, increasing the total to 1,016 deaths in mainland China since the outbreak began in December. One additional death has been reported in Hong Kong, and one has been reported in the Philippines.  

The number of newly confirmed cases fell slightly to 2,478 from 3,062 the day before, bringing the total to 42,638 on the mainland, some of whom have since been cured and released from hospital.  

The crossing of more grim thresholds is dimming optimism that the near-quarantine of some 60 million people and other disease-control measures might be working.

—The Associated Press

An evacuee from Wuhan, China, has the novel coronavirus, the CDC confirmed to CBS News on Monday. The patient traveled to the U.S. from Wuhan on a charter flight arranged by the State Department last week. 

The CDC did not provide additional details about the patient's gender, age, or where they are being treated. They are the thirteenth confirmed case in the United States. 

Chinese officials reported 108 deaths and 2,478 cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday. That brings the global death toll from the virus to at least 1,018, and the total number of cases to more than 42,000.

Oregon resident Rebecca Frasure found out she had the novel coronavirus onboard the Diamond Princess, the cruise ship docked in Japan that's now feared to be more of a floating incubator than luxury cruiseliner. 

Confined to her hospital room in Yokohama, she's the first with the virus to speak out. 

"It was a very surreal experience to be told that you have this virus that, you know, as far as I knew could be deadly," Frasure said.

Authorities in protective gear awaited more than 130 of her fellow infected passengers, who were escorted off the ship for treatment. At least 3,600 people remain on board, quarantined since last Monday.

China's Hubei province, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, reported 103 new deaths and 2,097 new cases on Monday. That brings the global death toll from the virus to at least 1,013, and the total number of cases to at least 42,000. 

A cruise ship that was delayed from leaving New Jersey because four of its recent passengers were tested for coronavirus set sail on Monday. Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas left Bayonne, New Jersey, after the passengers' tests came back negative for the virus.

Governor Phil Murphy said in a statement that personnel with the Centers for Disease Control allowed the four passengers to be discharged from the hospital Saturday. Three of the four people stayed in a cabin together and were diagnosed with the flu.

The other person stayed in a separate cabin and did not have any symptoms, Murphy said. The passengers were tested after the ship docked Friday and screened 27 passengers who had recently traveled from mainland China.

The ship arrived in New Jersey after an 11-day cruise to the Caribbean.

- CBS/AP

The director-general of the World Health Organization said Monday that the agency is still unable to predict where the coronavirus outbreak is heading but that he believes there is still an opportunity to contain it. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was concerning that the virus was spreading among people in Europe who haven't recently traveled to China.

At least six confirmed cases in France and Spain appeared to be linked to a British man who caught the virus at a business conference in Singapore in January. "The detection of the small number of cases could be the spark that becomes a bigger fire, but for now, it's only a spark," Tedros said.

Five British citizens, including a 9-year-old boy, contracted the virus in the French Alpine ski town of Contamines-Montjoie after staying in the same chalet as the British man. Another man who stayed at the resort was discovered infected after returning to his home on the Spanish island of Mallorca.

- Associated Press

Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said Monday that the Japanese government was considering testing all 3,711 passengers and crew on the quarantined Diamond Princess for the new coronavirus.

As of Monday 135 people from the ship had been diagnosed with the virus and taken off the ship for treatment in Japanese hospitals. Everyone on the ship has been told to remain in their cabins and report immediately any symptoms - which often resemble flu symptoms, but only those considered at risk have been tested for the virus up to now.

If everyone on the ship is tested they would be required to remain aboard until results are available, Kato said. Passengers have told CBS News that frustration is mounting on board over the uncertainty as to when they might be allowed to leave. 

"The quarantine period of the #DiamondPrincess will come to an end on 19 February," the WHO said, while adding that the period "will be extended beyond the 19 Feb as appropriate only for close contacts of newly confirmed cases. They need to remain in quarantine for 14 days from last contact with a confirmed case."

Japanese authorities were scrambling, meanwhile, to deliver medicines requested by more than 600 passengers on the vessel. "We are doing the utmost to keep everyone in good health," Kato said.

-CBS/AP

CBS News Asia correspondent Ramy Inocencio had a chance last week to put some questions to Columbia University epidemiologist Dr. Ian Lipkin, who has been advising authorities in China as they grapple with the new coronavirus outbreak.

Lipkin spoke at length about how people can try to protect themselves from the virus, how widespread it could become, where he thinks it came from and what he believes should be done to prevent more outbreaks like this in the future. 

Click on the tweet above to see a full thread from Inocencio, with answers to some of the big questions people are asking about the virus.

There were scattered signs of normality returning in China on Monday. With the extended New Year holiday officially over, roads in Beijing and Shanghai had significantly more traffic and the southern city of Guangzhou said it would start to resume normal public transport.

"Of course we're worried," said a 25-year-old man surnamed Li in a Beijing beauty salon that reopened Monday. "When customers come in, we first take their temperature, then use disinfectant and ask them to wash their hands."

The Shanghai government suggested staggered work schedules, avoiding group meals and keeping at least one meter away from colleagues. Many were encouraged to work from home and some employers simply delayed opening for another week. 

State media said passenger numbers on the Beijing subway were down by about half compared to a normal work day. Large shopping malls in the capital were deserted and many banks closed.

-CBS/AFP

China officially went back to work Monday after a new year holiday extended due to the coronavirus outbreak, but reports from major cities suggested it was a trickle rather than the normal flood of people heading back to the office. 

To rally support for the return to work, Chinese President Xi Jinping put on a protective mask and toured the streets of Beijing. As CBS News correspondent Debora Patta reports, Xi's administration has been accused of failing to respond to early warnings about the coronavirus, which has now killed almost 900 in China alone.

Dr. Li Wenliang, who died of the virus last week, was silenced when he sounded the alarm in December. Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation" that he didn't know who had tried to silence the doctor, "but there was certainly disagreement, or people were not able to reach agreement, on what exactly the virus is… maybe some people reacted not quickly enough."

In Beijing, Xi greeted residents and waved to others who had come out onto their balconies to see him. He declined to shake any hands, citing recommendations from health officials.

"We must have confidence," he told a few well-wishers on the street. "We will definitely overcome this epidemic." 

Rebecca Frasure's dream holiday in Asia was shattered by the new coronavirus. She was aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship when it docked in Japan, and soon after she was told she had tested positive for the virus. She's one of 23 Americans — and more than 130 passengers in total — from the ship to test positive so far. 

"It was a very surreal experience, to be told that you have this virus that, as far as I knew, could be deadly. Although I didn't feel sick at all. That part was very strange for me," she told CBS News correspondent Debora Patta on Monday. "How can I have this when I don't feel sick?"

Frasure was separated from her husband Kent and taken off the ship to a hospital, where she'll have to remain isolated for at least two weeks. Now stuck in a hospital bed, she's eager to get back to her husband, and that's not all she misses.

"I really want some American food," she says, still managing a laugh in spite of her circumstances.

Infectious disease specialists working in collaboration with the World Health Organization warned Monday that it was "vital" for health authorities across the globe to develop and test treatments and vaccines "on the fastest possible timescale," as the new coronavirus could have an impact on par with "the major influenza pandemics of the 20th century."

The researchers from Imperial College in London acknowledged "much uncertainty," but said the new virus appeared to kill somewhere between 1.5% and 5.5% of patients outside of China. The fatality rate for the disease in the hard-hit Chinese province of Hubei, where the outbreak is focused, however, was much higher at an estimated 18%.

"Understanding the likely impact of the unfolding pandemic caused by the 2019-nCoV virus on human health will be critical to informing the decisions made by countries in the coming weeks in how best to respond to this new public health threat," wrote one of the report authors, Professor Neil Ferguson. "Our estimates – while subject to much uncertainty due to the limited data currently available – suggest that the impact of the unfolding epidemic may be comparable to the major influenza pandemics of the twentieth century." 

The U.K. Department of Health declared the coronavirus a "serious and imminent threat" to the British public on Monday, increasing its powers to keep people quarantined, but saying the overall risk level to the public remained "moderate."  

"The risk to the public has not changed," the department of health said on Twitter. "This is a legal term which we announced this morning as part of changes to make it easier for health professionals to do their job."

According to BBC News, a British citizen who was on the first evacuation flight from Wuhan, China — the center of the outbreak — has threatened to leave quarantine, and health care providers wanted to be able to prevent him from doing so.

"Currently the regulations are not strong enough to stop him leaving before the 14-day period is up so they brought in these new regulations to try and compel him to stay put," BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said.

Britain's Foreign Office has organized two flights to evacuate British citizens from Wuhan. The evacuees are quarantined at two locations in the U.K. They signed contracts committing to spend 14 days in isolation upon their return to Britain, the BBC said, but those contracts don't give authorities the power to prevent people leaving before the two-week period is up, as the one man is reportedly threatening to do.

There were eight confirmed cases of the new virus in the U.K. as of Monday.

The head of the World Health Organization has warned that confirmed cases of coronavirus being transmitted by people who have never travelled to China could be the "tip of the iceberg." Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus's remarks come as members of a WHO-led "international expert mission" flew to China to help coordinate a response to the outbreak. 

"There've been some concerning instances of onward #2019nCoV spread from people with no travel history to (China)," Tedros tweeted Sunday, using the virus's provisional scientific name. "The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries; in short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg."

While the spread of the virus outside China appeared to be slow, Tedros warned it could accelerate.

"Containment remains our objective, but all countries must use the window of opportunity created by the containment strategy to prepare for the virus's possible arrival," he said.

- CBS/AFP

Japan's government said 65 more cases of the new coronavirus were found on a cruise ship quarantined south of Tokyo. Princess Cruises earlier said there were 66 new cases, but the Health Ministry said later that a person appeared to have been counted twice.

Still, the update nearly doubled the number of people affected aboard the Diamond Princess. Princess Cruises said 11 of the newly-confirmed cases were Americans. In total 135 passengers from the ship have tested positive for the new virus, all of whom had been brought off the ship or were about to be taken off for treatment in Japanese hospitals. 

Most of the 3,711 passengers and crew on the Diamond Princess remained isolated in their cabins as the vessel sat in the port of Yokohama, near Tokyo.

"Since it is early in the quarantine period of 14-days, it was not unexpected that additional cases would be reported involving individuals who were exposed prior to the start of the quarantine," Princess said in it's statement. But for anyone who was in contact with confirmed cases, that 14-day quarantine period starts anew from the time their diagnosed friends of family leave the vessel.

Princess referred all questions "on the timeline, test results and reporting protocols" to Japanese health officials.

The mother of a physician who died last week in Wuhan said in a video released Sunday that she wants an explanation from authorities who reprimanded him for warning about the virus in December.

The death of Li Wenliang, 34, prompted an outpouring of public anger at Wuhan officials. Some postings left on his microblog account said officials should face consequences for mistreating Li.

"My child was summoned by the Wuhan Police Bureau at midnight. He was asked to sign an admonishment notice," Lu Shuyun said in the video distributed by Pear Video, an online broadcast platform. "We won't give up if they don't give us an explanation."

The video shows flowers in her home with a note that says, "Hero is immortal. Thank you."

- Associated Press

On Monday, a large number of workplaces and schools remain closed and many white-collar employees will work from home, according to Reuters. Communist Party officials have ordered virtual lockdowns, canceled flights, and closed factories and schools, Reuters points out.

Reuters said the financial market in China has taken a hit, as shares dropped and investors chose safe-havens like gold, bonds and the Japanese yen.

The Chinese government has said it will liaise with transport officials to ensure a smooth process in having employees return to key industries such as food and medicines, Reuters reported.

According to Reuters, Chinese have taken to the country's social media platform Weibo to vent their frustration over the distrust of information provided by the government.

On Monday, China's health ministry said another 3,062 cases had been reported over the previous 24 hours, raising the Chinese mainland's total to 40,171. Monday's rise was a turnaround from a significant reduction in new cases reported Sunday, 2,656, down by about 20% from the 3,399 new cases reported in the previous 24-hour period. That had prompted optimism that the "joint control mechanism of different regions and the strict prevention and control measures have worked," in the words of a spokesman for the National Health Commission, Mi Feng.

Also Sunday, new cases were reported in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, the U.K. and Spain. More than 360 cases have been confirmed outside mainland China.

— The Associated Press