A man wearing a mask as a preventive measure against the coronavirus gestures as he speaks with a Palestinian policeman outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on March 5. The Church is to temporarily close after a suspected outbreak of coronavirus, the Palestinian health ministry announced.
Thai officials prepare sets of face masks and hand sanitizers for sale at the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) pharmacy in Bangkok, Thailand on March 5.
In the aftermath of the state's first death from the coronavirus, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency to deal with the virus at a news conference in Sacramento on March 4.
President Donald Trump, with Vice President Mike Pence, speaks during a coronavirus briefing with Airline CEOs in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on March 4 in Washington D.C.
Juventus stadium closed to fans for 30 days, due to the Italian government's decision to play matches in the Italian Serie A championship without fans, to contain the spread of the coronavirus in Torino, Italy on March 4.
Indian security guards wearing protective masks stand inside a private school that was closed over fear of a coronavirus outbreak, in Noida, India on March 4. The school was closed after some students and teachers attended the birthday party of a boy whose father tested positive for COVID-19 after traveling back from Italy.
President Donald Trump is flanked by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar and National Institutes of Health Doctor Kizzmekia Corbett, research fellow at the NIH Vaccine Research Center, as he listens to Director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci following a briefing at the Vaccine Research Center in Bethesda, Maryland on March 3.
A passenger originating from China has his body temperature taken upon arrival on an international flight as he waits to be screened for signs of the coronavirus at Entebbe Airport in Entenbbe, Uganda on March 3.
In the Central Medical Laboratory of the St. Georg Hospital in Leipzig, Germany, a medical-technical assistant prepares patient samples for coronavirus testing on March 3.
A medical staff member checks information of a patient as patients infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus leave from Wuhan No. 5 Hospital to Leishenshan Hospital, the newly-built hospital for the COVID-19 coronavirus patients on March 3.
Paramedics in protective suits and Israelis wearing masks and gloves stand near a dedicated polling station where people under quarantine from the coronavirus can vote in Israel's national election, in Tel Aviv, on Mar. 2.
Harborview Medical Center's home assessment team, including (L to R) Michelle Steik, Lucy Greenfield, and Krista Reitberg prepare to visit the home of a person potentially exposed to novel coronavirus, at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington on Feb. 29.
Health workers wearing protective gear check Nepali citizens evacuated from China as they are under quarantine following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, in Nepal, on Feb. 29.
French government officials, including French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (1st-L), French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire (2nd-L), French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe (3rd-L), French Health and Solidarity Minister Olivier Veran (4th-L) and French President Emmanuel Macron (3rd-R) attend a defense council concerning the coronavirus outbreak, in Paris, France, on Feb. 29.
A tourist affected by coronavirus is transferred to a hospital from the hotel H10 Costa Adeje Palace, which is on lockdown after novel coronavirus has been confirmed in Adeje, on island of Tenerife, Spain, on Feb. 29.
Employees work on the production line of an antimalarial drug that Chinese officials said has curative effect on the novel coronavirus disease, at a pharmaceutical company in Nantong, Jiangsu province, China, on Feb. 27.
Doctors at West China Hospital of Sichuan University use 5G technology to diagnose COVID-19 patients on Feb. 27, in Chengdu, Sichuan Province of China.
Hugo Lopez-Gatell Ramirez, Mexico's Undersecretary of Health Prevention and Promotion, holds a news conference on information about the new coronavirus, in Mexico City, on Feb. 27.
Passengers remain onboard the MSC Meraviglia cruise ship in Cozumel, Mexico, on Feb. 27. A cruise carrying 6,000 people which was turned away by Jamaica and the Cayman Islands after a crew member tested positive for flu, has docked in Mexico.
Policemen guard the entrance of a school, after authorities put the school under isolation because of suspicions of a coronavirus case, after a teacher returned from a travel in Northern Italy, in Vienna, Austria on Feb. 26
Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan is seen on a screen as he delivers the annual budget at the legislative council in Hong Kong on Feb. 26. Hong Kong's government said it will give a 10,000 HKD (1,280 USD) handout to seven million permanent residents in a bid to jump-start a recession-hit economy after the coronavirus outbreak.
A man collects bags of his food order as a worker places it in a basket to prevent human contact following the coronavirus outbreak, in Beijing, on Feb. 23.
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers pose during an emergency meeting with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the coronavirus outbreak in Vientiane, Laos, on Feb. 20.
A man holds a Ukrainian state flag during a protest against the arrival of a plane carrying evacuees from China's Hubei province hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the village of Novi Sanzhary in Poltava region, Ukraine, on Feb. 20.
A Chinese tourist (front right), who was tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus and was isolated for treatment, receives a kiss from Sri Lankan Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi and medical staff after she was discharged from the hospital near Colombo on Feb. 19. The 43-year-old woman, the first and only COVID-19 patient in Sri Lanka, was admitted to the hospital on January 25 and tested positive for COVID-19 two days later.
Workers go about their duties at a section of the Leishenshan Hospital, the newly-built makeshift hospital for novel coronavirus patients, in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on Feb. 18. The first group of patients infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus was discharged from Leishenshan Hospital on Feb. 18, according to local media.
Jay Butler, Deputy Director for Infectious Diseases addresses the media about response to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19 ) as Senior Adviser Ed Rouse looks on, at the Emergency Operations Center inside The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on Feb. 13 in Atlanta.
The ultrastructural morphology exhibited by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China, is seen in an illustration released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, on Jan. 29.
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(Bloomberg) -- India’s coronavirus infections jumped to 28, including 16 Italian tourists, pushing authorities to step up preventive measures, intensify surveillance and enhance testing facilities.
The Indian driver of the infected members of the Italian tour group in the western city of Jaipur also tested positive for the virus, federal Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said at a press conference in New Delhi Wednesday.
This is the biggest jump in infections reported in India where the total confirmed cases until Tuesday had stood at six, including a Delhi resident who traveled Italy, a Bengaluru-based official who returned from Dubai and traveled to Hyderabad and one Italian tourist in the western city of Jaipur. Earlier three students from southern Kerala state, who returned from Wuhan in China, the epicenter of the outbreak, tested positive for the virus and were treated and discharged from hospital after they recovered.
On Wednesday the 22 new confirmed infections also included six Indians who contracted the infection from their Delhi-based relative who had traveled to Italy.
Total infections worldwide have risen above 93,000 and the death toll rose to more than 3,201.
In India authorities have worked to trace all those who had come into contact with the infected people. At least two private schools in a Delhi suburb have been shut for few days as a precaution amid news that some students may have met one of the infected. Staff at a city five-star hotel were also asked to self-quarantine for two weeks as the infected person had visited the property.
The country is also intensifying its passenger scanning at airports and will now screen all travelers flying in from overseas for virus symptoms. State governments have been advised to augment isolation and testing facilities, Vardhan said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said in a tweet Wednesday he will not participate in the Hindu festival of Holi because health experts had advised against public gatherings.
To contact the reporter on this story: Bibhudatta Pradhan in New Delhi at bpradhan@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Muneeza Naqvi
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