The  coronavirus outbreak has now claimed  722 lives according to reports this Saturday. The virus has also now claimed its first foreign victim, a US citizen aged 60 who died on Thursday in the city of Wuhan where the outbreak began.

The death of the American was confirmed by the US Embassy in China. As yet, the only deaths from the disease recorded outside mainland China remain two– a Chinese man in the Philippines and a 39-year-old man in Hong Kong.

Now the world appears to have sufficient reason to panic. The number of people infected by the new strain of coronavirus has hit nearly 35,000. Hong Kong has imposed mandatory quarantine on all people coming into it from mainland China. Japan has placed a cruise ship berthed off its coast with over 3000 passengers and crew on quarantine.
The Chinese government has placed a virtual lock down on cities which are home to tens of millions of people as anger mounts in the country over its handling of the health emergency especially after a whistle blowing doctor died this week of the virus.

Today, many countries are placing complete restriction on people arriving from China and advising their citizens  not to travel there.