US, South Korea, Italy Continue Battling COVID-19|美再增4死病例 全美6死皆在華盛頓州

On March 2, the United States reported four additional coronavirus disease 2019 deaths, bringing the total to six fatalities. All of them occurred in Washington state. Local government officials warned that it's no longer a matter of whether the outbreak will expand, but when.

(There are) likely many mild cases in the community that we're not aware of. We're going to see a lot of sick people and we're going to have a tremendous challenge on our health care system.

Local researchers said it's possible that the novel coronavirus has been spreading in the state for six weeks without anyone knowing. King County, where the majority of the deaths occurred, canceled classes at 11 schools. The local government also announced a plan to buy a motel to use as a hospital. COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in 14 U.S. states so far, and the total number of cases has exceeded 100. However, Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the U.S. response to COVID-19, said the threat of the coronavirus to the U.S. people remains low, while President Donald Trump said he has already asked pharmaceuticals to accelerate their vaccine research and development.

Meanwhile, the outbreak continues to expand in South Korea. The country reported around 400 new cases on the morning of March 3, bringing the total to nearly 5,000. The majority of the cases occurred in Daegu, which has 3,600 cases. Of that number, 60 percent are related to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus. The number of cases in Seoul rose from 91 on March 2 to 98.

Over in Italy, the number of confirmed cases has surpassed 2,000.

However, we still had 18 fatalities, 15 in Lombardy and three in Emilia-Romagna, bringing the total number of deaths to 52.

Rome reported its first COVID-19 family cluster infection on March 1. The Italian government has enacted a new injunction for the supervision of at-risk areas. In the hard-hit Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna regions, all sports, entertainment, cultural, and religious activities before March 8 have been suspended.

In France, the number of confirmed cases is at nearly 200 with four fatalities. On March 1, two mayors were diagnosed, including one that had attended the Paris Agricultural Fair. The government is trying to trace all the people they were in contact with. Employees of the Louvre Museum went on strike on March 1 to express their dissatisfaction over how museum officials have not rolled out disease prevention countermeasures, shuttering the museum for the day. The strike continued on March 2 and the museum remained closed.



美國長青健康醫療中心 埃托爾表示：「儘管我們盡了最大努力，當中6人還是死亡。」

連續出現2起武漢肺炎死亡病例後，美國當地時間2號又通報4人死亡，累積死亡病例上升到6人，而且全在華盛頓州。疫情急轉直下，當地官員警告，疫情爆發不再是"會不會來"的狀態，而是"什麼時候會來"。

西雅圖和金恩郡公共衛生官 傑夫表示：「社區中可能有很多，我們不知道的輕度病例，我們將會出現很多患者，醫療體系會面臨巨大挑戰。」

當地研究人員也指出，病毒恐怕已在華盛頓州傳播6星期，只是沒被發現。死亡人數最多的金恩郡，11所學校停課，當地政府打算收購飯店當醫院使用。目前全美有14州出現確診病例，全國累積病例數破百。但防疫總指揮、副總統潘斯還是強調，病毒對美國人的威脅仍很低，總統川普則表示，已要求製藥公司加快疫苗研發。

南韓疫情目前沒有趨緩跡象，3號早上又通報4百多例，全國累積病例逼近5千例。新病例多數仍來自大邱，目前當地累積病例達3600例，其中6成和新天地教會有關。首爾的累積病例，也從前一天的91例，上升到98例，快要破百。

而歐洲義大利，累積確診病例已突破兩千。

義大利新冠病毒特別專員 波瑞里表示：「但是，我們還是有18人死亡，倫巴底15人，艾米利亞-羅曼尼亞3人，所以總死亡人數是52人。」

羅馬1號也出現第一起市內家庭群聚感染，義大利政府已簽署新禁令，將全國依危險情況分區管理。重災區倫巴底大區、威內托大區，以及艾米利亞 羅曼尼亞區，3月8號前暫停體育、娛樂、文化、宗教等活動。

而在法國，累積確診病例逼近200例，死亡病例增加到4例。1號也有2名市長傳出確診，其中一人曾參加巴黎國際農業博覽會，政府正在追查兩人的接觸史。而巴黎的羅浮宮，員工因不滿館方拿不出防疫對策，1號罷工、閉館一天。2號罷工持續，羅浮宮繼續閉館。