Risk Assessment Report – 17 February 2020
Risk Assessment Report – 17 February 2020
Rapid Risk Assessment
February 17, 2020
Risk Assessment Report – 17 February 2020
Time Period Covered February 17, 2020 - February 17, 2020
- World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the Munich Security Conference on February 15, that the outbreak was still an emergency for China and it was impossible to predict where it may spread.
- The Ministry of Health of Egypt has confirmed the first case of COVID-19 in the country as of February 14. This is the first confirmed case of the disease in Africa. The affected individual was a foreigner who had been put into isolation. The Ministry did not provide the nationality of the affected individual or any other information about the case.
- In February 14, France's health minister on Saturday announced the first coronavirus death in Europe (first death outside Asia) in an 80-year-old Chinese tourist. Minister Agnes Buzyn said she was informed Friday night of the death of the patient, who had been in intensive care at Bichat Hospital in Paris after testing positive in late January.
- WHO has stated that North Korea has not reported any COVID-19 infections to date. The country has implemented travel restrictions to and from China, including a 30-day quarantine for all arriving foreigners. The WHO representative assigned to North Korea also noted that the country has the capacity to carry out tests for COVID-19.
- In February 16, Hubei implemented "hard quarantine" in villages. No were allowed to go in. Each household was allowed one person every three days to go out for provisions and urgent agricultural material, on designated routes and in limited time. All nonessential public spaces in Hubei were closed and all gatherings were forbidden.
- Malaysia reported a COVID-19 confirmed 83-year-old US citizen who disembarked from Westerdam cruise ship in Cambodia and flew into Malaysia on 14 February. The ship had departed Hong Kong on February 1 and was subsequently turned away by a number of countries prior to being permitted to dock in Cambodia on February 13. The affected individual had been evacuated to Malaysia and tested positive after arriving at Kuala Lumpur on February 14. She is the only passenger to test positive for COVID-19 as of February 16.
- The first death in Taiwan was confirmed on 16 February. An official confirmed that the 61-year-old man from central Taiwan with underlying health problems but no recent overseas travel history died in hospital on Saturday after testing positive for the COVID-19. It is the 5th recorded death outside mainland China - previous deaths were from Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan, and France.
Risk Assessment Report – 17 February 2020