The appearance of new cases of Covid-19 contamination in South Korea, Iran as well as in Chinese hospitals and prisons, relaunched, on Friday, February 21, concerns about the spread of an epidemic which has already caused more than 2 200 dead.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is now calling on the international community to "strike hard" without delay against this virus which has infected more than 75,000 people in China and 1,100 elsewhere in the world.

>> To read: Coronavirus: in China, the punishments of dissident citizens are increasing

Dozens of infections have been reported in two hospitals in Beijing, and more than 400 in prisons across the country, including at least 200 in a single prison. But above all, while the number of new daily cases in China had dropped for four consecutive days, it started to rise again (to at least 889 against 673 the day before), the National Commission (Ministry) of Health announced on Friday.

  • In China, 118 new deaths and an increase in contamination cases

The new coronavirus epidemic has killed 118 more in mainland China, mostly in Hubei province, bringing the total national death toll to 2,236, health officials said on Friday. The National Health Commission has also reported 889 new cases of contamination confirmed within 24 hours in mainland China (excluding Hong Kong and Macao).

Almost all of the new deaths in China have been recorded in the central province of Hubei, at the epicenter of the epidemic, and most in its capital, Wuhan, the metropolis where the virus appeared in December.

>> See: Coronavirus: "The epidemic is also an opportunity for Beijing to improve population control"

But more than half of the new infections have taken place in other Chinese provinces. Fears therefore remain keen over the possible spread of the virus in the country, despite the drastic restrictions on movement and containment measures adopted in many cities.

China also said on Thursday that it has again changed the method for counting patients with the new coronavirus and will now only include those who have passed a laboratory test. It was the second review of the criteria in just eight days, a move that could cloud the statistics and make it difficult to track the spread of the disease.

  • In France, a new aircraft for returnees

A plane repatriating 28 French and 36 nationals of other countries of the European Union took off Friday from Wuhan, the Chinese metropolis at the epicenter of the epidemic of the new coronavirus, AFP learned from a diplomatic source. On arrival, French returnees must be placed in quarantine for 14 days in a holiday village in Calvados, in Normandy.

Made available by Paris to transport 17 tonnes of cargo of medical equipment for Chinese medical staff, the aircraft, an Airbus A380, arrived in Wuhan overnight before taking off at 5:57 a.m. local time (i.e. Thursday 21:57 GMT) bound for France, said this source.

>> See: Coronavirus: "There is no virus circulation in France"

After two first French repatriation flights, a British plane had also evacuated around 30 French people on February 9. On all three of these flights, more than 300 people have already been repatriated from China to France and placed in quarantine in two places of accommodation in Bouches-du-Rhône. Most of them have left and the last 35 returnees, who arrived on February 9 via London, are due to leave on February 23.

  • In South Korea, a leaping record

South Korea announced Friday that it has recorded 52 new Covid-19 cases, most linked to a Christian sect in a metropolitan area, bringing the number of infected patients in that country to 156.

Thirty-nine of the new cases are linked to "Shincheonji Church of Jesus" in the city of Daegu, the fourth largest in South Korea, said the Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In total, more than 80 faithful of this church were contaminated.

A 61-year-old woman, a member of this Christian sect and who did not know that she had contracted viral pneumonia, allegedly transmitted the virus to them, notably by attending religious services. The municipality of Daegu said that 1,001 faithful of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus could have attended the same offices as the sexagenarian.

If we exclude the focus of infection of the Diamond Princess liner in Japan, South Korea becomes the country with the highest number of cases nationally after China, from where the epidemic has spread.

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