Coronavirus news – live: UK hospitals instructed to create secure pods for patients as emergency Cobra meeting called
Newborn infant diagnosed just 30 hours after birth
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Coronavirus could be capable of passing from a mother to her baby inside the womb, doctors fear, after a newborn tested positive for the disease just 30 hours after birth.
It came as cruise ship passengers were quarantined in Japan after 10 people aboard were found to be infected with coronavirus. Some 3,700 passengers and crew are now locked down on the Diamond Princess, including a number of Britons.
Hundreds of people are being held aboard another cruise ship in Hong Kong, where medical staff are demanding leader Carrie Lam completely close the border with China.
In the UK, The Independent can exclusively reveal that NHS hospitals have been ordered to create secure coronavirus testing areas to keep pressure off A&E departments.
While the professor leading the NHS’s coronavirus response claimed the measures were “appropriate” to ensure daily services were not affected, Dr Bharat Pankhania at the University of Exeter said the pods “could raise the risk of infection” as a result of “all sorts of issues about ventilation and air clearance”.
In the letter obtained by this paper, NHS 2019-nCoV lead, Professor Keith Willet, said the pods would need to be decontaminated in line with Public Health England guidance after every patient.
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Vaccine timeline
Moscow believes developing a working coronavirus vaccine will take up to 10 months, the Interfax news agency has reported.
"Today the process of developing a vaccine is not a short period of time. A vaccine is being developed for at least eight to 10 months, this is just the initial stage without clinical trials," said Russia's health minister Mikhail Murashko.
No grain pain, says Ukraine
Coronavirus is not likely to disrupt grain exports to China, Ukraine says, despite delays in transport throughout the country. China imports a lot of Ukrainian corn and sunflower oil.
"China is in the market, demand has not gone away, but just now American prices are quite competitive with ours so Chinese demand will be divided between us and them," one Ukrainian trader told Reuters.
American flight cuts
US airlines have extended their flight cancellations to Hong Kong amid a growing outbreak of coronavirus, writes Cathy Adams.
American Airlines announced that it would pull flights to the southern Chinese city until 20 February due to weak demand. United Airlines will follow suit this weekend.
Americans flying home
Some 350 US citizens evacuated from Wuhan are due to arrive at two US military bases in California on Wednesday, as Washington works to fly more Americans home.
In an overnight statement the Pentagon travelers on two State Department-chartered flights would be quarantined for 14 days after landing at Travis Air Force Base and Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.
The State Department also said it may stage further flights on Thursday but gave no other details.
Men contract illness after business conference
Three men have tested positive for coronavirus after attending an international business conference in a Singapore hotel, Malaysian and South Korean authorities have said.
Singapore has reported 24 cases of the disease.
In bad taste
A bar has sparked outrage by using the coronavirus to advertise deals on Corona beer “while the pandemic lasts”, writes Andy Gregory.
The New Zealand venue illustrated its promotion with an image of two men wearing boiler suits and gas masks while holding a bottle of beer.
Student gets all-clear
A UK student who went into isolation when they felt ill after returning from China does not have coronavirus.
Paramedics were called to the University of Southampton on Monday to take the student to hospital after they contacted the NHS saying they felt ill.
The student was discharged and allowed to return to their accommodation. Nonetheless, the university advised the student's flatmates to also self-isolate as a precaution and communal areas of the flat and lifts were deep-cleaned.
A university spokesperson said: "The student concerned at our Mayflower Halls has tested negative for the new coronavirus, so has the all-clear."
UK update
The Department of Health has said 468 people in the UK have now tested negative for coronavirus.
Of almost 1,500 people who arrived on direct flights from Wuhan in January, all have either left the UK or are now outside the 14-day incubation period for the virus.
Baby infected
Singapore has confirmed another four cases of coronavirus - including in a six-month-old baby - taking the country's total infections to 28.
Situation severe in Wuhan
Wuhan is suffering under the pressure of the coronavirus, a senior official there has said.
The situation remains serious, according to vice Communist Party chief Hu Lishan.
There are 132 quarantine centres running with 12,571 beds still available.
Wuhan, where the new form of coronavirus first emerged, has seen the highest number of infections as has its wider home province of Hubei.
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