The number of swine flu cases in the US topped 10,000 on Monday and the virus spread to all 50 states, as Alaska reported its first (A)H1N1 infection, an official update showed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 10,053 probable or confirmed cases of swine flu in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, up from nearly 9,000 on Friday.
The CDC also linked two more deaths to the (A)H1N1 influenza virus, bringing the official death toll for the outbreak to 17, which does not include the first death from the disease reported by California state officials on Monday.
The US has the most cases of swine flu of any of more than 50 countries around the world.
Meanwhile, Australia’s swine flu tally soared again to nearly 500 confirmed cases yesterday, just a day after a sudden spike made it the Asia-Pacific region’s worst-affected country.
Victoria Health Minister Daniel Andrews said that 89 new cases had been identified in the state overnight, taking its total to 395. The national count now stands at 496, the fourth largest worldwide.
Australia had only one case of swine flu just a fortnight ago, but the numbers have grown exponentially since the controversial move to let infected passengers leave a luxury cruise-liner last week.
Carnival Australia yesterday warned that another of its vessels had been turned away from the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia because of possible flu cases among its passengers.
Samples from four or five of about 2,000 Dawn Princess passengers will be tested for swine flu before the vessel returns to Sydney on Friday.
In Mexico, Minister of Health Jose Angel Cordova said the government could lift its swine flu alert by the middle of this month, maintaining the death toll at 97 and raising the number of cases by more than 200 to 5,240.
The virus was still on the wane, Cordova said, underlining that the alert for A(H1N1) in the country at the epicenter of the virus could lift in two weeks’ time.
“If we see that cases are appearing only occasionally, then we’ll totally lift the alert,” Cordova said, though he still recommended the use of face masks in busy public places such as the metro.
In its latest report, the WHO said 62 countries had officially reported 17,410 cases of A(H1N1), including 115 deaths.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese