New virus cases in UK, Germany bring Europe's total to 30
Britain and Germany announced more cases of the Wuhan virus on Thursday, bringing the total number of confirmed virus cases in Europe to 30.
In Germany, all the virus cases have centered on the same company, auto parts supplier Webasto, whose headquarters outside of Munich was visited by a Chinese trainer. On Thursday, Germany's 13th confirmed case of the new coronavirus that emerged from China was the wife of an employee who was previously diagnosed with virus. Two children of company employees are among those infected.
British authorities confirmed the country's third case, saying the patient did not contract the virus in the U.K. They did not elaborate. The two other cases are a Chinese student studying at York University in England and a relative of that student.
Air France announced it was prolonging by more than a month its suspension of flights to mainland China, which won't now restart before March 16 at the earliest because of the new virus.
The company's current suspension of all flights to Shanghai and Beijing was meant to last until this Sunday. Air France and partner airline KLM plan to gradually resume services to China on March 16, together offering one daily flight to both Shanghai and Beijing, either on Air France from Paris or on KLM from Amsterdam.
Air France says all of its flights to mainland China should resume beginning on March 29, including to Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic.
Spain's national airline Iberia says it has extended its suspension of flights between Madrid and Shanghai until the end of April. Spain's tourism department says there has been a significant slowdown in Chinese tourists visiting Spain and in Spanish travelers going to China.
Virgin Atlantic said Thursday that it was suspending its London-Shanghai flights until March 28 because of the outbreak. British Airways has also halted all flights to China, apart from Hong Kong.
The Italian health ministry said one of the 56 Italians in quarantine at an Italian military facility after being evacuated from Wuhan this week will be transferred to Rome's Spallanzani infectious disease hospital after test results on Thursday indicated "a suspected case" of the virus.
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The temperature of a person is checked as precautionary measures against the spreading of novel coronavirus, at Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. So far almost 900 passenger arriving directly from China have been examined at the airport. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP) -
People pass by a notice as precautionary measures against the spreading of novel coronavirus, at Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. So far almost 900 passenger arriving directly from China have been examined at the airport. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP) -
Michael Ryan, Executive Director of WHO's Health Emergencies program, talks during a press conference at the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, February 5, 2020. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries outside China to share more data on infections, saying detailed information has been provided in only 38% of cases. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP) -
Sylvie Briand, right, Director of Global Infectious Hazard Preparedness of WHO, attends a press conference at the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, February 5, 2020. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries outside China to share more data on infections, saying detailed information has been provided in only 38% of cases. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP) -
A person is checked with a thermal imaging camera as precautionary measures against the spreading of novel coronavirus, at Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. So far almost 900 passenger arriving directly from China have been examined at the airport. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP) -
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), talks during a press conference, at the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, February 5, 2020. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries outside China to share more data on infections, saying detailed information has been provided in only 38% of cases. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP) -
A person wearing a mask is pictured at a complex used as a quarantined vacation center in Carry-le-Rouet, southern France, which is currently accommodating French citizens repatriated from the virus-hit city of Wuhan, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. More than 20,000 people have been infected by the outbreak of a respiratory illness from the coronavirus in China. France has issued an advisory, warning against any non-essential travel to China and suggesting that French citizens who were already there return home. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole) -
A person wearing a mask is pictured at a complex used as a quarantined vacation center in Carry-le-Rouet, southern France, which is currently accommodating French citizens repatriated from the virus-hit city of Wuhan, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. More than 20,000 people have been infected by the outbreak of a respiratory illness from the coronavirus in China. France has issued an advisory, warning against any non-essential travel to China and suggesting that French citizens who were already there return home. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole) -
Medical staff walk through a complex used as a quarantined vacation center in Carry-le-Rouet, southern France, which is currently accommodating French citizens repatriated from the virus-hit city of Wuhan, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. More than 20,000 people have been infected by the outbreak of a respiratory illness from the coronavirus in China. France has issued an advisory, warning against any non-essential travel to China and suggesting that French citizens who were already there return home. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole) -
A group of medical personnel stands ready to control 80 people, accompanied by medical specialists, carried by a Russian military plane at an airport outside Tyumen, Russia, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. Russia has evacuated 144 people - Russians and nationals of Belarus, Ukraine and Armenia - from the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, on Wednesday. All evacuees will be quarantined for two weeks in a sanatorium in the Tyumen region in western Siberia, government officials said. (AP Photo/Maxim Slutsky) -
A person wearing a mask walks into a residence at a quarantined vacation center in Carry-le-Rouet, southern France, which is currently accommodating French citizens repatriated from the virus-hit city of Wuhan, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. More than 20,000 people have been infected by the outbreak of a respiratory illness from the coronavirus in China. France has issued an advisory, warning against any non-essential travel to China and suggesting that French citizens who were already there return home. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole) -
A person wearing a mask stands at a window of a staff accommodation block where British nationals recently flown back from China and at risk from the new virus are being quarantined, at Arrowe Park Hospital, on the Wirral, in Liverpool, England, Wednesday Feb. 5, 2020. Britain on Tuesday urged all of its citizens in China to leave the country because of the outbreak of a respiratory illness from a new virus, while Belgium became the latest nation to announce a confirmed case. (AP Photo/Jon Super) -
A view of the quarantined vacation center in Carry-le-Rouet, southern France, which is currently accommodating French citizens repatriated from the virus-hit city of Wuhan, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. More than 20,000 people have been infected by the outbreak of a respiratory illness from the coronavirus in China. France has issued an advisory, warning against any non-essential travel to China and suggesting that French citizens who were already there return home. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole) -
A group of medical personnel meet people, carried by a Russian military plane at an airport outside Tyumen, Russia, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. Russia has evacuated 144 people, Russians and nationals of Belarus, Ukraine and Armenia, from the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, on Wednesday. All evacuees will be quarantined for two weeks in a sanatorium in the Tyumen region in western Siberia, government officials said. (AP Photo/Maxim Slutsky) -
Cleaning products are delivered to the staff accommodation blocks where British nationals who have recently flown back from China and at risk from the new virus are being quarantined, at Arrowe Park Hospital, on the Wirral, in Liverpool, England, Wednesday Feb. 5, 2020. Britain on Tuesday urged all of its citizens in China to leave the country because of the outbreak of a respiratory illness from a new virus, while Belgium became the latest nation to announce a confirmed case. (AP Photo/Jon Super) -
A bus parked at an entrance of the sanatorium in Bogandinsky in the Tyumen region, about 2150 kilometers (1344 miles) east of Moscow, western Siberia, Russia, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020, where the new virus outbreak evacuees will be quarantined for 14 days. Russia has evacuated 144 people, Russians and nationals of Belarus, Ukraine and Armenia - from the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, on Wednesday. All evacuees will be quarantined for two weeks in a sanatorium in the Tyumen region in western Siberia, government officials said. (AP Photo/Maxim Slutsky) -
Police cars are parked at an entrance of the sanatorium in Bogandinsky in the Tyumen region, about 2150 kilometers (1344 miles) east of Moscow, western Siberia, Russia, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020, where virus outbreak evacuees will be quarantined for 14 days. Russia has evacuated 144 people, Russians and nationals of Belarus, Ukraine and Armenia, from the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, on Wednesday. All evacuees will be quarantined for two weeks in a sanatorium in the Tyumen region in western Siberia, government officials said. (AP Photo/Maxim Slutsky) -
A view of the staff accommodation block where British nationals who have recently flown back from China and at risk from the new virus are being quarantined, at Arrowe Park Hospital, on the Wirral, in Liverpool, England, Wednesday Feb. 5, 2020. Britain on Tuesday urged all of its citizens in China to leave the country because of the outbreak of a respiratory illness from a new virus, while Belgium became the latest nation to announce a confirmed case. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
That is the same hospital where a Chinese couple in their 60s were admitted last week with confirmed cases. They are in intensive care with pneumonia.
China's ambassador to the U.K. said his country was "fully confident in beating the virus," and urged other nations not to overreact.
"It is of hope that governments of all countries, including the U.K., should understand and support China's efforts, avoid overreaction, avoid creating panic, and ensure normal co-operation and exchanges between countries," he told reporters in London.
As of Thursday, China had 563 virus deaths and 28,018 confirmed cases on the mainland. Two other virus deaths occurred in Hong Kong and the Philippines. Besides Germany, Britain and Italy, other European nations with cases of the virus include France, Russia, Belgium, Sweden, Finland and Spain.
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