South Korean cases jump, China counts 150 more virus deaths

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea reported another large jump in new virus cases today a day after the president called for "unprecedented, powerful" steps to combat the outbreak that is increasingly confounding attempts to stop the spread.

The 161 new cases bring South Korea's total to 763 cases, and two more deaths raise its toll to seven.

China also reported 409 new cases today, raising the mainland's total to 77,150 after a zigzag pattern of increases in recent days. The 150 new deaths from the COVID-19 illness raised China's total to 2,592 and showed a spike after hovering below 100 for four days. All but one death were in Hubei province, where the outbreak emerged in December.

Significant jumps in cases outside China have raised concern of the outbreak getting out of control. South Korea has the third-highest national total behind China and Japan, and cases have rapidly increased in Italy and Iran in just a few days.

Most of Japan's cases were from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, where nearly one-fifth of its 3,711 passengers and crew became infected.

More than 140 of South Korea's new cases were in and near the city of Daegu, where most of the country's infections have so far occurred. Six of the seven deaths were linked to a hospital in Cheongdo, near Daegu, where a slew of infections were confirmed among patients in a mental ward.

While officials have expressed hope they could contain the outbreak to the region surrounding Daegu, some experts noted signs of the virus circulating nationwide, pointing to several cases in the capital, Seoul, and elsewhere that weren't immediately traceable.

Far from where the illness first emerged, authorities in Italy battled to contain Europe's first major outbreak and Iran reported eight deaths -- the highest toll outside of China. Some of the disease clusters identified in recent days have shown no link to China, a worrying sign of the virus spreading beyond control.

The Iranian health ministry said there were now 43 confirmed cases in Iran, which did not report its first case of the virus until Wednesday.

In Italy's northern Lombardy region, which includes the nation's financial capital, Milan, the governor announced Sunday the number of confirmed cases stood at 110. Italy now has 152 cases, the largest number outside of Asia, including three deaths.

Venice, which is full of tourists for Carnival events, reported its first two cases, said Veneto Gov. Luca Zaia, whose region includes the lagoon city. It wasn't immediately known if the two infected had participated in Carnival festivities.

As Italy scrambled to check the spread of the virus, authorities announced all Carnival events had been called off as well as major league soccer matches in the stricken region. Cinemas and theaters were also ordered shuttered, including Milan's legendary La Scala.

Warning that China's virus epidemic is "still grim and complex," President Xi Jinping called for more efforts to stop the outbreak, revive industry and prevent the disease from disrupting spring planting of crops. Xi defended the ruling Communist Party's response as "timely and effective" in a video conference with officials in charge of anti-disease work, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

"The current epidemic situation is still grim and complex," Xinhua cited Xi as saying. "Prevention and control are at the most critical stage."

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said his government had increased its anti-virus alert level by one notch to "Red," the highest level. It allows for the temporary closure of schools and reduced operation of public transportation and flights to and from South Korea.

The new school year for kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools in South Korea was put off by one week until March 9.

Moon said the outbreak "has reached a crucial watershed," and that the next few days will be critical. "We shouldn't be bound by regulations and hesitate to take unprecedented, powerful measures," he said.

Most of the South Korean cases have been reported in and around Daegu, which has a population of 2.5 million. The biggest cluster of cases has been linked to a local branch of the Shincheonji church, which mainstream Christian organizations have viewed as a cult movement.

The Shincheonji church said it shut all its local branches since a church member tested positive for the virus on Feb. 18.

Daegu Mayor Kwon Yong-jin said the city's total could increase significantly because authorities were intensively examining of church members with virus-related symptoms, which include fever, cough and in severe cases, shortness of breath and pneumonia.

Meanwhile, a diplomatic row erupted after Israel turned back a South Korean airliner, underscoring fear and tensions over the outbreak.

A Korean Air flight with 188 passengers that landed at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport Saturday evening was taxied away from the terminal while authorities allowed only 11 Israelis to enter the country. The plane returned to South Korea with the rest of the passengers on Sunday.

Seoul's Foreign Ministry said it was closely monitoring the incident and will evacuate South Korean tourists from Israel if necessary. Yonhap news agency cited South Korea's Foreign Ministry as registering a strong protest with the Israeli government.

Israel's Foreign Ministry issued travel warnings to South Korea and Japan due to the coronavirus, and the Health Ministry ordered Israelis returning from those countries to remain in home quarantine, as previously ordered for those returning from Hong Kong, China, Macau, Thailand and Singapore.