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Hong Kong Medical Workers on Strike for Second Straight Day as Territory
Confirms First Coronavirus Death

VOA News

   Medical workers in Hong Kong are staging a second consecutive day of
   strikes Tuesday as the Chinese territory reports its first death from a
   coronavirus that has killed 425 people in mainland China.

   Hong Kong shut down nearly all land and sea border crossings with the
   mainland at midnight local time after more than 2,000 medical workers
   walked off the job Monday demanding that all border crossings be closed
   completely. Hong Kong was hit hard by severe acute respiratory syndrome
   (SARS) in 2002-03.

   Hong Kong health authorities have identified the victim as a
   39-year-old male with a pre-existing illness who had recently visited
   Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.

   Meanwhile, the Chinese gambling territory of Macau announced Tuesday
   that it will temporarily shut down all casino operations for two weeks
   to help curb the spread of the virus.

   The total number of confirmed cases of people sickened by the new
   coronavirus in China has soared above 20,000. There are about 150
   confirmed cases in 23 other countries. On Sunday, the Philippines
   reported the first coronavirus death outside of China.

   A new study published Monday in the journal Nature said experts from
   the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which specializes in the study of
   viruses, say the new virus is 96% genetically identical to a virus
   found in bats in southern China's Yunnan province.

   The study said the new coronavirus is 80% genetically similar to the
   SARS virus that killed more than 800 people in 2002 and 2003.

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