[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The Wuhan pneumonia is spreading to various parts of Southeast Asia.
On the 23rd (local time), according to the US AP News Agency, Vietnamese authorities announced that two Chinese men in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, were confirmed to be infected with Wuhan pneumonia.
The confirmed cases are Chinese nationals residing in Ho Chi Minh City, and the virus was transmitted by the father who traveled to Vietnam, the origin of Wuhan pneumonia. The father also tested positive for the coronavirus.
The first case of Wuhan pneumonia infection also appeared in Singapore. According to the local daily The Straits Times, a 66-year-old Chinese national from Wuhan was visiting Singapore for tourism and tested positive for Wuhan pneumonia.
US media reported that the first confirmed patient in the United States is in a relatively stable condition. The patient is isolated under the care of several medical staff.
The World Health Organization (WHO) plans to hold an emergency meeting on the 24th to decide whether to declare a global emergency regarding Wuhan pneumonia. WHO announced on Twitter that the emergency meeting held the day before will resume on this day and that they will announce response measures for Wuhan pneumonia.
Meanwhile, Chinese state media reported that the authorities have counted a total of 634 confirmed cases of Wuhan pneumonia so far. The number of deaths has not increased from 17.
In the early morning of the same day, China locked down two additional nearby cities following Wuhan City, and also closed the Forbidden City, a tourist attraction in Beijing, to prevent the spread of Wuhan pneumonia. The museum announced on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, that the Forbidden City will be closed from the 25th until further notice.
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