BEIJING/SHANGHAI: Police in China have detained a woman for “deliberately concealing” her contact with someone from an area stricken by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and jeopardising efforts to stop its spread, the Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday. The death toll in China from the newly identified virus has risen to 425 with more than 20,000 cases of infection, authorities reported. Authorities in some places have threatened dire punishment for anyone violating the law in connection with efforts to battle the virus. A high court in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang said people who intentionally spread the virus could face the death penalty, according to a Jan 31 court notice. Police in Qinghai province in the northwest were investigating a man infected with the virus who “severely disrupted virus containment and harmed public health“, Xinhua reported, without elaborating.

Source: New Strait Times February 04, 2020 03:56 UTC