The 542 cases on the ship were the most in any place outside of China and medical experts have called the quarantine a failure. The updated figures on the COVID-19 illness for mainland China bring the total for cases to 74,185 and deaths to 2,004. Many countries set up border screenings and airlines canceled flights to and from China to prevent further spread of the disease, which has been detected in around two dozen countries and caused almost 1,000 confirmed cases outside mainland China. Five deaths have been reported outside the mainland, in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and France. The largest number of cases outside China is the 542 on the Diamond Princess at a port near Tokyo.

Source: Ethiopian News February 18, 2020 15:33 UTC