Wow. People Really Have a Handle On this Coronavirus

It's like the flu but not really:

South Korea’s president -

(Sidebar: this president.)

- said Sunday that he was putting his country on its highest alert for infectious diseases and ordered officials to take “unprecedented, powerful” steps to fight a soaring viral outbreak that has infected more than 600 people in the country, mostly in the last few days.

China also reported hundreds of more infections for a total of about 77,000, and Iran raised its death toll from the virus to eight — the highest toll outside of China. While the number of patients worldwide is increasing, some virus clusters have shown no link to China and experts are struggling to trace where those clusters started.

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.

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The greatest concentration of Canadians with the illness caused by COVID-19 coronavirus is not in British Columbia or Ontario. It is in a string of unidentified hospitals around the Japanese capital.

It is here in Tokyo that 43 unnamed Canadians from the Princess Diamond cruise liner were sent to hospital over the past few days after testing positive for the virus.

(Sidebar: these Canadians.)

 So were 591 other passengers and crew who became infected on the ship. Twenty-eight of those travellers are critically ill and three of them have died, according to Japanese news reports. As of the time of writing, 17 of those who were infected have recovered.

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Cases of the new coronavirus in Italy, the most affected country in Europe, rose on Saturday to nearly 80, killing two people and prompting the government to close off the worst hit areas in the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto.

Authorities in the two regions, where the outbreak is concentrated, have canceled sports events, including three top league soccer games, and closed schools and universities. Companies from Ray-Ban owner Luxottica to the country’s top bank UniCredit have told workers living in the affected areas to stay home.

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Not so fast, Canada:

A sixth person in B.C. is believed to be infected with the coronavirus, and the case is raising new questions about how the disease is spreading, health officials announced Thursday.

The latest patient is a woman in her 30s who lives in the Fraser Health region, according to provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry. She had recently returned from a trip to Iran and is now recovering at home.

Henry said officials were surprised when they learned the woman had only visited Iran, and not China or neighbouring countries that have seen the bulk of COVID-19 cases.

"That could be an indicator that there's more widespread transmission. This is what we call an indicator or sentinel event," Henry told a news conference.

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Air Canada says a passenger on one of its flights from Montreal to Vancouver has since tested positive for COVID-19.

The airline says it was advised by health authorities on Saturday about the passenger, who flew into Vancouver on Feb. 14.

“Air Canada is working with public health authorities and has taken all recommended measures,” a spokesperson said in an email Sunday.