Mongolia says its first coronavirus case is a French energy worker who didn't follow instructions to isolate himself
March 10, 2020, 7:28 AM
4 min read
The Latest on the coronavirus outbreak sweeping the globe (all times local):
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Mongolia says its first coronavirus case is a French energy worker who didn't follow instructions to isolate himself.
Authorities say the 56-year-old man works for an exploration company affiliated with the French energy company Areva.
He arrived on March 2 from Moscow and was instructed to isolate himself in himself in his hotel. Instead, authorities say, he visited several restaurants and met with colleagues at his company's office before traveling by train to the East Gobi region where he worked.
All incoming and outgoing traffic to the capital Ulaanbaatar was closed from Tuesday to March 17. Authorities are working to identify more than 500 people who may have contact with the patient.
Mongolia closed its border with China weeks ago because of the virus outbreak there, and flights to Beijing and Seoul have been canceled. The northern border with Russia remains open and flights to Moscow and Berlin are continuing.
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The European Central Bank says a staff member has the new coronavirus.
The ECB said in a statement late Monday that about 100 colleagues who worked near the infected staff member have been told to work from home as a precaution.
The Frankfurt-based central bank says it is also “undertaking a deep clean of potentially affected office spaces.”
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A cruise ship barred from Thailand and Malaysia due to coronavirus fears has returned to Singapore a week after it set sail from the city-state.
Passengers wheeling luggage off the Costa Fortuna were ushered to waiting coaches and ferried away Tuesday morning. Most were not wearing masks. Some passengers told reporters at the scene everything was great and that everyone aboard the ship was fine.
No cases of infection with the new virus has been confirmed in the ship. Singapore authorities previously said doctors would check people before they disembarked.
The ship was refused docking in Thailand because it carried 64 Italians and that country has been the epicenter of Europe's outbreak. Malaysia also turned away the ship.
Singapore allowed the ship to dock because it had been scheduled and all passengers on board had been screened before the ship sailed.
The virus is a concern on cruise ships after hundreds became infected on a ship that was under quarantine at a Japanese port last month. A ship that docked in California on Monday let off its passengers to face quarantines at U.S. facilities or in their home countries. Twenty-one people on that ship are infected.
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South Korea’s professional baseball league has postponed its season to sometime during mid-April due to the coronavirus.
The Korea Baseball Organization said Tuesday it still hopes to maintain a 144-game regular-season schedule but will consider banning spectators from some games when risks of infections are high.
South Korea's professional basketball league has halted its regular season since Feb. 29, while the soccer league has postponed the start of its new season.
The Japanese baseball league season was postponed earlier after playing preseason games without spectators.
The season was to open on March 20. It might start some time in April.
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