March 4 coronavirus news

China's air pollutant levels dropped in February as a result of measures taken by the nation's government to reduce the risk of spreading coronavirus, the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service confirmed on Wednesday. 

“The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) observed a decrease of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) for February relative to the previous three years,” said the CAMS in a report. It said PM2.5 was one of the “most important air pollutants regarding health impacts,” according to the World Health Organization.

Analysis by the CAMS showed a reduction of approximately 20-30% in air pollutants over large parts of China in February compared with monthly averages in February 2017, 2018 and 2019.

The CAMS said the reduction is a likely side effect of measures taken by the Chinese government, including restrictions on industry and traffic.

Copernicus is the European Union’s flagship Earth observation service, which analyzes temperature data from around the planet.

British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe may be granted a one-day release from jail in Iran but is in "good health," according to the Iranian ambassador to the UK.

Hamid Baeidinejad tweeted on Tuesday that Zaghari-Ratcliffe did not have coronavirus amid calls for her to be tested after her family claimed she was suffering from symptoms of the virus. 

Baeidinejad said she may be granted a one-day furlough on Wednesday or Thursday to join family in Tehran. Her husband Richard Ratcliffe told CNN she has not yet been released.

As fear over coronavirus spreads, worried shoppers in Australia are bulk-buying toilet paper.

They're buying so much that shelves at some supermarkets have been left empty, and Kleenex has urged customers not to panic. CNN saw empty shelves when we visited a supermarket in the city of Brisbane on Wednesday.

Australia's chief medical officer Brendan Murphy is also urging people not to panic buy supplies.

Murphy also said most cases in Australia involved people who had traveled from other affected countries, and said there was only "limited community transmission" in New South Wales, the state which is home to Sydney, the country's most populous city.

In Australia, a total of 42 people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, including one death.

Iran is facing a shortage of hand sanitizer as demand increases following the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country.

Mahdi Shah-Moradi, a board member of Iran’s National Medical Equipment Producers’ Association, said Iran had increased its production capacity of alcohol -- a major ingredient in sanitizer -- since the coronavirus outbreak.

But he said that with “the logistics and distributions timeframes, it becomes a time consuming cycle.”

The official told semi-official news agency ISNA on Wednesday that there was a shortfall in daily production of disinfectants and that the virus had disrupted the balance of demand and supply in Iran and globally.

India has confirmed 28 cases of the novel coronavirus, the nation's Health Minister Harsh Vardhan announced in a press conference on Wednesday.

Vardhan said that the cases broke down as follows:

The minister said that a group comprising of 24 to 30 Italians came to India around February 21. A 69-year-old group member tested positive for the coronavirus after reporting fever and other symptoms in Jaipur -- the capital city of India's western state of Rajasthan.

All members of the group were tested and 16 tested positive for the coronavirus, including the 69-year old’s wife and the group's driver, an Indian citizen. 

The next cluster is linked to the case of an Indian citizen in New Delhi who is known to have traveled to Italy and then to Agra in Uttar Pradesh to see family.

Six of the New Delhi resident's family members in Agra tested positive for the coronavirus and are quarantined in Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi, the minister said.

Earlier this month, India's Health Ministry announced a confirmed case of a 24-year-old in Telangana who had traveled to Dubai.

Before this, the southern state of Kerala had reported three cases, which have since been discharged after a full recovery, the Health Minister announced.

China's Custom Authority says 75 international arrivals into the country have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the Custom Authority said that as of March 3, 6,728 international arrivals to China were showing symptoms, with 779 arrivals classified as suspected cases and 75 testing positive.

Mainland China has recorded more than 80,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 2,981 deaths.

The coronavirus outbreak started in China, but it has now spread to 77 other countries and territories across the world.

China remains the country with the highest number of infections, but over the past few weeks, cases have been growing in several countries.

In total, there are 92,880 confirmed cases, and at least 3,200 deaths worldwide.

These are the five countries worst affected by coronavirus:

Check out a full list of cases here.

South Korea has come up with a new way to make sure people self-quarantined at home stay put: a GPS-based app.

The app will monitor people who are quarantined -- and if they leave their designated location, the system will set off an alarm.

The application will be implemented later this week in Daegu and surrounding North Gyeongsang province, where about 90% of national infections have been reported, according to the government. There are an estimated 2,300 people currently under quarantine in Daegu alone.

South Korean authorities say several people have broken quarantine and left their homes.

Currently, more than 2,000 confirmed patients in Daegu and North Gyeongsang province are waiting for beds.

The South Korean government began categorizing confirmed cases so that patients with more serious health conditions can be hospitalized, while people with milder symptoms can be monitored from home or government designated facilities.

There are now six confirmed coronavirus cases in Belarus, the country’s Health Ministry said in a statement Wednesday. 

Previously, the country only had one confirmed case.

Four cases have been reported in the country’s capital Minsk, while another two are in the northeastern Vitebsk region. 

According to the ministry, all patients are experiencing mild symptoms.