Hong Kong confirms first death of patient with coronavirus
Hong Kong, Feb 4: Hong Kong on Tuesday become the second place outside of the Chinese mainland to report the death of a patient being treated for a new coronavirus that has so far claimed more than 400 lives.
Medical authorities confirmed a 39-year-old man who was being treated for the virus died on Tuesday morning.
The man was a resident of Hong Kong who had travelled last month to Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak, returning home on January 23 via a high speed rail link.
Since emerging from Wuhan late last year, the coronavirus has infected 20,000 people across China and spread to more than 20 countries.
But so far only the Philippines and Hong Kong have reported a fatality outside of the Chinese mainland.
Most of the deaths in China have been in Wuhan and the rest of surrounding Hubei province, much of which has been under lockdown for almost two weeks.
Hong Kong's Hospital Authority said further details about the death would be released later on Tuesday.
Multiple local media outlets, citing medical sources, said the man had underlying health issues that had complicated his treatment.
His death came a day after Hong Kong's leader announced the closure of all but two land border crossings to the Chinese mainland in a bid to halt the spread of the virus.
Currently 15 people have tested positive for the virus in Hong Kong, many of them people who arrived in the semi-autonomous city from the mainland.
There has been growing public anger over the Hong Kong government's response to the outbreak, with calls to seal the border entirely. There is also an acute shortage of masks and a strike by some medical workers that entered its second day on Tuesday.
While Hong Kong maintains close economic and cultural links to the Chinese mainland, a seething distrust of the authorities in Beijing permeates the city.
The 2003 outbreak of the SARS virus, which Beijing initially covered up, killed almost 300 people in Hong Kong and left lasting psychological scars on the densely populated city.
Distrust and at times open hostility towards mainlanders has been worsened by years of political unrest as Hong Kongers chafe under Beijing's rule, and protest for greater democratic freedoms.
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K'taka Cong to protest against replacing MGNREGA, 'hate politics' in National Herald case
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday said that the ruling Congress in the state will hold protests against the central government's move to replace the existing rural employment law MGNREGA, and the alleged "hate politics" against the party leadership in the National Herald case on December 17.
The state Congress president said that the protest led by him and CM Siddaramaiah will be held in front of Gandhi state at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha here on Wednesday, and similar protests will also be held at all district and taluka centres of the state.
The party also plans to raise the issues in the state legislature here.
"The agitation has become necessary. Tomorrow at 9.30 am, the chief minister, myself, all ministers, MLAs and MLCs will stage a protest in front of the Gandhi statue. Everyone will participate," Shivakumar said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said the protests will also be held in all district and taluk centres including Bengaluru, and there is also a plan for a programme on Saturday, details of which will be shared later.
"In Assembly too there is a need to discuss this and for it to go into records, we are making preparations for it....the protest is against removing Mahatma Gandhi's name from MGNREGA, and against the hate politics towards Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Congress leaders," he added.
The Congress' move, came as the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025, that seeks to replace the existing rural employment law MGNREGA, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday amid strong objections by the opposition to the "removal" of Mahatma Gandhi's name from it.
Also, a court in Delhi on Tuesday refused to take cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate's money laundering charge against Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and five others in the National Herald case.
Alleging that Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were "harassed" in connection with the National Herald case, Shivakumar said several people, including him, had given funds to help the party related organisation, and they too were being troubled.
"My brother D K Suresh (former MP) and I were supposed to appear before the Delhi police in connection with the National Herald case. We had written a letter to them seeking a FIR copy. Chargesheet was filed by ED in the case without an FIR," he claimed.
Pointing to the Delhi Court's decision, the Deputy CM said, "This is proof that the legal system in the country is still alive. This also proves that the power is being misused (by those in the central government) to harass political opponents."
Highlighting that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru started the National Herald in 1937, and that it is Congress' property, Shivakumar, questioning the validity of the ED case, said, "As Congress presidents (in past) Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had their shares, it was not their own. Similarly, if we as Congress workers don't donate to the party organisation, who else will?"
Shivakumar also said that the move to rename MNREGA is with an intention to "insult" Gandhi and to weaken the scheme by reducing its funding.
