New COVID-19 case in Canada, a woman who was recently in Iran

A 5th case of the coronavirus illness sometimes-deadly COVID-19 has been confirmed in Ontario, Canada. The woman in her 60s, who had been in Iran recently, went to hospital in Toronto (Ontario, Canada) on Monday.

The COVID-19 coronavirus is spreading more quickly in Europe, the Middle East, and other parts of the world than in China. The virus initially emerged in the central city of Wuhan at the end of last year.

With a population of more than 11 million people, Wuhan is the capital city of Hubei province and the biggest city in China's central region. Located on the Yangtze River, it's about 800 kilometers (about 500 miles) west of Shanghai, or a 4-hour ride by high-speed railway.

The number of new daily COVID-19 infections inside China was for the first time overtaken by fresh cases elsewhere on Wednesday, with Italy, Iran and South Korea emerging as new intense areas for COVID-19. The virus was detected for the first time in these countries: Brazil, Pakistan, Sweden, Norway, Greece, Romania and Algeria.

The USA is dealing with 59 important cases. These are mostly Americans repatriated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined in Japan.