Hong Kong reports first coronavirus death

A 39-year-old man died from the coronavirus in Hong Kong as health workers walked off the job for a second day. Several hospitals in the territory limited services because about 9,000 of their employees went on strike, demanding completely closed borders with China to slow the spread of the disease.

Is the virus spreading in Hong Kong? The territory has confirmed 15 cases, including four that were transmitted locally. Globally, the death toll has hit at least 426, surpassing the SARS outbreak in China in 2002 and 2003. The coronavirus, which emerged in December in Wuhan, China, has infected more than 20,000 people. The World Health Organization has said the number of cases will most likely increase as thousands of pending test results are processed.

Dig deeper: Listen to an interview with physician Charles Horton on the global threat of the virus on The World and Everything In It.