Oleksii Liskonih/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- Conspiracy theorists have embraced the novel coronavirus as a source for spinning new yarn, and they received a major boost Friday from an official source -- China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson. In a series of tweets Thursday and Friday, Zhao Lijian promoted the theory, without evidence, that the U.S. military is responsible for the pandemic by bringing it to China last October, giving new fodder for a narrative that's churned on the Chinese int..

zzvet/iStock(NEW YORK) -- China and Nepal are not giving permits to climbers hoping to summit Mount Everest this season. The reports that climbers won't be able to make attempts from either the northern, Chinese-controlled Tibet side of the mountain or the southern, Nepal side come as the world combats the novel coronavirus pandemic, which originated in China. The Nepal Tourism Board announced Friday that "all the permits for mountaineering expeditions issued and to be issued for spring 202..

bedo/iStock(NEW YORK) -- For the first time since the outbreak began, the World Health Organization has declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic due to its alarming rate of global spread. But as the U.S. fights to contain the disease, Taiwan is setting an example of how to effectively curtail its spread. Taiwan, an island of 23 million people just off the coast of China, was predicted to have the second-highest "importation risk" of any country. With over 850,000 of its citizens residing and wo..

Chainarong Prasertthai/iStock(NEW YORK) -- With the bulk of Italy's residents on coronavirus lockdown, a top infectious disease expert cautioned Thursday that the country is likely still two weeks away from seeing the deadly disease reach its peak. Dr. Massimo Galli, head of the infectious disease unit at the overwhelmed Sacco Hospital in Milan, told ABC News that the hospital is receiving new patients every five minutes and that the facility is reaching a point of "complete saturation." "I..