UPDATED:
The death toll from China's deadly coronavirus outbreak has passed more than 1,000 people, while President Xi Jinping called for more "decisive" measures to tackle the outbreak in a rare visit to a frontline hospital. The Chinese president donned a face mask and had his temperature checked while visiting medical workers and patients affected by the deadly coronavirus that has killed at least 1,011 people. The fatalities soared after hardest-hit Hubei province - the centre of the outbreak - reported another 103 deaths, the highest single-day toll since the virus emerged. At a hospital treating infected patients in Beijing, Mr Xi called the situation in Wuhan "still very grave" and called for "more decisive measures" to contain the spread of the virus, said state broadcaster CCTV.
Mr Xi has largely kept out of the public eye since the virus outbreak spiralled across the country from Hubei province to infect more than 42,000 people.
Yesterday, the president put on a blue mask and white surgical gown to meet doctors at Beijing Ditan hospital, observe the treatment of patients and speak via video link to doctors in Wuhan, state media said. He then visited a residential community in central Beijing to "investigate and guide" efforts to contain the epidemic, said CCTV. Video footage showed Mr Xi having his temperature taken with an infrared thermometer then speaking with community workers and waving at smiling residents leaning out of apartment windows. The outbreak has prompted unprecedented action by the Chinese government, including locking down entire cities in Hubei as well as cutting transport links nationwide, closing tourist attractions and telling hundreds of millions of people to stay indoors.
Read More:
https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2020/0215/1115457-coronavirus/
Eight days in Wuhan, cut off from the world
China slowly gets back to work as coronavirus toll hits daily record
Indeed Irish workers told to work from home due to virus precautions
Coronavirus 'serious and imminent threat' to public health - UK
The sweeping measures have turned cities into ghost towns - but there were some signs of normality returning as many went back to work this week. Roads in Beijing and the financial hub of Shanghai had significantly more traffic, while the southern city of Guangzhou said it would start to resume normal public transport. The Shanghai government suggested staggered work schedules, avoiding group meals and keeping at least one metre away from colleagues. Many were encouraged to work from home and some employers simply delayed opening for another week.
State media reported that passenger numbers on the Beijing subway were half that of a normal working day. Large shopping malls in the capital were deserted and many banks closed. Schools and universities across the country remained shut. The toll has overtaken global fatalities in the 2002-03 SARS epidemic when China drew international condemnation for covering up cases, though Beijing has drawn praise from the World Health Organization this time. An advance team for a WHO-led international expert mission on the virus arrived in China late on Monday, headed by Bruce Aylward who oversaw the WHO's 2014-2016 response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.
Ahead of the team's arrival,
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned there had been some
"concerning instances" of cases overseas in people with no travel
history to China. "We may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg," he
tweeted.
Aboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship moored off Japan, another 65 people were diagnosed with novel coronavirus, the health ministry said, bringing the total number of known infections on the ship to 135. The Diamond Princess has been in quarantine since arriving off the Japanese coast early last week after the virus was detected in a former passenger who disembarked last month in Hong Kong. Beyond Asia, Britain recorded a doubling of cases to eight, and the government warned the outbreak of novel coronavirus was a "serious and imminent threat".
UPDATE-ADDITION:
The death toll from China's deadly coronavirus outbreak has passed more than 1,000 people, while President Xi Jinping called for more "decisive" measures to tackle the outbreak in a rare visit to a frontline hospital. The Chinese president donned a face mask and had his temperature checked while visiting medical workers and patients affected by the deadly coronavirus that has killed at least 1,011 people. The fatalities soared after hardest-hit Hubei province - the centre of the outbreak - reported another 103 deaths, the highest single-day toll since the virus emerged. At a hospital treating infected patients in Beijing, Mr Xi called the situation in Wuhan "still very grave" and called for "more decisive measures" to contain the spread of the virus, said state broadcaster CCTV.
Mr Xi has largely kept out of the public eye since the virus outbreak spiralled across the country from Hubei province to infect more than 42,000 people.
Yesterday, the president put on a blue mask and white surgical gown to meet doctors at Beijing Ditan hospital, observe the treatment of patients and speak via video link to doctors in Wuhan, state media said. He then visited a residential community in central Beijing to "investigate and guide" efforts to contain the epidemic, said CCTV. Video footage showed Mr Xi having his temperature taken with an infrared thermometer then speaking with community workers and waving at smiling residents leaning out of apartment windows. The outbreak has prompted unprecedented action by the Chinese government, including locking down entire cities in Hubei as well as cutting transport links nationwide, closing tourist attractions and telling hundreds of millions of people to stay indoors.
Read More:
https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2020/0215/1115457-coronavirus/
Eight days in Wuhan, cut off from the world
China slowly gets back to work as coronavirus toll hits daily record
Indeed Irish workers told to work from home due to virus precautions
Coronavirus 'serious and imminent threat' to public health - UK
The sweeping measures have turned cities into ghost towns - but there were some signs of normality returning as many went back to work this week. Roads in Beijing and the financial hub of Shanghai had significantly more traffic, while the southern city of Guangzhou said it would start to resume normal public transport. The Shanghai government suggested staggered work schedules, avoiding group meals and keeping at least one metre away from colleagues. Many were encouraged to work from home and some employers simply delayed opening for another week.
State media reported that passenger numbers on the Beijing subway were half that of a normal working day. Large shopping malls in the capital were deserted and many banks closed. Schools and universities across the country remained shut. The toll has overtaken global fatalities in the 2002-03 SARS epidemic when China drew international condemnation for covering up cases, though Beijing has drawn praise from the World Health Organization this time. An advance team for a WHO-led international expert mission on the virus arrived in China late on Monday, headed by Bruce Aylward who oversaw the WHO's 2014-2016 response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.
Aboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship moored off Japan, another 65 people were diagnosed with novel coronavirus, the health ministry said, bringing the total number of known infections on the ship to 135. The Diamond Princess has been in quarantine since arriving off the Japanese coast early last week after the virus was detected in a former passenger who disembarked last month in Hong Kong. Beyond Asia, Britain recorded a doubling of cases to eight, and the government warned the outbreak of novel coronavirus was a "serious and imminent threat".
UPDATE-ADDITION:
The World Health Organisation has convened a
group of experts to fast-track promising tests, drugs and vaccines to help slow
the outbreak of a new coronavirus that emerged in China. The coronavirus, which
has spread to two dozen other countries, was only identified late last year in
the Chinese city of Wuhan and there are no licensed drugs or vaccines. Diagnostic
tests have been developed by several laboratories, but there are no rapid tests
available. To date, the virus has infected more than 42,000 people and killed
1,007, with 99% of the cases found in China. Two dozen other countries have
reported 393 cases of the virus, with one death in the Philippines.
At least 60 million people in central China are
in a government-ordered lockdown aimed at halting the spread of the virus and
health authorities around the world are racing to track down the contacts of
infected people. In Japan, more than 3,700 people remain quarantined aboard a
cruise ship in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, after dozens of passengers tested
positive for the virus. “It’s hard to believe that just two months ago, this
virus – which has come to captivate the attention of media, financial markets
and political leaders – was completely unknown to us,” said the WHO’s
director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The UN health agency said there
were still many critical but unanswered questions about the virus, including
what animals it came from, how exactly it is spread between people and how best
to treat infected patients. “To defeat this outbreak, we need answers to all
those questions and more,” Mr Tedros said. The two-day meeting will end on
Wednesday. Experts say it could still be months or even years before any
approved treatments or vaccines are developed.
ENDS:
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