Live updates: China urges countries to restore ties for sake of global economy as coronavirus deaths pass 1,000
Feb. 11, 2020 at 8:30 a.m. EST
Authorities in the virus-hit city of Wuhan have announced fresh restrictions on residents, making millions of people virtual prisoners in their own homes. Two provincial health bosses have been fired as the Communist Party struggles to contain widespread anger over the spread of the virus. Here’s what we know:
● The death toll from the new coronavirus surged above 1,000 in mainland China, with more than 100 deaths in a single day, a record. The number of confirmed infections continues to rise, but the rate of growth is slowing.
● China urged countries around the world to soon restore normal ties, warning that if its economy suffers, so will that of the rest of the world.
● Authorities in Wuhan tightened restrictions on citizens, allowing just one member of a household to make one shopping trip every three days and placing entire buildings under quarantine.
● More than a dozen ambulances lined up alongside the Diamond Princess in Yokohama as medical staff evacuated passengers and crew infected with the virus, after 65 more people on board the cruise ship tested positive.
● China is bracing for the return of some 160 million migrant workers to their cities of employment as the country’s economy sputters back to life after an extended holiday following the outbreak.
8:15 a.m.
2020 global oil demand growth could be quarter lower than initially estimated due to outbreak
Global oil demand growth this year could be a quarter lower than previously estimated, due to the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus outbreak, a major Norwegian energy consultancy predicted Tuesday.
Oslo-based Rystad Energy revised its earlier estimate that global oil demand growth would rise to 1.1 million barrels per day in 2020. The consultancy now expects demand growth closer to 820,000 barrels per day, according to Reuters. In the worst case scenario — such as prolonged travel restrictions — demand growth could even drop to 650,000 barrels per day, Rystad projected.
“Our current assessment implies that the impact of coronavirus will persist throughout all of February and March and will then gradually subside towards June,” the company concluded.
By Miriam Berger
7:45 a.m.
European and Chinese stocks climb, despite lingering uncertainty over coronavirus impact on economy
Stocks in Europe and China climbed on Tuesday, hours after the coronavirus death toll topped 1,000.
The rises came despite contradictory takes on the economic fallout of the outbreak, with some still fearing a significant impact and others predicting a less serious outcome.
The Moody’s rating agency said Tuesday that its “baseline assumption is that the economic effects of the outbreak will continue for a number of weeks, after which they will tail off and normal economic activity will resume.”
Meanwhile, the Reuters news agency quoted a senior Chinese medical adviser, Zhong Nanshan, as saying that the coronavirus outbreak may peak in February.
“I hope this outbreak or this event may be over in something like April,” Zhong told Reuters.
The predictions came as others urged caution with what they viewed as over-optimistic predictions.
A senior official with the Chinese National Institute for Finance and Development government think tank drew a comparison to the 2003 SARS outbreak.
“The impact of this epidemic on the economy in the first quarter is expected to be comparable,” wrote Zeng Gang, the organization’s vice chair, according to Reuters.
“At present, according to different scenario assumptions, researchers expect the negative impact of the epidemic on full-year GDP growth to be in the range of 0.2 percent to 1 percent,” Zeng wrote.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday that the Communist Party would work to prevent mass layoffs triggered by the spread of the virus.
By Rick Noack
7:05 a.m.
German company at center of coronavirus cluster to reopen its headquarters
BERLIN — German automotive supplier Webasto said Tuesday that it would reopen its headquarters near Munich on Wednesday, allowing 1,000 staffers to return after the company closed its offices over coronavirus concerns two weeks ago.
The Webasto headquarters were at the center of one of the biggest clusters of cases in Europe.
A 33-year-old man became Germany’s first confirmed coronavirus patient there more than two weeks ago, after being infected by a female business visitor from Shanghai.
She and the 33 year-old met at a workshop in the offices of the German automotive supplier.
Authorities said that at least 40 individuals had come into close contact with him and the Chinese visitor.
In total, authorities in the region have since confirmed 12 cases of the virus — all of them employees or relatives of staffers at Webasto.
By Rick Noack
6:30 a.m.
North Korea heralds herbal disinfectant as part of coronavirus containment strategy
SEOUL — North Korea has launched a society-wide effort to contain the new coronavirus, including production of herbal disinfectant from burdock roots.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday that the new virus cannot be contained by health officials alone. It called for “workers at all levels and fields” to join in the nation’s battle against the virus.
One such effort is a “production battle” to make herbal medicine out of burdock roots as an “emergency prevention measure against the novel coronavirus,” North Korea’s state-run outlet Sogwang said Tuesday.
Sogwang said the “burdock antiviral solution” developed in North Korea in 2016 has proven to contain “a variety of virus” in an “highly effective manner” with “little or no side effects.”
Sogwang also carried a photo of the solution, on which its name is written in English and German. The propaganda outlet did not mention if the burdock solution is intended for export to foreign countries.
North Korea has taken extreme measures to seal itself from the outside world following the virus outbreak in neighboring China. It was one of the first countries to completely ban foreign tourists and cut cross-border air and train routes last month.
Over the past few weeks, North Korea’s propaganda machine has been trumpeting the Kim regime’s battle against the virus.
North Korea has not reported a single case of coronavirus infection, although nearly 200 virus cases have been confirmed in the Chinese provinces of Liaoning and Jilin that border the isolated nation.
Daily NK, a Seoul-based news service with informants in North Korea, reported Tuesday that a dozen coronavirus patients have been in quarantine at a hospital in Pyongyang, citing unnamed sources inside the country.
By Min Joo Kim
6:20 a.m.
Thailand bars Holland America cruise ship from docking
A top Thai official indicated that the country has barred travelers onboard the MS Westerdam, a Holland America cruise ship, from disembarking later this week.
The decision came after Guam, the Philippines and Japan all turned the cruise ship away over coronavirus concerns in recent days, according to the Reuters news agency.
The cruise ship has no confirmed cases.
“I have issued orders. Permission to dock refused,” Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul wrote in a Facebook post, in which he did not explicitly name the ship.
Officials added that they were willing to provide medicine, food and other supplies.
The ship made a scheduled stop in Hong Kong nearly two weeks ago, taking on hundreds of new passengers, despite the fact that the territory was already on red alert for coronavirus, according to Australian passenger David Holst, who has been posting regular updates on his Facebook page.
Since then, the ship was denied entry to the Philippines, to the port of Hualien in Taiwan, and to Japan. A scheduled stop in South Korea disappeared from the itinerary.
By Rick Noack
6:00 a.m.
WHO head now sees coronavirus as a ‘grave threat’ to the rest of the world
World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday called the coronavirus a “very grave threat” to the rest of the world.
His comments at a conference on speeding up the development and testing of vaccines for the coronavirus suggested that he is taking the outbreak much more seriously, after initially counseling against overestimating the danger posed by the epidemic.
On Feb. 5, Tedros told a WHO executive committee meeting that the biggest threat of the coronavirus outbreak was “panic and fear,” since there were only 146 confirmed cases outside of China at that point.
“The 146 means that it is very small, there is nothing to be scared of,” he said at the time. Since then, the number of deaths from the virus inside China has ballooned to over 1,000 while the number of cases outside the country have more than doubled.
On Feb. 9, as WHO delegation departed for Beijing to help contain the outbreak, he tweeted that there could be many more cases outside China than previously known.
“The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries; in short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg,” he said.
Tedros raised eyebrows with his firm praise from the beginning of how China has been handling the outbreak, even as evidence emerged that it had initially ignored the spread of the virus and silenced whistleblowers.
The WHO’s advice against any restrictions on international travel due to the outbreak — even as dozens of countries and airlines restrict ties with China — has been repeatedly cited by Beijing.
By Paul Schemm
5:30 a.m.
Suspected British ‘superspreader’ identified
LONDON — The British businessman who is believed to have been a “superspreader” of the coronavirus, passing it to at least 11 people in three countries, has been identified as Steve Walsh.
Walsh, who is said to be in his 50s, is believed to have caught the virus during a business trip to Singapore in late January. He works as a project management lead for Servomex, a gas analytics company.
From Singapore, Walsh spent a few days at a French ski resort before returning home to Hove, a seaside town on England’s south coast. He is currently being treated at St Thomas’ hospital in London.
In a statement sent to The Washington Post on behalf of his employer, Servomex, Walsh said: “I would like to thank the NHS for their help and care — whilst I have fully recovered, my thoughts are with others who have contracted coronavirus.”
He said that as soon as he discovered he had been exposed to a confirmed case he contacted health authorities. “I was advised to attend an isolated room at hospital, despite showing no symptoms, and subsequently self-isolated at home as instructed. When the diagnosis was confirmed I was sent to an isolation unit in hospital, where I remain, and, as a precaution, my family was also asked to isolate themselves,” he said.
In a separate statement, Servomex said: “We are very pleased that Steve Walsh has made a full recovery. We continue to provide support to him and his family.”
“We are working with Public Health authorities to ensure the welfare of our staff and communities and wish anyone with the virus a quick and full recovery,” the statement read.
By Karla Adam
5:00 a.m.
Hospitals in Wuhan launch fresh appeals for protective gear as more staff fall sick
Hospitals in the virus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan are facing big shortages of protective equipment for frontline medical staff, provincial health authorities said Tuesday.
Many hospitals in Wuhan are calling for donations of masks, goggles, gowns and other protective medical gear, Hubei’s health commission said, while also appealing to other provinces to send more medical staff to cope with shortages.
A user of the Weibo social media service posted on Tuesday that Wuhan Central Hospital is facing an urgent shortage of medical supplies and that many medical staff had already fallen ill.
The user, “Shitoudemama 2020,” said she is a nurse who has just been hospitalized with the virus. She said around 150 of her colleagues have been tested and either confirmed or suspected as having contracted the virus.
“Medical material here at Wuhan Central Hospital are running out, we need supplies,” she wrote. “We need aid.”
Wuhan Central Hospital was the workplace of whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang, whose death has sparked an outpouring of anger at the Communist Party for suppressing his attempt to warn people about the threat of the new disease.
Her post could not be independently confirmed, but reflects widespread reports of shortages and of medical staff falling sick.
Of the 1,016 deaths of coronavirus in mainland China, 974 or nearly 96 percent, have occurred in the province of Hubei, while 748 or nearly 74 percent were reported in Wuhan alone, suggesting the shortage of medical supplies, beds and capacity to treat the disease has may have pushed up the death toll.
Wuhan has rushed to build two new hospitals on the outskirts of the city to treat infected people, but although both opened last week, they are not yet fully up and running.
According to the city’s health commission, the Huoshenshan hospital, supposed to cater for 1,000 people, now has 803 beds, while the Leishenshan hospital, with a target capacity of 1,500 beds, only has 88 beds at the moment. Neither have any vacant beds.
The National Health Commission says there is also a shortage of medical protective supplies in rural China. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs warned people on Tuesday to avoid mass gatherings in villages during spring farm work.
By Simon Denyer
4:30 a.m.
South Korea warns against travel to Japan, Singapore and Asian nations over virus
SEOUL — South Korea advised its citizens on Tuesday against travel to Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and three other Asian countries as the number of coronavirus cases outside China continues to rise.
Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip rolled out the new advisory to “minimize” travel to Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. The goal of new measure is to “prevent the inflow of the new coronavirus through a third country outside China,” according to Kim.
South Korea announced its 28th confirmed case of the new coronavirus on Tuesday. Japan also added two to its tally on Tuesday to reach 28, after the virus was found in two men who had been evacuated from the virus-hit city of Wuhan.
Kim said the World Health Organization has confirmed the occurrence of community transmission in the six countries and regions. The WHO could not be immediately reached for comment.
Singapore has the highest number of coronavirus cases outside China with 45, followed by Thailand with 32. Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam have fewer than 20 cases.
Out of 28 cases of coronavirus infection in South Korea, four patients have contracted the virus after returning from countries outside China: Japan, Thailand and Singapore.
South Korea currently applies “special” medical screening for arrivals from mainland China, which requires passengers to submit health forms and get their temperature checked.
Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said on Tuesday that the subject of the “special” screening will be widened to arrivals from Hong Kong and Macao starting Wednesday.
KCDC director Jung Eun-kyeong said Hong Kong and Macao will be newly designated as “contaminated areas” in addition to mainland China, and subject to strengthened quarantine measures.
By Min Joo Kim
4:15 a.m.
China’s migrant workers head back to cities as country slowly gets back to work
BEIJING — China’s more than 100 million strong army of migrant workers are gradually returning to cities as the country slowly gets back to work.
In a news conference on Tuesday, Xu Yahua, a senior official in the Ministry of Transport, said around 160 million people are expected to return to their workplace and resume work from now until Feb. 18 when the Lunar Festival travel rush ends.
Xu said that in provinces exporting large numbers of migrant workers, chartered buses will be organized to help them return to work.
Cong Liang, secretary general of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the state’s economic planning agency, says people who return to work should report to local authorities, and those suspected of carrying the virus will be quarantined on the spot and sent for further checks.
Much of China’s economy had ground to a halt because of the virus, with widespread restrictions imposed by local governments around the country and many people simply choosing the stay home.
But essential services have resumed, and other enterprises are gradually starting back up.
China’s National Development and Reform Commission, the state’s economic planning agency, said on Tuesday that around 75 percent of companies making face masks and protective suits had now returned to work, nearly 95 percent of grain production and processing companies and 58 percent of coal mines had resumed operations.
Beijing’s subways and streets are busier this week than they have been since before the Lunar New Year holiday, but life is still far from returning to normal. Most restaurants in the capital remained closed, Beijing News reported on Monday.
Chinese media reported that most Internet companies have postponed their employees’ return to work until next Monday, although many employees have been working from home.
The daily death toll from the virus continues to set consecutive record highs, and the number of confirmed new infections also continues to rise. But the rate of increase of new infections has slowed. Experts fear the return of tens of millions of migrant workers could lead to a new surge in cases unless adequate precautions are taken.
By Liu Yang with Simon Denyer in Tokyo
4:00 a.m.
Vietnam announces 15th coronavirus case, a 3-month-old girl
A 3-month-old baby became Vietnam’s 15th confirmed case of coronavirus, according to the Health Ministry on Tuesday.
A number of cases of newborns from infected mothers in China testing positive for the virus has raised fears about mother-to-infant transmission, but in this case, the baby appeared to have caught it from her grandmother.
On Jan. 28, the baby girl was taken to visit her grandmother in a nearby town and stayed for four days, according to the English language Vietnam News. After the grandmother was diagnosed with the coronavirus, her daughter and granddaughter were tested. On Feb. 6, the baby began to cough. The child is now in quarantine with her mother.
The grandmother contracted the virus from a neighbor who had attended a training course in Wuhan, the Chinese city at the epicenter of the virus.
Ten of Vietnam’s 15 cases, including the newborn and grandmother, all come from the northern province of Vinh Phuc.
By Paul Schemm
3:25 a.m.
China urges countries to restore normal ties as soon as possible to steady world economy
China urged countries around the world on Tuesday to resume normal ties as soon as possible to avoid damage to the global economy from the new coronavirus.
“We believe our economic fundamentals that support China’s long-term growth will remain unchanged, and we are capable of minimizing the epidemic’s impact on our economy,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters, but said the economic impact of the virus depended on controlling the epidemic.
China, Geng said, accounts for around 16 percent of global economic output, and around 30 percent of global economic growth.
“If our economy is impacted, there will inevitably be spillover effects on other countries and even the world economy,” he said. “Therefore, by fighting against NCP, China is safeguarding both its own country and the world.”
China has named the virus Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia, or NCP.
“Faced with a public health crisis, one cannot protect oneself by taking a ‘beggar-thy-neighbor’ approach or overreactions,” he said. “The urgent task for everyone is to defeat the virus together and restore normal state-to-state exchange and cooperation as soon as possible. Only by doing so can we support steady world economic growth and anchor expectations around the world.”
China’s Foreign Ministry has been especially critical of the United States for drastically cutting travel links between the two countries, including barring foreigners who have recently visited China.
By Simon Denyer
3:15 a.m.
UAE announces eighth coronavirus case as woman declared virus-free over the weekend
DUBAI — The United Arab Emirates announced its eighth case of the coronavirus late Sunday, an Indian national that contracted it after coming in contact with another infected.
The UAE remains the only Middle Eastern country reporting coronavirus cases. Its Dubai International Airport is one of the busiest travel hubs in the world.
The first five cases were all Chinese citizens that traveled to the UAE, including a family of four from Wuhan, the epidemic epicenter. One of those, Liu Yujia, a grandmother, has made a full recovery, the Ministry of Health announced Sunday.
On Saturday, two other cases were announced, a Chinese and a Filipino citizen.
One of the cases is currently in intensive care with the six others in stable condition, according to the ministry which did not specify the nationality of the individual under close observation.
“In cooperation with key partners, we follow a very effective epidemiological monitoring mechanism — in accordance with the highest global practices and based on World Health Organization’s standards — to respond to any health emergencies,” said a Health Ministry statement.
China’s consul to Dubai on Monday told all Chinese returning to the city that have had contact with coronavirus cases or been in affected regions should quarantine themselves at home for 14 days.
By Paul Schemm
2:45 a.m.
China calls for privacy protection after leaks of Wuhan residents’ data
BEIJING — China’s Internet supervisor called on Tuesday for stricter controls on personal information, after the widespread leaking of the personal details of people from Wuhan, those who had visited the city and anyone else infected with coronavirus.
People returning from Wuhan are asked to register with local authorities, but many of them found forms with their personal information — name, home address, ID, phone number, and even college entrance exam scores — being passed around in WeChat groups, sometimes marked as “suspected cases.”
Many people have complained about getting threat messages or harassment calls as a result, and the hashtag #WuhanReturneesInfoLeak has been a trending topic on the Weibo social media platform since late January.
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said on Tuesday that no organization or individual other than authorized health departments should collect personal information “for disease treatment and prevention” without permission, let alone share them on social media,
Hong Yanqing, a Peking University researcher and senior CAC official said “big data” analysis of epidemic control involves collecting large amounts of personal information, but said not everyone had the right or capacity to do so.
One student studying at a college in Wuhan returned to his home in Hebei on Jan. 11 for the winter holiday, and voluntarily isolated himself for over 20 days at home, without showing any symptoms.
But in late January his details appeared on a list widely circulated on social media of nearly 1,000 people who had either studied, worked in, or been to Wuhan.
“I cooperated with the government and answered their questions because I understood it was standard practice. But how on earth did my detailed personal information get leaked online?” he asked in a social media post.
“I already knew that there were people illegally collecting personal information and trading them for one yuan [14 U.S. cents] per 10 names. Imagine how many more people’s information is going to get leaked if such documents continue to be shared online, and imagine these getting into the hands of criminals.”
Another Wuhan university student from Hunan province said he had stopped going out or meeting anyone since his personal information was leaked.
By Lyric Li with Simon Denyer in Tokyo
1:57 a.m.
Ambulances wait to take patients off virus-ravaged cruise ship
TOKYO — More than a dozen ambulances were waiting near the Diamond Princess in the Japanese port of Yokohama on Tuesday, as medical staff continue to evacuate passengers from the quarantined cruise ship confirmed as being infected with the virus.
Japan’s health ministry said on Monday that 65 more people on board the ship have tested positive for the virus, bringing to 135 the total number infected. Many of the passengers are elderly, posing additional health risks as the virus has proved much deadlier among elderly people and those with existing health problems.
The sharp rise in infected people appeared to take Japanese authorities by surprise, and they were unable to organize evacuations for most of the new cases on Monday.
The Health Ministry had been busy talking to hospitals as far away as the city of Nagano northwest of Tokyo to find beds for people, according to a local paper in the city.
Japanese media reported that further tests will be carried out Tuesday on passengers over the age of 80. But given that nearly one in three people who have been tested have been found to be carrying the virus, pressure is mounting on Japan to test everyone.
However, if those tests showed more infected people, it would place a significant burden on Japan’s health system. The ministry says 410 hospitals across the country have the facility to deal with infectious diseases, with a total of 1,871 beds.
There are also fears that the virus could still be transmitted on board the ship, especially among the crew — who have not been quarantined from each other, continue to work and are starting to fall sick in greater numbers.
By Simon Denyer
1:30 a.m.
Renowned Chinese kidney doctor dies of coronavirus
A Chinese doctor and leading expert in kidney transplants has died of coronavirus at the age of 62, Chinese media reported Tuesday.
Lin Zhengbin, a professor at Tongji Hospital in Wuhan, had practiced kidney transplants for 30 years before dying of the virus on Monday morning.
Co-workers and friends describe him as gentle, slow-tempered, and low profile.
“We had been close friends for years,” his colleague Song Jianxin told the Health Times, a twice-weekly newspaper owned by People's Daily. “He had been in good health and had no existing illnesses, so no one expected his condition to worsen so fast and to get so severe.”
Song, director of the infectious diseases department at Tongji, said he received a message from Lin asking for help after he was admitted to intensive care, but by then he was already on oxygen and was too weak to speak.
“It took less than a month for Lin from getting confirmed [as having the virus] to passing away,” Song said.
Health Times quoted an anonymous doctor as saying that Lin might have got infected during a health checkup at the crowded outpatient department.
“It was the time when staff from our outpatient department were having a group checkup,” the doctor was quoted as saying. “The checkup center is on the third floor, sharing the same floor with the super-crowded pediatrics department. Many people were coming and going, and there weren’t the quarantine measures that are in place now.”
Chinese authorities have not disclosed how many medical staff have come down with the virus, but many are believed to have fallen sick.
By Simon Denyer and Lyric Li
1:15 a.m.
China tightens restrictions on residents of virus-hit city of Wuhan
Authorities in Wuhan have announced fresh restrictions on residents, effectively making millions of people virtual prisoners in their own homes, as they struggle to control the spread of the epidemic.
Many districts in the city now only allow one member of each household to go shopping every three days. Previously one person had been allowed out every two days.
In a notice issued Monday, the city also said all residential areas will be put under “closed management” and all buildings with suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus will be placed entirely under quarantine.
The closed management system entails tight controls such as strict controls on entry and exit, including registration and temperature checks, and the banning of outside vehicles.
Wuhan’s epidemic control command center also urged residents to seek medical treatment in hospitals near their residence and banned fever patients from going to hospitals in other districts.
On Sunday alone, 103 people died in the province of Hubei, of which Wuhan is the capital, China’s National Health Commission said. Of the total 1,016 deaths in China, more than 95 percent have occurred in Hubei.
More than 17,000 health workers from around the country have come to Hubei to help in treatment of infected patients, according to Chinese media reports.
By Simon Denyer and Lyric Li
12:50 a.m.
Taiwan travelers caught in Philippine travel ban
MANILA — The Philippines widened travel restrictions amid the coronavirus outbreak to include a ban on arrivals from Taiwan, the self-ruled island over which China asserts sovereignty, leaving hundreds of Taiwanese reportedly stranded.
Philippine immigration officials late Monday clarified that a ban on arrivals from China and its special administrative regions, Hong Kong and Macao, also applied to Taiwan. A memo from the Civil Aeronautics Board said this was in line with Manila’s adherence to the “one China” policy.
“While not explicitly stated, we have confirmed with the Secretary of Justice that Taiwan is indeed part of the ban, and this expansion shall be implemented immediately,” said Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente.
A Philippine health official said the policy was clarified last week, but airlines including Cebu Pacific Air and Philippine Airlines only canceled flights between Manila and Taipei on Monday night.
Taiwan News reported that around 500 Taiwanese were consequently stranded in the Philippines.
Philippine officials stressed that the ban is temporary and does not apply to Filipino citizens and permanent residents.
Taiwan has recorded 18 cases of the coronavirus. Some critics see its inclusion in the Philippines’ ban as playing into China’s hands, even as Taiwan has fewer reported cases than Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, and Japan. China, meanwhile, has recorded more than 1,000 deaths and 40,000 cases.
The dispute over Taiwan’s status dates from the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, when the defeated Kuomintang fled to the island and Communist leader Mao Zedong proclaimed the People’s Republic of China on the mainland.
China considers Taiwan a rogue province to be captured by force if necessary, while Taiwan says it has never been part of the People’s Republic. But the “one China” policy widely observed internationally means the democratic island is often unable to participate fully in global bodies such as the World Health Organization.
By Regine Cabato
12:28 a.m.
China dismisses health chiefs in virus-hit Hubei province
China’s Communist Party has dismissed the two most senior officials in the provincial health commission in the virus-hit province of Hubei, as anger continues to reverberate around the country over the authorities’ handling of the epidemic.
Hubei’s provincial government announced that Zhang Jin, the Communist Party secretary of the provincial Hubei’s health commission, along director Liu Yingzi, were both fired on Monday, for unspecified reasons. Their roles will be filled by Wang Hesheng, a member of the provincial committee of the Communist Party and former deputy director of the National Health Commission.
They are among the most senior officials to be fired over the handling of the coronavirus outbreak, with dozens of lower level officials also losing their jobs.
The central government in Beijing also urged members of the public to report any examples of dereliction of duty among local governments.
Experts say the central and provincial governments share responsibility for initially covering up the epidemic, in ways that made the outbreak far tougher to control. But the central government has tried to shift the blame onto local governments.
The death of doctor Li Wenliang, who tried to warn people about the virus but was silenced by Communist Party authorities and then died of the disease himself, has sparked an outpouring of anger among Chinese citizens.
By Simon Denyer
12:16 a.m.
China death toll tops 1,000, with record daily rise of 108
The death toll from the new coronavirus rose to 1,016, with a new daily record rise of 108 deaths on Monday, China’s National Health Commission announced on Tuesday,
More than 700 people were discharged from hospital, bringing to 3,996 the number of people officially classified as cured.
But while the daily death toll continues to accelerate, the rate of growth of new infections has begun to slow slightly. The number of new cases recorded on Monday fell slightly, to 2,478, with the majority in the virus-hit province of Hubei and only 381 in other parts of mainland China.
The number of new cases per day had peaked at 3,887 on Feb. 4, while the number of new infections outside Hubei reached a daily high of 890 on Feb. 3.
But experts say it is too early to say the virus has peaked, especially with many people around China going back to work after the extended Lunar New Year holiday.
Excluding those who have been cured or died, mainland China has a total 37,626 people confirmed as infected with the virus, including 7,333 in serious condition, and 21,675 suspected cases.
Some 428,000 people have been classified as having come into close contact with infected people, and 188,000 are under medical observation.
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