Health Desk- 16 Feb, 2020: The death toll from the
new coronavirus outbreak jumped past 1,500 in China on Saturday as France
reported the first fatality outside Asia, fuelling global concerns about the
epidemic, reports AFP.
More than 66,000 people have now been infected in China from
a virus that emerged in central Hubei province in December before spreading
across the country and some two dozen countries.
Amid criticism over the handling of the crisis, Chinese
President Xi Jinping called for tighter policing to protect social stability,
while Beijing ordered people returning to the capital to self-quarantine for 14
days in the latest drastic measure aimed at containing the virus.
In France, an 80-year-old Chinese tourist died from the new
coronavirus, French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said.
Only three other deaths have been recorded outside mainland
China—in the Philippines, Hong Kong and Japan.
The death toll in China, meanwhile, rose to 1,523 after 143
more people died in the country, most in Hubei.
Several countries have banned arrivals from China and major
airlines have cut services with the country.
The biggest cluster outside China is on a quarantined cruise
ship off Japan, with 285 infections now as dozens more cases were confirmed.
The US embassy said it would evacuate Americans stranded on the vessel, who
would face a further quarantine of two weeks in the United States.
The virus spread last month as millions travelled across the
country for the Lunar New Year, which was extended by three days—more than a
week in some cities—in an effort to prevent further contagion.
People have slowly started to return to work in the past two
weeks, though many are doing their jobs from home and schools remain closed.
Beijing’s municipal government enacted a rule on Friday
requiring all people coming to the capital to quarantine themselves for 14
days, warning that violators would be punished, according to official media. It
was unclear how authorities would enforce the measure.
Chinese authorities have placed some 56 million people in
Hubei and its capital Wuhan under quarantine, virtually sealing off the
province from the rest of the country in an unprecedented effort to contain the
virus.
A number of cities far from the epicentre have also imposed
tough measures limiting the number of people who can leave their homes.
Battling the outbreak is a “big test for the country’s
governance system and governance ability,” Xi said in a Communist Party central
committee meeting on Friday.
The government must “increase use of police force and
strengthen the visible use of police,” to ensure stability during the crisis,
Xi said in a February 3 speech published by state media on Saturday.
In another drastic preventive measure, China’s central bank
said Saturday that used banknotes were being disinfected with ultraviolet light
or high temperatures, and stored for up to 14 days before they are put back
into circulation.
The scale of the epidemic ballooned this week after
authorities in Hubei changed their criteria for counting cases, retroactively
adding thousands of new patients to their tally.
Hubei added more than 14,000 cases in a single day this week
after officials there started counting people clinically diagnosed through lung
imaging, in addition to those with a positive lab test result.
On Saturday, the National Health Commission reported 2,641
new cases of the COVID-19 strain, with the vast majority in Hubei.
The number, however, was almost half those reported the
previous day.
“We’re seeking further clarity on how clinical diagnosis is
being made to ensure other respiratory illnesses including influenza are not
getting mixed into the COVID-19 data,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus.
The number of new confirmed cases has been steadily falling
outside Hubei, with 221 infections reported on Saturday.
A top Chinese scientist had predicted that the epidemic
could peak by the end of this month after the number of new cases had fallen
earlier in the week.
The WHO has cautioned that it was “way too early” to make
any predictions about the disease’s trajectory.
An international team of WHO experts will arrive in Beijing
this weekend for a joint mission with Chinese counterparts.
The joint team will inspect three provinces and cities to
review the prevention and control measures, visit research centres, and make
recommendations for containing the epidemic, according to National Health
Commission spokesman Mi Feng.
http://amarhealth.com/amar-doctor/4723/FirstcoronavirusdeathinEurope
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