Six medical workers have died of coronavirus infection and 1,716 have contracted the deadly disease, Chinese authorities said on Friday. At least 1,502 of the casualties are in Hubei Province, of which 1,102 were in Wuhan, the capital city that was the epicentre of the outbreak. The announcement by Chinese officials has confirmed the seriousness of the situation in Wuhan.
Death toll mounts to 1,486, number of patients crosses 65,000
Covid-19, the novel coronavirus disease, has so far claimed 1,486 lives globally, while the number of confirmed infections crosses 65,191, a majority of them in China. China accounted for 1,483 deaths, with one each in Hong Kong, the Philippines and Japan. At least 116 more people died in Hubei province on Thursday, pushing the toll in the outbreak epicentre to 1,426. The provincial authorities confirmed 4,823 more cases, pushing the total to 51,986. Currently, 36,719 patients have been hospitalized in the province, of which 1,685 are in serious condition.
US official disappointed at China’s handling; Trump disagrees
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Thursday expressed disappointment that US health officials have not been invited by China to help contain the outbreak. He said the US expected better transparency from China. However, President Donald Trump was all praises for China over its handling of the outbreak. They’ve handled it professionally, and are extremely capable, Trump said in a podcast.
Increase in cases due to reporting method
The World Health Organization said 14,000 new coronavirus cases in China was due to new counting methods. The increase in the last 24 hours is because a change in how the cases are reported, the head of WHO’s health emergencies programme said. He said that a WHO-led international mission is expected to reach China soon.
Fake news could kill
Misinformation on social media during outbreaks could result in loss of lives, the Guardian reported citing researchers. More than a third of Britons believe in conspiracy theories, while the figure could be higher in other parts of the world, according to researchers at East Anglia University. The research studied the impact of rumours and fake news about outbreaks shared in social media.
China tracking movement of citizens
Chinese authorities are following a mix of policing and technology to check the spread of the outbreak by tracking those who visited Hubei Province. State-run mobile phone service providers introduced a feature to allow subscribers send messages to create a list of provinces they visited recently. At a high-speed rail stations, officials asked passengers to send the messages and show their location information before leaving the station.