China virus deaths rise to 17, heightening global alarm
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Deaths from China’s new flulike virus rose to 17 on Wednesday, heightening global fears of contagion from an infection suspected to have come from animals.
The previously unknown and contagious coronavirus strain emerged from the central city of Wuhan, with cases now detected in the United States, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. Officials believe the origin to be a market where wildlife is traded illegally.
The latest death toll in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, had risen to 17 by 1200 GMT on Wednesday, state television quoted the provincial government as saying.
Hours earlier, officials had put the toll at nine dead, all in Wuhan, and more than 470 cases confirmed in China.
Contrasting with its secrecy over the 2002-03 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that caused 774 deaths in 37 countries, China has this time given regular updates to try to head off panic as millions travel at home and abroad for the Lunar New Year.
“The rise in the mobility of the public has objectively increased the risk of the epidemic spreading,” National Health Commission vice-minister Li Bin said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) began an emergency meeting to rule if the outbreak was a global health emergency.
After official appeals to stay calm, many Chinese were canceling trips, buying face masks, avoiding public places such as cinemas and shopping centers, and even turning to an online plague simulation game or watching disaster movie The Flu as a way to cope.
The virus has spread from Wuhan around China to population centers including Beijing, Shanghai, Macau and Hong Kong.
Abroad, Thailand has confirmed four cases, while the United States, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan have each reported one.
US President Donald Trump said the United States’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had a good containment plan. “We think it is going to be handled very well,” he said at Davos in Switzerland.