China sees ‘some positive changes’
The number of new cases of the coronavirus in China dropped for a second straight day, health officials said yesterday in a possible glimmer of hope amid the outbreak that has infected over
45,000 people worldwide and killed more than 1,100.
Dr Mike Ryan, the head of emergencies for the World Health Organisation, said it is ‘‘way too early to try to predict the beginning of the end’’ of the crisis in China.
But he said: ‘‘The stabilisation in cases in the last number of days is very reassuring and it is to a great extent the result of the huge public health operation in China.’’
China has locked down an unprecedented 60 million people in an effort to curb the spread of the virus, which has hit hardest in the city of Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province.
The country’s National Health Commission said 2015 new cases were counted on Wednesday, the second straight daily decline and down from nearly 3900 a week ago. Commission spokesman Mi Feng said the situation is still grim but ‘‘we have seen some positive changes.’’
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva that the numbers ‘‘must be interpreted with extreme caution,’’ adding: ‘‘This outbreak could still go in any direction.’’ At the same time, he noted that the number of other countries reporting cases – about two dozen – has not changed since February
4.
All but one of the deaths recorded so far have been in China, as have more than 99 per cent of all reported infections in the world.
‘‘In principle at the moment, there’s no evidence out there that this virus is out there causing efficient community transmission in other countries,’’ Ryan said. ‘‘We have a window of opportunity to shut this virus down.’’
At the end of a two-day meeting aimed at speeding the development of new tests, drugs and vaccines for the new virus, WHO said scientists had agreed upon a set of global research priorities but warned it could still take considerable time before any licensed products might be available.
In other developments:
■ Chinese President Xi Jinping promised tax cuts and other aid to industry as the ruling Communist Party tries to limit the mounting damage to the economy.
The country is struggling to
restart its economy after the annual Lunar New Year holiday was extended to try to keep people home and contain the virus. Traffic remained light in Beijing, and many people were still working at home.
■ A citizen journalist reporting on the epidemic in Wuhan has disappeared, activists said, becoming the second to vanish in recent days amid tightening controls on information in China.
Fang Bin, a seller of traditional Chinese clothing, stopped posting videos or responding to calls and messages on Sunday, activists Gao Fei and Hua Yong said, citing Fang’s friends. His phone was turned off Wednesday.
■ Passengers aboard a cruise ship that has been barred from docking by four governments may finally set foot on land again.
Holland America Line said the MS Westerdam will arrive this morning in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The ship has been turned away by the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan and Thailand, though its operator said no cases of the disease have been confirmed among the more than 2,200 passengers and crew.
■ Two Russian women who were kept in isolation for possible inflection by the virus say they escaped from Russian hospitals because of unco-operative doctors, poor conditions and fear they would become infected.
Both women were hospitalised after returning from Hainan, a tropical island in China popular with Russian tourists. One said she jumped out of a hospital window to escape her quarantine, while the other broke out by disabling an electronic lock.
‘‘The stabilization in cases in the last number of days is very reassuring and it is to a great extent the result of the huge public health operation in China.’’
Dr Mike Ryan
Head of emergencies for WHO