Epidemic ‘grim and complex’, says Xi as he admits response was inadequate
Broadcast by Chinese president acknowledges virus will have big impact on economy and society
XI JINPING, the Chinese leader, has acknowledged “shortcomings” in his country’s response to the coronavirus epidemic and warned that China was facing its most serious public health crisis “in decades”.
He made the unusually frank comments as the global epidemic gathered pace. South Korea’s president put the country on “red alert” and Iran closed schools across 14 provinces after the death toll there climbed to eight.
During a video conference with officials responding to the outbreak, Mr Xi said there were “obvious shortcomings in the response to the epidemic,” which he described as “a crisis for us and … a big test”.
“At present, the epidemic situation is still grim and complex, and prevention and control work is in the most difficult and critical stage,” Mr Xi said, in comments broadcast by state television. “The outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia will inevitably have a relatively big impact on the economy and society,” he added.
China has been praised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for its response to the epidemic, but criticised for silencing early warnings from a whistleblower doctor who has since died from the virus.
Mainland China reported 648 new infections yesterday, bringing the total to 76,936, and 97 deaths – a slight decrease on the daily death toll – bringing total fatalities to 2,442.
The worst of the epidemic is still confined to Hubei province and the city of Wuhan, which remain under lockdown, but a cluster was found in a Beijing hospital and more than 500 cases reported in the prison system.
Meanwhile, Moon Jae-in, the president of South Korea, said he was putting the public health alert up to “red” and ordered “unprecedented, powerful” steps to curb the outbreak.
Mr Moon said that the disease had “reached a crucial watershed” after health authorities reported 169 new cases, bringing the total to 602. Four more people were reported to have died, bringing total fatalities to six. Red alert status allows authorities to close schools and restrict transport. The new school term has been put back a week.
The Iranian health ministry said its death toll had risen to eight, the highest outside China, and schools and seminaries would be closed in 14 provinces. By yesterday afternoon there were 43 confirmed cases.
Authorities believe the virus entered the country via the holy city of Qom in central Iran, possibly with a businessman who regularly travelled to China.
The high ratio of deaths to infections in Iran suggests far more people have been infected than have been diagnosed, or that the strain there is unusually deadly.
Turkey and Armenia temporarily closed their land borders with Iran. Saudi Arabia asked those making the pilgrimage to Mecca from Iran to wait 14 days before travelling.
Japan reported a third fatality among passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship and 57 more infections, bringing the total among those who were on board to 691. A total of 838 cases and four deaths from the virus have been confirmed in the country. South Korea issued a formal protest to Israel after a Korean airliner that had landed in Tel Aviv was turned back with all its passengers yesterday, with only 11 Israelis allowed to disembark.
Separately, Ynet, an Israeli website, reported that authorities were considering interning about 200 South Korean visitors in a military base.
South Korea said 18 people who took part in a pilgrimage to Christian sites in Israel and the West Bank earlier this month had tested positive.
Jordan said it would no longer accept non-jordanians on flights from either South Korea or Iran, adding to a ban that already applies to flights from China.
The International Monetary Fund warned that the crisis could jeopardise the global economic recovery.
Kristalina Georgieva, the head of the IMF, told a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that the crisis could depress global growth by 0.1 per cent. “[The virus] has disrupted economic activity in China and could put the recovery at risk,” she said.