Outbreak’s death toll rises as foreigners leave
BEIJING — The U.S. and Japan on Wednesday began evacuating their citizens from the Chinese city hardest-hit by an outbreak of a new virus that has killed 132 people and infected more than 6,000 on the mainland and abroad.
China’s latest figures covered the previous 24 hours and added 26 to the number of deaths, 25 of which were in the Hubei province and its capital, Wuhan. The 5,974 cases on the mainland were a rise of 1,459 from the previous day. Dozens of infections of the new type of coronavirus have been confirmed outside mainland China as well.
A Japanese chartered flight carrying 206 evacuees from Wuhan included some who had coughs and fever on the plane, Kyodo News reported, citing health ministry officials. They were expected to be taken by ambulances to a Tokyo hospital specializing in infectious diseases.
Takeo Aoyama, an employee at Nippon Steel Corp.’s subsidiary in Wuhan, told reporters he was so relieved to be able to return home, and thanked the government for arranging the flight.
“We were feeling increasingly uneasy as the situation developed so rapidly and we were still in the city,” Aoyama told reporters, wearing a white surgical mask that slightly muffled his voice. “My uneasiness peaked when the number of patients started to spike.”
A plane carrying Americans who had been in Wuhan left for Anchorage, Alaska, where they were to be rescreened for the virus. Hospitals were prepared to treat or quarantine people who may be infected. The plane was scheduled to continue to Ontario, Calif.
The British government warned against “all but essential travel” to mainland China amid the outbreak of the new type of coronavirus. And Hong Kong’s leader said the territory would cut all rail links to the mainland and halve the number of flights to stop the spread of the virus.
South Korea also said it would send a plane, and France, Mongolia and other governments also planned evacuations.
China has cut off access to Wuhan and 16 other cities in Hubei province to prevent people from leaving and spreading the virus further. The lockdown has trapped more than 50 million people in the most far-reaching disease control measures ever imposed.
The Japanese plane carried into
China 20,000 face masks as well as protective gear, all in short supply as Chinese hospitals treat a growing number of patients. Wuhan is building two hospitals in a matter of days to add 2,500 beds for treatment of patients with the virus.
The sharp rise in infections recently suggests significant human-to-human spread of the virus, though it could also be explained by expanded monitoring efforts, said Malik Peiris, chair in virology at the University of Hong Kong.
Experts worry the new virus may spread more easily than originally thought, or may have mutated into a form that does so. It is from the coronavirus family, which also can cause the common cold as well as more serious illnesses such as SARS and MERS, which both emerged in the past two decades and are thought to have come from animals.
The new virus causes coldand flu-like symptoms, including cough and fever, and in more severe cases, shortness of breath and pneumonia. It is thought to have spread to people from wild animals sold at a Wuhan market.