USA TODAY International Edition
China says virus response fell short
Officials say those who failed to face discipline
Chinese health officials acknowledged “shortcomings and difficulties” in their initial response to a fastspreading new virus as the death toll soared above 400 Tuesday.
The powerful Standing Committee of the Politburo issued a statement saying officials who had failed in their duties would face discipline. It pledged better responses to emergencies in the future.
President Xi Jinping warned that failing to halt the outbreak could erode social stability in the nation of more than 1.4 billion people.
“The outbreak is a major test of China’s system and capacity for governance,” Xi said, according to state media. “We must sum up the experience and draw a lesson from it.”
More than 20,000 cases of the virus have been confirmed around the world, fewer than 300 of them outside mainland China. Eleven are in the U. S.
The death toll was at 427, all in mainland China except for one in Hong Kong and one in the Philippines. More than 2,000 hospital workers in Hong Kong went on strike for a second day Tuesday to demand that the border with mainland China be closed in response to the outbreak.
Sylvie Birand, director for global infections hazard preparedness at the World Health Organization, said it was “very early” in the outbreak. She declined to describe the outbreak as a pandemic.
“Currently we are not in a pandemic,” Birand said. “We are at a phase where we have an epidemic of coronavirus with multiple foci and we try to extinguish each of these foci.”
The U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that it does not recommend face masks to help prevent the virus, saying it is not spreading in communities in the U. S. Rather, the CDC urged precautions common for combating the flu, such as washing hands often and avoiding contact with people who are sick.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director- general, on Tuesday reiterated his call to all countries not to impose restrictions that” unnecessarily interfere” with travel and trade.
“Such restrictions can have the effect of increasing fear and stigma, with little public health benefit,” Tedros said. “Where such measures have been implemented, we urge that they are short in duration, proportionate to the public health risks, and are reconsidered regularly as the situation evolves.”