Corona outbreak: Over 1,700 health workers infected, six killed in China
BEIJING: More than 1,700 Chinese medical workers have been infected by the Coronavirus that has killed nearly 1,400 people and spread to other parts of Asia and as far as the US and Europe, a senior Chinese official announced on Friday.
Six of the workers have died, Zeng Yixin, vice director of the National Health Commission, said at a news conference. The health commission is “highly concerned about this issue” and has issued guidelines for the prevention and control of infection within medical institutions, he said. Medical workers account for about 3.8% of confirmed cases as of several days ago, Zeng said.
The commission also reported another sizable rise in the number of infections as a result of a new way of counting adopted by Hebei province, the hardest-hit area. Confirmed cases in mainland China rose to 63,851 by the end of Thursday, up 5,090 from the previous day. The death toll rose 121 to 1,380. Hubei province is now including cases based on a physician’s diagnosis before they have been confirmed by lab tests. Of the 5,090 new cases, 3,095 fell into that category.
The acceleration in the number of cases does not necessarily represent a sudden surge in new infections of the virus that causes COVID-19 as much as the revised methodology. In Taiwan, about 100 family members of people stuck in Hubei province protested outside Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council headquarters in the capital, Taipei. About 1,000 Taiwanese hoping to fly home on charter flights have sparked a dispute between their government and China. One flight brought 247 people back on February 4. Three were not on a passenger list that Taiwan gave to Chinese authorities and one tested positive for the virus, Taiwan’s Central News Agency has reported.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office accused Taiwan on Wednesday of “using all kinds of excuses to obstruct and delay” flights. China sees self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory rather than an independent state.
China rejects US charge of lack of transparency in sharing info China on Friday rejected US allegations that it is not transparent enough in sharing the details about the coronavirus outbreak, saying it was working with the international community in an “open and highly responsible manner” to contain the global crisis.
China’s comments came after Larry Kudlow, the director of President Donald Trump’s Economic Council, said that the US is little disappointed over not being invited in the medical operations and the lack of transparency coming from the Chinese over coronavirus outbreak.