China virus cases rise after decline

Resurgence comes after brief dip in infection rate

Mainland China has reported another rise in cases of the new virus after a sharp decline the previous day, while the number of deaths grew by 97 to 908, with at least two more outside the country.

Yesterday, China’s health ministry said a further 3062 cases had been reported over the previous 24 hours, raising the Chinese mainland’s total to 40,171.

Earlier, France closed two schools after five British visitors contracted the virus at a ski resort. Malaysia, South Korea and Vietnam reported one new case each.

Meanwhile, the mother of a physician who died last week in the hardesthit city of Wuhan said she wants an explanation from authorities who reprimanded her son for warning about the virus.

Yesterday’s rise was a turnaround from a significant reduction in new cases reported on Sunday, 2656, down by about 20 per cent from the 3399 new cases reported in the previous 24-hour period.

That had prompted optimism that the “joint control mechanism of different regions and the strict prevention and control measures have worked”, in the words of a spokesman for the National Health Commission, Mi Feng.

On Sunday, new cases were reported in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, the UK and Spain.

More than 360 cases have been confirmed outside mainland China.

“Dramatic reductions” in the pace of the disease’s spread should begin this month if containment works, Dr Ian Lipkin, director of Columbia University’s Center for Infection and Immunity, said in an online news conference on Sunday.

Lipkin assisted the World Health Organisation and Chinese authorities during the outbreak of Sars, or severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Warmer weather would reduce the virus’s ability to spread and bring people out of enclosed spaces where it was transmitted more easily, Lipkin said.

However, he said, if new cases spiked as people returned to work after the Lunar New Year holiday, which was extended to reduce the risk of spreading the virus, then “we’ll know we’re in trouble”.

The death toll has passed the 774 people believed to have died of Sars, another viral outbreak that originated in China. The total of 37,198 confirmed cases of the new virus vastly exceeds the 8098 sickened by Sars.