Homeless at high risk for Covid-19
information and downplaying its risks, but its draconian efforts at control, including the lockdown of Wuhan and Hubei province, have been effective at curbing the spread.
Xi, who was mostly absent from Chinese state media coverage of the crisis in its early days, has become far more visible in recent weeks. Of the new coronavirus cases announced by China, 17 were in Wuhan. Two others – in Beijing and Guangdong province – involved people who had arrived from Britain and Spain, respectively.
That brings the total number of confirmed cases in mainland China so far to 80 754.
Chinese authorities have ramped up warnings about the risks from foreigners and Chinese nationals travelling to China from viral hotspots abroad such as Iran and Italy. As of Monday, there were 69 imported cases.
Also yesterday, Hubei said it would implement a “health code” system to allow people in areas at medium or low risk to start travelling. Qianjiang, a city in Hubei, said that all traffic checkpoints would be removed, public transportation will restart and firms will resume work in the near future, according to a report on an official website. Globally, more than 114 300 people have been infected by the coronavirus and over 4 000 have died, according to a Reuters tally of government announcements.
Since the outbreak, 59 897 patients have been discharged from hospitals in China. Recently discharged patients need to go into quarantine for 14 days.
A downward trend in new coronavirus cases in South Korea raised hope yesterday that Asia’s biggest outbreak outside China may be slowing, but officials urged vigilance with new clusters of infections emerging from a call centre and a dance class.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 35 new coronavirus cases, down from a peak of 909 on February 29.
The new figures brought national tally to 7 513, while the the death toll rose by eight to 59.
The fall in the daily tally of new infections to its lowest level in 11 days coincided with the completion of testing of most of the roughly 200 000 followers of a fringe Christian church at the centre of South Korea’s epidemic.
Yoon Tae-ho, director general for public health policy at the health ministry, urged businesses to do what they could to help stem the outbreak after the discovery of 64 new cases among call-centre workers and their relatives.
“The rate of increase is declining but there are still many new cases,” Yoon told a briefing. “We need to pay attention to crowded workplaces including call centres. The co-operation of business owners is essential as they shouldn’t let employees come in if they show symptoms like fever.”
More than 90% of South Korea’s cases have been in the south-eastern city of Daegu, where the church at the centre of the outbreak is based, and the nearby province of North Gyeongsang.
But alarm has been raised in the capital, Seoul, with the new cases there linked to the call-centre, operated by an insurance company.
Authorities are investigating in the cluster and say more infections are likely among the 200 people packed into the floor where the call-centre is located. They are being tested.
HOMELESS people in the US are at particular risk of contracting the coronavirus, and the systems that care for them are poorly equipped to handle a major outbreak, according to public health experts.
The US had more than 750 confirmed cases of the respiratory virus as of early yesterday and 26 related deaths, as estimated by a national tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. The count could rise sharply as testing increases this week.
More than 110 000 people have been infected globally and about 4 000 have died, according to a Reuters tally.
Fears have been raised that the US homeless population – nearly 600 000 last year – could be particularly vulnerable to the disease, which spreads primarily through tiny droplets coughed or sneezed from an infected person.
“For the general public that contracts this virus, they’re told to quarantine, rest and recuperate at home,” said Barbara DiPietro, senior director of policy at the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, an NPO.
“What does that mean if you don’t have a home or a service provider who can accommodate them 24/7?”
Vigilant hygiene can prevent transmission, health experts say, in what could be a challenge for people living without homes.
Los Angeles lawmakers are considering setting up washing facilities in encampments.