Covid-19 hotel collapses
Ten dead and more remain trapped as massive rescue force swings into action
TEN people have died and 23 remain trapped after the collapse of a hotel that was being used to quarantine people under observation for the coronavirus in the Chinese city of Quanzhou, authorities said yesterday.
More than 70 people were believed to have been initially trapped in the seven-storey building, which collapsed on Saturday evening. Yesterday, authorities had retrieved 48 individuals from the site of the collapse, with 38 of them sent to hospitals, the Ministry of Emergency Management said.
A rescue force of over 1 000 people, including firefighters, police forces, and other emergency responders, arrived at the site on Saturday night, authorities yesterday told a media conference organised by the Quanzhou government. Of the 71 people inside the hotel at the time of the collapse, 58 had been under quarantine, they added. The owner of the building, a man surnamed Yang, has been summoned by police.
The building’s first floor had been under renovation at the time of the collapse, the news agency said.
News of the collapse comes as the spread of Covid-19 continues to slow in China. According to data from China’s National Health Commission (NHC), cases fell by roughly one half on Saturday from the previous day.
The agency confirmed 44 new cases of the Covid-19 disease caused by the new coronavirus as at the end of March 7, a decline from 99 the previous day.
Chinese cities are gradually relaxing quarantine measures put in place over a month ago, while authorities keep a close watch on the virus’ spread overseas. Of the 44 new confirmed cases, 41 were discovered in Wuhan, the origin of the virus’ outbreak and its hotbed. The remaining three were cases imported from outside mainland China. The three cases bring China’s total imported case count to 63.
According to the Beijing Municipal Health Commission, two of the cases found in Beijing originated in Italy and Spain. As the virus slows its spread in
Wuhan, the centre of the epidemic, authorities have reacted by halting operations of hospitals built specifically to house its patients.
State television reported that operations of 11 makeshift hospitals had been suspended and the remaining ones would be out of service by around tomorrow, although they could be used again depending on the virus situation. There are now more than 106 000 coronavirus cases and more than 3 600 deaths across the world, according to a Reuters tally of government announcements.
Italy ordered a virtual lockdown across a swathe of its wealthy north yesteray, including the financial capital Milan, in a drastic attempt to try to contain the outbreak there.
The government enacted its draft order just hours after officials announced that the number of coronavirus cases had leapt by more than 1 200 in a 24-hour period – the biggest daily rise since the epidemic began in the country two weeks ago.
The measures would at least temporarily transform the nation, locking off much of the northern part of the country, with people allowed to exit or enter Lombardy and 11 northern provinces only for emergency reasons or for essential work that cannot be delayed. The changes would cut off the daily high-speed rail connections between Milan and Rome, bring an absolute halt to tourism in Venice, and essentially paralyse Italy’s economic heartland.
Iran said 194 people had died from coronavirus and 6 566 were now infected.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Daegu, the city hardest hit by South Korea’s outbreak expressed cautious hope that the numbers of new cases may be dropping, after the rate of increase slowed to its lowest in 10 days.
Argentina recorded Latin America’s first death from the coronavirus. Bangladesh, Maldives, Bulgaria and Moldova reported their first cases. | Reuters | Washington Post