China records deadliest day with 254 coronavirus fatalities
Beijing/Wuhan, February 13
China on Thursday reported 254 fatalities from the coronavirus outbreak — the highest in a single day and double the previous record high — taking the death toll to 1,367, as authorities adopted a new diagnosis method amid concerns that the crisis is nowhere near slowing down contrary to official projections.
Japan reports first death
Japan on Thursday reported the first death of a woman infected with novel coronavirus, as the number of cases on a quarantined cruise ship offshore soared to 218.
China’s central Hubei province, the epicentre of the virus outbreak, reported 242 deaths and nearly 15,000 fresh cases on Wednesday, said Mi Feng, a spokesperson with the National Health Commission.
quarantined off Japan have tested
positive for the novel COVID-19
coronavirus, authorities said
February 13 as they announced plans
to move some elderly passengers off the ship.
Twelve fatalities came from other provinces, including two in Henan, and one in Tianjin, Hebei, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Anhui, Shandong, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps respectively.
Vietnam quarantines commune of 10,000
Vinh Phuc: Vietnam announced on Thursday that a commune of 10,000 people would be placed under quarantine due to fears over the spread of the new coronavirus. “As of February 13, we will urgently implement the task of isolation and quarantine of the epidemic area in Son Loi commune,” said a health ministry statement. REUTERs
The total number of deaths from the more than two-month-old virus outbreak as reported on Thursday stood at 1,367, with the number of confirmed cases mounting to 59,804, health officials were quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.
The Philippines reported the first death outside China from the virus. So far 445 cases have been reported from about 26 countries including three from India.
Amid growing public anger over the handling of the crisis, the ruling Communist Party of China replaced two high-ranking officials in Hubei province, where coronavirus first emerged in late December in provincial capital Wuhan.
Xinhua reported that former Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong, 61, a close ally of President Xi Jinping, has been appointed as the new Hubei party secretary, replacing Jiang Chaoliang.
The leader of Wuhan city, Ma Guoqiang, 56, has been replaced by Wang Zhonglin, 57, the party secretary of Shandong’s provincial capital Jinan.
Jiang, 61, is the highest-ranking political casualty so far in the virus outbreak. — PTI
EU ministers hold emergency talks
Brussels: European Union health ministers held an emergency meeting on Thursday on how to prevent the COVID-19 virus from further spreading across Europe. Ministers from the bloc’s 27 member states gather in Brussels amid the outbreak. European Commissioner in charge of Health Stella Kyriakides, among others, spoke on the occasion. The meeting deliberated on issues likes travel bans and restrictionsitors to China, which has more than 99% of the world’s reported infections. AP
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