Coronavirus: Death toll exceeds 900, Work activities resume in China
The reported death toll from the new coronavirus has reached 908 people. As of Monday, February 10th, work activities are resuming in many government and private institutions and companies.
Authorities in Hubei province, in central China, where the outbreak of the new coronavirus originated, announced that 90 more patients have died and more than 2,600 new cases of infection have been reported. Across China, more than 4,000 new cases were reported on Sunday.
By this count, the death toll has reached approximately 910 people and the number of infected has exceeded 40,000 people.
Outside mainland China, only one person in the Philippines and one person in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region have died, which represents no change in the figures.
Outside of China, nearly 30 countries have officially reported new coronavirus cases, which exceed 300 cases. However, healthcare mechanisms and disease control measures are not uniform across all these countries, and surveillance and quarantine procedures vary.
The number of deaths and infected cases has long surpassed the figures for SARS, a coronavirus that was prevalent in 2002 and 2003. In those years, nearly eight thousand people were infected and 774 people died.
The rate of infection with the new virus is far higher than SARS; however, the death rate remains lower than SARS and has been maintained at around two percent.
The World Health Organization recently stated that it appears the spread of the new virus has stabilized; meaning that at least in recent days, its rapid rate of increase has slowed.
Nevertheless, the increase in the number of infected cases on Monday morning has raised fresh concerns.
Dr. Ian Lipkin, director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University, said during an online press conference that if measures to control the disease are effective, we should soon see a significant decrease in cases.
Dr. Lipkin, who assisted the World Health Organization during SARS, added that if the number of infected cases begins to surge again with the resumption of commercial and administrative activities, that is when “we will know we have a problem.”
Many government agencies and organizations, shops, and private institutions in China are resuming work activities on Monday, February 10th. The Chinese New Year holidays, which were normally supposed to end two weeks ago, have been extended until today.
Source: Radio Farda
