Coronavirus: 56 Million Chinese in Quarantine and 81 Deaths

The coronavirus has spread from China to four continents. Flights from Wuhan, China to most countries have been banned, and Mongolia has closed its borders with China. In China, 81 people have lost their lives due to coronavirus infection.

According to the latest reports, 2,700 people in China have been infected with coronavirus, and 81 people have so far died.

The outbreak of coronavirus began two months ago in a seafood market in Wuhan and has now spread to four continents.

Reports from Australia indicate that five people have been infected with coronavirus. One of the patients is a 21-year-old woman who arrived in Sydney shortly before travel restrictions were imposed on affected areas in China.

To date, cases of coronavirus infection have been reported in the United States, France, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia. International airports in many countries are tightly screening passengers entering from China.

Suspected cases have also been reported in several other countries, including Russia, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, and Sweden.

What measures have China’s neighboring countries taken?

Malaysia and the special administrative region of Macau have banned flights from Wuhan and other parts of China.

Mongolia has closed its borders with China and has declared kindergartens, schools, and universities closed for one week in the country. The Mongolian government has taken the coronavirus threat very seriously, although no cases of coronavirus have been reported in the country so far.

The situation of tourists

Russian travel companies have suspended trips to China. Currently, approximately seven thousand Russian tourists are in China, with six thousand of them being transferred back to Russia.

Many Western countries, such as the United States, Britain, Japan, and France, intend to evacuate their citizens from areas where coronavirus has spread.

Given the rapid spread of coronavirus in recent days, crisis management of this disease by Chinese authorities and the government has been criticized. The mayor of Wuhan acknowledged management failures in an interview with Chinese state television. He confirmed that crisis management was not sufficiently robust. According to the latest reports, cases of the disease have been confirmed in most provinces in China. China’s Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Health have allocated 60 billion yuan to combat the spread of coronavirus.

The Chinese New Year holidays have also been extended by the government cabinet until February 2 for an additional three days. In Shanghai, mandatory holidays have been extended for even more than a week. Employees of government agencies and private companies, except medical and pharmaceutical companies, should not return to work until February 9.

Germany is planning to repatriate its citizens from China

German authorities say that although the risk of coronavirus in Germany is very low, the country is prepared to deal with the virus.

Many German companies based in Wuhan have taken measures to combat coronavirus and have distributed necessary recommendations to their employees for prevention and dealing with the disease.

Heiko Maas, Germany’s Foreign Minister, said the country is planning to repatriate German nationals from China. The spread of coronavirus in China has been cited as the reason for this.

The German Foreign Minister did not announce the exact number of his country’s citizens currently living in areas affected by coronavirus and only said this number is in the double digits.

According to Maas, a crisis committee has been formed for this purpose, and committee members are expected to plan the repatriation of German citizens from China before noon on Monday.

Source: DW