Coronavirus outbreak, which started in Wuhan, has been affecting and killing more and more people in mainland China.
So far, in China, there have been 1,016 deaths from the complications of the new coronavirus infection. The virus, which is also called 2019-nCoV, has affected people across China’s 31 provinces.
There have been 42,638 confirmed cases of the new virus so far, according to the Chinese National Health Commission.
Earlier, Chinese health officials said that there was hope the spread of 2019-nCoV might soon reach a turning point.
However, the dean of Shanghai Fudan University Medical School, Dr. Wu Fan, said, “The situation is stabilizing.” In Shanghai, the virus has affected 300 people and killed one so far.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there had been “concerning instances” of transmission from people who have not visited China.
He said in Geneva, “The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries; in short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg.”
Wuhan, which is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, has not been able to confirm all suspected cases of the virus in spite of an urgency to speed up testing, according to the Wuhan’s Communist Party secretary.
Ma Guoqiang said, “The Wuhan government would, however, aim to test all suspected cases by Tuesday. There have been growing complaints that many patients in the city of 11 million have not been tested or admitted for full-time treatment due to the pressure on medical resources.”
The secretary added that nearly 1,500 critically ill patients, who were not admitted for treatment before February 8, have now been hospitalized.
Meanwhile, people in China started trickling back to work after an extended Lunar New Year holiday as the government has eased restrictions imposed to combat the new coronavirus outbreak.
However, most workplaces remained closed and many people worked from home. Some commuters, who wore masks, were seen during the morning rush hour on one of Beijing’s busiest subway lines.
