Mainland China sees more than 100 new deaths from coronavirus over weekend
The Chinese National Health Commission reported on Monday that the COVID-19 death toll in mainland China reached 1,770 as of the end of Sunday – there were 2,048 new cases across mainland China, with more than 94% of the new cases on Sunday confirmed in the central province of Hubei, where the outbreak is concentrated; the province also saw about 100 deaths on Feb. 16.
Hubei is to further tighten traffic restrictions and will instruct villages and districts to implement the “most stringent” measures to stop people from entering/leaving the province, to curb transmission. This follows reports of three deaths in Henan province, which neighbors Hubei, on Sunday.
Despite the severity of the situation, Guo Yanhong, a hospital administration supervisor at the commission, claims the novel coronavirus is “preventable and treatable” – she said that the percentage of infected patients in virus epicenter Wuhan who are critically ill had dropped significantly, from 38% at the beginning of the outbreak to 18% currently.
In other news, the outbreak is beginning to show strong effects in Japan, as many public events have been scrapped or scaled down due to fears of an epidemic. The Japanese government has issued new guidelines after experts said the coronavirus spread in Japan has entered a “new phase,” not directly linked to China.
