Medical staff with protective clothing are seen inside a ward specialized in receiving any person who may have been infected with coronavirus, at the Rajiv Ghandhi Government General hospital in Chennai, India. (Image: Reuters)
“While percent of cases are in China, in the rest of the world we only have 176 cases, “WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “That doesn’t mean that it won’t get worse. But for sure we have a window of opportunity to act,” he said.
The WHO’s statement came as Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand all reported new infections not imported from China. And on Wednesday Japanese authorities said at least 10 passengers on a cruise ship carrying 3, people have the virus.
China has struggled to contain the virus despite unprecedented measures, including virtually locking down more than 90 million people in Hubei province. The WHO has said the outbreak does not yet constitute a “pandemic”.
Hong Kong reported the first virus death Tuesday as the semi-autonomous city closed all but two land crossings with the Chinese mainland.
Hong Kong media said the 39 – year-old man had underlying health issues. He had visited Wuhan last month and his 90 – year-old mother was also infected.
Singapore confirmed the first four cases of people being infected locally, taking the total number of infections in the city-state to 72. Macau, China’s semi-autonomous gambling hub that is popular with mainland visitors, closed all of its casinos for at least two weeks.
And the UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Tuesday advised Britons to leave China, “if they can”, to minimise their risk of exposure to the virus. The United States, meanwhile, acknowledged that the outbreak may delay Beijing’s plans to purchase American goods under the terms of a deal meant to end the two countries’ trade war.
Beijing Admits ‘Shortcomings’
The Politburo Standing Committee called for improvements to the “national emergency management system” at the meeting, according to the official Xinhua news agency on Monday. The government also said it “urgently” needed medical equipment such as surgical masks, protective suits, and safety goggles as it battles the outbreak.
Most of the deaths have been in Wuhan and the rest of surrounding Hubei province, which has largely been under lockdown for almost two weeks.
A 1, 06 – bed field hospital in Wuhan built from scratch within two weeks to relieve overburdened medical facilities started receiving patients on Tuesday, with a second makeshift hospital due to open later this week.
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