A produce market in Rome.
Photo: alberto pizzoli/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesThe spread of the novel coronavirus slowed sharply in the hardest-hit countries in Asia, bolstering the case for government-imposed lockdowns and tight quarantine measures that have more recently been implemented in other parts of the world.
In China, where the new virus was first reported in December and escalated into February, dwindling new case reports and falling numbers of sick patients suggested the country has brought the epidemic under control within its borders, even as infections continue to jump globally.
China on Tuesday reported 19 new coronavirus infections, taking its total number of cases to 80,754. The country’s health authorities said 17,721 people are ill with the disease known as Covid-19, after 3,136 people died and close to 60,000 recovered.
Chinese President Xi Jinping flew to the central city of Wuhan for a surprise visit, his first trip to the city where the epidemic emerged since the health crisis erupted.
The Latest on the Coronavirus
- China reports 19 new cases.
- Chinese President Xi Jinping makes his first trip to Wuhan since the crisis erupted.
- Globally, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases across 115 countries and regions climb to 114,544.
- South Korea reports 131 new cases, many of them linked to a call center.
His arrival in the virus-stricken city, which was locked down about a month-and-a-half ago, was a sign that conditions have improved so much that authorities deemed it safe for the country’s top leader to visit. In Wuhan, Mr. Xi went to a 1,000-bed hospital that was hastily constructed in late January, and met with patients and medical workers, according to Chinese state media.
Globally, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases across 115 countries and regions climbed Tuesday to 114,544, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. More than 4,000 people have been killed by the disease, which can cause pneumonia.
There were more than 33,700 cases outside mainland China, and another jump in infections in Italy made the Mediterranean nation the second-worst-hit country with 9,172 cases. Italy this week placed the entire country under quarantine, after earlier locking down the northern part.
An additional six countries, including France, Spain and Germany, now have more than 1,000 confirmed cases. There were 754 confirmed cases in the U.S., with at least 26 deaths—22 in Washington, two in California and two in Florida.
South Korea, which just a few days ago was the country with the most coronavirus infections outside China, reported 131 new cases, bringing its tally to 7,513, including 54 deaths.
More than 50 of the new infections were linked to a call center in Seoul, the country’s capital, sparking concerns of wider community transmission in the metropolitan area, where nearly half the country’s population lives.
Note: Data begins when Johns Hopkins and WHO began publishing daily global case numbers. China first reported a pneumonia cluster in Wuhan in early December 2019.
Vivien Ngo/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Still, new case numbers in South Korea—which topped 900 at their peak—have also dropped over the past week. When infections mounted earlier on, South Korean authorities tracked down, tested and quarantined thousands of people who were members of a secretive church in the southeastern city of Daegu, where most of the country’s cases were concentrated.
Dale Fisher, an infectious-disease expert at the National University of Singapore, said that six weeks after China took the extreme measure of locking down Wuhan, the number of new locally transmitted cases in other provinces is close to zero, while infection rates in Wuhan have also dropped sharply. Dr. Fisher was part of a World Health Organization-led international team of experts that visited China last month to learn more about the epidemic.
In the absence of a cure or vaccine for the disease, he said, the formula for containing the virus’s spread should be the same everywhere: Identify cases early, track down their contacts and isolate people with symptoms. “There shouldn’t be public debates over what should or should not be done,” he said.
In Japan, the cabinet approved a bill Tuesday to empower Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to declare a state of emergency to combat the coronavirus spread ahead of the Summer Olympics that are due to begin July 24 in Tokyo. The country has 514 confirmed cases and nine deaths.
The economic impact of the coronavirus epidemic is showing up in more macroeconomic data. China reported on Tuesday that its producer-price index fell back to deflation territory in February as a result of prolonged factory shutdowns and sluggish demand.
Elbert Wang, Vivien Ngo, and Dylan Moriarty/The Wall Street Journal
Write to Chong Koh Ping at chong.kohping@wsj.com
Copyright ©2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
"asian" - Google News
March 10, 2020 at 05:33PM
https://ift.tt/3cOwzeK
New Coronavirus Spread Slows in Worst-Hit Asian Countries - The Wall Street Journal
"asian" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2STmru2
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
No comments:
Post a Comment