BFF-36 China sees drop in new virus cases, but more deaths abroad

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CHINA-HEALTH-VIRUS

China sees drop in new virus cases, but more deaths abroad

BEIJING, Feb 20, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – China on Thursday touted a big drop in
new virus infections as proof its epidemic control efforts are working, but
the toll grew abroad with deaths in Japan and South Korea.

Fatalities in China hit 2,118 as 114 more people died, but health
officials reported the lowest number of new cases in nearly a month,
including in hardest-hit Hubei province.

More than 74,000 people have been infected by the new coronavirus in
China, and hundreds more in over 25 countries.

The number of deaths outside mainland China climbed to 11.

Japan’s toll rose to three as a man and a woman in their 80s who had been
aboard a quarantined cruise ship died, while fears there mounted about other
passengers who disembarked the Diamond Princess after testing negative.

South Korea reported its first death, and the number of infections in the
country nearly doubled Thursday to 104 — including 15 at a hospital in
Cheongdo county.

The mayor of Daegu — South Korea’s fourth-largest, with 2.5 million
people — advised residents to stay indoors, while commanders at a major US
military base in the area restricted access.

Iran reported two deaths on Wednesday, the first in the Middle East.
Deaths have previously been confirmed in France, the Philippines, Taiwan and
Hong Kong.

Chinese officials say their drastic containment efforts, including
quarantining tens of millions of people in Hubei and restricting movements in
cities nationwide, have started to pay off.

“Results show that our control efforts are working,” Foreign Minister Wang
Yi said at a special meeting on the virus with Southeast Asian counterparts
in Laos, citing the latest data.

Wang said the situation was “significantly improving” in Hubei and Wuhan,
but an official in a central government team dealing with the epidemic said
it was still “very severe”.

– ‘Not turning point’ –

Although more than 600 new infections were reported in Hubei’s capital
Wuhan, it was the lowest daily tally since late January and well down from
the 1,749 new cases the day before.

The national figure has now fallen for three straight days.

Chinese authorities placed the city of 11 million under quarantine on
January 23 and quickly locked down the rest of the province in the days that
followed.

Wuhan authorities this week carried out a three-day, door-to-door check on
residents, with the local Communist Party chief warning that officials would
be “held accountable” if any infections were missed.

Cities far from the epicentre have limited the number of people who can
leave their homes for groceries, while rural villages have sealed off access
to outsiders.

Richard Brennan, a World Health Organization official, said in Cairo that
China was making “tremendous progress” and “trends are very encouraging, but
we are not at a turning point yet”.

– ‘Chaotic’ cruise quarantine –

While China has boasted progress in its fight against the COVID-19
epidemic, Japan’s government has been criticised for the quarantine measures
it placed on the Diamond Princess.

The huge vessel moored in Yokohama is easily the biggest coronavirus
cluster outside the Chinese epicentre, with 634 cases confirmed among
passengers and crew.

Another 13 people on board the ship were diagnosed with the virus
Thursday, Japan’s health ministry said.

Still, passengers were disembarking after negative tests and having
completed a 14-day quarantine period — packing into yellow buses and leaving
for stations and airports.

Questions were asked over the wisdom of allowing them to mingle in Japan’s
crowded cities.

“Is it really safe to get off?” screamed a headline in the Nikkan Sports
tabloid.

The paper quoted one passenger who said he was tested on February 15, but
only left four days later.

“I thought I could be infected during the four days. I thought ‘Is it
really OK’?”

A specialist in infectious diseases at Kobe University slammed as
“completely chaotic” the quarantine procedures on board in rare criticism
from a Japanese academic.

“The cruise ship was completely inadequate in terms of infection control,”
said Kentaro Iwata in videos he has since deleted.

South Korea, meanwhile, announced 51 new cases, with more than 40 in a
cluster centred on the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, an entity often accused
of being a cult.

The infections apparently came from a 61-year-old woman who first
developed a fever on February 10 and attended at least four services before
being diagnosed.

Local media said she had twice refused to be tested for the coronavirus on
the grounds she had not recently travelled abroad.

Authorities were investigating whether she might have visited the hospital
where a long-term patient contracted the virus and later died. Some 15 other
patients have now been found to have the virus.

Shincheonji claims its founder, Lee Man-hee, has donned the mantle of
Jesus Christ and will take 144,000 people with him to heaven on the day of
judgement.

A man in his 60s tested positive for the coronavirus after dying Wednesday
following symptoms of pneumonia, South Korean authorities said.

BSS/AFP/BZC/2055HRS