Coronavirus death toll surpasses 1,000 in mainland China
Monday saw the largest single-day death toll yet in mainland China as 108 people died, bringing the total to more than 1,000 deaths. More cases were identified, bringing that total to 42,638 in mainland China. Meanwhile, two senior health officials in the Chinese province of Hubei, the epicenter of the outbreak, have been fired. Read more about the latest updates here.
U.S. evacuees prep for end of coronavirus quarantine
The quarantined Americans evacuated from mainland China in the past few weeks are being prepared to end their quarantine. About 200 citizens have spent two weeks at the March Air Reserve Base in Southern California after being evacuated from Wuhan and surrounding areas in China by charter plane. None of the evacuees stationed at the March Air Reserve Base tested positive for the coronavirus. Other evacuees have been quarantined in military bases across the country, including Texas, Nebraska and California. Read more about the U.S. evacuees here.
Beijing takes direct control over coronavirus response in Hubei province
Beijing has taken direct control of efforts in the Hubei province to contain spread of the coronavirus. Zhang Jin, the Communist Party secretary in charge of the Hubei Health Commission, and Liu Yingzi, head of the provincial Health Commission, have been fired. Wang Hesheng, the deputy director of the central government’s National Health Commission, assumes both roles. A team of WHO experts arrived in China on Monday after earlier reports that Beijing was uninterested in help from the outside. Read more here.
Coronavirus may be over by April in China, but WHO warns of global threat
Coronavirus infections in China may be over by April, according to China’s senior medical advisor, but the WHO warns of a “very grave” global threat. China’s foremost medical advisor on the outbreak, Zhong Nanshan, has said numbers of new cases were falling in some places and held out hope the epidemic may peak this month. Zhong won fame for his role in combating the outbreak of SARS in 2003. However, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus appealed for the sharing of virus samples and speeding up research into drugs and vaccines. “With 99% of cases in China, this remains very mush an emergency for that country, but one that holds a very grave threat for the rest of the world,” he says. Read more here.
Thailand bars cruise passengers from disembarking due to coronavirus fears
Thailand became the latest country to ban passengers from Holland America’s cruise ship MS Westerdam from disembarking. It has already been turned away by Japan and the Philippines, although the ship was not quarantined and there was no reason to believe there are any cases of coronavirus on board. Another cruise ship, the Diamond Princess, is quarantined with 3,700 passengers and crew onboard in the port city of Yokohama, Japan, with 135 cases of coronavirus detected onboard. Read more updates on coronavirus concerns here.
More coronavirus resources from Repertoire:
- Day-by-day Timeline of major events – updated daily.
- FAQ/Insights – Helpful and relevant links to help you keep track of the ongoing epidemic