China virus kills 560, total 28,000 infected amid medical scarcity
The death toll from Wuhan coronavirus outbreak passed 560 on Thursday while the Chinese authorities warned they faced a severe shortage of hospital beds and equipment needed to treat a growing number of patients.
The number of confirmed infections rose to more than 28,000 nationwide in an outbreak that has spiralled into a global health emergency with cases reported in more than 20 countries. Among the cases was a newborn baby, diagnosed just 30 hours after being born.
Despite the authorities building a hospital from scratch and converting public buildings to accommodate thousands of extra patients, there was still a ‘severe’ lack of beds, said Hu Lishan, an official in Wuhan, the quarantined city where the virus first appeared—and where doctors are now overwhelmed with cases.
There was also a shortage of ‘equipment and materials’, he told reporters, adding that officials were looking to convert other hotels and schools in the city into treatment centres.
Global concerns have risen after the World Health Organisation declared an international health emergency last week.
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The WHO called for $675 million, 613 million euros, in donations for a plan to fight the novel coronavirus, mainly through investment in countries considered particularly ‘at risk’.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledged to commit up to $100 million. New cases emerged abroad, with 10 people testing positive for the virus on a cruise ship quarantined off the coast of Japan with thousands on board.
Also in Japan, the chief executive of the Tokyo Olympics set for later this year admitted organisers were ‘extremely worried’ about how the virus could affect the Summer Games, but the International Olympic Committee urged calm.
Italy announced that passengers from every international flight would be scanned for fevers, while Vietnam joined a growing list of countries banning arrivals from China.
Hong Kong, which reported its first coronavirus death this week, said anyone arriving from the mainland would face ‘a mandatory two-week quarantine’ from Saturday.
In the city of Hangzhou, some 175 kilometres southwest of Shanghai, fences blocked streets near the headquarters of Chinese tech giant Alibaba—one of the world’s most valuable companies—as a fighter jet circled overhead.
The building appeared to be shut down, while deliverymen moved in and out of nearby fenced-in residential areas to drop off groceries.
The firm is based in one of three Hangzhou districts subject to new restrictions that allow only one person per household to go outside every two days to buy necessities.
‘Please don’t go out. Don’t go out. Don’t go out!’ blared a message on a loudspeaker urging people to wear masks, wash their hands regularly and report any people who are from Hubei—reflecting a common fear that people from the province might infect others.
At least three other cities in Zhejiang province—Taizhou, Wenzhou and parts of Ningbo—have imposed the same measures, affecting 18 million people.
A couple wearing face masks sit in the upper deck of a double-decker bus in Hong Kong
In the central city of Zhumadian, authorities said one person would be allowed to leave each household only every five days.
Residents of the city of seven million were also offered cash rewards for informing on people who came from neighbouring Hubei province.
News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net
