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February 25, 2020

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World ‘in debt’ to China for rapid response

Source: Agencies | 00:00 UTC+8 February 25, 2020 | Print Edition

ITALY, South Korea and Iran reported sharp rises in coronavirus infections yesterday, but China eased curbs as the rate of new infections fell and a visiting World Health Organization team reported steep declines in visits to clinics.

The virus has put Chinese cities into lockdown in recent weeks, but China’s actions, especially in the city of Wuhan, the center of the outbreak, had probably prevented hundreds of thousands of cases, the head of the WHO delegation in China, Bruce Aylward, said, urging the rest of the world to learn the lesson of acting fast.

“The world is in your debt,” Aylward said in Beijing, addressing the people of Wuhan. “The people of that city have gone through an extraordinary period and they’re still going through it.”

Excluding Hubei, China’s mainland reported 11 new cases, the lowest since the national health authority started publishing nationwide daily figures on January 20.

The coronavirus has infected nearly 77,000 people and killed more than 2,500 in China, most in Hubei.

But there was a measure of relief as more than 20 province-level jurisdictions, including Beijing and Shanghai, reported zero new infections, the best showing since the outbreak began.

Outside China, the spread of the virus in other parts of the world has accelerated over the past week.

South Korea reported 231 new cases, taking its total to 833. Many are in its fourth-largest city, Daegu, which became more isolated with Asiana Airlines and Korean Air suspending flights there until next month.

Authorities in Hong Kong announced that from today it would not allow arrivals from South Korea other than returning residents.

Eight people have died from the virus there, and President Moon Jae-in over the weekend raised the country’s virus alert to the highest “red” level.

As part of the containment efforts, school holidays were extended nationally while the 2.5 million people of Daegu were told to remain indoors.

Iran, which announced its first two cases last Wednesday, said it now has 61 cases and 12 deaths. Most of the infections were in the Shi’ite Muslim holy city of Qom.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, Bahrain and Iraq reported their first cases and Kuwait reported three cases involving people who had been in Iran.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan imposed restrictions on travel and immigration from Iran. Afghanistan also reported its first case, officials said.

Europe’s biggest outbreak is in Italy, with some 150 infections — compared with just three before Friday — and a sixth death.

The famed Venice Carnival was cut short, and some Milan Fashion Week runway shows were canceled.

More than 50,000 people in about a dozen northern Italian towns have been told to stay home, and police set up checkpoints to enforce a blockade.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has said that residents could face weeks of lockdown.

Austria briefly suspended train services over the Alps from Italy after two travelers coming from Italy showed symptoms of fever.

Both tested negative for the new coronavirus but Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said a task force would meet on Monday to discuss whether to introduce border controls.

President Xi Jinping urged businesses to get back to work, although he said the epidemic was still “severe and complex, and prevention and control work is in the most difficult and critical stage.”

Xi said the outbreak would have a relatively big, but short-term, impact on the economy.

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