The pneumonia epidemic caused by the new coronavirus is worsening in China. President Xi Jinping confirmed on Saturday that the spread of the disease has accelerated and that the situation “is serious”. China is running out of time to try to contain a large-scale epidemic by applying measures unprecedented in the country.
At least 17 cities are now isolated in China, quarantining more than 50 million people. Transport to and from these cities is blocked: no one leaves or enters. And there are currently two hospitals under construction, intended exclusively for the treatment of these patients, which already number more than 1300 in the country, of which 41 have died.
“Given the serious situation of an epidemic that is accelerating […] it is necessary to strengthen the centralized and unified leadership of the party’s central committee, “said Xi Jinping, who chaired this Saturday a meeting of the politburo (the seven-member body that runs the country) on the problem of the new coronavirus.” China can win the battle “, assured the president.
One of 41 fatalities from the new pneumonia is a 62-year-old doctor who treated infected patients and died on Saturday, the country’s health officials confirmed.
China had announced last Thursday the construction of a new hospital in Wuhan, exclusively for the treatment of cases of new pneumonia, scheduled to open on February 3, but it will not stop there. Given the emergency health situation, and probably predicting that the number of infected people will increase dramatically in the coming weeks, the authorities announced that they are already building a second hospital for the same purpose, which will be operational within the next few weeks.
The 17 isolated cities are located in the province of Hubei, but there are more than 20 provinces in the country where there are already reported cases, with the possibility of quarantine being declared in other cities. In Macau, where the watchword is to wear masks, there are two confirmed cases.
Outside China, 14 countries also reported cases of the new pneumonia. Several in Asia, including Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia or Nepal, but also Taiwan, Australia, the United States and France. The confirmation of the first two cases in France this Friday came just two days after the European Center for Disease Control considered the chance of the new virus to reach Europe to be “moderate”.
(In update)
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