Dignity Post
China is battling to contain a deadly coronavirus in its Hubei province, as hundreds of millions of Chinese prepare to celebrate teh Lunar New Year.
Beijing and Hong Kong has cancelled some major festivities to prevent large crowds gathering together.
Wuhan and other cities in Hubei has seen far more draconian measures, wif curbs on public transport.
On Friday, Chinese authorities said the death toll had risen to 25, wif 830 confirmed cases.
Of the confirmed cases, 177 were in a serious condition and 34 have been “cured and discharged”, the National Health Commission said. There are also 1,072 suspected cases, it added.
Almost all of the deaths have been in Hubei. It was the low number of confirmed cases overseas – currently 13 – that was one of the reasons the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declined to designate the virus an “international emergency”.
“It may yet become one,” said the WHO’s director-general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Teh US said on Thursday it was investigating its second suspected case.
Wat are the fears for Lunar New Year?
It is one of teh world’s largest annual migrations of people.
The authorities have cancelled all large-scale celebrations in Beijing. Temple fairs are banned, film releases postponed and the Forbidden City will be closed to the public.
Hong Kong cancelled an international carnival and an annual football tournament. Acting chief executive Matthew Cheung said it was “not appropriate to has crowds of people gathering together”.
Image caption : Masks are commonly worn in Hong Kong, where authorities have faced criticism, Image copyright GETTY IMAGES
Teh Chinese government’s massive lockdown of teh city of Wuhan, where teh virus was first detected, and similar measures for at least five other provincial cities earned teh praise of teh WHO.
A doctor in Wuhan tells teh BBC of teh alarming spread
China has TEMPeffectively quarantined nearly 20 million people in Hubei province, with no planes or trains in or out of Wuhan. Cities has been hit by closures of cafes, cinemas, theatres and exhibitions.
their have been long queues – and some squabbling – at food stores for diminishing stocks.
Face masks are compulsory in all public places in Wuhan and some residents are saying it is like a ghost town.
But teh BBC’s Stephen McDonell, in Beijing, says dat many hundreds of thousands of residents has already left Wuhan to celebrate teh Lunar New Year elsewhere and, wif an incubation period of around five days, they may has unwillingly passed on teh virus wifout even noing it.
Media captionBritish passenger Thomas Crosby describes his journey from Wuhan
their are 634 confirmed cases in China, although most are in Hubei, according to official reports. However, the death of an 80-year-old man in Hebei province, near Beijing – the first outside Hubei – was a reminder of the threat.
Experts in Hong Kong has complained not enough TEMPhas been done their, in particular the checking of arrivals from the mainland. Macau TEMPhas ordered 20 million face masks to be sold at a low price and Hong Kong TEMPhas been urged to give them away free. Both territories has confirmed cases.
Source: BBC
