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Coronavirus death toll reaches to 722 in China, over 34,000 infected

The virus has spread to two dozen countries, prompting several governments to ban arrivals from China and urge their citizens to avoid travelling to the country

Coronavirus death toll reaches to 722 in China, over 34,000 infected

Patients infected with the novel coronavirus are seen at a makeshift hospital converted from an exhibition center in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province (Photo: IANS)

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus outbreak in China has climbed to 722 on Saturday, while the number of confirmed cases also rose to 34,546, according to authorities.

Chinese health authorities said they received reports of 3,399 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 86 deaths on Friday from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

In its daily update, the commission also confirmed another 3,399 new cases. There are now more than 34,500 confirmed infections across the country.

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Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a disease in the same family as the new coronavirus, left nearly 650 people dead in mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.

More than 120 others died around the world.

Friday’s death of a 34-year-old Wuhan doctor who was punished for raising the alarm about the virus in December sparked an outpouring of grief and anger over the government’s handling of the crisis.

The virus has spread to two dozen countries, prompting several governments to ban arrivals from China and urge their citizens to avoid travelling to the country. Some have recommended their citizens leave China.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) will convene a global research and innovation forum next week to mobilize international efforts to combat the deadly novel Coronavirus outbreak, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

In what could be a serious cover-up regarding the actual death figures in the Novel Coronavirus outbreak, Chinese multinational conglomerate holding company Tencent allegedly published “real” data on the novel Coronavirus deaths, with briefly listing death toll as 24,589 — way too higher than 563 deaths China officially announced on Thursday.

Last week, the US declared a public health emergency and temporarily banning the entry of foreign nationals who had travelled to China over the past two weeks to contain the spread of a deadly new virus.

President Donald Trump created a coronavirus task force to lead his administration’s response to the deadly virus which has killed 170 people and infected 7,736 others in China, and spread to 20 countries, including India.

In China, thousands of factory workers on Lunar New Year holidays may struggle to get back to work next week due to travel restrictions. Major firms such as Alphabet Inc’s Google and Sweden’s IKEA have closed China operations.

Four Chinese provinces, including Shandong and Heilongjiang in the industrial rust-belt region, have asked companies not to start work before February 10.

The Coronavirus has caused alarm because of its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.

The Coronavirus is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from the common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus in China is a novel strain and not seen before.

(With inputs from agency)

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