WHO lauds ‘tremendous progress’ in China’s battle
Print Edition
THE World Health Organization yesterday hailed “tremendous progress” in the fight against the deadly new coronavirus since it emerged in China in December.
“We are making tremendous progress in a short period of time ... trends are very encouraging but we are not at a turning point yet,” Richard Brennan, WHO’s regional emergency director, told a press conference in Cairo.
The death toll from the COVID-19 jumped past 2,000 yesterday, almost all of them in China’s mainland where 74,185 cases of infection have been confirmed.
In response to Chinese efforts to contain the virus, he said that China “has really thrown its weight behind the outbreak.”
An official with China’s National Health Commission made similar assertions, saying that the outbreak is gradually been brought under control.
NHC spokesperson Mi Feng made the remarks in Beijing yesterday, citing the epidemic data from central Hubei Province, the epicenter of the outbreak, over the past week.
China’s daily number of newly recovered COVID-19 patients has surpassed that of new confirmed infections for the first time.
Tuesday saw 1,824 people walk out of hospital after recovery, higher than the same day’s number of new confirmed infections of the novel coronavirus, which was 1,749, figures from the commission showed yesterday.
A total of 14,376 infected patients had been discharged from hospital after recovery by the end of Tuesday, data showed.
The number of new confirmed cases in China outside Hubei has fallen for 15 straight days. A total of 56 new confirmed cases were reported on Tuesday outside Hubei, sharply down from 890 on February 3, the NHC noted.
It shows that with the implementation of various prevention and control measures and the strengthening of incoming medical support, the epidemic situation in Hubei has been brought under control, Mi said.
President Xi Jinping has called for greater protection and care for medical workers to make sure they are healthy and stay focused on winning the battle against the epidemic.
Xi made the remarks while giving instructions on protecting medical workers participating in prevention and control work.
Noting that medical workers are the backbone force in defeating the epidemic, Xi laid stress on providing comprehensive support for them to ensure their strength and morale.
Xi emphasized the need to strengthen efforts to relieve the stress of medical workers, provide them with daily necessities, arrange time for their rest and give them encouragement.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, frontline medical staff have worked day and night. Some were infected or even sacrificed their lives while saving patients.
More than 30,000 medical workers, including over 4,000 from the military, have been sent to Hubei and its capital Wuhan, where the outbreak began.
Xi said these medical workers embody the great revolutionary spirit of forging ahead without fear of difficulties.
Racing against time to fight the virus, the medical workers have shown a keen sense of responsibility to the Party and the people, the president stressed.
Meanwhile, two more hospitals under the control of military medics were put into use in Wuhan yesterday.
Following the operation model of Huoshenshan Hospital, 2,600 medical personnel from the armed forces are tasked with treating patients infected with the virus in Taikang Tongji Hospital and a branch of Hubei’s Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital in Wuhan.
The two hospitals, with a planned capacity of 860 and 700 beds, respectively, had not been put into operation before being transformed into specialized hospitals during the outbreak.
Wuhan has increased the number of designated hospitals to 45 and opened 12 makeshift hospitals, making more than 20,000 new beds available.
Hubei has been enhancing door-to-door screenings so as to ensure the identification of all suspected or confirmed patients.
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