NE NEWS SERVICE
BEIJING, FEB 15
Around 500 million people in China are currently affected by policies put in place restricting movement, to contain the COVID-19 coronavirus.
That’s more than the entire population of the United States and is equivalent to roughly 6.5% of the world’s population.
Courtesy: Washington Post
As of Friday, at least 48 cities and four provinces in China have issued official notices for lockdown policies, with measures ranging from “closed-off management”, where residents of a community have to be registered before they are allowed in or out, to restrictions that shut down highways, railways and public transport systems.
The lockdowns began with Wuhan – the epicentre of the outbreak and where half the world’s confirmed coronavirus cases are. After the city’s borders were closed on Jan. 23 and all incoming and outgoing flights cancelled, other nearby cities in Hubei province also implemented their own policies restricting the movement of people.
But not every city or province is facing Wuhan-like restrictions. Citizens cannot leave the cities of Wuhan, Huanggang, Ezhou and a few others in Hubei province, while Shanghai and Beijing have only put movement restrictions in place for some smaller communities such as building blocks or neighbourhoods.
Many cities have reduced public transport lines and routes, while few have closed intra-city public transport entirely. Altogether, 80.41 million people have been affected by shut bus or metro lines.
Some communities have instituted curfews or only allow people to exit and enter at particular times. There is even a restriction where only a certain number of people from a household can leave their residence at any one time.
The COVID-19 coronavirus has hit one of the most populated regions on the planet and thus has led to an unprecedented lockdown on the movement of people.
1,716 health workers infected, six dead: China health official
A senior Chinese health official said on Friday 1,716 health workers have been infected by the coronavirus and six of them have died. National Health Commission Vice Minister Zeng Yixin told a news conference the number of infected medical staff was increasing.
“At present, the duties of medical workers at the front are indeed extremely heavy; their working and resting circumstances are limited, the psychological pressures are great, and the risk of infection is high,” Zeng said.
More than 87% of infected medical workers were in Hubei, the province at the epicenter of the outbreak that emerged in December and has killed some 1,380 people and infected more than 60,000.
More analysis needed to be done on how many of the medical workers were infected in hospitals, Zeng said. The figure for the number of medial workers who had died was as of Tuesday.
Chinese officials and hospitals have repeatedly spoken out over a shortage of protective equipment, including face masks, as the disease has taken hold in Hubei and spread throughout the country.
The death from the coronavirus of Li Wenliang, a doctor who had been reprimanded for issuing an early warning about the disease, triggered a wave of public anguish this month and rare expressions of anger with the government.
Third Indian crew member on cruise ship tests positive
TOKYO: A third Indian crew member on board a cruise ship off the Japanese coast has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the Indian Embassy in Japan said on Friday as authorities confirmed that 218 people have been infected with the deadly virus on the quarantined ship.
The cruise ship Diamond Princess with 3,711 people on board arrived at the Japanese coast early last week and was quarantined after a passenger who deboarded last month in Hong Kong was found to be the carrier of the COVID-19 on the ship.
A total of 138 Indians, including 132 crew and 6 passengers, were on board the ship.
The Indian Embassy in Tokyo in a statement said three Indian crew members are among 218 people tested positive for the virus.
“All 218 people, including Indian nationals have been taken to hospitals for further treatment and quarantine. As per information available with the embassy, no other Indian national on board Diamond Princess Cruise ship has developed any symptoms of infection,” the statement said.
The embassy has contacted all three Indian nationals who have tested positive for COVID-19 and are currently receiving treatment at medical facilities.
“Their health conditions have been confirmed to be stable and improving. Embassy is also in constant contact with the relevant Japanese authorities to ensure the well-being of all Indian nationals on board the ship,” it said.
First passengers leave Diamond Princess
The first passengers began leaving the Diamond Princess on Friday to finish their isolation in government-designated lodging after testing negative for the new coronavirus.
The Japanese government had on Thursday announced that passengers aged 80 or older would be given the option to disembark the ship if they test negative for COVID-19. Those who meet the age requirement and have preexisting conditions or are staying in rooms without balcony will be prioritised for disembarkation. No Indian national falls under this category, eligible for early disembarkation, the Indian Embassy’s statement said.
The first of them departed the massive cruise ship on Friday afternoon, travelling in buses with blacked out windows. At the wheel, one driver was dressed in a head-totoe white protective suit, complete with goggles and mask. A government official said 11 people had left, but declined to say whether more would depart Friday or offer further details. The move comes a day after the number of infections diagnosed on the ship rose to 218.
Senior health ministry official Gaku Hashimoto boarded the ship Friday morning to announce that all passengers “who are considered to be high risk in general health” would now be tested for the virus.
“Those who test positive will be transferred to the hospital. Those who test negative will, at the request of the individual, disembark and be transferred to accommodation provided by the government,” he said in a statement in English read out by the ship’s captain.
WHO: No major change in trajectory of outbreak
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that a spike of 14,000 coronavirus cases in China on Thursday was the result of new counting methods and did not represent a significant shift in the outbreak.
“This increase that you’ve all seen in the last 24 hours is largely, in part, down to a change in how the cases are being reported,” Michael Ryan, head of WHO’s health emergencies programme, told reporters.
Ryan also said he expected members of a WHO-led international mission to China to arrive over the weekend.
India to screen travellers from Japan, S Korea, Thailand, S’pore
New Delhi: Now, passengers flying in from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore to India will also be screened for coronavirus, apart from those coming from China and Hong Kong. This enhanced scope for screening order by India covers passengers flying here from almost all main southeast Asian destinations and far east countries. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Friday issued a circular saying: “… it has been decided to expand the universal screening for all passengers arriving in flights directly from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore besides the flights from China and Hong Kong.
SpiceJet Bangkok-Delhi passenger tests negative
A passenger suspected of suffering from coronavirus on a SpiceJet Bangkok to Delhi flight on Thursday and quarantined on arrival has tested negative. “The passenger travelling on SpiceJet flight SG-88 to Delhi from Bangkok on Thursday, who had been suspected to have been infected with the coronavirus, has tested negative for the virus. The test results came Friday,” said a SpiceJet spokesperson. The passenger was quarantined on arrival at Delhi Airport. The Boeing 737 (VT-SYE) was disinfected before being released for its next flight. The crew had been quarantined at their homes to keep a check on their health. Airport officials say all other passengers were screened and none of them was found to be sick, hence they were allowed to go to the city – Agencies
