By Saturday, the novel coronavirus had killed 811 people in mainland China, China’s National Health Commission said. That is more than the 774 deaths the World Health Organization attributes to the SARS outbreak of 2002-2003.
The comparison carries a caveat. Economic Times, citing the SARS record, notes that the earlier disease reached only 8,098 reported cases between November 2002 and July 2003. The new virus has spread far faster, though SARS was the deadlier of the two per case. By the commission’s count, more than 37,190 confirmed cases had been recorded on the mainland, and 2,649 patients had left hospital.
Almost all of the 89 new deaths announced that day came in Hubei province, home to Wuhan. Three more deaths were reported elsewhere in China, including at least one in Beijing. Two patients had died outside the mainland, one in the Philippines and one in Hong Kong, putting the global toll at no fewer than 813. The WHO says the virus has been confirmed in 24 other countries.
Testing and the true death rate
A day earlier, Hubei’s new infections had risen again after two days of declines. Officials said that showed how hard it is to predict when the epidemic will peak. A quoted expert put the crude mortality at around 2%, but warned that many infected people have probably not been tested and the true figure may not be known for some time.
Wang Chen, head of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, said on state television that the tests catch only 30% to 50% of truly infected patients. “There are still many false negatives,” he said, adding that more than half of the people actually infected may test negative. Hubei has started using CT scans for quicker, more accurate results.
The doctor who raised the alarm
Ophthalmologist Li Wenliang, 34, died of the virus in a Wuhan hospital on Friday. He was one of eight people reprimanded by Wuhan police for spreading what they called “illegal and false” information, after he shared details of the virus with colleagues. Social media users called him a hero. Searches for topics such as “we want free speech” returned nothing after they briefly trended on Weibo, a sign that discussion of his death was being censored.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection sent a team to Wuhan to look into issues raised by the public over his case.
Abroad
A 60-year-old U.S. citizen died at Jinyintian Hospital in Wuhan on Feb. 6, according to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, in what appeared to be the first American death from the virus. Aboard the Diamond Princess, quarantined off Yokohama with about 3,700 passengers and crew, three more people tested positive, raising the ship’s total to 64. Royal Caribbean barred anyone holding a Chinese, Hong Kong or Macau passport.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned of worldwide shortages of gowns, masks and other protective equipment. He asked for solidarity and cautioned that hoarding could push prices up. Of the $675 million the WHO is seeking through April, pledges have reached $110 million, $100 million of it from the Gates Foundation.
Sources
- Coronavirus death toll hits 811, surpasses SARS deaths
- Death toll from new coronavirus set to surpass SARS, as China's fatalities above 700
Sources
- Coronavirus death toll hits 811, surpasses SARS deaths
- Death toll from new coronavirus set to surpass SARS, as…
