New coronavirus infections may drop to zero by end-March in Wuhan: Chinese government expert

[webfact]

New coronavirus infections may drop to zero by end-March in Wuhan: Chinese government expert

 

Medical workers wearing face masks jump rope as they take a break outside the hotel where they stay, in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, Hubei province, China March 5, 2020. China Daily via REUTERS

 

BEIJING (Reuters) - Wuhan, the epicenter of China's coronavirus epidemic, will likely see new infections drop to zero by the end of this month, an expert with the country's top panel on battling the illness said on Thursday, even as the city reported a quicker rise in new confirmed cases.

 

Mainland China had 139 new confirmed cases as of Wednesday, the National Health Commission (NHC) said, bringing the total accumulated number of cases to 80,409. Authorities reported 119 new cases the previous day and 125 the day before that.

 

The increase reversed three straight days of declines, and was driven by a rise in new infections in Wuhan, the city where the virus is believed to have emerged in a seafood market late last year.

 

Zhang Boli said almost all regions outside Hubei province, where Wuhan is the capital, had managed to halt new infections by the end of last month, according to an interview with the official People's Daily.

 

He estimated other cities in Hubei will hit such a target by mid-March, based on data on how the outbreak has evolved, but did not give details.

New infections in Wuhan climbed to 131 from 114 a day earlier. There was no immediate elaboration.

 

After what some critics said was an initially hesitant response to the new virus, China imposed sweeping restrictions to try to stop it, including transport suspensions, lockdowns of cities and extending a Lunar New Year holiday across the country.

 

The number of new confirmed cases in Hubei, excluding Wuhan, has remained in single digits for seven consecutive days, with three new infections recorded on Wednesday.

 

In the rest of mainland China, outside Hubei, there were only five new confirmed cases, the health commission said.

 

The death toll from the outbreak in mainland China had reached 3,012 as of the end of Wednesday, up by 31 from the previous day. Hubei accounted for all of the new deaths, including 23 in Wuhan.

 

In another sign things are starting to return to normal, Chibi, a small city just south of Wuhan, said it will remove road blocks and restore normal traffic within its jurisdiction by Friday morning, partly to facilitate spring ploughing.

 

Chibi would be among the first cities in Hubei to loosen traffic curbs on travel within city boundaries. Located on Hubei's southern border with Hunan, Chibi has reported no new cases of infections for 19 days as of March 4.

 

However, traffic between Chibi and other counties and provinces remains forbidden, the official Hubei Daily said, citing a notice issued by Chibi epidemic control authorities.

 

FOCUS ON INFECTIONS FROM ABROAD

Chinese authorities have turned their attention to stopping the virus being brought in from new hot spots abroad.

 

The number of new infections overseas now exceeds the tally of new cases in China, with Italy, South Korea and Iran in particular seeing worrying spreads of the virus. The U.S. death toll rose to 11 as new cases emerged around New York City and Los Angeles.

 

Hu Xijin, the editor of the widely-read Chinese state-backed tabloid the Global Times, wrote on Twitter that President Donald Trump administration's attempts "to downplay the epidemic is disturbing".

 

"I have called on Chinese local governments to implement 14-day quarantine for all people coming from the U.S.," he wrote.

 

Authorities have asked overseas Chinese hoping to return home to reconsider their travel plans, while cities across the country have set up quarantine rules for those entering from high-risk places.

 

An infected person is known to have arrived in China from Iran last week.

 

The cities of Shanghai and Guangdong have ordered people who have been in countries with severe outbreaks within the previous two weeks to stay in quarantine for 14 days.

 

The city of Chengdu in central Sichuan province said it was also ordering quarantine for such people.

 

The NHC has said authorities are transitioning from "overall containment to targeted containment" measures, with a focus on containment within communities, and medical treatment.

 

(Reporting by Ryan Woo, Yilei Sun, Yew Lun Tian, Gao Liangping, Brenda Goh and Yawen Chen; Editing by Gerry Doyle, Robert Birsel and Frances Kerry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-03-06

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[Tug]

I hope they are correct!

[Thunder26]

Wishful thinking?

[dabhand]

The Chinese authorities are not messing about now. Pity they were rather late at taking the appropriate action.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/05/chinese-police-place-britons-in-enforced-isolation-after-ferry-trip

 

[cmarshall]

China made some mistakes before settling on a plan that succeeded in slowing down the spread of the virus allowing the rest of the world time to prepare.  Some countries, like the US, <deleted> away that lead time and did no preparation, failing even to produce test kits.

[zydeco]

And, poof!  Everything is just fine. What sort of gullible fools believe the Chinese government's statements about anything, much less this virus?

[Jillie Norman]

It is still better to put extra precautionary measures, esp by washing your hands and staying healthy! 

[bluesofa]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

New coronavirus infections may drop to zero by end-March in Wuhan: Chinese government expert

Makes you wonder if that's because by the end of March everyone in Wuhan will be infected?

[ThaiBunny]

4 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

Makes you wonder if that's because by the end of March everyone in Wuhan will be infected?

No virus ever infects 100% of any given population

[candide]

This is not surprising. They forced nearly everyone to stay home during 14 days.

It has been made possible because it's a police state..

Edited March 6, 2020 by candide

[Muzzique]

17 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

Makes you wonder if that's because by the end of March everyone in Wuhan will be infected?

Or dead

[mfd101]

Spring on the way soon ...

 

Going to be fascinating to watch the subcontinent 3: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. No quick'neasy there, I shouldn't think.

[DrTuner]

The second they'll open up the quarantine it'll start again.

[milesinnz]

Well, I am trying to deal with one supplier in Shandong Province, next to Henan, they are still in lock down.. it is most certainly NOT over in China...

[justin case]

thai style numbers magic ... no more testing = no new cases

 

what about the re-infection cases from recovered sick people ?

[cmarshall]

China has been testing including producing 1.6 million test kits in a week.  The countries we know for sure have not been testing are the US and Japan.

[DrTuner]

8 minutes ago, cmarshall said:

China has been testing including producing 1.6 million test kits in a week. 

Where is this information from?

[from the home of CC]

6 hours ago, cmarshall said:

China made some mistakes before settling on a plan that succeeded in slowing down the spread of the virus allowing the rest of the world time to prepare.  Some countries, like the US, <deleted> away that lead time and did no preparation, failing even to produce test kits.

and unfortunately will pay dearly. Canada forgot to screen arrivals and so begins their saga. The world will change forever due to this..

[SABloke]

2 hours ago, milesinnz said:

Well, I am trying to deal with one supplier in Shandong Province, next to Henan, they are still in lock down.. it is most certainly NOT over in China...

Shandong will be one of the last non-central provinces to go back to normal due to the huge amount of traffic between Shandong and South Korea. They have a ton of S.Korean interests in Shandong.

[Kelsall]

6 hours ago, cmarshall said:

China made some mistakes before settling on a plan that succeeded in slowing down the spread of the virus allowing the rest of the world time to prepare.  Some countries, like the US, <deleted> away that lead time and did no preparation, failing even to produce test kits.

Your last sentence is nonsense.

[earlinclaifornia]

24 minutes ago, Kelsall said:

Your last sentence is nonsense.

Mike Pence is one the saying this. google i

[White Christmas13]

32 minutes ago, Kelsall said:

Your last sentence is nonsense.

Hello Donald

[kensawadee]

coronavirus infections may drop to zero by end-March in Wuhan

 

As I see it, the 'Key Word' here is 'may'.

Not to different from the adverts 'price as low as'

And bottom lines..... May be not.

Or....... May be not as low as.....   LOL ....

[marquis22]

"China's coronavirus epidemic, will likely see new infections drop to zero by the end of this month, an expert with the country's top panel on battling the illness said on Thursday"

Can he also predict when the stock market will bottom out?

[RichardColeman]

Funny thing will be all the Chinese swarming back to Thailand only to go home infected by westerners !

 

Be interesting to see if China puts a demand into Thailand for its people's safety that the PM bans all westerners !

[Stargeezr]

Yes, China is not all hot like countries to its South.  The virus will not likely stop

as quickly as the government hopes it does. Spring in China has not happened yet..

Geezer

[URMySunshine]

10 hours ago, cmarshall said:

China made some mistakes before settling on a plan that succeeded in slowing down the spread of the virus allowing the rest of the world time to prepare.  Some countries, like the US, <deleted> away that lead time and did no preparation, failing even to produce test kits.

And got rid of a pandemic preparedness committee and still thinks its flu ++. History will not be kind and the naked fury when it comes will be total.

[URMySunshine]

2 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Funny thing will be all the Chinese swarming back to Thailand only to go home infected by westerners !

 

Be interesting to see if China puts a demand into Thailand for its people's safety that the PM bans all westerners !

I do think that Thailand's blistering hot weather is a big plus on the transmissibility in country. But as Trump says 'it's just a hunch'.

[URMySunshine]

3 hours ago, from the home of CC said:

and unfortunately will pay dearly. Canada forgot to screen arrivals and so begins their saga. The world will change forever due to this..

Forever's a long time but our lives will be changed utterly for sure.  

[Iron Tongue]

9 hours ago, Kelsall said:

Your last sentence is nonsense.

The first sentence as well.  Unless cover-up and suppression of whistle-blowers is just a "mistake".

Edited March 6, 2020 by Iron Tongue