Death toll of coronavirus in China crosses 3,000, confirmed cases mounts to over 80,400
Beijing: The death toll of coronavirus in China has crossed 3,000 with 31 new fatalities and the total number of confirmed cases jumped to over 80,400, while Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for undiminished vigilance , saying the situation in virus-hit Wuhan still remains severe despite positive progress.
China's National Health Commission said on Thursday that it received reports of 139 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection and 31 deaths on Wednesday on the Chinese mainland.
All the deaths were in the epicentre of the virus, Hubei Province and its capital Wuhan, which continued to be ground zero of the COVID-19.
Also on Wednesday, 143 new suspected cases were reported while the number of severe cases decreased by 464 to 5,952, the NHC said, adding that 522 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.
The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland have reached 80,409 by the end of Wednesday.
This included 3,012 people who have died of the disease, 25,352 patients still undergoing treatment and 52,045 patients who have been discharged.
Also on Wednesday, two imported cases (people arriving from abroad) of the novel coronavirus infection were reported on the mainland, all of which were in Zhejiang Province.
By the end of Wednesday, 20 imported cases have been reported, the commission said.
By the end of Wednesday, 104 confirmed cases, including two deaths have been reported in Hong Kong, 10 confirmed cases in Macao and 42 in Taiwan, including one death, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Forty-three patients in Hong Kong, nine in Macao and 12 in Taiwan have been discharged from hospital after recovery.
In Hubei province, from where the COVID-19 originated in December reported 134 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection and 31 new deaths on Wednesday, the local health commission said.
The latest report brought the total confirmed cases in the hard-hit province to 67,466 and that of total deaths to 2,902, which included 2,305 fatalities in Wuhan.
The province also saw 1,923 patients discharged from hospital after recovery on Wednesday, bringing the total number of discharged patients in the province to 40,479.
Among the 20,765 hospitalised patients, 4,747 were still in severe condition and another 1,041 in critical condition, it said.
Hubei province also reported 67 new suspected cases of the virus on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for undiminished vigilance on the prevention and control work of the COVID-19 as the situation in the Wuhan City and Hubei Province remains severe.
After arduous efforts throughout the country, the current situation of the epidemic prevention and control has continued to improve, and production and people's living have been recovering, Xi said in a meeting of the Political Bureau of the ruling Communist Party of China, (CPC) on Wednesday here.
He called for more efforts to accelerate the establishment of an economic and social order that is compatible with the prevention and control work of the epidemic, so as to consolidate and expand this hard-won good momentum and create condition to build a moderately well-off society in all respects, and completely eliminate absolute poverty, state-run CGTN reported.
The epidemic prevention and control work remains tough in Hubei province and Wuhan city, and the risk of the epidemic spreading is increasing due to increased movement of people and gatherings in other regions, he pointed out.
He asked relevant authorities to deepen global cooperation and play China's role as a responsible major country.
It is imperative to promptly advance various tasks of economic and social development, orderly promote the resumption of work and production, realise the orderly flow of people and property, the connection of production, supply and marketing, and the effective integration of domestic and foreign trade, and minimise the loss caused by the epidemic, Xi said.
The CPC meeting highlighted the importance of the COVID-19 prevention and control work in Beijing and called for more efforts in preventing the situation from rebounding.
The meeting also urged more scientific research into test kits, vaccines and medical supplies.
By the end of Wednesday, there have been 12,600 confirmed cases of the coronavirus outside China, with over 214 deaths, statistics from the World Health Organisation showed Thursday.
In the past 24 hours, 2,103 newly confirmed cases outside China have been reported and four new member states--Argentina, Chile, Poland and Ukraine--have reported cases of COVID-19, the state-run People's Daily reported.
South Korea confirmed 438 more cases of COVID-19, raising the total number of infections to 5,766, according to Yonhap News Agency.
Japan confirmed over 1,037 coronavirus cases, and so far 12 people have died due to the infection.
Italy reported a total of 107 deaths of the deadly coronavirus, taking the total number to 3,089.
In Iran, the deadly infection claimed 92 lives out of more than 2,922 cases.
The US' death toll from the COVID-19 rose to 11 on Thursday and nationwide there are nearly 160 confirmed cases.
France said that 21 new cases of COVID-19 had been identified with a total of 285 cases now diagnosed, of which 12 were cured and four have died.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
