WHO team visits Wuhan city as China's coronavirus death toll jumps to 2,442
Beijing: Ninety-seven more people died in China due to coronavirus, taking the death toll to 2,442, officials said on Sunday, as a team of WHO experts visited the worst-affected Wuhan city in Hubei province.
By the end of Saturday, a total of 2,442 people had died of the disease and 76,936 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection had been reported in 31 provincial-level regions, China's National Health Commission (NHC) said in its daily update on Sunday.
Ninety-six deaths were reported from Hubei province and one from Guangdong province on Saturday besides 648 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections, it said.
Hubei province, where the virus first emerged in December last, reported 630 new confirmed cases, taking the total confirmed cases in the hard-hit province to 64,084, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The NHC also said China's daily number of newly cured and discharged novel coronavirus patients has surpassed that of new confirmed infections for the fifth consecutive day, indicating that cases of infections are coming down.
Saturday saw 2,230 people walk out of hospital after recovery, much higher than the number of the same day's new confirmed infections, which was 648, Xinhua reported.
A total of 22,888 patients infected with the novel coronavirus had been discharged from hospital after recovery by the end of Saturday, NHC said.
Meanwhile, a team of public health experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) visited Wuhan on Saturday to conduct a detailed probe about the virus which reportedly originated from a seafood market in the city in December last year.
The NHC said WHO experts along with their Chinese counterparts who formed a joint investigation team have held talks with the local health authority in Wuhan and visited relevant healthcare institutions.
The UN team comprises specialists from the United States, Germany, Japan, Nigeria, Russia, Singapore and South Korea, Hong-Kong based South China Morning Post reported.
The 12-member team, which arrived in China on Monday, was initially designated to visit only Beijing, Guangdong and Sichuan provinces, while the worst-affected Hubei province and its capital Wuhan were missing from the list.
However, the team was finally given permission to visit Wuhan by the Chinese government.
Besides controlling the spread of the virus, a major task for the WHO team along with their Chinese counterparts was to come up with standard medicine to cure the disease.
The NHC said on Saturday that the team had met top Chinese respiratory disease expert Zhong Nanshan in Guangdong, and visited the centre for disease control and prevention in Guangdong and the city of Shenzhen, and Sichuan.
The specialists also discussed quarantine measures, the wild animal trade and community prevention measures with their Chinese counterparts, it said.
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My party will complete 5-year term, says CM Siddaramaiah
Mysuru (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday asserted that the Congress government would complete its five-year term, while sidestepping questions on whether he personally would remain in office for the full duration.
Addressing reporters here, he maintained that decisions on the leadership would rest with the party high command and refrained from giving a direct answer on his own tenure.
“Our party will complete five years,” Siddaramaiah said, when asked if he would complete a full term as Chief Minister.
On the issue of leadership, he reiterated that the final call would be taken by the party leadership, saying, “The high command will decide. There’s no point asking the same thing again.”
Indicating his readiness to travel to the national capital if required, he said, “If I am called to Delhi, I will go,” adding that he would seek an appointment with Rahul Gandhi if needed.
The talks on leadership change have intensified in the power corridor of the state where claims were made that Siddaramaiah would make way for his Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.
The Chief Minister also underlined that recent by-election victories in Bagalkote and Davanagere South assembly segment reflected public support for the government, stating that this clearly shows that people have appreciated the Congress government and its programmes.
The CM also dismissed the opposition’s claims, alleging they lacked strategy, and said local body elections would be conducted as per rules.
