Feb 28, 2020 12:04 PM

Coronavirus Thursday Update: WHO Says Coronavirus Outbreak at ‘Decisive Point’; Iran Vice President Tested Positive

China is grappling with a new coronavirus epidemic that began in December and has since spread to countries around the world. While the country has made headway in controlling the virus’s spread, the picture abroad is less positive as hotspots emerge in a number of other nations, including Japan, South Korea, Italy and Iran.

Caixin Global will continue covering this story as it develops. Please check back regularly for updates.

Caixin’s coverage of the new coronavirus

While China’s official number of new cases and deaths continued to decline, the problem in the rest of the world appeared to worsen. The World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday the spread of new coronavirus infections outside China is now at a “decisive point.” No country should assume it won’t get cases, WHO’s director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference in Geneva.

• South Korea announced 505 new cases Thursday, bringing its total to 1,766. The U.S. State Department raised its travel advisory for South Korea to Level 3: reconsider travel, from previously “exercise increased caution.”

The South Korean and U.S. militaries postponed their annual joint drills out of concern over the coronavirus outbreak.

• The infection appeared to be spreading rapidly among the Iranian political elite. Iran’s Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar has tested positive for the new coronavirus, Iran’s state-controlled media reported Thursday. She is the fourth infected senior Iranian official.

Iran reported 245 confirmed cases and 26 deaths, though the actual infection rate is feared to be much higher. WHO officials were asked Thursday how they accounted for the much higher mortality rate in Iran, where official figures suggest about 1 in 10 of those infected have died, compared to less than 2% in other countries. WHO’s head of emergency response, Mike Ryan, said the most likely explanation was that the extent of infection may be broader than reported.

• Pope Francis is sick and skipped a planned Mass with Rome clergy across town Thursday, officials said. The Vatican said the 83-year-old pontiff had a “slight indisposition.” There was no word from the Vatican about the nature of his illness, but the pope was seen coughing and blowing his nose during the Ash Wednesday Mass.

Compiled by Denise Jia

Thursday, Feb. 27, 6 a.m.

The number of new infections in China has declined in recent days, but more new cases are now being reported outside of the country, sparking global fears over the fast-moving virus.

• As of Thursday morning, at least 43 countries outside China had reported 3,551 infections, including 53 deaths.

1. U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. will continue implementing travel restrictions for visitors who have recently been to China.

Trump said at a Wednesday night briefing in Washington that his administration will only consider loosening the travel restrictions when “we are at a point where we don’t have a problem.”

• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe proposed temporarily closing all of the country’s elementary and high schools from March 2 to contain the coronavirus, weeks ahead of spring break, NHK reported.

• The epidemic in China is expected to be under control at the end of April, Zhong Nanshan, a prominent Chinese epidemiologist who is heading the National Health Commission’s investigation into the outbreak, said at a news conference (link in Chinese) Tuesday.

In other coronavirus-related news:

• Beijing reported (link in Chinese) a major cluster of virus infections at a state-run institution in the city, according to the municipal government press office. The additional 10 cases reported Wednesday were found to have close contact with a case reported on Monday. The cluster raised fears about the capital’s exposure to the deadly virus as millions of people are heading back to work after the extended Lunar New Year holiday.

2. The outbreak that forced factories to halt production and restricted transportation in many cities has disrupted the operations (link in Chinese) of foreign companies that have set up shop in China.

A survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in China said that nearly half of the 169 member companies that responded to its survey expected their annual revenue from the Chinese market will decline in 2020 if the business environment does not return to normal before April 30. Nearly 20% of respondents said this year’s annual revenue would fall more than 50% if the epidemic lasts through the end of August. The survey was conducted between Feb. 17 and Feb. 20.

• U.S. drugmaker Gilead Sciences Inc. said Wednesday it would start two phase 3 clinical trials for the antiviral drug remdesivir, in a move to accelerate the evaluation of what is expected to become the first treatment for the new coronavirus.

Phase 3 clinical trials are late-stage studies of a drug that precede regulatory approval. The trials will evaluate the drug’s safety and effectiveness. Gilead said the clinical trials aim to involve 1,000 patients across many Asian countries, as well as other countries with a high number of infections.

3. China’s central bank announced Wednesday after a meeting that it will increase relending and rediscount quotas by 500 billion yuan to help small and midsize businesses on the frontlines of the fight against the coronavirus.

Compiled by Tang Ziyi

Thursday, Feb. 27, 11 a.m.

• By the end of Wednesday, China had confirmed 78,630 cases of infection, including 2,747 deaths, according to the latest data (link in Chinese) from the country’s top health body.

Over 32,000, or around 41% of the confirmed cases, have recovered.

• On Wednesday, China reported 440 new infections. The figure has remained below 600 for four days, in a trend seen as a positive sign that the epidemic is coming under control in China.

• Suspected cases on the Chinese mainland dropped further to 2,358 on Wednesday, marking the fifth straight day of decline and the lowest level in more than one month. However, of the 43,258 patients undergoing treatment on the mainland on Tuesday, about 19% (8,346 cases) were in a severe condition.

New infections outside China surge

Even as the situation stabilizes in China, rising infections elsewhere pushed the number of new confirmed global cases past China’s own daily figure on Wednesday, driven by spikes in Italy and South Korea. The number of new infections reported outside China was above 500 on Wednesday, according to Caixin’s calculations based on overseas government data and media reports.

Commenting on the situation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said Wednesday that “all countries, whether they have cases or not, must prepare for a potential pandemic.”

• South Korea reported 334 new cases on Thursday morning, raising its total to 1,595 cases, according to government data (link in Korean). The country reported a new death, bring the nation’s death toll to 13, according to the official Yonhap News Agency.

• Italy had reported a total of 474 cases as of Thursday morning, according to Italian newspaper La Repubblica (link in Italian). The death toll in the country stood at 12.

• Japan had reported a total of 894 infections as of Thursday morning, according to (link in Japanese) state broadcaster NHK. The number includes 705 infected people previously quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

• The U.S. has confirmed an infection of someone who reportedly did not have a related travel history or ties to an existing case, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a Wednesday statement. “It’s possible this could be an instance of community spread of COVID-19, which would be the first time this has happened in the United States,” it said. That is seen as a worrisome sign that could show the illness is already circulating across the country.

Compiled by Tang Ziyi

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