China launches several measures to curb Coronavirus spread as death toll rises to 26 with 830 infected

With authorities confirming 26 deaths and around 900 confirmed cases, China has launched several measures to curb the Coronavirus outbreak. Out of 26 deaths, 24 are in central China’s Hubei Province and two outside. A total of 9,507 close contacts have been traced, out of which 8,420 are under medical observation.

According to reports, the virus infections have been reported in 29 provincial-level regions in the country by the end of Thursday. Eleven cases have been confirmed overseas with Thailand, Japan, South Korea, the United States, Singapore and Vietnam reporting virus cases.

However, the World Health Organization (WHO) has yet to declare it a global health emergency. At the UN briefing in Geneva, a WHO spokesperson has said that it is too early to draw conclusions on how serious the outbreak is. “We may see more mild cases as surveillance intensifies. So the issue is not so much on numbers that we know will go up,” he added.

Reports from Beijing suggest that Chinese Government has launched all out efforts for isolation and treatment of infections in an effort to curb the virus spread. It has asked e-commerce giants to provide enough face masks and sanitizers. Ten cities in China have put travel restrictions to contain the spread of the virus.

Indian Embassy in Beijing has started two hotlines against the backdrop of the Corona virus outbreak in the country. The numbers are 8618612083629 and 8618612083617.