China Cases Near 6,000 as WHO Prepares Briefing: Virus Update

Source: Bloomberg

The number of infected cases in mainland China soared to 5,974, the National Health Commission said Wednesday. That’s more than the 5,327 cases officially reported in the country during in the SARS epidemic 17 years ago.

The death toll climbed to 132, with most of the cases in Hubei, the epicenter of the outbreak. The province added 25 fatalities on Wednesday. Almost 60,000 patients are under observations, the NHC said, double the number from earlier in the week.

The World Health Organization has delayed a scheduled press conference to 5 p.m. Geneva time, when it will provide an update on the coronavirus. The UN agency last week stopped short of calling the outbreak a global health emergency, saying it remained a local crisis for the time being. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he would reconvene the committee should the situation take a turn for the worse.

Declaring a global emergency would allow the WHO to coordinate government responses to the crisis. Since last week, China has taken unprecedented measures to try to slow the spread of the virus. Earlier this week, Tedros visited Beijing.

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