China yesterday reported a rise in new cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), denting optimism that disease control measures, including isolating major cities, might be working, while Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) appeared among the public for the first time since the outbreak started.
Xi has largely kept out of the spotlight during the outbreak, except for meetings with visiting officials, with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) taking the lead in efforts to end the crisis.
Xi inspected efforts by community workers in Beijing to contain the outbreak, visited a hospital that offers treatment to 2019-nCoV patients and video-chatted with frontline medical staff in Wuhan.
Photo: AFP
Wearing a surgical mask, Xi had his temperature checked by a community worker and waved to residents in their apartments, Central China Television (CCTV) footage showed.
His visit came just hours after Beijing authorities announced stricter measures to control movement in and around the capital.
CCTV reported Xi as saying that China would strive to meet its economic and social targets for the year, and make adjustments to minimize the economic impact of the outbreak, including preventing large-scale layoffs.
China would win the battle against the outbreak, he said, and the government would take more decisive measures to curb its spread in Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei Province.
The Chinese death toll rose by 97 to 908 in the 24 hours through midnight on Sunday and 3,062 new cases were reported. That was up 15 percent from Saturday and broke a string of daily declines.
As part of Beijing’s “closed management” measures, officials said vehicles and individuals arriving from outside a city community would not be allowed to enter, and people arriving from outside Beijing would have to report their health condition and register their personal details.
Those who arrived within the past 14 days from virus-infected areas, or who have come into contact with people from those areas, now need to subject themselves to health examinations or home observation, and would be required to report any changes in their health situation.
Non-essential public spaces within Beijing communities are to be closed, and government agencies and companies would be required to strictly implement body temperature monitoring.
Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau Director Zhu Qinhao (朱勤浩) told a news conference at the Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention that the city had already implemented closed management in the majority of its 13,000 residential communities, and non-residents are asked to postpone their visits to the city.
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