The president’s remarks, broadcast over state-owned CCTV came about as health authorities confirmed that the new coronavirus is spreading to cities across the country, including the capital Beijing and Shanghai. An additional case has been reported outside the country, according to Reuters.
“The recent outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan and other places must be taken seriously,” Xi said, according to CCTV, as reported by the Associated Press. “Party committees, governments, and relevant departments at all levels should put people’s lives and health first.”
They should “ensure that the masses have a quiet, peaceful and joyous Spring Festival,” he added.
In Wuhan, where the coronavirus is said to have originated, health officials said an additional 136 cases of the pneumonia-like illness has been confirmed, bringing the total number of cases in the city to 198 infected patients. An additional person has died.
Five cases have been confirmed in Beijing and 14 cases have been confirmed in southern China’s Guangdong province. Seven more cases have been confirmed in other cities across China, including Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in the southwest and in Shanghai.
The new case, outside China, was confirmed in South Korea where a 35-year-old Chinese woman from Wuhan tested positive for the coronavirus one day after arriving in Seoul. She has been hospitalized in isolation, according to NBC News,
“Wuhan is a major hub and with travel being a huge part of the fast approaching Chinese New Year, the concern level must remain high. There is more to come from this outbreak,” said Jeremy Farrar, a specialist in infectious disease epidemics and director of the Wellcome Trust global health charity.
The new coronavirus belongs to the same family of coronaviruses as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed 800 people worldwide during a 2002/03 outbreak. That coronavirus also started in China.
The symptoms of the new coronavirus mimic those of many upper respiratory tract ailments, including fever, cough, tightness of the chest and shortness of breath.
Meanwhile, millions of people are preparing to travel to celebrate the Chinese New Year, which begins on January 25 and lasts until February 4. China’s National Health Commission said on Sunday that it will “step up our guard” and bring in new “control measures” in advance of the huge celebration, a major holiday that’s referred to as the “world’s largest annual human migration,” according to Business Insider.
