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| In this Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020, photo, government workers in protective suits visit a family under home quarantine in Zouping in eastern China's Shandong Province. The sign on the right reads: "Key household for outbreak, family under quarantine, please do not visit." (Chinatopix via AP) |
China's death toll from a new virus increased to 304 on Sunday amid warnings from the World Health Organization that other countries need to prepare in the event the disease spreads among their populations as more nations report local infections.
Meanwhile, six officials in the city of Huanggang, neighboring the epicenter of Wuhan in Hubei province, have been fired over ''poor performance'' in handling the outbreak, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
It cited the mayor as saying the city's ''capabilities to treat the patients remained inadequate and there is a severe shortage in medical supplies such as protective suits and medical masks.''
Figures from the National Health Commission showed an increase of 45 in the death toll and 2,590 in the number of cases for a total of 14,380, well above the number of those infected in in the 2002-03 outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, which broke out in southern China before spreading worldwide.
With the outbreak showing little sign of abating, authorities in Hubei and elsewhere have extended the Lunar New Year holiday, due to end this week, well into February. The annual travel crunch of millions of people returning from their hometowns to the cities is thought to pose a major threat of secondary infection at a time when authorities are encouraging people to avoid public gatherings.
All Hubei schools will postpone the opening of the new semester until further notice and students from elsewhere who visited over the holiday will also be excused from classes.
Far away on China's southeast coast, the manufacturing hub of Wenzhou put off the opening of government offices until Feb. 9, private businesses until Feb. 17 and schools until March 1. (AP)
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