Coronavirus claims 132 lives in China
January 29, 2020  10:31
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The deadly coronavirus continues to wreak havoc in China with 25 new fatalities reported from central Hubei province, taking the death toll to 132 and the confirmed infection cases to nearly 6,000, as health experts warned that the epidemic may reach its peak in the next 10 days resulting in large-scale casualties.


The Chinese health authorities announced on Wednesday that 5,974 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus had been reported in 31 provincial-level regions by Tuesday. 


China's National Health Commission said in its daily report that 1,239 patients remained in critical condition and 9,239 people were suspected to be infected with the virus. 


A total of 103 people have been discharged from hospital after recovery, the commission said. For the first-time, Tibet too reported a suspected case of coronavirus. 


Till now, barring Tibet, all Chinese provinces reported the virus cases, posing a major challenge for the health authorities to contain it. Tuesday saw 1,459 new confirmed cases, 3,248 new suspected cases, including one in Tibet Autonomous Region and 26 deaths, with one in Henan province and the rest in Hubei, the Commission said. 


A total of 65,537 close contacts had been traced, the commission said, adding that among them, 1,604 were discharged from medical observation on Tuesday. 


A total of 59,990 people were still under medical observation. By the end of Tuesday, eight confirmed cases had been reported in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, seven in Macao Special Administrative Region and eight in Taiwan. Hubei, the epicentre of the virus, has reported 840 new confirmed cases, indicating that the virus continues to spread at a faster rate. The coronavirus can be passed between humans through close contact, Chinese medical experts say. -- PTI


Image: Medical staff at an isolation ward where three suspected coronavirus patients who had returned from China to New Delhi were admitted yesterday. Pic: ANI
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