WUHAN: More than 2,600 new cases were confirmed from a coronavirus outbreak in mainland China, health officials said on Saturday, a day after people returning to the capital from holidays were ordered to quarantine themselves for 14 days.
The total of confirmed infections across mainland China was now 66,492 after 2,641 new cases were confirmed, as of Friday, the National Health Commission said.
The death toll rose by 143 to 1,523, it said, with most of the new deaths in central Hubei province and in particular the provincial capital of Wuhan, the city of 11 million people where the outbreak began in December, reports the international media.
National Health Commission official Liang Wannian told a news conference the government would continue to try to contain the spread of virus in Wuhan, which has been under virtual lockdown for three weeks. The commission was focused on lowering the fatality rate and reducing the infection rate, Liang said.
The number of deaths in Hubei rose by 139 as of Friday, 107 of those in Wuhan. A total of 1,123 people in Wuhan have now died from the coronavirus.
The Chinese capital Beijing on Friday imposed a 14-day self-quarantine on people returning to the city from holidays to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, and threatened to punish those who failed to comply. It was not immediately clear how the restriction, relayed by the official Beijing Daily newspaper, would be enforced, or whether it would apply to non-residents of Beijing or foreigners arriving from abroad.
China is struggling to get its economy going after the annual Chinese New Year holiday, which was extended for 10 days to help contain the outbreak of the new and highly contagious respiratory virus.
A top Chinese official acknowledged that coronavirus was a deep challenge, but defended Beijing’s management of the epidemic and lashed out at the “overreaction” of some other countries.
State Councillor Wang Yi, who also serves as China’s foreign minister, said China had taken the most rigorous and decisive measures to fight the epidemic, with many efforts going beyond international health regulations and World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations.
“Through our efforts the epidemic is overall under control,” he said.
Meanwhile, France reported the first fatality from the new coronavirus outside Asia on Saturday fuelling global concerns about the epidemic.
An 80-year-old Chinese tourist died from the new coronavirus, French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said.
Only three other deaths have been recorded outside mainland China — in the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Japan.
The virus spread last month as millions travelled across the country for the Lunar New Year, which was extended by three days -- more than a week in some cities -- in an effort to prevent further contagion.
People have slowly started to return to work in the past two weeks, though many are doing their jobs from home and schools remain closed.
Chinese authorities have placed some 56 million people in Hubei and its capital Wuhan under quarantine, virtually sealing off the province from the rest of the country in an unprecedented effort to contain the virus.
A number of cities far from the epicentre have also imposed tough measures limiting the number of people who can leave their homes.
The government must "increase use of police force and strengthen the visible use of police," to ensure stability during the crisis, Xi said in a February 3 speech published by state media on Saturday.
In another drastic preventive measure, China´s central bank said Saturday that used banknotes were being disinfected with ultraviolet light or high temperatures, and stored for up to 14 days before they are put back into circulation.
The scale of the epidemic ballooned this week after authorities in Hubei changed their criteria for counting cases, retroactively adding thousands of new patients to their tally.