China

BEIJING, February 13. /TASS/: The COVID-19 death toll in China has passed 1,368, while 5,963 patients have recovered. The number of infected people has exceeded 59,800, the Wangyi news outlet reported on Thursday, citing data provided by regional authorities.

According to updated data, the death rate from the novel coronavirus in China stands at 2.28%.

More than 185,000 people in China who had direct contacts with those infected remain under medical observation, and about 16,000 are going through quarantine.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s Hubei province, the epicenter of the country’s coronavirus outbreak, said on Thursday it would extend a work suspension and asked all enterprises not to reopen before the end of Feb. 20.

The local government made the announcement in a statement on its website.

BEIJING (AP) — China on Thursday replaced its top officials in central Hubei province and its capital, Wuhan, the epicenter of a viral outbreak that has infected more than 45,000 people worldwide.

Former Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong succeeds Jiang Chaoliang as the ruling Communist Party’s chief in the beleaguered province, the Xinhua state news agency reported, while Wang Zhonglin will take over from Ma Guoqiang as the party secretary in Wuhan.

12 February 2020; AFP: The OPEC oil cartel on Wednesday lowered its forecast for growth in global oil demand this year by nearly a fifth due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak in China.

In its monthly report on the world's oil market, OPEC said it now expects growth in global oil demand of 0.99 million barrels per day (mbd) this year, down from the 1.22 mbd forecast last month.

WUHAN, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- The inflection point is still undetermined amid the current novel coronavirus outbreak, said renowned Chinese respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan Tuesday on a remote video conference.

Zhong added that the peak should appear in mid-to-late February.

"The problem of human-to-human transmission has still not been solved in Wuhan," he said.

BEIJING (AP) — China on Wednesday reported another drop in the number of new cases of a viral infection and 97 more deaths, pushing the total dead past 1,100 as postal services worldwide said delivery was being affected by the cancellation of many flights to China.

The National Health Commission said 2,015 new cases had been reported over the last 24 hours, declining for a second day. The total number of cases in mainland China reached 44,653, although many experts say a large number of others infected have gone uncounted.

BEIJING, Feb 11 (APP): China Tuesday highly appreciated the resolution passed by the Senate of Pakistan and said that it showed once again that both China and Pakistan, as a community of a shared future, could always rely on each other in difficult and odd times.

BEIJING, Feb 11 (APP): A Chinese scholar believed that the completion of the second phase projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would bring a huge number of employment opportunities, promote the industrialization and modernization of the nation, and substantially improve the livelihood and well-being of the Pakistani people.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping warned top officials last week that efforts to contain the new coronavirus had gone too far, threatening the country’s economy, sources told Reuters, days before Beijing rolled out measures to soften the blow.

With growth at its slowest in nearly three decades, China’s leaders seem eager to strike a balance between protecting an already-slowing economy and stamping out an epidemic that has killed more than 1,000 people and infected more than 40,000.

BEIJING, Feb 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Chinese President Xi Jinping donned a face mask and had his temperature checked Monday while visiting medical workers and patients affected by the deadly coronavirus that has killed more than 900 people.

The Chinese president, who has called the virus a “demon”, made a rare visit Monday to meet frontline medical staff at a hospital treating infected patients.

Calling the situation at the virus epicentre “still very grave”, Xi urged “more decisive measures” to contain the spread of the epidemic, said state broadcaster CCTV.