Coronavirus Update – January 25, 2020: “China Facing Grave Situation” Says President XI Jinping

Here is What NetNewsLedger Can Confirm

1. Hong Kong schools are closed until February 17, 2020, in an effort to limit the possibility of the coronavirus spreading.
2. In Wuhan, where the virus was first detected, workers are racing to build a 1,000-bed hospital
3. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention have confirmed that two people in the United States have been diagnosed with coronavirus.
4. Infections have been confirmed in France, South Korea, Japan, Nepal, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan, Australia, and the United States.
5. ●Travel bans were extended in central China to put an estimated people effectively on local lockdowns.
6. Authorities in China, including in Beijing, have canceled temple fairs and festivals that accompany the Lunar New Years Festival this is in order to avoid having large public gatherings where the coronavirus could spread.

The spread of a coronavirus is accelerating, according to Chinese President Xi Jinping. The president made the comment following a special government meeting on the Lunar New Year public holiday. China is facing a “grave situation” President Xi told senior officials earlier on Saturday, January 25, 2020.

The coronavirus has killed at least 41 people and infected some 1,400 since its discovery in the city of Wuhan. 48 million people have been ordered on lockdown in central China with a travel ban which covers 15 cities in the central Hubei province when Wuhan City is located.

Wuhan City is on virtual lockdown. The City of 11 million people has virtually deserted streets. Chinese officials have closed public transportation, and air travel is closed too.

Coronavirus Update January 25 2020

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China is building a new hospital in Wuhan which will have 1000 beds. This will be completed in under a week. The building which has been featured on social media posts has many excavators working.

#China is building a hospital in 6 days for #Coronaviruses patients. pic.twitter.com/RBHz19g8E2

— Vital Xee (@vitalxee) January 25, 2020

“It’s basically a quarantined hospital where they send people with infectious diseases so it has the safety and protective gear in place,” says Joan Kaufman, a lecturer in global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations states, “The hospital in Beijing in 2003 was built in seven days so the construction team is probably attempting to beat that record. Just like the hospital in Beijing, the Wuhan center will be made out of prefabricated buildings.”

“This authoritarian country relies on this top-down mobilization approach. They can overcome bureaucratic nature and financial constraints and are able to mobilize all of the resources,” adds Huang.

Heading into the Lunar New Years Celebrations, the travel restrictions have put a damper on the celebrations.