Coronavirus: As Death Count Soars, G7 Countries To Discuss Joint Response To Crisis

As coronavirus takes over China, G7 countries will discuss a joint response to the epidemic. Germany's health minister on Sunday said he had talked on the phone with his US counterpart and “we agreed that there should be a conference call, a discussion by G7 health ministers about this question with the aim of dealing with it together”. Spahn added: “There is no point in each country deciding on measures alone”.

The Group of Seven (G7) comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The United States, Australia, New Zealand and Israel have banned foreign nationals from visiting if they have been in China recently, and they have also warned their own citizens against travelling there. Mongolia, Russia and Nepal have closed their land borders.

The number of countries reporting coronavirus infections rose to 24 after Britain, Russia and Sweden confirmed their first cases this weekend.

Coronavirus death count rises to 361

The death toll in China’s coronavirus epidemic soared to 361 with 57 deaths on Sunday alone while the number of confirmed cases climbed to 17,205, Chinese health officials announced on Monday. China’s National Health Commission in its daily report on Monday said that 2,829 new cases of coronavirus were reported nationwide on February 2, taking the total number of infection to 17,205.

The death toll rose to 361 with 57 deaths reported on Sunday, state-run Xinhua quoted the commission’s report as saying.

Among Sunday’s deaths, 56 were reported from Hubei Province, the epicentre of the virus outbreak, and one from southwest China’s Chongqing, the commission said. To curb the epidemic, China has decided to adopt a host of measures including delaying and reducing conferences and major events, extending the current Spring Festival holidays and supporting online work. 

ALSO READ | 75,000 In Wuhan Infected With Coronavirus: Study Estimates

China is rushing to build a new hospital in a record breaking time to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken hundreds of people, state media reported last week. The facility in the central city of Wuhan is expected to be in use by February 3 to serve a rising number of patients infected by a coronavirus that has left at least 26 people dead and millions on lockdown in an effort to curb the spread. Dozens of excavators and trucks were filmed working on the site by state broadcaster CCTV.

What is Coronavirus?

The coronavirus has caused alarm because of its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003. Like SARS, it can be passed among people through the respiratory tract. Animals are suspected to be the primary source of the outbreak, with Chinese health officials saying the virus originated from the