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China's Hubei province nCoV death toll rises to 294 as of Feb. 1


BEIJING - The number of deaths in China's central Hubei province from the new coronavirus outbreak had risen by 45 to 294 as of the end of Feb. 1, Chinese state television reported on Sunday.

There had been a further 1,921 cases detected in Hubei, the epicentre of the outbreak, taking the total in the province to 9,074.

 

Street view after Wuhan government announced to ban non-essential vehicles in downtown area to contain coronavirus outbreak, on the second day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China January 26, 2020. cnsphoto via REUTERS

 

Hubei's provincial capital of Wuhan, where the virus is thought to have originated, reported 32 new deaths. A total of 224 people in Wuhan have now died from the virus, for which there is no vaccine.

New confirmed cases also surged by 276 in nearby Huanggang on Feb. 1. One death was reported in the city, about 60 km (37 miles) east of Wuhan.

Hubei has been under virtual quarantine for the last week, with roads sealed off and public transport shut down. Elsewhere, China has placed growing restrictions on travel and business.

The province extended its Lunar New Year holiday break to Feb. 13 in a bid to contain the outbreak.

But the province is not totally sealed. People are leaving Hubei on foot over a bridge spanning the Yangtze river, entering Jiujiang city in neighboring Jiangxi province.

Lu Yuejin, a 50-year-old farmer from a village on the Hubei side of the bridge, was trying to gain passage for her leukemia-stricken daughter on Saturday.

"Please, take my daughter. I don't need to go past... please, just let my daughter go past," Lu pleaded with the police.

Her cries for help were almost drowned out by a loudspeaker playing a pre-recorded message that residents would not be allowed past to Jiujiang.

Eventually, Lu and her daughter were both allowed through and an ambulance was called to pick them up.

Philippines

The Philippines' Department of Health on Thursday confirmed the country's first case of 2019-nCoV.

At  a press conference, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said that a 38-year-old woman from Wuhan, China arrived in the Philippines via Hong Kong on January 21.

According to a source, the said patient who is confined at San Lazaro Hospital in Manila is in stable condition.

Health authorities are observing the condition of some people who may be possibly infected by the nCoV in the country.

Among them is a 17-year-old Chinese national who has been placed in isolation at a public hospital in Kalibo, Aklan.

Another person also under investigation in Kalibo, a 23-year-old Filipino flight attendant, had been confined since Thursday with a sore throat.

Meanwhile, four people under investigation were awaiting their test results in Cebu.

France's Pasteur Institute Foundation said on Friday it had set up a task force aimed at developing a vaccine against the coronavirus in 20 months—Reuters/KG, GMA News

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