Tuesday, 28 Jan 2020 07:12 AM MYT
China said today that 106 people had died from a new coronavirus that is spreading across the country, up from the previous toll of 81. Canada, which has two confirmed cases of the virus and is investigating 19 more potential cases, warned its citizens to avoid travel to China's Hubei province, at the heart of the outbreak.
China's ambassador to the United Nations, following a meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres yesterday, said “the Chinese government attaches paramount importance to prevention and control of the epidemic, and President Xi Jinping has given important instructions. ... “If he can mess up the data multiple times, no wonder the disease has spread so severely,” said one user of the Weibo social media platform.
A few cases linked to people who travelled from Wuhan have been confirmed in a dozen countries, from Japan to the United States, where authorities said they had 110 people under investigation in 26 states.Investors are worried about the impact on travel, tourism and broader economic activity.