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At UN, Chinese envoy calls for 'international solidarity' during coronavirus 'critical stage'

31 January 2020
12335
2020-01-31 14:53

With the death toll in China from the new coronavirus surpassing 200 on Friday, Beijing's envoy to the United Nations said China was assessing the situation. Zhang also noted that the Director General of the WHO had expressed confidence in China's efforts to contain the epidemic. The death toll in Hubei, the Chinese province at the center of the epidemic, had risen to 204 and there were 9,692 cases of infection nationally as of Thursday, Chinese health authorities said.

About 100 cases have been reported in at least 18 other countries, with no deaths outside China. Even as the WHO said cases had spread to 18 countries, Italy announced its first confirmed cases. Some 60 million people in Hubei province are living under virtual lockdown. There had been a further 1,220 cases detected in Hubei by end of Jan. 30, taking the total for the province to close to 6,000, Hubei's health commission said.

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