BEIJING (The Straits Times/ANN): The Chinese city of Wuhan on Monday (Jan 20) reported a dramatic increase of 136 cases of the mysterious Sars-like virus, including one death, as new cases were confirmed for the first time outside the city in Beijing and Shenzhen.
The sharp spike in deteced cases comes as travelling intensifies ahead of this weekend’s Chinese New Year holidays, sparking fears that the mass human movement could contribute to the spread of disease.
In a statement in the wee hours of Monday, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission reported that one death and 59 new infections were reported last Saturday and 77 new cases were reported on Sunday, bringing the total number of infections in the city to 198. Three deaths have been reported so far.
This is the highest ever jump in cases since the authorities in the central Chinese city started near daily updates about the newly discovered coronavirus, which comes from the same family of viruses that causes Sars and Mers, and comes a day after public health officials warned of a potential rise in cases.
Meanwhile, two new cases were reported in the capital Beijing, and one in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong.
The two patients in Beijing had travelled to Wuhan, said an early morning post on the official Twitter-like Weibo of the Daxing Municipal Health Commission, an area in southern Beijing home to the city’s sprawling new international airport.
The single case in Shenzhen is a 66-year-old man who visited Wuhan on Dec 29 and fell ill earlier this month after returning home, said the Health Commission of Guangdong Province in a statement. - The Straits Times/Asia News Network
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