Monday, February 17, 2020

China Praised for Coronavirus Response as Recorded Cases Continue to Drop
Morning Star, London

People wearing protective face masks cross a street in Tokyo

CHINA’s response to the coronavirus outbreak has been praised by UN secretary general Antonio Guterres as the number of new cases continues to fall.

At a meeting on sustainable development and climate change in Pakistan on Sunday, Mr Guterres said that the Chinese government had made a “very strong and very impressive response” to the coronavirus.

He said that the measures taken by China comprised “a gigantic effort and [the UN] is very confident that efforts will allow for the progressive reduction of the disease.”

Figures released by the National Health Commission (NHC) yesterday showed that a total of 115 new confirmed cases were reported on Sunday outside of Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak.

This represented a 13th consecutive drop in day-by-day figures since February 3, officials said.

The NHC received reports of 2,048 new confirmed cases on Sunday from 31 provincial regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, including 1,933 in Hubei.

Mr Guterres is the latest high-profile figure to laud Beijing for its efforts to tackle the virus as some have criticised China for the outbreak.

World Health Organisation director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus last week praised the leadership of Chinese Premier Xi Jingping and said that criticism must be backed by proof.

“China has done many good things to slow down the virus. The whole world can judge. There is no spinning here. We have met the Chinese president.

“We have seen the level of knowledge he has on the outbreak. Don’t you appreciate that kind of leadership? We don’t say anything to please anyone,” he said.

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