Xi warns punishment for officials disobeying orders as coronavirus death toll rises to 361

President Xi Jinping on Monday warned officials of punishment if they shirk responsibility in tackling the coronavirus outbreak as China opened a 1,000-bed hospital built in record nine days in Wuhan city and started trials for new drug to contain the virus that has killed 361 people, infected 17,238 others and spread to more than 25 countries.

The ruling Communist Party of China on Monday held its political bureau meeting presided by President Xi to review the steps being taken on various fronts to halt the spread of the deadly virus.

The outcome of the epidemic prevention and control directly affects people's lives and health, the overall economic and social stability and the country's opening-up, Xi said.

Xi also demanded resolute opposition against bureaucratism and the practice of formalities for formalities' sake in the prevention work.

"Those who disobey the unified command or shirk off responsibilities will be punished," Xi was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

Xi said that the party and government leaders supervising them would also be held accountable in severe cases.

Chinese armament firms, including those building aircraft carrier and military aircraft, have postponed planned work in order to concentrate on controlling the risk of coronavirus, state-run Global Times reported.

Noted Chinese health expert Zhong Nanshan has said that based on the fresh evidence, the novel coronavirus, which is spreading rapidly in China and the world, may reach its peak in the next 10 to 14 days, contrary to earlier estimates of climaxing sooner.

This means that the cases would drastically increase in the next two weeks before slowing down.

The death toll in China's coronavirus epidemic soared to 361 with 57 deaths on Sunday while the number of confirmed cases climbed to 17,238, Chinese health officials said on Monday.

Among Sunday's deaths, 56 were reported from Hubei Province, the epicentre of the virus outbreak, and one from southwest China's Chongqing.

The Philippines already reported the first overseas death from the virus while 148 cases have been reported from abroad.

India has reported three cases of the coronavirus, all of them in Keralites who returned from Wuhan.

Meanwhile, China opened a 1,000-bed hospital built in record nine days in Wuhan city, the epicentre of the epidemic, to exclusively treat the coronavirus patients, and started clinical trials for a drug to contain the virulent virus.

On Wednesday, another 1,300-bed makeshift hospital will be opened adjacent to it. Together, they will open up 2,300 bed hospitals exclusively to treat the coronavirus patients.

The new facility will ease the shortage of beds in the city resulting from an increasing number of patients infected with the virus, official media reported.

Medical personnel from the People's Liberation Army will take over the new Huoshenshan Hospital.

Official media publicised the construction of the hospitals in tearing hurry as major strength of the ruling Communist Party of China's ability to deal with such epidemics.

Also, China has begun clinical trials to test a drug to treat the patients of the coronavirus which till now has no cure. Currently, patients are being treated with a combination of antivirals and other measures, as scientists race to find a vaccine.

Some reports said drugs to treat HIV too was being tried to treat the patients.

The experimental antiviral drug, Remdesivir, to be tested in field trials is developed by US-based Gilead Sciences, is aimed at treating infectious diseases such Ebola and SARS, South China Morning Post reported.

It was given to the first US patient last week - a 35-year-old man whose condition appeared to improve within a day, it said.

China's National Health Commission on Monday said the drug trials were being carried out at multiple hospitals in Wuhan.

Some 270 patients will take part in the study, the Post quoted China's thepaper.cn as saying.

Zhong, also an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said current research has shown the virus originated from bats, but whether there are more intermediate carriers between bats and humans requires further investigation.

Although there is no effective cure yet, there are at least seven drugs targeting the virus' genetic material going through various stages of clinical trials, he told Xinhua.

A vaccine is also in the works, though it requires more time to reach clinical application.

The average incubation period of the virus is around five days, with fever being the most common symptom of the virus, he said.

China on Monday said it "urgently needs" medical masks, protective suits, and safety goggles.

The novel coronavirus epidemic has triggered a sharp increase in demand for masks for citizens and protective clothing for medical workers. Companies have been mobilised to run at full capacity to produce these high-demand materials.

China on Monday accused the US of spreading "panic" through its actions like travel bans and evacuation of diplomats and said there was no "substantial help" from Washington to contain the virus.

"What the US has done could create and spread panic," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said addressing the first online media briefing.

It follows the US decision to declare a public health emergency and deny entry to foreign nationals who had visited China in the past two weeks.

The World Health Organisation has said it was partnering with Google to prevent the spread of misinformation about the new coronavirus.

(Image credit- AP)