Published 14:54 IST, February 24th 2020
WHO expert team visits Wuhan City in Hubei province amid mounting Coronavirus fears
WHO joint expert team visited the Hubei province in order to conduct the field investigation amid Covid-19 epidemic that has raised international concerns.
A team of WHO experts have reportedly visited Wuhan in Hubei province, where the deadly Coronavirus first originated, as the death toll in China spiked to a shocking 2,592 as of February 24. China confirmed 150 new fatalities as the disease spread infecting over 77,000 people, health officials told the international media.
The China-WHO joint expert team visited the Hubei province in order to conduct the field investigation. The team was there to analyze ground situations amid the COVID-19 epidemic that has raised international concerns over the uncontrolled rapid spread of the virus contagion, confirmed the National Health Commission of China in media reports.
According to the reports, the experts visited Tongji Hospital, the Wuhan Sports Centre to inspect the virus stabilization situation as recovered patients outnumbered the new infections. The hospital was temporarily transformed to accommodate the soaring cases. The provincial center carried out research for Coronavirus outbreak, prevention and control measures to stem the disease.
WHO experts briefed NHC director Ma Xiaowei
WHO health experts held meeting with the officials and experts in the Hubei province and also briefed NHC director Ma Xiaowei on their COVID-19 research, suggest reports. China’s National Health Commission (NHC) confirmed to the experts that novel Coronavirus has been reported in 31 provincial-level regions, and 96 new fatalities were confirmed at the time the WHO experts team arrived in the province.
President Xi Jinping of China presided over a high-level meeting of officials to review the progress of his government's efforts to curb the global spread of the disease, said reports. He warned that China's Coronavirus epidemic was still grim and complex and called for efforts by the health authorities to tackle the country's largest public health emergency.
He said that the toughest challenge in the containment of the novel virus was the fastest transmission. He further added that the virus outbreak was a severe crisis for the nation and a big test that the country had to overcome.
Updated 14:54 IST, February 24th 2020