Manila Bulletin
Philippines
Virus deaths soar to 722; Tarlac officials face charges for opposing quarantine site
Philippines
Virus deaths soar to 722; Tarlac officials face charges for opposing quarantine site
Virus deaths soar to 722; Tarlac officials face charges for opposing quarantine site
Published Feb 7, 2020 12:00 am
By Reuters, Vanne Elaine Terrazola, and Joseph Almer Pedrajas
BEIJING – The new coronavirus epidemic in mainland China is almost certain to become more deadly than SARS as the death toll passed 700, health experts said Saturday as they warned of mask shortages and revealed more cases were confirmed on a quarantined Japanese cruise ship.
This photo taken on February 6, 2020 shows a laboratory technician working on samples from people to be tested for the new coronavirus at "Fire Eye" laboratory in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province.(Photo by STR / AFP) / China OUT / MANILA BULLETIN)
The number of new infections in China's Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, rose on Friday from a day earlier, Chinese health officials said, reversing two days of declines and showing the difficulty of predicting the epidemic's peak.
The death toll in mainland China jumped by 86 to 722, and is poised to pass the 774 deaths recorded globally during the 2002-2003 pandemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), another coronavirus that jumped from animals to humans in China.
So far only two deaths have been reported outside mainland China – in Hong Kong and the Philippines – from about 332 cases in 27 countries and regions.
During the SARS outbreak between November 2002 and July 2003, 774 people died globally, while the number of reported cases was 8,098, suggesting a far lower transmission rate than the latest coronavirus, but a higher mortality rate.
After China recorded its first daily drop in the number of new infections on Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was too early to say whether the outbreak had peaked.
The first cases in December were traced to a seafood market in the Hubei capital of Wuhan, where wildlife was sold illegally.
“It is hard to say how lethal this novel coronavirus infection is – that is, what proportion of people with infection will eventually die of the infection,” Professor Allen Cheng, an infectious diseases expert at Monash University in Melbourne, told Reuters.
“While the crude mortality appears to be around 2%, there are likely to be many people who have been infected that haven't been tested ... We probably won't know the true case fatality for some time yet.”
Hubei officials on Saturday reported 81 new deaths, 67 of those in Wuhan, a city under virtual lockdown. Across mainland China, excluding the 2,050 people who had recovered and those who had died, the number of outstanding cases stood at 31,774.
Beijing's communist leadership has sealed off cities, cancelled flights and closed factories to contain the epidemic, with ripple effects for global markets and businesses dependent on the world's second-biggest economy.
WHO experts say they have not seen the same rapid increase in cases in provinces outside Hubei, or in the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau that were badly hit by SARS.
Speaking in Geneva, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned earlier that "the numbers could go up again."
False negatives
Not all of the infected will test positive for the virus, warned Wang Chen, head of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.
“For patients who are really infected with the new type of coronavirus, the positive rate for tests is 30% to 50%,” Wang told state television in an interview that has gone viral on social media since its telecast on Wednesday.
“There are still many false negatives by collecting suspected cases of throat swabs. In other words, more than half of the people who are truly infected with the new coronavirus may be ‘negative’.”
Hubei has started to use computerized tomography (CT) scans for quicker and more accurate test results.
Memories of how China was slow to tell the world about the SARS outbreak were rekindled on Friday when a doctor who had tried to raise the alarm about the new coronavirus succumbed to the disease in a Wuhan hospital.
Ophthalmologist Li Wenliang, 34, was among eight people reprimanded by police in Wuhan for spreading “illegal and false” information after he shared details of the virus with colleagues.
Social media users called him a hero and shared a selfie of him lying on a hospital bed wearing an oxygen respirator and holding up his Chinese identification card. One image showed the message “farewell Li Wenliang” etched into snow on a riverbank.
There were signs that discussion of Li's death was being censored. After briefly trending on Weibo, the topics "the Wuhan government owes doctor Li Wenliang an apology" and "we want free speech" yielded no search results.
Lack of masks, gowns
The WHO chief warned of worldwide shortages of gowns, masks and other protective equipment.
“When supplies are short and demand is high, then there could be bad practices like hoarding in order to sell them at higher prices, and that's why we ask for solidarity,” Tedros told a Geneva briefing.
Another three people on a cruise liner off Japan tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed cases from the ship to 64, Japan's health ministry said on Saturday.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd on Friday banned “any guests holding a Chinese, Hong Kong, or Macau passport, regardless of when they were there last” from boarding the company's ships.
WHO emergency expert Mike Ryan said reports of Asians being shunned in the West over a perceived connection to coronavirus was “utterly and completely unacceptable and it needs to stop.”
Taiwan’s government said that starting from Monday it would suspend all direct passenger and freight shipping between the island and China. It had already decided to suspend most flights from Monday between Taiwan to China.
Hundreds of foreigners have been evacuated out of Wuhan over the past two weeks. A second evacuation plane to airlift Australians out of Wuhan was delayed after China did not give it clearance to land, Australian officials said on Saturday.
Global equity markets and government debt yields slumped on Friday, as growing concerns about the virus' impact on global growth overshadowed a strong US jobs report.
Apple Inc, however, said it was working to reopen its China corporate offices and call centres next week, and was making preparations to reopen retail stores there.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday said the United States was prepared to spend up to $100 million to assist China and support coronavirus efforts by the WHO.
The United States has sent nearly 17.8 tons of medical supplies to China, including masks, gowns and respirators, a State Department official said.
The WHO said out of $675 million it is seeking for its coronavirus response through April, it has received pledges of $110 million, $100 million of that from the Gates Foundation.
Tarlac officials face charges
In the Philippines, local officials of Tarlac might face charges should they continue to resist the government’s decision to use the New Clark City as a quarantine site for Filipinos returning from China, an official of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) warned Saturday.
DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III, in a radio interview, said local government units do not have the authority over the national government, particularly on the planned conversion of the Athlete's Village in New Clark City into a quarantine area which was approved and ordered by President Duterte.
“This is already an issue of national concern. It is an order by the President, it was approved by the NDRRMC (National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council)... So local government units don't have the choice if our countrymen are brought there for quarantine,” Densing said over radio DZMM Saturday morning.
“They will be put in their proper places. For officials who block an order by the President, there is a corresponding administrative case and even criminal charges, if they refuse to follow,” he added.
The municipal council of Capas, Tarlac unanimously approved on Friday a resolution opposing the use of the Athlete's Village at the New Clark City as a quarantine site for the 45 Filipinos coming from China's Hubei province, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.
Capas Mayor Reynaldo Catacutan said they were not consulted about the national government's “last-minute decision”.
Densing, however, said the resolution is merely their opinion. And while saying that he respects the local government's unit's move, the DILG official found it "unreasonable".
READ MORE: DILG Capas officials blocking use of New Clark City as quarantine site could face charges
Capas seeks court remedy
Aside from the council resolution, the local government of Capas will seek help from the court on Monday in a bid to stop the Department of Health (DOH) from accepting more Filipino repatriates from virus-hit Wuhan who will return to the country to undergo a two-week quarantine at the Athletes’ Village.
Vice Mayor Roseller Rodriguez said Saturday morning that their “group of lawyers” will work on it, so that the court will issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the health department's plan.
“Our lawyers will try to bring the matter to the court so they will issue a TRO,” he said over DZBB radio as the first batch of repatriates is expected to arrive early Sunday morning.
“We are appealing to the President and the DOH secretary if they could reconsider their decision and look for another site,” Rodriguez added.
But Densing likened Capas officials’ resistance to Nueva Ecija’s opposition to the initial plan to turn the Mega Drug Abuse and Rehabilitation Center in Fort Magsaysay as quarantine zone.
Densing allayed the fears of Capas officials and residents and assured that safety and health protocols are established to protect them. He added that the Athlete's Village – which was constructed for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games – was far from the Capas town proper.
Earlier, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said there was no nearby community at the Athletes' Village, so residents of the town “do not have worry.”
But Rodriguez refuted this, saying “Sitio Kamatis in Barangay Aranguren, with a population of about 1,500, is just 300 meters away from the quarantine site.”
“Across the road is the resettlement site of Mt. Pinatubo evacuees, with a population of 30,000,” he added, referring to a community which is now called Barangay Cristo Rey.
Duque also stressed that people just need to observe a distance of at least six to 10 feet distance from 2019-nCoV patients to ensure not to get infected.
Densing also stressed that the group of Filipinos coming home from China arenot infected with the 2019-nCoV.
“We should trust our national government officials and doctors that our countrymen will not be affected. I repeat, those who will be going there are not sick, so let's give them a bit of consideration,” he appealed.
Densing said he hopes to speak with Catacutan to clarify the local officials’ concerns.
READ MORE: Tarlac town brings quarantine issue to court
WHO assistance to PH
As this developed, the WHO Philippines turned over to the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila on Friday personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect doctors and health personnel at the frontlines of the fight against the novel coronavirus.
“Some personal protective equipment such as medical goggles and face shields were handed over to staff of San Lazaro Hospital today,” read the Twitter post of WHO Philippines last Friday.
“PPEs are critical to protect health workers who are caring for patients who are confirmed or suspected to have the 2019 novel coronavirus.”
Aside from the WHO assistance, Duque revealed that President Duterte approved “in principle” the release of P2.25 billion for the procurement of protective gear for health workers and an additional P10 million for the purchase of face masks.
Each set of PPE includes headgear, goggles, N95 masks, gloves, apron, and gowns. Each set costs around P1,500, he said. (With reports from Jeffrey G. Damicog and Analou de Vera)
READ MORE: WHO-PH gives protective equipment to San Lazaro Hospital
This photo taken on February 6, 2020 shows a laboratory technician working on samples from people to be tested for the new coronavirus at "Fire Eye" laboratory in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province.(Photo by STR / AFP) / China OUT / MANILA BULLETIN)
The number of new infections in China's Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, rose on Friday from a day earlier, Chinese health officials said, reversing two days of declines and showing the difficulty of predicting the epidemic's peak.
The death toll in mainland China jumped by 86 to 722, and is poised to pass the 774 deaths recorded globally during the 2002-2003 pandemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), another coronavirus that jumped from animals to humans in China.
So far only two deaths have been reported outside mainland China – in Hong Kong and the Philippines – from about 332 cases in 27 countries and regions.
During the SARS outbreak between November 2002 and July 2003, 774 people died globally, while the number of reported cases was 8,098, suggesting a far lower transmission rate than the latest coronavirus, but a higher mortality rate.
After China recorded its first daily drop in the number of new infections on Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was too early to say whether the outbreak had peaked.
The first cases in December were traced to a seafood market in the Hubei capital of Wuhan, where wildlife was sold illegally.
“It is hard to say how lethal this novel coronavirus infection is – that is, what proportion of people with infection will eventually die of the infection,” Professor Allen Cheng, an infectious diseases expert at Monash University in Melbourne, told Reuters.
“While the crude mortality appears to be around 2%, there are likely to be many people who have been infected that haven't been tested ... We probably won't know the true case fatality for some time yet.”
Hubei officials on Saturday reported 81 new deaths, 67 of those in Wuhan, a city under virtual lockdown. Across mainland China, excluding the 2,050 people who had recovered and those who had died, the number of outstanding cases stood at 31,774.
Beijing's communist leadership has sealed off cities, cancelled flights and closed factories to contain the epidemic, with ripple effects for global markets and businesses dependent on the world's second-biggest economy.
WHO experts say they have not seen the same rapid increase in cases in provinces outside Hubei, or in the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau that were badly hit by SARS.
Speaking in Geneva, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned earlier that "the numbers could go up again."
False negatives
Not all of the infected will test positive for the virus, warned Wang Chen, head of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.
“For patients who are really infected with the new type of coronavirus, the positive rate for tests is 30% to 50%,” Wang told state television in an interview that has gone viral on social media since its telecast on Wednesday.
“There are still many false negatives by collecting suspected cases of throat swabs. In other words, more than half of the people who are truly infected with the new coronavirus may be ‘negative’.”
Hubei has started to use computerized tomography (CT) scans for quicker and more accurate test results.
Memories of how China was slow to tell the world about the SARS outbreak were rekindled on Friday when a doctor who had tried to raise the alarm about the new coronavirus succumbed to the disease in a Wuhan hospital.
Ophthalmologist Li Wenliang, 34, was among eight people reprimanded by police in Wuhan for spreading “illegal and false” information after he shared details of the virus with colleagues.
Social media users called him a hero and shared a selfie of him lying on a hospital bed wearing an oxygen respirator and holding up his Chinese identification card. One image showed the message “farewell Li Wenliang” etched into snow on a riverbank.
There were signs that discussion of Li's death was being censored. After briefly trending on Weibo, the topics "the Wuhan government owes doctor Li Wenliang an apology" and "we want free speech" yielded no search results.
Lack of masks, gowns
The WHO chief warned of worldwide shortages of gowns, masks and other protective equipment.
“When supplies are short and demand is high, then there could be bad practices like hoarding in order to sell them at higher prices, and that's why we ask for solidarity,” Tedros told a Geneva briefing.
Another three people on a cruise liner off Japan tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed cases from the ship to 64, Japan's health ministry said on Saturday.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd on Friday banned “any guests holding a Chinese, Hong Kong, or Macau passport, regardless of when they were there last” from boarding the company's ships.
WHO emergency expert Mike Ryan said reports of Asians being shunned in the West over a perceived connection to coronavirus was “utterly and completely unacceptable and it needs to stop.”
Taiwan’s government said that starting from Monday it would suspend all direct passenger and freight shipping between the island and China. It had already decided to suspend most flights from Monday between Taiwan to China.
Hundreds of foreigners have been evacuated out of Wuhan over the past two weeks. A second evacuation plane to airlift Australians out of Wuhan was delayed after China did not give it clearance to land, Australian officials said on Saturday.
Global equity markets and government debt yields slumped on Friday, as growing concerns about the virus' impact on global growth overshadowed a strong US jobs report.
Apple Inc, however, said it was working to reopen its China corporate offices and call centres next week, and was making preparations to reopen retail stores there.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday said the United States was prepared to spend up to $100 million to assist China and support coronavirus efforts by the WHO.
The United States has sent nearly 17.8 tons of medical supplies to China, including masks, gowns and respirators, a State Department official said.
The WHO said out of $675 million it is seeking for its coronavirus response through April, it has received pledges of $110 million, $100 million of that from the Gates Foundation.
Tarlac officials face charges
In the Philippines, local officials of Tarlac might face charges should they continue to resist the government’s decision to use the New Clark City as a quarantine site for Filipinos returning from China, an official of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) warned Saturday.
DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III, in a radio interview, said local government units do not have the authority over the national government, particularly on the planned conversion of the Athlete's Village in New Clark City into a quarantine area which was approved and ordered by President Duterte.
“This is already an issue of national concern. It is an order by the President, it was approved by the NDRRMC (National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council)... So local government units don't have the choice if our countrymen are brought there for quarantine,” Densing said over radio DZMM Saturday morning.
“They will be put in their proper places. For officials who block an order by the President, there is a corresponding administrative case and even criminal charges, if they refuse to follow,” he added.
The municipal council of Capas, Tarlac unanimously approved on Friday a resolution opposing the use of the Athlete's Village at the New Clark City as a quarantine site for the 45 Filipinos coming from China's Hubei province, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.
Capas Mayor Reynaldo Catacutan said they were not consulted about the national government's “last-minute decision”.
Densing, however, said the resolution is merely their opinion. And while saying that he respects the local government's unit's move, the DILG official found it "unreasonable".
READ MORE: DILG Capas officials blocking use of New Clark City as quarantine site could face charges
Capas seeks court remedy
Aside from the council resolution, the local government of Capas will seek help from the court on Monday in a bid to stop the Department of Health (DOH) from accepting more Filipino repatriates from virus-hit Wuhan who will return to the country to undergo a two-week quarantine at the Athletes’ Village.
Vice Mayor Roseller Rodriguez said Saturday morning that their “group of lawyers” will work on it, so that the court will issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the health department's plan.
“Our lawyers will try to bring the matter to the court so they will issue a TRO,” he said over DZBB radio as the first batch of repatriates is expected to arrive early Sunday morning.
“We are appealing to the President and the DOH secretary if they could reconsider their decision and look for another site,” Rodriguez added.
But Densing likened Capas officials’ resistance to Nueva Ecija’s opposition to the initial plan to turn the Mega Drug Abuse and Rehabilitation Center in Fort Magsaysay as quarantine zone.
Densing allayed the fears of Capas officials and residents and assured that safety and health protocols are established to protect them. He added that the Athlete's Village – which was constructed for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games – was far from the Capas town proper.
Earlier, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said there was no nearby community at the Athletes' Village, so residents of the town “do not have worry.”
But Rodriguez refuted this, saying “Sitio Kamatis in Barangay Aranguren, with a population of about 1,500, is just 300 meters away from the quarantine site.”
“Across the road is the resettlement site of Mt. Pinatubo evacuees, with a population of 30,000,” he added, referring to a community which is now called Barangay Cristo Rey.
Duque also stressed that people just need to observe a distance of at least six to 10 feet distance from 2019-nCoV patients to ensure not to get infected.
Densing also stressed that the group of Filipinos coming home from China arenot infected with the 2019-nCoV.
“We should trust our national government officials and doctors that our countrymen will not be affected. I repeat, those who will be going there are not sick, so let's give them a bit of consideration,” he appealed.
Densing said he hopes to speak with Catacutan to clarify the local officials’ concerns.
READ MORE: Tarlac town brings quarantine issue to court
WHO assistance to PH
As this developed, the WHO Philippines turned over to the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila on Friday personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect doctors and health personnel at the frontlines of the fight against the novel coronavirus.
“Some personal protective equipment such as medical goggles and face shields were handed over to staff of San Lazaro Hospital today,” read the Twitter post of WHO Philippines last Friday.
“PPEs are critical to protect health workers who are caring for patients who are confirmed or suspected to have the 2019 novel coronavirus.”
Aside from the WHO assistance, Duque revealed that President Duterte approved “in principle” the release of P2.25 billion for the procurement of protective gear for health workers and an additional P10 million for the purchase of face masks.
Each set of PPE includes headgear, goggles, N95 masks, gloves, apron, and gowns. Each set costs around P1,500, he said. (With reports from Jeffrey G. Damicog and Analou de Vera)
READ MORE: WHO-PH gives protective equipment to San Lazaro Hospital