The number of people infected with the Covid-19 virus now exceeds 74,500. This Thursday, China announced that the daily number of new cases of contamination by coronavirus, which appeared in December in Hubei province (center), is at lower for almost a month.
The National Health Commission, which acts as a ministry, said the epidemic had killed 114 more people in mainland China (excluding Hong Kong and Macao) in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 2,118. new cases and deaths have been recorded in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, where the virus appeared in a market in the city.
Adjusting the number of infected
Provincial authorities reported on Thursday 628 new infections. But they also announced that 279 people initially counted as infected had finally been declared negative. Clearly, this adjustment is synonymous with a “net” daily increase of 349 cases compared to the previous day's total at the provincial level.
VIDEO. Coronavirus: Doctor denounces "chaos" aboard the Diamond Princess
The National Health Commission explained this update in the number of cases in Hubei by the fact that some patients, initially counted as "confirmed" on the basis of simple chest x-rays, had since undergone a screening test which revealed that 'They hadn't contracted Covid-19.
After the adjustment, the ministry established the daily net increase in the number of cases in mainland China at 394, only a quarter of the figure announced the previous day. Outside Hubei, the number of new daily cases is gradually falling, with only 45 announced on Thursday by the National Health Commission.
Two Diamond Princess passengers who died
In addition, two patients of the new coronavirus, a woman and a man in their eighties from the liner Diamond Princess in quarantine in Japan, died, authorities and media said.
These are the first deaths observed among confirmed carriers of the virus on the cruise ship (621 people, including 270 Japanese, 88 Americans, 50 Canadians and 48 Australians). The two octogenarians were suffering from pre-existing conditions and were evacuated from the boat on February 11 and 12, the public broadcaster NHK said.
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With a total number of 621 cases listed on the Diamond Princess, this cruise ship docked in the port of Yokohama, in the suburbs of Tokyo, is the most important source of the virus outside of China. The semi-autonomous territory of Hong Kong also saw a second death, and Iran announced two deaths on Wednesday.