The number of cases in the particularly affected Hubei province drops drastically after the official diagnostic procedure has been adjusted again. A Chinese expert warns that the virus may not go away at all.
Beijing (dpa) - The number of new infections with the coronavirus in China has officially dropped to its lowest level in weeks - however, a new change in the counting method causes confusion.
The Beijing Health Commission said that the number of newly confirmed infections fell to 394 cases after 1749 the previous day. The number of new fatalities was given as 114.
According to a paper published by the Health Commission on Wednesday, clinical diagnoses should no longer be included in the statistics as officially confirmed cases. The particularly affected province of Hubei, where the virus originally broke out in the metropolis of Wuhan, had started counting last week also those diagnoses, which are based on a combination of factors like lung pictures and the physical condition. Now only laboratory tests are supposed to be relevant there again, but according to experts in the past they did not always recognize obvious diseases immediately.
In Hubei, the number of new infections decreased from 3449 to 349 the previous day. Several cities also reported negative numbers for new infections, which may be related to the new way of counting.
According to official information, a total of 74,576 people in China have so far had the lung disease called Covid-19, which is caused by the coronavirus. However, experts assume a high number of unreported cases.
Despite declining numbers, a leading Chinese scientist warned that the coronavirus could become an established disease like influenza flu. "The new corona virus could become a long-term disease that coexists with humans, just like the flu," said Wang Chen, president of the China Academy of Medical Science, on Wednesday's state television.
So far, more than 1000 infections and eight fatalities are known outside the Chinese mainland, 16 of them in Germany.
The remaining passengers of the cruise ship "Westerdam" in Cambodia were able to prepare for a trip home. The shipping company Holland America Line informed the stranded passengers in a hotel in the capital Phnom Penh about the flight plans - as the German traveler Stefan Habel told the German Press Agency. 440 passengers should fly home on Thursday if everything goes according to plan - many of them with a charter flight over Istanbul.
According to the shipping company, no further infections with the novel corona virus had previously been detected. The 781 travelers were tested negative, the Holland America Line said on Wednesday, citing the Ministry of Health of the Southeast Asian country via Twitter.
Several Asian countries had banned the cruise ship from mooring out of concern for the possible introduction of the Sars-CoV-2 virus, although no cases were known to be on board. It wasn't until Cambodia that the ship finally landed.
At the US passenger of the "Westerdam", an infection was surprisingly found on the weekend when traveling on to Malaysia. Many of the approximately 2,300 people on board had already gone ashore. Disembarkation was stopped.
Of the 57 Germans who originally traveled with the cruise ship, a good half have now been able to leave the country, the Foreign Office said on Wednesday. The "Westerdam" passengers who have already returned include two from Brandenburg and two from Hesse, who must now remain in quarantine at home.
The Chinese economy is now feeling the effects of the epidemic more and more. The ailing Chinese conglomerate HNA is said to be taken over by the southern Chinese province of Hainan, according to a media report. As the finance agency Bloomberg reported on Thursday, the authorities' plan also plans to sell the Hainan Airlines aircraft division. The outbreak of lung disease in China, which among other things affects the aviation industry hard, makes it difficult for the heavily indebted group to meet its financial obligations, Bloomberg reported, citing people who are familiar with the project.
The government of the island province had started talks to take control of the conglomerate. An announcement could be made today, "although the talks could continue or burst," Bloomberg said, citing his sources. According to the emerging plans, the majority of Hainan Airlines could be sold to the three largest Chinese airlines Air China, China Southern and China Eastern Airlines.
