China’s novel coronavirus death toll rises to 490, confirmed infections hit 24,324

Death toll continues to rise.

Belmont Lay | February 05, 2020, 11:33 AM

The number of confirmed deaths from China's coronavirus outbreak jumped to 490 on Feb. 5, 2020.

The confirmed toll in mainland China rose to 490 after hardest-hit Hubei province reported 65 more people had died.

This was the biggest single-day tally since the first fatalities emerged in January.

The number of confirmed infections in China's coronavirus outbreak has reached 24,324 nationwide with 3,971 new cases reported, the National Health Commission said.

However, the number of new suspected cases on the Chinese mainland dropped for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, the National Health Commission said.

The 3,971 new suspected cases on Tuesday was lower compared with 5,072 cases on Monday and 5,173 on Sunday.

So far, 911 of those infected have recovered.

Restricted movement in China

Authorities in three cities in eastern Zhejiang province -- including one near Shanghai -- limited the number of people allowed to leave their homes.

Three districts in Hangzhou now allow only one person per household to go outside every two days to buy necessities, affecting some three million people.

This affects the area where the main office of Chinese tech giant Alibaba is based.

The city is only 175km southwest of the financial hub of Shanghai.

Shanghai has reported more than 200 cases, including one death.

Zhejiang has confirmed 829 cases -- the highest number outside the central province of Hubei, whose capital Wuhan is the epicentre of the outbreak.

China has struggled to contain the virus despite locking down more than 50 million people in Hubei.

Outside of mainland China

Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand have reported new infections on Tuesday that were not imported from China.

Hong Kong reported its first death from the disease.

It stemmed from a 39-year-old man in Hong Kong who died.

Hong Kong media said the man had underlying health issues.

He had visited Wuhan last month and his 72-year-old mother was also infected.

The death came as the semi-autonomous city closed all but two land crossings with the Chinese mainland.

Hong Kong is rattled by the latest virus outbreak as it has revived memories of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak of 2002 and 2003, which killed nearly 300 people in the city and 349 people in the mainland.

Health officials noted that the mortality rate for the new coronavirus stood at 2.1 percent, with most victims either old or with underlying health problems.

SARS killed nearly 10 percent of patients.

China's leadership admits shortcomings

China's Communist leadership made a rare admission of fallibility earlier this week.

It acknowledged "shortcomings and difficulties exposed in the response to the epidemic".

The elite Politburo Standing Committee called for improvements to the "national emergency management system" at the meeting, according to the official Xinhua news agency on Monday.

The government also said it "urgently" needed medical equipment such as surgical masks, protective suits, and safety goggles as it battles the outbreak.

A 1,000-bed field hospital in Wuhan was built from scratch within two weeks.

It has started receiving patients on Tuesday, with a second makeshift hospital due to open later this week.

A cultural building, an exhibition centre and a gymnasium have also been converted into improvised clinics with 3,400 beds.

Top photo via Xinhua