Coronavirus death toll surpasses that of SARS epidemic
The death toll on mainland China from the coronavirus outbreak has now reached 908 after earlier surpassing the number of deaths caused by the SARS pandemic of 2002-03, Chinese officials said Sunday.
China's National Health Commission reported another 97 deaths Sunday along with 3,062 new cases, coming after a drop in the number of reported cases Saturday -- the first drop in more than a week.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is believed to have killed 774 people and sickened nearly 8,100 in China and the special administrative region of Hong Kong.
Japanese media reported Monday there are 60 more confirmed cases aboard a cruise ship that has been docked in Yokohama for the past week.
A total of 130 people have been sickened on the Diamond Princess, which was placed under quarantine after a passenger who got off the ship in Hong Kong was diagnosed the virus.
Meanwhile, Britain confirmed its fourth case of coronavirus and Spain its second, with both cases acquired by people who had made trips to France.
Millions of people remain under lockdown in Hubei, the landlocked province at the center of the coronavirus outbreak where residents are complaining of food shortages.
Commerce official Wang Bin said Sunday said there are poor logistics, price increases and labor shortages.
"It is difficult for the market supply to reach normal levels," he acknowledged. Currently, he said there is a five-day supply of pork and eggs, and a three-day supply of vegetables.
China's central bank said that starting Monday it would make available 300 billion yuan ($43 billion) to help businesses involved in fighting the epidemic.
Joseph Eisenberg, professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan, told the Reuters news agency it was too early to say whether the epidemic was peaking due to the uncertainty in the number of cases.
"Even if reported cases might be peaking, we don't know what is happening with unreported cases," he said. "This is especially an issue in some of the more rural areas."
Among the new fatalities are a U.S. citizen in Wuhan, China -- the epicenter of the outbreak -- officials at the American Embassy in Beijing said Saturday.
The embassy said that the 60-year-old American died Feb. 6. A Japanese citizen is also reported to have died in Wuhan of viral pneumonia, likely caused by the coronavirus, although that has not been confirmed.
