China reported a big drop in new coronavirus cases on Thursday, fuelling hopes the epidemic is nearing its peak, but Japan faced a growing crisis as two passengers from a quarantined cruise ship died.

The death toll rose in China hit 2,118 as 114 more people died, but health officials reported the lowest number of new cases there in nearly a month, including in the hardest-hit province, Hubei.

More than 74,000 people have been infected in China and hundreds more in some 25 countries, with Iran reporting two deaths, the first fatalities in the Middle East.

In Japan, a man and a woman in their 80s who had been aboard the Diamond Princess have died, local media reported, citing a government source.

A World Health Organization official noted the progress in China but warned it had not reached a turning point just yet.

Chinese officials said this week that their drastic containment efforts, including quarantining tens of millions of people in Hubei and restricting movements in other cities nationwide, have started to pay off.

“After arduous efforts, the situation is changing for the better,” Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a meeting with Southeast Asian counterparts in Laos late Wednesday, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Hubei and its capital Wuhan — where the virus is believed to have emerged in December — are still “severely affected” by the epidemic, Wang said.

“But the situation is under effective control, while other regions are embracing comforting news,” he said.

‘Not turning point’

More than 600 new infections were reported in Wuhan — the lowest daily tally since late January, and well down from the 1,749 new cases the day before.

The national figure has now fallen for three days in a row.

Chinese authorities placed Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, under quarantine on January 23 and quickly locked down the rest of Hubei in the days that followed.

Cities far from the epicentre have limited the number of people who can leave their houses for groceries, while villages have sealed themselves off from outsiders.

Richard Brennan, regional emergency director at the World Health Organization, said China was making “tremendous progress in a short period of time” but cautioned that it was not over just yet.

“Trends are very encouraging but we are not at a turning point yet,” Brennan told a press conference in Cairo.

‘Chaotic’ cruise quarantine

While China touts progress in its fight against the COVID-19 epidemic, Japan’s government faces criticism over quarantine measures on the Diamond Prince cruise ship.

The huge vessel moored in Yokohama is easily the biggest coronavirus cluster outside the Chinese epicentre, with 621 positive cases confirmed among the passengers and crew — one sixth of the total.

On Wednesday, 443 passengers disembarked from the ship after testing negative for the COVID-19 virus and not showing symptoms during a 14-day quarantine period. The complete removal of the passengers was expected to last at least three days.

More passengers left the ship on Thursday, packing into yellow buses and leaving for stations and airports.

But questions are increasingly being asked as to the wisdom of allowing former Diamond Princess passengers to roam freely around Japan’s crowded cities, even if they have tested negative.

The death of the two elderly passengers is likely to add to the criticism.

A specialist in infectious diseases at Kobe University slammed “completely chaotic” quarantine procedures onboard, in rare criticism from a Japanese official.

“The cruise ship was completely inadequate in terms of infection control,” said Kentaro Iwata in videos he has since deleted.

Japan’s health ministry insisted it had conducted “consultations on appropriate infection control in the ship” with experts and taken a range of measures.

– AFP

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

下月起两活动中试跑 旅游局制定50人商业活动框架

新加坡旅游局正在为能让50人参与的商业活动制定校准和风险管理框架,并且会在两项活动中进行试跑。 旅游局在脸书上帖文指出,当局致力于打造安全的商业活动模式,是我国成为安全、可信度高且创新的全球领先地。 正在和活动主办方协商,并且针对五个目标制定框架。有关的五个目标即参与者在整个过程的防疫措施、限制人群密集、限制个人之间的密切接触、确保环境清洁和安全、以及准备和冠状病毒相关的应急措施。 当局表示,有关框架将在据现场面对面及虚拟互动的活动中进行。 而在8月24日至26日,在由电气和电子工程师协会主板的计算电磁学国际大会上,以及在9月24日的亚洲医疗科技虚拟研究会上,将展开试跑。这两项活动的现场只限制50人,而虚拟活动上则会有近千名参与者。 若活动成功地顺利进行,当局将会采用该管理框架,或许会有更多依循该框架的活动将恢复展开。

联合国报告员:过大权力干涉言论自由

联合国言论自由权问题特别报告员凯伊(David Kaye)日前发表声明,促请新加坡政府撤回《防止网络假信息和网络操纵法案》(POFMA),并应予以立法机关与公众更充足讨论空间,确保法案符合国际人权法。 凯伊在上周三(24日)向我国总理李显龙致函一则措辞强烈的声明,抨击《防假信息法》不仅对“真伪消息”拥有绝对的酌情权,也成为政府打击言论自由的基本依据,构成自由言论的阻碍,尤其是公共辩论、政策批判及持不同政见之言论。 凯伊表示,他在法案中发现疑惑之处,例如:任何部长及相关执法人员将获赋予权力,可以裁定何谓“虚假陈述“。这也会促使他们滥用该权力来抑制、审查及惩罚网上言论,限制言论自由。 “我在担任特别报告员期间,曾目睹有者利用法律来对付“假消息“的案例。通常用以对付新闻记者、维权人士等人,而这样的法律也带来了深远的影响。“凯伊强调。 打击假消息予以重罚,无疑削弱公众对政府的信心 我国政府与4月1日向国会提呈《防假信息法》,并预计在下月初进行二读辩论。 该法第二条第一项,任何陈述如果“部分和全篇”被指“虚假、误导性”,可以被认定为假消息。凯伊认为部长甚至只需取文章段落,要求将之更正或删除。 凯伊也批评,基本上,该法案并未提供总理或执法者,清楚的方向来如何断定消息的真伪,已偏离国际人权法中对信息清晰度与可预测性的标准。 他还说,政府以刑事罪定义网络假消息,而以上说法已赋予部长或执法者强制更正或撤下部分或全部内容的权力,限制网络消息的散播,无疑是削弱公众对政府的信任。 严苛刑罚产生寒蝉效应 严苛罚款或刑罚等不正当的处置,也可能会不当地扼杀了新闻记者、维权人士,政治评论者及在野党的言论自由,增加审查、寒蝉效应的影响。…

Unsung heroes: The fundraisers sustaining Myanmar’s anti-military movement

by Pyae (Raise Three Fingers) When Myanmar’s military overthrew the civilian National…

运输受阻大量宠物死在包裹内 中国网民冀停止网购宠物!

中国河南漯河市召陵区的一家物流园区,数千只宠物包裹遭倾倒弃置,其中大部分宠物已死亡! 事后有动物保护人士到现场进行查看,发现很多动物已经死亡,并对已呈奄奄一息的动物进行急救,更呼吁民众不要透过网络购买宠物,避免悲剧重演。 据大陆媒体综合报导,上周二(9月22日)有网民爆料,被送往安徽的大量宠物,包括有兔子、猫、狗和荷兰猪。因种种原因,载送这些宠物的车辆被迫滞留在漯河。漯河当时也有数日雨天,导致昼夜温差很大,大部分动物又缺氧、缺水和缺量而大量死亡。而死亡的动物,无论是商家或养殖基地都不愿意接受。 有动物保护志工人士在接获通报后,到现场发现大批快递包装的宠物,因有宠物已经死亡,现场尸臭熏天。他们急忙将车内上存活的动物救出,经过清点明确包存活的动物不到包裹的三分之一,只有1074只,包括200只兔子、20只猫和狗,已被热心的民众领养。就连该物流公司的职员们见状也于心不忍,纷纷自掏腰包,找地方找人照顾这些小动物。 快递公司声称被冒用 基于被遗弃的部分包裹上贴有韵达快递公司的面单,该快递公司也被召见以参与调查。快递公司相关负责人于9月30日指出,公司快递服务网点之前的客户预留面单被他人冒用,而该公司是不允许运输动物的。目前,韵达总部仍对有关事件的具体情况进行进一步的调查和了解。 车辆司机未经批准  半夜到物流园卸货! 据《新京报》报导,漯河召陵区商务局副局长杨爱华指出,宠物快递分别来自江苏徐州和河南商丘,运输车辆抵达河南后,在郑州和楼和的中转站被揭发载有活体动物,因此拒绝接收。而车辆司机在没有获得批准之下,半夜将这批快递在漯河东兴物流园卸货。 中国《邮政法实施细则》有明确规定,禁止快递行业运送活体动物,但是仍然有不少店铺进行活体宠物售卖,还提供包邮服务。