Wuhan Raises Coronavirus Numbers, Fueling Doubts
By VOA News April 17, 2020
China said Friday more people have died in Wuhan in its COVID-19 crisis than originally thought, fueling doubts about the accuracy of the country's coronavirus death toll.
Officials in Wuhan, the epicenter of the contagion in China, raised the city's death toll by more than 50%. Health officials said in a statement that 1,290 more people died in the outbreak, raising the death toll to 3,869.
The statement, which also said the number of confirmed cases was raised by 325 to 50,333, cited various reasons for the revised numbers, including "data discrepancies," a surge of cases that "overwhelmed" the health care system, and at-home deaths that were not included in the original tally.
Foreign health officials have been skeptical of China's initial reports of cases and fatalities, but Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian denied China engaged in a cover-up.
Spain's Health Ministry has also changed the way it counts deaths and confirmed cases of COVID-19 and is calling on officials in all areas of the country to use the same criteria.
Ministry official Fernando Simon said the change was made to correct inconsistencies in the way the information is reported. The country's official one-day death toll reported Friday was 585, a dramatic increase from the 348 deaths that would have been reported using the previous method.
Spain has been one of the world's hardest-hit countries, with more than 188,000 confirmed cases and nearly 19,500 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University statistics.
There are now nearly 2.2 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and nearly 148,000 deaths worldwide, according to Hopkins.
The U.S. is by far the world leader in confirmed cases, with more than 672,300, nearly one-third of all cases worldwide. The U.S. also leads the world in fatalities, with more than 33,850 deaths. Spain ranks second with more than 19,400.
U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled a set of nonbinding guidelines Thursday for a gradual reopening of the country and returning Americans to work, while declaring the safety and health of Americans would be the top priority in his administration's move to reopen the country.
He said some parts of the country are ready to reopen and that at least 29 states will be ready to reopen "very soon." Trump said the decisions will be left to state governors and local leaders, a reversal from his previous position that he had "total authority" to decide when states could begin to lift restrictions.
U.S. stocks soared Friday following reports of a potential drug treatment for the COVID-19 disease from U.S. drug maker Gilead Sciences Inc. Gilead reported that patients with severe symptoms of the coronavirus responded well to the experimental drug. The company's trial was small, however, and the preliminary findings have yet to be reviewed by peers.
Impact on children
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that while children appear to be being spared from COVID-19's "most severe symptoms," their lives "are being totally upended."
He called for countries to "protect our children and safeguard their well-being." He said millions of children are missing school and the food they rely on at school.
He said the lockdown on populations around the world also means that children confined to their homes can be "both victims and witnesses of domestic violence and abuse."
Some countries in Europe also are making plans for a gradual return of their citizens to normal life, despite the continued rise of confirmed cases and deaths worldwide.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel plans to allow some schools to reopen beginning May 4, following similar plans in Denmark, Italy, Austria and Spain. Merkel said some stores could reopen next week.
The WHO said Thursday it would issue guidelines to countries next week as to how they can ease restrictions that were imposed in response to the pandemic while containing the spread of the deadly virus.
Extended lockdowns
But in the countries where the crisis is still growing, governments are forced to implement tougher measures.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday declared a state of emergency for the entire country, extending a partial April 7 state of emergency that covered Tokyo and six other regions. He said the new measure would remain in effect until May 6, with the intent of reducing traffic during the Gold Week holiday season, which begins in late April and extends into early May.
In Britain, Foreign Minister Dominic Raab, who is standing in for Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he recuperates from COVID-19, announced Thursday the country's nationwide lockdown has been extended by at least three weeks.
In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country is not yet ready to loosen restrictions. He urged Canadians to be patient, saying they are still "a number of weeks away."
Also Thursday, the White House released the administration's action plan to support the international effort to fight COVID-19, by fighting the outbreak at its source. The plan includes a comprehensive package of services to support U.S. international partners, which "builds on current, substantial, and longstanding U.S. government global health and humanitarian assistance of over $170 billion abroad over the past 20 years," according to the White House statement.
The announcement comes a day after Trump faced international criticism for suspending funds for the World Health Organization as it is dealing with a major global health crisis.
Trump has blamed the organization for failing in its task to inform the world of the threat of the coronavirus pandemic in a timely manner.
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