Coronavirus: Deadliest day yet as 97 die in 24 hours in China pushing global death toll to 910
Coronavirus claimed nearly 100 lives on Sunday, making it the deadliest day ever since the virus struck Wuhan in China in December 2019. The death toll in mainland China increased by 97, taking the total number of globar fatalities to 910. While an additional 3,062 cases were also reported on Sunday alone in the country, a 15 percent increase compared to Saturday's numbers.
The surge in the number of deaths and infections has quashed hopes by experts who believed China's drastic quarantine measures might work in stemming the spread. The rise in the death toll comes at a time when millions of people in the country return to work on Monday after an extended Lunar New Year holiday.
The city of Guangzhou resumed its normal public transport on Monday while roads in Beijing and Shanghai had significantly more traffic compared to recent days. The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, however, said that at least 60 percent of its member companies were planning to implement mandatory work-from-home policies to curb the virus spread.
Tens of millions of people Hubei province did not return to work considering the province is at the center of the deadly outbreak and continues to remain under lockdown, according to the Daily Mail.
China, in a month, has built two hospitals to treat virus affected patients in Wuhan and sent thousands of medical professionals and healthcare workers to the city to manage the crisis.
China released a statement on Monday announcing that at least 27 foreigners had been infected with the virus in the country, including two who had succumbed to it. Two other coronavirus patients died outside mainland China, one in Hong Kong and another in the Philippines.
Over 360 cases of the virus have also been confirmed outside China, bringing the total number of infections to over 40,000.
The virus fatality toll, over the weekend, passed the 2002-03 SARS outbreak toll, when 774 people died in an outbreak which also originated China. The number of people infected by the SARS virus was 8,098.