China coronavirus: first health chief sacked as death toll climbs to 170

Communist Party authorities in Huanggang near the heart of the outbreak say health commission director dismissed

Russia announces closure of border with China while US says it will organise more flights out of Wuhan for American citizens

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Tourists in Tokyo were taking precautions as the number of coronavirus infections worldwide approached the global total for the Sars outbreak. Photo: AP

Published: 6:44am, 30 Jan 2020Updated: 3:42pm, 16 Feb 2020

The number of known coronavirus cases jumped by 1,737 to 7,771 in China on Thursday morning including the first confirmed case in Tibet, according to health authorities, raising the global total to almost 8,000 – and nearing the total infections worldwide in the Sars outbreak of 2002-03.

The epidemic’s death toll also continued to rise sharply, by 38 since Wednesday, taking the total to 170, all in China, as of Thursday morning. The coronavirus is believed to have originated last month in a market that sold wild animals in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei province, in central China.

The first suspected case in Tibet has been confirmed, meaning the virus has spread to all of mainland China’s 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. Of the 38 new deaths, 37 were in Hubei and one in Sichuan province in the southwest.

Huanggang health chief dismissed

Tang Zhihong, the head of the health commission of the central Chinese city of Huanggang, was sacked on Thursday night, according to the city’s Communist Party committee.

The announcement came after state broadcaster CCTV aired footage of Tang unable to answer key questions such as the number of available hospital beds or the city’s capacity to test for the coronavirus.

Huanggang, near the Hubei provincial capital of Wuhan, has 324 confirmed cases of the illness, as of Thursday – second only to Wuhan.

On Thursday night, Hubei officials acknowledged there was a dire lack of protective equipment such as masks at Wuhan hospitals.

It came after staff from at least one hospital, Wuhan Xiehe Hospital, posted an urgent appeal on social media for donations.