Coronavirus: China reports 150 new deaths, 409 more confirmed cases of infection

Medical workers in protective suits attend to a patient inside an isolated ward of Wuhan Red Cross Hospital, on Feb 16, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS

BEIJING (XINHUA, AFP, REUTERS, BLOOMBERG) - China's health authority on Monday (Feb 24) said it received reports of 409 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 150 deaths from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps on Sunday.

Among the deaths, 149 were in Hubei Province and one in Hainan Province, according to the National Health Commission.

The daily number of newly cured and discharged novel coronavirus patients surpassed that of new confirmed infections for the sixth consecutive day, according to the National Health Commission.

Sunday saw 1,846 people walk out of hospital after recovery, much higher than the number of new confirmed infections on the same day, figures from the commission showed.

A total of 24,734 patients infected with the novel coronavirus had been discharged from hospital by the end of Sunday, according to the commission.

China has allocated 99.5 billion yuan (S$19.79 billion) in funds for curbing the coronavirus outbreak that has spread throughout the country, Assistant Finance Minister Ou Wenhan said on Monday. Mr Ou made the remarks during a press briefing in Beijing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Sunday the new coronavirus epidemic is the communist country's largest-ever public health emergency.

"This is a crisis for us and it is a big test," he said during remarks carried by state television.

In a rare admission at a meeting to coordinate the fight against the virus, Mr Xi added that China must learn from "obvious shortcomings exposed" during its response.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has praised Beijing for its handling of the epidemic, but China has been criticised at home for silencing early warnings from a whistle-blower doctor who later died from the virus.

Meanwhile, China is trying to get people back to work, risking a renewed spread of the coronavirus.

Central and local governments are loosening the criteria for factories to resume operations as they walk a tightrope between containing a virus that has killed more than 2,400 people and preventing a slump in the world's second-largest economy.

The rush to restart has been propelled by Mr Xi and top leaders, who are urging companies to resume production so the country can continue to meet lofty goals for growth and economic development in 2020.

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