As Coronavirus Cases In China Jump 35% In Just Few Days, WHO Urges Improvement In Global Data Sharing

The New York Times: As China Clamps Down On Negative News, Quarantines On Land And Sea
China’s leader, Xi Jinping, said on Wednesday that China is in a “critical moment” of its fight against the coronavirus epidemic as the death toll and number of infections continued to soar. Health officials in China said on Thursday that 563 people had died from the virus, up from nearly 500 people the day before, and that 28,018 cases had been confirmed. On Monday, the number of confirmed cases was put at 20,438, meaning the number increased more than 35 percent in just a few days. (2/5)

Bloomberg: WHO Pushes Nations To Share More Coronavirus Patient Details
The World Health Organization is pressing member countries affected by the new coronavirus to share more information on cases, saying a shortage of details has hampered efforts to combat the outbreak. A week after the WHO deemed the virus an international threat, the organization said it’s not getting all the data it needs to upgrade its advice to companies and governments worldwide. The virus has spread beyond China to at least 23 countries and sickened more than 28,000 people. (Fourcade, Mulier, and Miller, 2/5)

Reuters: WHO Calls For Improved Data-Sharing On Virus, Says Sending Team To China
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday urged all health ministers to improve data-sharing on coronavirus immediately and said he would send a team of international experts to work with Chinese counterparts. The U.N. agency was sending masks, gloves, respirators and nearly 18,000 isolation gowns from its warehouses to some two dozen countries that need support, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told its Executive Board. (2/5)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Live Updates: Toll Passes 500 With 28,000 Cases In China
Taiwanese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said China had provided the wrong figures of Taiwanese coronavirus cases to the World Health Organization, in the self-ruling island’s latest criticism of Beijing. Whereas Beijing reported 13 cases for Taiwan, officials there said the real figure was 10. (By Thursday, that figure had risen to 13.) In a statement to Reuters, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it had received the numbers in question from the island’s officials. (2/6)

The New York Times: Losing Track Of Time In The Epicenter Of China’s Coronavirus Outbreak
In the mornings, Wuhan is so quiet that bird calls sound down once busy streets. Stray dogs trot in the middle of empty expressways. Residents wrapped in masks creep out of their homes, anxiety flitting across their eyes. They line up at hospitals overwhelmed by a virus that most had not heard of until a few weeks ago. They line up outside pharmacies despite the door signs declaring they have sold out of protective masks, disinfectant, surgical gloves and thermometers. They line up to buy rice, fruit and vegetables from food stores that keep operating, while nearly all other shops are closed. (Buckley, 2/5)

The New York Times: In Coronavirus, China Weighs Benefits Of Buffalo Horn And Other Remedies
As it races to treat patients infected with the new coronavirus, the Chinese government is seeing potential in a cocktail of antiviral drugs. It is also recommending the Peaceful Palace Bovine Pill, a traditional Chinese medicine made with the gallstone of cattle, buffalo horn, jasmine and pearl. There is no known cure for the coronavirus that has sickened more than 28,000 people and killed 563 in China. The country’s National Health Commission says doctors should try treating patients mainly with a combination of Western drugs used to treat HIV and fight viruses, depending on the severity of illness. (Wee, 2/5)

The Wall Street Journal: China’s Coronavirus Outbreak Prompts Patients To Scramble For Remedies
Desperate for a cure for the new coronavirus spreading quickly across the country, Chinese families are flocking online to seek experimental remedies that might be effective against the virus, despite government warnings that no proven treatment has been found. Among the most sought-after drugs is Kaletra, an antiretroviral for HIV made by U.S. pharmaceutical giant AbbVie Inc. that blocks the enzymes some viruses need to replicate. Relatives of Chen Ruoping joined a scramble for the drug, known in Mandarin as Kelizhi, after the 57-year-old developed a fever and was diagnosed with a lung infection last month. (2/6)

Reuters: China's Virus-Hit Wuhan Creates More Hospitals As Demand For Beds Surges
The Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, is converting an additional eight buildings, including gymnasiums, exhibition centers and sports centers, into hospitals, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday. The latest announcement adds to plans revealed earlier this week to convert three other venues in the city into hospitals. Once all 11 buildings are converted, a process that is expected to be completed later on Wednesday, they will be able to accommodate 10,000 patients. (2/5)

Reuters: Thousands Held On Cruise Ship In Hong Kong As Authorities Check For Virus
Thousands of passengers and crew on a cruise ship that docked in Hong Kong on Wednesday were being kept on board while they were tested for a coronavirus as the city government said that all visitors from mainland China would be quarantined for two weeks. (Kwok and Pang, 2/5)

The Associated Press: 'A Floating Prison': Cruise Of Asia Ends In Virus Quarantine
David Abel’s 50th wedding anniversary luxury cruise began with him eating his fill and enjoying the sights of East Asia. It’s ending with him quarantined in his cabin aboard the Diamond Princess for two extra weeks, eating a “lettuce sandwich with some chicken inside” and watching 20 infected people escorted off the ship, heading for hospitals for treatment of a new virus. (Klug and Yamaguchi, 2/6)

The Washington Post: Trapped On Coronavirus-Ravaged Cruise Ship, Diamond Princess Passengers Struggle To Keep Spirits Up
David Abel and his wife, Sally, are still smiling, for now. Their friends Alan and Wendy Steele are going "stir crazy" trapped in their cabin — although they say they are not worried about catching the deadly illness. Still, this was not how the Steeles planned to spend their honeymoon. Many of the 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew members on the Diamond Princess are struggling to keep their spirits up after the luxury liner was quarantined off the Japanese coast Wednesday, with passengers forbidden to leave their cabins. (Denyer, 2/5)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Cruise Passengers Face Infection Worries, Blown Travel Plans And Boredom
Passengers were startled from their slumber at around 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday by a broadcast telling them to remain in their rooms. Later, the captain announced: “The ship is under quarantine and it is expected to last at least 14 days.” Crew members in protective medical gear fanned out to wipe doorknobs and other surfaces clean with disinfectant. (Gale, Bhattacharya and Inada, 2/5)

The Washington Post: Africa Has 1.2 Billion People And Only Six Labs That Can Test For Coronavirus. How Quickly Can They Ramp Up?
After Africa’s first suspected case of the Wuhan coronavirus emerged last month in the Ivory Coast, doctors sent a sample from the coughing college student to the closest equipped lab — 4,500 miles north, in Paris. Officials said the wait for the results, which came back negative, highlighted the need to rapidly expand testing capacity on the continent, where health authorities are scrambling to prepare for a potential outbreak. No cases have been confirmed so far in any of Africa’s 54 countries, but the risk of an outbreak is high, World Health Organization leaders say. (Paquette, Bearak and Bernstein, 2/6)