Coronavirus outbreak: Death toll rises to 213; working closely with China, says US President Trump
The United States is working closely with China and other countries on the coronavirus outbreak, President Donald Trump said on Thursday. The death toll reached 213 in China with over 9,000 people tested positive.
FollowBeijing: The death toll from the deadly coronavirus mounted to 213 with 9,356 people tested positive for the disease, Chinese media reported on Friday.
Within the past 24 hours, over 1,200 new cases of the illness have been recorded in 17 Chinese cities, the South China Morning Post newspaper reported. The new deadly strain of coronavirus was first detected in December in China's Wuhan city and has since spread to 19 countries.
On Thursday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a public health emergency of international concern over the outbreak of coronavirus.Â
The first case of coronavirus was reported in Wuhan city of China in December and since then the virus has spread to most parts of the world. In China, the death toll mounted to 213 with 9,356 people tested positive for the disease.
China has imposed quarantine and travel restrictions, affecting the movement of 56 million people in more than a dozen cities, amid fears that the transmission rate will accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year.
The United States President Donald Trump on Thursday said he is working closely with China and other countries on the coronavirus outbreak. Â
Trump said that in total, all five people who have tested positive for coronavirus in the US are on the road to "good recovery". "Working closely with China and others on Coronavirus outbreak. Only 5 people in the US, all in good recovery," Trump tweeted.
Trump’s tweets come just after the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced a public health emergency of international concern over the coronavirus crisis in China and other countries.
His tweet also follows Washington authorising the voluntary departure of non-emergency diplomatic staff from China, Sputnik reported.
Trump has established a coronavirus task force that is set to lead the US response to the outbreak of the disease, the White House announced on Wednesday.
According to White House spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, the task force, led by Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, has already held three meetings since Monday. Grisham also pledged that the "risk of infection for Americans remains low".
