Wuhan Coronavirus Has Now Spread To Every Region In China

The Wuhan coronavirus has officially spread to every single region in China

Will Martin

• The deadly coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China, has now spread to every region of the country.
• China's National Health Committee confirmed a case of the virus in the southwestern frontier region of Tibet on Thursday. Tibet is the last of China's 34 regions to see someone infected by 2019-nCoV.
• The death toll is still climbing. A total of 170 people died of the virus as of Thursday, all of whom are in China.
• There are now a total of 7,711 confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland, with 10 in Hong Kong, seven in Macau, and eight in Taiwan.
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The deadly coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China, has officially spread to every region of the country.

Cases of the Wuhan coronavirus, officially called 2019 n-CoV, have been confirmed in all 34 of China's major regions, after the National Health Committee (NHC) said Thursday that a person in the southwestern frontier region of Tibet had contracted the disease.

There are now a total of 7,711 confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland, with 10 in Hong Kong, seven in Macau, and eight in Taiwan.

A total of 170 people have died from the virus as of Thursday, as the death toll continues to climb every day.

The map below, produced by Johns Hopkins University, shows China, with each red dot representing an area that has reported cases of the virus. The larger the red circle, the greater the number of cases:

The virus, which originated in the central city of Wuhan in early December, has spread rapidly in the past few weeks.

There are confirmed cases in Qinghai, Xinjiang, and Tibet, the three most remote regions in the country.

China is taking aggressive measures to try to prevent the virus from spreading, including quarantining Wuhan and many other cities in Hubei province, and seeking to build two new hospitals in Wuhan in under a week.

Hubei Confirms 317 New Cases As Human-To-Human Transmission Arrives In South Korea

Summary: 

• 7,921 confirmed cases worldwide, 170 fatalities
• South Korea confirms first human-to-human transmission
• China reported largest one-day jump in fatalities on Wednesday with
• Hong Kong warns of surgical mask shortage
• Russia closes border
• 6,000 quarantined aboard Italian cruise ship
• Thailand leads with most cases outside China (14)

Update (0816ET): Hubei has reported 317 new cases as of noon Thursday localtime, according to local Party Secretary Jiang Chaoliang. Hubei is the province at the epicenter of the outbreak: the virus orginated in the province's capital, Wuhan. The most recent count put the number of confirmed cases at 7,921 and the death toll steady at 170.

Hong Kong is reportedly struggling with a shortage of face masks. Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung said the government had bought 13 million masks, but public hospitals have been using 5x to 6x as many as normal. Hong Kong is stepping up local production at correctional facilities to keep up with demand, and another 24 million should be available at retail outlets soon

No cases of the virus have been confirmed in the UK so far, though there have been a handful of scares.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Thursday that the first British evacuation flight could take off from Wuhan as soon as Thursday evening UK time. The flight was supposed to leave Thursday morning, but there was a delay as Chinese officials were slow to grant permission for takeoff.

As viral outbreak turns neighbors against each other and inspired a wave of suspicion in towns and cities across China, some have chosen to seek comfort by playing children's games.

While many are stuck at home in China because of the #coronavirus, some are finding comfort in humor or children's games at an otherwise anxious time pic.twitter.com/wVNbs6aYco

— QuickTake by Bloomberg (@QuickTake) January 30, 2020

Update (0725ET): Following several unconfirmed scares, India has confirmed its first case of the novel coronavirus. That means all three of the world's most populous countries have now confirmed at least one case of the virus.

And that list could soon expand. Brazil, the world's fifth most-populous country, reported three suspected cases yesterday. Malaysia has confirmed at least 8 cases. Reports that a Thai woman died of the virus on Kolkata were never confirmed.

First case of #coronavirus in India. One positive case of Novel Coronavirus patient, of a student studying in Wuhan University, has been reported in Kerala. The patient has tested positive for Novel Coronavirus and is in isolation in the hospital: @MoHFW_INDIA @IndianExpress

— abantika ghosh (@abantika77) January 30, 2020

National health officials in Beijing announced their biggest one-day jump in virus deaths and hundreds of new cases early Thursday morning (nearly 8,000 have been sickened, another 12,000 cases are suspected, and roughly 170 have died), but since then, things have been quiet.

If the recent past is any guide, this would suggest another dump of new cases and deaths is in the offing.

Three new cases were confirmed in Vietnam overnight. But in terms of news flow, most of the drama during the early hours of Thursday centered around Italy and Russia.