Beijing
After weeks of insisting that severe acute respiratory syndrome was “under control,” China this week said the health situation had become “grave.” The new lung disease, initially concentrated in urban Hong Kong and the neighboring Guangdong province, seems to be spreading to rural areas. At least 1,250 people in China have been diagnosed with the disease, dozens of them in inland China, and many more cases are suspected. About 4 percent of those diagnosed with SARS die from it. Treatment could be on the way, though, now that Canadian scientists this week cracked the genetic code of the virus, which they called a “completely new” coronavirus. The two known human coronaviruses are much less virulent; they are responsible for the common cold.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Taking aim at Venezuela’s autocratFeature The Trump administration is ramping up military pressure on Nicolás Maduro. Is he a threat to the U.S.?
-
Comey indictment: Is the justice system broken?Feature U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan has indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges of lying and obstructing Congress
-
Government shuts down amid partisan deadlockFeature As Democrats and Republicans clash over health care and spending, the shutdown leaves 750,000 federal workers in limbo
