China's central government announced Sunday that it's taking the reins in response to the outbreak of the coronavirus from local officials in Hubei province, home to the virus' city of origin, Wuhan.
Ma Xiaowei, the head of the country's National Health Commission, said "we are now in a critical period of prevention and control." It appears the coronavirus is becoming more contagious — Zhou Xianwang, the mayor of Wuhan, said experts will likely soon confirm another 1,000 infection cases. Meanwhile, the death toll resulting from the disease rose to 56, including the first fatality in Shanghai.
Subscribe to 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.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'A speaker courageous enough to stand up to the extremists in his own party'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
How could the Supreme Court's Fischer v. US case impact the other Jan 6. trials including Trump's?Today's Big Question A former Pennsylvania cop might hold the key to a major upheaval in how the courts treat the Capitol riot — and its alleged instigator
-
Today's political cartoons - April 18, 2024Cartoons Thursday's cartoons - impeachment Peanuts, record-breaking temperatures, and more
-
Texas dairy worker gets bird flu from infected cowSpeed Read The virus has been spreading among cattle in Texas, Kansas, Michigan and New Mexico
-
Dengue hits the Americas hard and earlySpeed Read Puerto Rico has declared an epidemic as dengue cases surge
-
Covid four years on: have we got over the pandemic?Today's Big Question Brits suffering from both lockdown nostalgia and collective trauma that refuses to go away
-
US bans final type of asbestosSpeed Read Exposure to asbestos causes about 40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year
-
The hollow classroomOpinion Remote school let kids down. It will take much more than extra tutoring for kids to recover.
-
Excess screen time is making children only see what is in front of themUnder the radar The future is looking blurry. And very nearsighted.
-
Covid-19: what to know about UK's new Juno and Pirola variantsin depth Rapidly spreading new JN.1 strain is 'yet another reminder that the pandemic is far from over'
-
Long-term respiratory illness is here to stayThe Explainer Covid is not the only disease with a long version
