Coronavirus update: Wuhan hospital director dies as epidemic begins to curb
The director of a hospital in Wuhan has died after contracting Covid-19
According to the Wuhan health commission, Liu Zhiming, aged 51, died shortly before 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday 18 February. He was a neurosurgeon and Director of the Wuchang Hospital. The commission said: “From the start of the outbreak, Comrade Liu Zhiming, without regard to his personal safety, led the medical staff of Wuchang Hospital on the front lines of the fight against the epidemic.” The commission stated that Dr Liu ‘made significant contributions to our city’s fight to prevent and control the novel coronavirus’.
Dr Liu ... led the medical staff of Wuchang Hospital on the front lines of the fight against the epidemic
According to the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC), at least 1,716 health workers have become infected with the virus and five have died.
New data from the CCDC provides some interesting statistics on the coronavirus. The data places the overall death rate of the Covid-19 virus at 2.3 per cent, while in Wuhan, it is 2.9 per cent, compared with 0.4 per cent in the rest of the country.
The CCDC looked at more than 44,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and found that 80.9 per cent of infections are classified as mild, 13.8 per cent as severe and only 4.7 per cent as critical.
When it comes to sex, it found that men are more likely to die than women – 2.8 per cent versus 1.7 per cent.
It also found that ‘the epidemic curve of onset of symptoms’ peaked around 23-26 January before declining up to 11 February and suggests that ‘isolation of whole cities, broadcast of critical information (e.g., promoting hand washing, mask wearing, and care seeking) with high frequency through multiple channels, and mobilisation of a multi-sector rapid response teams is helping to curb the epidemic’.
But there is no time for complacency and travellers and healthcare professionals alike must remain mobilised and vigilant in the fight against Covid-19.