(TibetanReview.net, Feb05’20) – While the number of people in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) confirmed to be infected with the novel coronavirus pneumonia continues to remain at one, more confirmed cases are said to have occurred in other Tibetan areas of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). There have been nine confirmed cases in Tibetan areas of Sichuan Province, one in a Tibetan area of Gansu Province and 15 in Qinghai province, reported the Tibetan Service of rfa.org Feb 4, citing Facebook and Weibo page postings of Beijing-based Tibetan poet and activist Ms Tsering Woeser and official reports.
The report said that in Tsojang (Chinese: Haibei) Prefecture of Qinghai province, two more patients were diagnosed with the new infection, increasing the total number there to three.
Citing statistics confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Chinese state media, the report said Qinghai Province had, as of Feb 4, a total of 15 positive cases – 12 in capital Xining and three in Tsojang.
Besides, there were stated to be a total of eight cases in Tawu (Chinese: Daofu) County of Karze (Ganzi) Prefecture, Sichuan Province Karze prefecture and one in Ngaba (Aba) prefecture in Sichuan Province and one in Kanlho (Gannan) prefectures of Gansu Province.
The report said the Tawu County People’s Hospital had issued an announcement Feb 4, asking for donations of protective clothing, disposable gowns, masks, medical-grade sanitizer, antibiotics and other supplies needed by frontline medical personnel working to contain the spread of the virus.
While the confirmed case in Lhasa is a male Chinese resident of Suizhou, Hubei province, and the one in Ngaba was earlier stated to be a 26-year-old Chinese woman from Hubei, the nationalities of the others remain unknown.
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Meanwhile, across the PRC, the number of new confirmed cases on Feb 4 was 3,887, including 65 new fatalities, reported the official chinadaily.com.cn Feb 5. This took the total number of confirmed cases to 24,324 as of Feb 4 at midnight, including 490 deaths.
Besides, the number of confirmed cases rose to 18 in Hong Kong, including one death, and 10 in Macao, the report added.
The death rate from the virus was stated to be 2.1% nationwide, but higher in Hubei Province at 3.1%.
The rise in the number of new suspected cases was stated to have dropped for the second day, registering a total of 3,971 on Feb 4, compared to 5,072 new cases on Feb 3 and 5,173 on Feb 2. The official total number of suspected cases on the Chinese mainland is now 23,260.
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Meanwhile, The Philippines announced Feb 5 that a third person had tested positive for the coronavirus infection. One of them had died, becoming the first fatality outside China. The country currently had 133 persons with suspected infection, including 115 who were hospitalised and under isolation.
Taiwan was reported to have 11 confirmed cases.
