x

U.S., Germany, France question China’s virus response as Wuhan death figures rise

The U.S., Germany, and France have questioned Beijing’s response to the coronavirus as Chinese authorities announced a large jump in the official number of fatalities in Wuhan, the original epicentre of the outbreak.

Earlier on Friday China revised the number of virus-related fatalities in the central city up by 1,290, to 3,869 – an increase of around 50 per cent.

U.S. President Donald Trump later lambasted China on Twitter saying their death toll was “far higher than that and far higher than the U.S., not even close!”

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said he was “naturally concerned” about the dramatic rise in the official number of deaths in Wuhan.

“There are questions that at some point must be answered,” he said in an interview with the Bild newspaper as he called for transparency from Beijing.

French President Emmanuel Macron had earlier told the Financial Times that it would be “naive” to assume that China’s handling of the virus has been better than Western democracies, as some analysts cited Beijing’s heavy-handed lockdowns as successful to curbing the spread.

“We don’t know. There are clearly things that have happened that we don’t know about,” Macron added.

The debate over the real number of deaths came as the worldwide toll from the novel coronavirus passed 150,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The U.S. has the most reported deaths at 34,575, followed by Italy at 22,745, Spain at 19,613, and France at 18,703.

There are over 2,200,000 reported cases globally with the U.S. the leader in reported cases at 683,786, the university said.

The Hubei province government, home to Wuhan, said that the number of deaths had been revised up due to late reports from medical institutions and to the fact that some coronavirus patients died at home while hospitals were overloaded in the early stages of the epidemic.

“The registration of some death cases was incomplete, and there were repetition and mistakes in the reporting,” said the statement.

Over the past few weeks, there has been intense speculation that the number of casualties in Wuhan had far exceeded official reports, based on the number of urns released to family members in late March. (dpa/NAN)

Hot this week

Editors Urge Government To Create Safe, Enabling Environment For Journalists

· Ask security agents to find missing Vanguard journalist As...

EXCLUSIVE: Buhari orders probe of Isa Funtua, AMCON over keystone and Etisalat

Following the controversy generated by the leading opposition party,...

6 Signs your boyfriend thinks you are ugly -Take note of No. 2

They say there are three kinds of people; the...

2023: South-East, Middle Belt Forum Endorses Peter Obi

The South-East and Middle Belt Forum has endorsed the...

2027 Elections: APC Denies Granting Automatic Tickets to Akpabio, Abbas, Lawmakers

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismissed claims that...

Abuja Road construction: Guzape, Kpaduma Residents Will Be Fully Compensated – Wike

By Joyce Remi-Babayeju The FCT Minister Barr Nysome Wike has...

mass Defection Hits Sokoto Pdp as Business Wing Joins Apc

By Muhammad Ibrahim, Sokoto  A significant blow to the Peoples...

world Bank Team Hails Sokoto L-pres Execution

The World Bank’s Third-Party Monitoring Team has commended the...

Youths Protest  Over Land Grabbing In Delta Community

By Anne Azuka  Youths from Ogbe-Akwu community in Ogwashi-Uku Kingdom...

Gov. Ododo Flags Off the Construction of  7.2 Idah Township Road

By Noah Ocheni, Lokoja Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Usman...

Plateau Gives 72-Hour Ultimatum to Jos Motorcyclists

By Israel Adamu, Jos   Plateau State Government has raised alarm...

mutfwang’s Envoy Seeks Bank Partnership

By Israel Adamu, Jos   Special Envoy on Peace and Security...
spot_img

Related Articles

Popular Categories

spot_imgspot_img