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Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Six Confirmed Killed in Coronavirus Hotel Catastrophe


Sun 08 Mar 2020 | 12:04 PM
NaDa Mustafa

At least six people were dead and 28 others remain missing after a hotel being used as a coronavirus quarantine facility in the Chinese city of Quanzhou collapsed on Saturday.

Quanzhou is a port city on the Taiwan Strait in the province of Fujian with a population of more than 8 million.

State media quoted Quanzhou municipality statement that the hotel collapsed at about 7:30 p.m. (1130 GMT) and 34 people were rescued in the following two hours.

A video stream posted by the government-backed Beijing News site showed rescue workers in orange overalls clambering over the rubble of the Quanzhou Xinjia Hotel and carrying people towards ambulances.

According to state media outlet People’s Daily, by this dawn, 47 inpiduals had been rescued.

It is worth mentioning that, China is trying with all its might to confront the effects resulting from the outbreak of the new Coronavirus via a series of strong and effective measures that seek to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by this deadly virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that world countries should do more and prepare for a possible pandemic because of the Coronavirus outbreak.

In an official statement, WHO said that it is too early to announce a pandemic now, but the countries should be in a “phase of preparedness”.

“The epidemic will be declared when the infectious disease is easily transmitted from person to person in many parts of the world,” the statement read.

More cases of the virus, which causes respiratory disease Covid-19, continue to emerge, with outbreaks in South Korea, Italy, and Iran.

Yasmine ElSayed contributed to this article