13 Things to Know about the Coronavirus Outbreak

Original Chengdu-Expat ChengduExpat

Events 😷 Explore

As we all know, the novel Coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, Hubei province has had a major impact on life here in China, with businesses temporarily shutting and travel throughout the country and abroad being restricted.

Many of us have been glued to the news, watching the numbers rise. For those of us who just cant get enough - here are 13 numbers that illustrate the havoc that the novel coronavirus has caused so far:

1,314,818,985+

… is the number of times people consulted DXY's real-time feed of the DXY.cn (Chinese : 丁香园 ; pinyin : DīngXiāngYuán) is a Chinese online healthcare platform.

2.1%

… is the nationwide death rate of confirmed coronavirus cases up utill Feb. 3. The numbers are higher for Hubei and Wuhan resprectively 3.1% Hubei and 4.9% Wuhan.

th of February is the date most businesses are expected to reopen here. In several Chinese provinces (like Guangzhou) they extended official Chinese New Year until February 9th, but Sichuan did not. However in reality most people are either working from home, or have extending holidays. It must be noted that vital industries like mask producing factories, pharmecutical plants, medical staff, and police all worked throughout Chinese New Year.

Critical factories, such as mask producers worked through the new year break. Source: vicai.com

The biggest news today was the opening of the Chinese stock market which immediately plummeted by 9%. Almost 3000 stocks dropped by 10%, which is the maximum they are allowed to fall by financial controls.

The government had announced a 1.2 trillion RMB (174 billion USD) injection into financial markets to check volatility of equity prices. This was mainly through reverse repo-operations, but this action was not enough to stop the fall in the markets today.

It is becoming clear that the economic damage stemming from the epidemic has already began is very real particularly in sectors such as F&B, travel, entertainment, hospitality etc. There will have to be a large stimulus to counteract the effects of this period similar to that announced to buoy the steel sector

… is the level of travel advisory that the US State Department issued on China travel last Thursday, recommending that Americans do not travel to the PRC. The elevated advisory suggests that Americans currently living in China should consider leaving the country by commercial means. On Friday, US President Donald Trump signed an order that will bar foreign nationals who have traveled to China within the past two weeks from entering the country (excluding immediate family of US citizens).

63RMB

… is the price that a single pack of cabbage was selling for at a supermarket in Zhengzhou, Henan province in late January – a significant markup in price for what should cost around 17RMB. The price increase was applied as people in China began stocking up on food amid the coronavirus outbreak, however, local authorities took action against the business. The business was fined 500,000RMB and ordered to rectify the price.

2500

… is the number of beds in the newly built coronavirus pop-up hospitals. The construction of the 34,000-square-meter Huoshenshan Hospital (1000 beds) was completed Sunday, and has already started admitting patients. Construction on the hospital began on January 24 as a response to the insufficient medical space and supplies in Hubei’s capital city amid the outbreak. Another 1,500-bed makeshift hospital called Leishenshan Hospital is also being built, and will officially begin accepting patients on February 6. Watch below to see the amazing speed.

Huoshenshan hospital being built. Source: China Daily

10+

… is the number of countries that already send supplies to China. So far, China has received medical supplies and support from many countries, including Japan, Israel, South Korea, Belarus, Georgia, Iran, Germany, Turkey, Pakistan and more.

Meanwhile, many organizations, such as the European Union (EU), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and many overseas Chinese enterpreneurs and international friends tried their best to send more supplies to China.

is the number of nations with confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), including countries in Asia, Europe and North America. See the map provided by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to find out which countries have been affected.

Source: CDC’s website

Click below for the updated list of countries.

👉https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/locations-confirmed-cases.html#map

15%

… is the percentage of patients who died from the first reported cases of 2019-nCov - with 41 patients initially hospitalized. The study, titled ‘Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China,’ was published on January 24 and said that “2019-nCoV infection caused clusters of severe respiratory illness similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus,” with 66% of the 41 patients having been exposed to the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan. It’s important to note that the current case fatality rate of the 11,791 confirmed cases in China is around 2%, with 259 dead.

112

… is the number of infected items thought to have been sold at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, which is believed to be the epicenter of the outbreak. Following confirmed cases of the virus – which spread from wildlife to humans, images of the market’s menu surfaced online, revealing a list of the wild animals peddled there.

Wolf pups, foxes, rats, peacocks, crocodiles, giant salamanders, snakes, porcupines and civets, among other live animals, were sold for consumption. On January 27, China ordered a temporary nationwide ban on the trading of wildlife to prevent the spread of the virus.

50+

… is the number of airliners announced to cut China flights in meanwhile. Click below for a frequent updated list, though please double check via the official website of the airliner.

800 million RMB

… is the combined amount of money pledged by Chinese tech companies Baidu, Tencent and Bytedance to help authorities in severely affected areas and to research possible treatments of the coronavirus. In addition, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said it would commit USD10 million to help out first responders in China and Africa, while Alibaba founder Jack Ma is said to have pledged USD14 million to assist in efforts to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus, Forbes reported. Shenzhen-based tech giant Huawei has contributed to the construction of Wuhan’s Huoshenshan Hospital.