A marked decline in the number of new cases of coronavirus infections in China is the result of a change in how the government counts them, after regaining the ability to lab-test all suspected cases, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st February, 2020) A marked decline in the number of new cases of coronavirus infections in China is the result of a change in how the government counts them, after regaining the ability to lab-test all suspected cases, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday.
As of 05:00 GMT, China has reported over 75,500 cases of the COVID-19 disease, including more than 2,200 deaths, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at a daily briefing. In the past 24 hours, China confirmed 892 new cases and 118 deaths.
"The significant decline in new confirmed cases is partly due to another change in the way China reports numbers... They have now switched back to reporting only suspected and lab-confirmed cases... because the health system in Wuhan has regained the ability to test all suspected cases," he said.
China started reporting a cumulative number of infections that included laboratory-confirmed cases and clinically diagnosed ones. The WHO chief said some clinically confirmed cases had been subtracted from the total because they tested negatively in the lab.
