The 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.
Here are seven numbers that illustrate the havoc that the novel coronavirus has caused:
4
… 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).
RMB63
… 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 RMB17. 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 RMB500,000 and ordered to rectify the price, the Paper reported.
3
… is the day in February that the Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan is expected to begin accepting 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. The hospital will have 1,000 beds. Another 1,500-bed makeshift hospital called Leishenshan Hospital is also being built, and will officially begin accepting patients on February 6.
Image via @新浪新闻/Weibo
26
… 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. Click here for the full list of country names.
Image via CDC’s website
15%
… is the percentage of patients who died in a study of 41 patients hospitalized for 2019-nCov. 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 items that were 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.
Image via @新京报评论/Weibo
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.
RMB800 million
… 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, which broke ground on January 24 and is expected to be finished by February 3.
For more updates on the coronavirus, click here.
[Cover image via @泗县发布/Weibo]
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