China Reports Around 2,000 New COVID-19 Cases... Half of Previous Day's Count 'Slows Down' (Summary)

143 New Deaths, Total 1,523
2,641 New Cases, Total 66,492
New Cases Outside Hubei Decline for 11th Consecutive Day

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] The spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) appears to be slowing down within China. In regions excluding Hubei Province, including Wuhan, the origin of COVID-19, the number of new confirmed cases has decreased for 11 consecutive days.

The National Health Commission of China (NHC) announced on the 14th that during the day (0:00?24:00), there were 2,641 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 143 new deaths across 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions nationwide. Accordingly, as of 0:00 on the 15th, the cumulative number of confirmed cases including clinically diagnosed patients across China reached 66,492. The cumulative death toll was recorded at 1,523.

The number of new confirmed cases nationwide was over 15,000 on the 12th and over 5,000 on the 13th, but dropped to the 2,000 range on the 14th. In regions excluding Hubei Province, new confirmed cases have been decreasing for 11 consecutive days, recording 890 on the 3rd, then 377 on the 11th, 312 on the 12th, 267 on the 13th, and 221 on the 14th.

Clinically diagnosed patients are those classified as confirmed cases based on lung CT scans even if nucleic acid tests did not return positive results. Hubei Province began applying this classification from the statistics on the 12th. On the 14th alone, Hubei Province reported 2,420 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 139 new deaths. Among these new confirmed cases and deaths, clinically diagnosed patients accounted for 1,138 and 34, respectively. Within Hubei, Wuhan recorded 1,923 new confirmed cases and 107 deaths.

The number of suspected COVID-19 patients in China stands at 8,969. The number of patients discharged after recovery is 8,096. There are 513,183 people who have had close contact with confirmed patients, among whom 169,039 are under observation.

The Chinese government is mobilizing all measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, including expanding the wartime control zones in Hubei Province and enforcing a two-week self-quarantine for people returning to the capital Beijing.

The cumulative confirmed cases outside mainland China but within the Greater China region total 84, with 56 in Hong Kong (1 death), 10 in Macau, and 18 in Taiwan.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.