アメリカ民主主義さんの おぼえた日記 - 2020年2月16日(日)

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Coronavirus: China announces drop in new cases for third straight day
新型肺炎　中国政府は3日連続新規の患者数が減少と報告

◎要旨
中国での感染者は68000人、死亡者は1665人に達したが、集計方法の変更で今週初めに感染者は急増したが、その後は新規感染者が減少しているという。一方日本に停泊中のクルーズ船ダイヤモンドプリンセス号の感染者は355人増えている。
中国の中央銀行は市中に出回った紙幣を消毒して再利用していたり、北京市は武漢から戻った人を14日隔離するという。
また、初動不手際の批判に対して、習氏が公の発表前に、この肺炎の危険性を認識し、指示をだしていたことを報じている。

China has announced a drop in new cases from the coronavirus outbreak for a third consecutive day.
On Sunday, authorities reported 2,009 new cases and 142 more deaths nationwide.
New cases spiked earlier in the week after a change in the way they were counted but have been falling ever since.
In total more than 68,000 people have been infected in China, with the death toll standing at 1,665.
Outside of China there have been more than 500 cases in nearly 30 countries. Four people have died - in France, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Japan.

The measures China has taken to stop the spread of the coronavirus are starting to have an impact, Mi Feng, a spokesman at the National Health Commission, said on Sunday.
In other developments:
The number of people who have tested positive on a cruise ship being held in quarantine in a Japanese port has risen to 355. The Diamond Princess has seen the highest number of cases outside of China. The US and Canada are sending planes to evacuate their citizens from the ship
China's central bank is to disinfect and store used banknotes before recirculating them in a bid stop the virus spreading
French officials said on Saturday that a Chinese tourist died in France after contracting the new coronavirus - the first fatality from the disease outside Asia
An 83-year-old American woman has tested positive for the virus after disembarking another cruise ship that docked in Cambodia, and then flying to Malaysia. Other passengers on the ship are being held for screening
In the UK, all but one of nine people being treated have been discharged from hospital
Five new cases have been confirmed in Singapore, bringing the total there to 72. Eighteen have fully recovered and have left hospital.
On Saturday, World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised Beijing' response to the outbreak.
"China has bought the world time. We don't know how much time," he said. "We're encouraged that outside China, we have not yet seen widespread community transmission."

How is China coping?
Tens of millions of Chinese still face heavy restrictions on their day-to-day life as part of the government's efforts to halt the spread of the disease, which causes a disease named Covid-19.
Much of the response has focused on the hard-hit province of Hubei and its capital Wuhan, where the outbreak began. The city is all but sealed off from the rest of the country.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that along with a drop in infections within Hubei there had also been a rapid increase in the number of people who had recovered.
As part of measures to contain coronavirus, Beijing has ordered everyone returning to the city to go into quarantine for 14 days or risk punishment.

But local authorities have struggled to provide protective equipment such as respiratory masks, goggles and protective suits to hospitals in Hubei. Six health workers have died since the outbreak began.
In another development Chinese state media published a speech from earlier this month in which Chinese President Xi Jinping said he said he had given instructions on 7 January on containing the outbreak.

At the time, local officials in the city of Wuhan were downplaying the severity of the epidemic.
This would suggest senior leaders were aware of the potential dangers of the virus before the information was made public.
With the government facing criticism for its handling of the outbreak analysts suggest the disclosure is an attempt to show the party leadership acted decisively from the start.

★語句
spike　急上昇する　急降下する
disinfect　消毒する
downplay　控えめに扱う

◎私見
これまで権力基盤を固めてきた習主席であるが、この新型コロナウイルスの騒動の対応誤ると権威が失墜するおそれがあると言われ始めている。そこで、中国政府がしっかりした対応をしていることを内外にアピールし始めている。武漢に医師団を派遣する映像を大々的に流し、WHOが中国の対応を称賛するコメントを出しているのもその一環であろう。そして、新規患者数の減少を報じて、ピークアウト感を演出する狙いだと思われる。
これが功を奏すれば、3月に予定されている全国人民会議が開催できると踏んでいるのだろう。どのような展開になるかは予断を許さないが、新型コロナウイルスのニュースが突然流れなくなると、事態が悪化しているなど何か悪い予兆ではと危惧している。