New Coronavirus Cases in China Fall again as Deaths Top 2,000

By Staff, Agencies

New coronavirus cases in China continued to fall Wednesday, with 1,749 more infections and 136 additional deaths as the top official in the outbreak's epicenter vowed to find and isolate every infected patient in the city by day's end.

Wednesday marks the final day of a door-to-door campaign in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the virus emerged, to root out anyone with symptoms whom authorities may have missed so far.

"This must be taken seriously," said Wang Zhonglin, Wuhan's newly minted Communist Party secretary.

"There's nothing more important than human life," Wang said in remarks published by the government of Hubei province, where Wuhan is located. "If a single new case is found [after Wednesday], the district leaders will be held responsible."

Mainland China has reported a total of 74,185 cases of the new form of coronavirus and 2,004 deaths. New cases have fallen to under 2,000 for the past two days, but officials and analysts have warned that the threat of a more serious outbreak remains as workers gradually return to work following a prolonged Lunar New Year holiday.