Deaths surpass 1,100, but rate of infection begins to fall.
Coronavirus Updates: Dangerous Disease Now Called COVID-19; Death Toll Exceeds 1,100
The death toll from the coronavirus reached a new high on Wednesday even as Chinese officials said the infection rate showed signs of slowing.
Here’s what you need to know:
* World health officials now have a name for the coronavirus illness.
* Deaths surpass 1,100, but rate of infection begins to fall.
* Japanese official tests positive after surveying cruise ship passengers.
* Outbreak disrupts supply chains, and the effects ripple across the globe.
The World Health Organization on Tuesday proposed an official name for the illness caused by the new coronavirus: COVID-19. The acronym stands for coronavirus disease 2019, as the illness was first detected toward the end of last year.
The director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, noted that the new name makes no reference to any of the people, places or animals associated with the coronavirus. The goal was to avoid stigma.
Under international guidelines, the W.H.O. “had to find a name that did not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual or group of people, and which is also pronounceable and related to the disease,”
The death toll from the coronavirus reached a new high on Wednesday even as Chinese officials said the rate of new infections showed signs of slowing.
Nationwide, 97 new deaths and 2,015 new cases emerged in the previous 24 hours, the national health authorities said.
Tuesday’s newly confirmed infections represented the lowest in a single day since Jan. 30, when there were 1,982 new confirmed cases.
The new figures brought the total number of deaths in China to at least 1,113. And the total number of confirmed cases rose to 44,653. Most of the newly reported deaths, 94, occurred in Hubei Province, the heart of the outbreak.
There are 393 COVID-19 cases outside China, in 24 countries.
