Hong Kong yesterday became the second place outside mainland China to report the death of a person infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus, as restrictions on movement were imposed in more Chinese cities far from the epicenter, including the home of tech giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴).
The toll on the mainland soared to 425 deaths after 64 more people died, the biggest single day tally since the first fatalities emerged last month.
In a sign of growing concerns about infections rising further in major metropolitan areas, authorities in eastern Zhejiang Province limited the number of people allowed to venture outside in three cities.
Photo: AFP
Three districts in Hangzhou — including the area where the main office of Chinese tech giant Alibaba is based — decided to allow only one person per household to go outside every two days to buy necessities, affecting about 3 million people.
The city is only 175km southwest of Shanghai, which has had more than 200 cases, including one death, so far.
Similar measures were imposed in Taizhou and three districts in Ningbo, with a total population of 9 million, days after the same was done in Wenzhou, home to another 9 million people.
Zhejiang has confirmed 829 cases of the coronavirus.
The death of the 39-year-old man in Hong Kong came as the territory closed all but two land crossings with the Chinese mainland to slow the spread of the virus.
He was a Hong Kong resident who had traveled last month to Wuhan, returning home on Jan. 23 via a high-speed rail link.
Officials said that the man had diabetes, but had been stable until his condition suddenly deteriorated.
News of the fatality broke as a strike by Hong Kong medical workers protesting against the government’s response to the crisis entered its second day, with the Hong Kong Hospital Authority saying that about 4,400 staff were absent — including about 360 doctors and 2,500 nurses.
The authority said the strike was having a “serious impact.”
Hong Kong had 17 confirmed infections, the majority people infected in mainland China, but four cases were suspected to be local transmissions, including two people confirmed yesterday afternoon who have no history of recent travel to China.
Hong Kong has been particularly on edge over the virus as it has revived memories of the SARS outbreak in 2002 and 2003, which killed nearly 300 people in the territory and 349 people in China.
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