Chinese President Xi Jinping called the coronavirus outbreak a “demon” while speaking with the head of the World Health Organization.
“The epidemic is a demon, and we cannot let this demon hide,” Xi told WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Chinese people are currently engaged in a serious struggle against an epidemic of a new type of coronavirus infection.”
The virus has claimed its 106th victim in China, with more than 4,500 people confirmed to be infected as officials scramble to erect hospitals throughout the country to treat the victims.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States confirmed that it is monitoring at least 110 Americans for the infection, which has spread rapidly since its discovery near a wildlife market in Wuhan, China, last week. There are five confirmed cases in the U.S. so far.
“It’s deeply stressful,” 31-year-old Joseph Pacey, a British man who teaches English in Wuhan, said. “The biggest fear for me is that this thing will go on for months, and it will get harder and harder to get supplies — and to live.”
Mongolia, Russia, and Hong Kong have joined a list of governments restricting travel from China, and the U.S. is airlifting personnel out of the Wuhan region. Footage from the area showed doctors in hazmat suits treating patients who have collapsed in deserted streets as many hope to ride out the virus indoors.
Xi has pledged to address the infection in a “timely” manner.
