BMW, on Thursday, January 30, 2020, said it was closing three of its factories in the Chinese city of Shenyang, where it employs around 18,000 people and manufactures half a million vehicles every year, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
According to a BMW spokesman in Munich, the one-week holiday for Chinese New Year has been extended by another week until February 9, 2020.
The spokesman added that only office workers in Shenyang would return to work from Monday, though they would be working from home.
“We cannot say exactly what will happen beyond February 9, 2020,’’ the spokesman said.
Death Toll Of Coronavirus Hits 259 As Chinese Hospitals Discharge 243 Patients
A total of 243 patients infected with the novel coronavirus had been discharged from hospitals after recovery by the end of Friday, Chinese health authorities announced Saturday, February 1, 2020.
Friday saw 72 people walk out of the hospital after recovery, the National Health Commission, NHC, said in its daily report.
Patients can be discharged when the symptoms are alleviated, the body temperature remains at a normal range for at least three days, and the nucleic acid test shows a negative result twice, according to the NHC, reports Xinhua.
As of Friday midnight, a total of 259 people had died and 11,791 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection had been reported in 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in China.
WHO Declares Global Health Emergency
The outbreak of the new coronavirus was declared a global public health emergency on Thursday, January 30, 2020 by the World Health Organization.
And a growing number of countries are reporting limited person-to-person spread of the virus.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general, said the declaration is not a “vote of no confidence” in China, which has been widely praised for its transparency and work to control the outbreak.
Instead, Tedros said the WHO was acting to protect countries with weaker health systems.
Six cases have been diagnosed in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first case of person-to-person transmission in the U.S. on Thursday, between a husband and wife in Chicago.
LIVE: Press conference on the Emergency Committee meeting on #2019nCoV https://t.co/hTQam7RWc9
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 30, 2020
