Coronavirus, the death toll breaks the 2,000 mark

But Beijing reports the lowest number of new infections in the current month. Outside Hubei, only 56 new cases have been reported, falling for the 15th consecutive day. Russia announces the closure of its borders to Chinese citizens. The spike in South Korea due to a "super greaser".

Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The death toll from coronavirus has exceeded the psychological threshold of 2 thousand: overnight, the Beijing National Health Commission announced that Covid-19 killed 2,007 people. About 95% of the deaths occurred in the epicenter of the epidemic, the province of Hubei. Here doctors are still fighting to contain the spread of the disease.

However, Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a phone call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said yesterday that measures taken by China are making "visible progress".

Hong Kong reported its second death this morning from the infection. Russia has announced the closure of its borders to Chinese citizens and South Korea has experienced a spike in the number of infections.

Yesterday, at the end of the day, Beijing reported 74,279 Covid-19 cases reported in China, including 74,185 on the mainland. However, the National Health Commission said that the number of new cases has decreased for the second consecutive day.

In its daily bulletin, the commission reported 1,749 new cases of people infected with the virus nationwide, the lowest number of new cases in the current month.

Meanwhile, the Hubei government has said it will investigate anyone who bought cough or fever drugs after January 20, both in the pharmacy and online, as part of an unprecedented effort to track Covid-19 patients in the quarantined province.

Outside Hubei, only 56 new cases have been reported; a decrease for the 15th consecutive day. A second Covid-19 infected person died in Hong Kong. This was announced by the Chinese broadcaster CCTV, citing a report by the hospital authorities of the former British colony. The 70-year-old died this morning. In total, 62 coronavirus cases were diagnosed in the city.

Two days ago, Chinese authorities published a study according to which the new coronavirus Covid-19 causes only mild diseases for 80% of infected patients, who then manage to recover. Health officials presented the slowing numbers as an indication that the epidemic is under control. Shortly after the publication of the document, WHO invited the public to calm down despite the positive news contained in it.

Outside China's borders, another 25 nations report a total of 920 contagion episodes, in addition to three deaths. A note from the World Health Organization (WHO) today reports about 100 human-to-human transmission cases outside China.

Yesterday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke of 92 episodes in 12 countries. South Korea reports 15 new cases of contagion, including 11 in the city of Daegu, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul. These people had come into contact with an already known patient.

The Moscow Times announces that starting tomorrow, Russia will ban the entry of those who hold Chinese passports into the country. Moscow explains that the measure will affect anyone who enters China for work, education, tourism or other reasons, but not passengers in transit.