HAIKOU, March 11. /TASS/. Starting February 1, the southern Chinese province of Hainan sent more than 4,500 tonnes of food products as humanitarian aid to the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak — Hubei, the Hainan Daily newspaper reported.
"Seventeen cities and counties of Hainan have supported the Hubei province," the newspaper writes. “Since February 1, Hainan has been sending fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs and other products to cities in Hubei, such as Wuhan (the provincial capital, the outbreak of coronavirus), Jingzhou, Xiaogan, Huangan, Ezhou and others. In total, 13 batches were delivered with a total weight of more than 4,552.22 tonnes, including 1253 tonnes of fruit, 107 tonnes of chicken, 10 tonnes of seafood," the publication said.
The article indicates that in addition to food, Hainan supplied essential goods and other goods the residents of Hubei might need. In total, six batches were shipped with a total weight of more than 1,900 tonnes.
In late December 2019, a pneumonia outbreak caused by the COVID-19 virus (previously known as 2019-nCoV) was reported in China’s city of Wuhan, an economic and industrial megacity with a population of 12 million. The World Health Organization declared the new coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, characterizing it as an epidemic with multiple locations. Overall, nearly 100 other countries, including Russia, have reported confirmed coronavirus cases. Outside China, the worst affected countries are Iran, Italy and South Korea. According to the latest reports, China, which handles the bulk of cases, has confirmed around 80,700 cases of patients infected with the novel coronavirus. The virus’ death toll has reached more than 3,800, yet more than 59,900 patients have recovered from the disease.