China's Xi Declares 'People's War' on Coronavirus
Death toll has surpassed 600, with more than 30,000 others affected
U.S. President Donald Trump is praising Chinese President Xi Jinping's efforts to combat the deadly coronavirus as Xi faces mounting domestic criticism following the virus-related death of a physician who issued an early warning about the outbreak.
After a Friday telephone conversation with Xi, Trump praised China's response and said Xi was leading "what will be a very successful operation." Trump continued to applaud Xi on Twitter Friday, describing him as "strong, sharp and powerfully focused."
China's official account of Friday's conversation did not include references to Chinese complaints of the Trump administration's reaction to the outbreak that included being the first country to close its diplomatic office in Wuhan and order diplomats to leave the country.
The death of a Chinese doctor who was censored by Communist Party authorities after warning of a new then-unidentified virus in December has triggered an outpouring of online anger at party authorities for its tight control on information about the crisis.
Police had accused Dr. Li Wenliang, who died Friday morning local time at Wuhan Central Hospital, of "spreading rumors online" and "severely disrupting social order."
A man wearing a face mask attends a vigil for Chinese doctor Li Wenliang, in Hong Kong, Feb. 7, 2020.
Li also was widely praised by many, including by China Center for Disease Control chief scientist Zeng Guang.
"A hero who released information about Wuhan's epidemic in the early stage, Dr. Li Wenliang is immortal," Zeng wrote on the Sina Weibo microblog page.
The ruling Communist Party's People's Daily wrote on Twitter, "We deeply mourn the death of Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang ... After all-effort rescue, Li passed away."
Rising death toll
Officials in Hubei province, where the outbreak began, report 69 new deaths early Friday, bringing the total number of fatalities from the virus to more than 630. They also report 2,500 new cases, taking that number to more than 31,000.
Chinese President Xi has declared a "people's war" on the coronavirus outbreak, as the death toll grows by the day.
"The whole country has responded with all its strength to respond with the most thorough and strict prevention and control measures, starting a people's war for epidemic prevention and control," China's state-run Xinhua news agency quotes Xi as saying.
The World Health Organization says it is too early to confirm one Chinese official's belief that the outbreak is about to peak.
There are about 150 confirmed cases in at least 23 other countries, including one death in the Philippines — the first outside of China, and one death in Hong Kong.
Cruise ships
Forty-one new cases were confirmed by Japan aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, moored off Japan, raising the total to 61. Three-thousand seven-hundred passengers are facing a 14-day quarantine — confined to their cabins aboard the ship. Fourteen days is the virus incubation period.
Masked passengers stand outside on the balcony of the cruise ship Diamond Princess anchored at Yokohama Port in Yokohama, near Tokyo, Feb. 7, 2020.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said foreign passengers on another ship carrying about 2,000 people will not be allowed to enter Japan. Abe said virus-infected passengers may be on board, while the operator of Holland America's Westerdam denied anyone was infected. The ship is currently near Ishigaki, an island of Okinawa.
About 3,600 passengers are stuck aboard another ship remains off the Hong Kong coast, with three cases on board.
Hong Kong has shut down nearly all land and sea border crossings with the Chinese mainland after more than 2,000 medical workers walked off the job earlier this week.
Taiwan announced Thursday it was banning all international cruise ships from docking at the island.
The World Health Organization has declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency and is appealing for $675 million to fight the virus.