BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Panic is more deadly and contagious than any virus, and all the responses to the epidemic should be based on science instead of fear, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday.
Hua Chunying, the spokesperson, made the remarks when asked to comment on some U.S. media reports that coronavirus-triggered restrictive measures taken by the United States will severely harm U.S. companies that rely on Chinese products or customers.
In addition, Goldman Sachs recently released a report anticipating a 0.4 percentage point slowdown of U.S. annualized growth in the first quarter due to the coronavirus outbreak, as the U.S. restrictions will reduce the number of Chinese tourists by 28 percent and their spending by 5.8 billion U.S. dollars.
Hua said media, think tanks, experts and scholars of many countries have voiced their concerns over the excessive restrictive measures taken by some countries. She added that the World Health Organization had stressed many times it does not recommend measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade and called on all countries to combat the spread of rumors, stick to science and take evidence-based measures.
"We hope that the relevant country will respect the WHO's authoritative professional recommendations and make a rational and science-based response to the current situation, instead of overreacting," said the spokesperson.
Noting that seasonal influenza in the United States had infected 19 million people and caused some 10,000 deaths according to statistics from the U.S. side, Hua said starting from Feb. 1, the number of people cured from novel coronavirus infection has exceeded that of deaths. "As of the end of Feb. 4, a total of 892 patients were cured and discharged, almost twice the number of deaths from the virus. The number of new suspected cases has dropped for the second day in a row," Hua said.
Noting all countries' interests and destinies are intertwined in the era of globalization, Hua said in the face of a public health crisis, all countries should come together and tide over difficulties with solidarity so as to safeguard the common interests of all.
