China has handled the new coronavirus outbreak in a transparent and "highly responsible" way, the country's UN ambassador said Wednesday, after criticism that local authorities did not react quickly enough.

Since its emergence in the central province of Hubei in December, the COVID-19 virus has killed more than 1,350 people and infected tens of thousands.

There have been more than 500 infections in almost 30 countries and territories outside mainland China, including two deaths.

"Facing the epidemic, we have always adopted an open, transparent and highly responsible attitude," Beijing's United Nations Ambassador Zhang Jun told the UN Commission for Social Development.

"We have reported the epidemic information to the WHO, the relevant countries, and Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan regions as soon as it is available, shared the genetic sequences of the virus, actively communicated with other countries in order to come up with responses," he said.

Most of the cases have been in Hubei, where about 56 million people have been placed under virtual quarantine. Authorities have restricted the movements of people in several other cities far from the epicenter in an unprecedented containment effort.

"Not only for the sake of China, but also the world, we have adopted rigorous prevention and control measures... effectively curbing the spread of the epidemic," Zhang said.

China drew international condemnation for covering up cases during the 2002-03 SARS outbreak, whereas the World Health Organization has praised measures taken by Beijing to combat COVID-19.

But anger erupted in China this month after the death of a doctor in Wuhan, the Hubei provincial capital and virus epicenter, whom police silenced when he flagged the emerging virus in December.

Local authorities in Hubei and Wuhan had already faced rare, uncensored criticism online for initially downplaying the magnitude of the outbreak.

Critics say precious time was lost by the early inaction of the local government.

Hubei and Wuhan officials held important political meetings in the first weeks of January. The death toll and number of cases only began to soar afterwards, going from one fatality on January 11 to more than 630 barely four weeks later.

"Addressing global public health issues is a common challenge faced by all countries," Zhang said, calling for international cooperation.

China removes party chief of virus epicentre province
Beijing (AFP) Feb 13, 2020 - China has sacked the top political leader of virus-stricken Hubei province, the epicentre of an epidemic that has killed 1,355, state media reported Thursday.

Jiang Chaoliang, Hubei's party secretary, will be replaced by Shanghai mayor Ying Yong, according to the official Xinhua news agency, which gave no additional details.

Jiang's removal comes after Hubei's two most senior health officials were sacked Monday amid growing criticism of how local officials have handled the crisis.

The province reported a dramatic spike in confirmed virus cases Thursday, raising the total number of nationwide infections to nearly 60,000 after Hubei authorities changed the way they count infections.

The virus is believed to have originated late last year at a seafood market in Hubei province's capital Wuhan.

Pressure on local officials for their perceived incompetence has mounted particularly after the death last week of a Chinese doctor who was punished by Wuhan authorities for raising the alarm about the new virus.

Wuhan authorities also faced criticism in January for going ahead with an annual public banquet for 40,000 families just days before the city was placed on lockdown.

Other changes have been taking place in the province, including the sacking of a top Red Cross official in Wuhan for dereliction of duty, while senior Beijing official Chen Yixin has been sent to Wuhan to guide epidemic control work.

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Eight days in Wuhan, cut off from the world
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For eight days, an AFP team lived and worked at the centre of a global health emergency, witnessing how life in the Chinese city of Wuhan was turned upside down as it was cut off from the world. The city of 11 million was placed under an unprecedented quarantine to try and stop the spread of a deadly new coronavirus. The virus, which has since gone on to kill more than 1,000 people across China, is believed to have crossed into humans from an animal market in Wuhan. The AFP team arrived in W ... read more