(Reuters) – The central Chinese province of Hubei will adopt more thorough and forceful measures to find patients with fever to further help contain the new coronavirus epidemic, the state media reported on Tuesday.
Hubei will check records of all fever patients who have visited doctors since Jan. 20, and people who have bought over-the-counter cough and fever medications at both brick-and-mortar and online drug stores, Xinhua reported, citing a notice by the province’s epidemic control headquarters.
The people will get health check-ups and, if necessary, be put in quarantine or hospitalized, the report added, citing the notice.
China reported on Tuesday its fewest new coronavirus infections since January and its lowest daily death toll for a week, but the World Health Organization said data suggesting the epidemic had slowed should still be viewed with caution.
China said figures showing a slowdown in new cases in recent days show that aggressive steps it has taken to curb travel and commerce are slowing the spread of the disease beyond Hubei and the province’s capital, Wuhan.
(Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China, battling increased threats from cyber-terrorism and hacking, will adopt from Thursday a controversial law that mandates strict data surveillance and storage for firms working in the country, the official Xinhua news agency said.
The law, passed in November by the country’s largely rubber-stamp parliament, bans online service providers from collecting and selling users’ personal information, and gives users the right to have their information deleted, in cases of abuse.
“Those who violate the provisions and infringe on personal information will face hefty fines,” the news agency said on Monday, without elaborating.
Reuters reported this month that overseas business groups were pushing Chinese regulators to delay implementation of the law, saying the rules would severely hurt activities.
Until now, China’s data industry has had no overarching data protection framework, being governed instead by loosely defined laws.
However, overseas critics say the new law threatens to shut foreign technology companies out of sectors the country deems “critical”, and includes contentious requirements for security reviews and data stored on servers in China.
(Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
