At approximately 7:30 p.m. local time on Saturday, Quanzhou Xinjia Hotel in Quanzhou, China, collapsed, trapping as many as 70 people inside. The hotel was reportedly being used for coronavirus quarantine.
Videos posted to social media show rescue personnel making their way through the debris, and pulling victims out from under the rubble.
#BREAKING: A hotel building collapsed in Quanzhou, SE China’s Fujian at around 7 pm Saturday, trapping an unknown number of people under it. So far 16 people have been rescued. Rescue work remains underway. pic.twitter.com/rK7tEagQvV
— People’s Daily, China (@PDChina) March 7, 2020
Firefighters pull a victim from the rubble of a hotel that collapsed in southeastern China.
The hotel was used for medical observation of people who had contact with #COVID19 patients pic.twitter.com/R4XN64o7gK
— QuickTake by Bloomberg (@QuickTake) March 7, 2020
According to Reuters:
The municipality said 36 emergency rescue vehicles such as cranes and excavators, 67 firefighting vehicles, 15 ambulances, and more than 700 firefighters, medical, and other rescue workers were at the scene as the operation stretched into the night.
CNN reports that according to the Ministry of Emergency Management, 43 people have been rescued thus far.
As of publication, there have been no reported fatalities.
The coronavirus, which originated in China’s Hubei province, has dominated the news cycle as the illness has quickly made its way around the globe. As of Saturday, more than 100,000 people have been infected with the virus, and over 3,500 have died.
Despite China’s efforts to quarantine and disinfect various localities, the virus was able to spread rapidly. Currently, more than 60 countries have confirmed coronavirus cases, although the majority of infections and deaths have occurred in China.
Outside of China, the nations with the most confirmed cases are South Korea, Italy, and Iran. According to statistics provided by “NBC News reports, World Health Organization, state government leaders and health officials,” Italy has approximately 5,883 confirmed cases, and 233 deaths. South Korea, despite having approximately 7,041 confirmed cases, has had only 41 deaths as of publication.
Although the United States has confirmed only 402 cases and 19 deaths, according to the above-referenced data set, several cities have begun to witness so-called “panic buying,” with major retailers running out of hand sanitizer, face masks, and other products.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
The complete clinical picture with regard to COVID-19 is not fully known. Reported illnesses have ranged from very mild (including some with no reported symptoms) to severe, including illness resulting in death. While information so far suggests that most COVID-19 illness is mild, a [report out] of China suggests serious illness occurs in 16% of cases. Older people and people of all ages with severe underlying health conditions — like heart disease, lung disease and diabetes, for example — seem to be at higher risk of developing serious COVID-19 illness.
Under the CDC’s “what may happen” section, it reads in part: “More cases of COVID-19 are likely to be identified in the coming days, including more cases in the United States. It’s also likely that sustained person-to-person spread will continue to occur, including throughout communities in the United States. It’s likely that at some point, widespread transmission of COVID-19 in the United States will occur.”