Trump offers China ‘any help’ needed

US President Donald Trump offered China “any help that is necessary” yesterday to control a coronavirus outbreak in the central city of Wuhan that has killed 81 people and left tens of millions stranded during the biggest holiday of the year.

“We are in very close communication with China concerning the virus,” Trump, who waged a bruising 18 month trade war with Beijing, said in a tweet.

“Very few cases reported in USA, but strongly on watch. We have offered China and President Xi (Jinping) any help that is necessary. Our experts are extraordinary!”

Health authorities in the capital, Beijing, reported the first coronavirus death on Monday of a 50-year-old person who had been to Wuhan, state media said.

It was not immediately clear if the death was included in the total. All the deaths were in China. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had arrived in China and would meet officials working on the response, his agency said.