China ousts top officials as coronavirus cases soar

China’s leader, Xi Jinping, fired two top Communist Party officials in charge of Hubei, the province at the center of the coronavirus epidemic, replacing them with two of his protégés in an attempt to bring the crisis under control.

After the coronavirus infection rate seemed to be leveling off earlier this week, the number of deaths and infections suddenly skyrocketed, setting a daily record.

Context: A change in how health officials diagnose the illness may partly explain the spike, with new criteria that include the use of CT scans along with specialized testing kits. The new method — while not perfect — should catch more cases and get people into treatment earlier, but the scale of the epidemic will remain unclear for a while.

The latest: Japan confirmed its first death from the virus: a woman in her 80s in Kanagawa Prefecture.

Ripple effects: International students at Chinese universities are facing difficult decisions, and the cruise industry is suffering. A U.S. citizen described life in a Chinese province that has barricaded itself from the outside world: “People here tend to believe the government. Not me. I’ve watched too many episodes of ‘The X-Files.’”