China acts on both virus and economy

Chinese officials approved a broad strategy to bring the outbreak under control and to bring the economy back to normal, state news outlets reported. The death toll on Wednesday reached at least 1,113, but the authorities said the rate of infection showed signs of slowing.

President Xi Jinping ordered tax cuts, and the country’s No. 2 official called for major construction projects to begin. Banks were ordered to keep interest rates low, and state-owned enterprises were told to cut rents.

But none of the actions addressed the most pressing issue at hand: how to put more than 700 million workers back on the job while avoiding creating conditions ripe for the spread of the virus.

The latest: Some of the test kits distributed to at least 30 countries by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deliver “inconclusive” results, the agency said.