The death toll in China due to the Coronavirus reached 81 people, with around 3,000 confirmed to have contracted the virus
Coronavirus
The death toll in China due to the Coronavirus reached 81 people, with around 3,000 confirmed to have contracted the virus. The Chinese government extended the national holiday three days to Sunday, in an effort to reduce transmission of the virus. Meanwhile Chinese companies are asking workers to work from home to slow the spread of the deadly virus.
Companies also offer employees for longer holidays and those who live in the worst affected areas not to enter the office. Prime Minister Li Keqiang visited Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, which is the center of infection. On Monday (27/01), health commission officials said the death toll in Hubei Province had increased from 56 to 76, while four other victims were in other areas. Overall, the number of patients confirmed to have contracted the Coronavirus reached 2,744. State media said more than 300 of them were critically ill.
Wuhan City in Hubei Province, which is the source of the spread of the virus, is now declared closed and a number of cities impose travel bans. More than half a million medical staff have been mobilized for prevention, control and treatment operations in Hubei.
As many as two specialized hospitals which have 2,000 beds are being built and factories are asked to immediately produce masks and protective clothing. The Coronavirus, which infects more than 2,000 people, can be contagious during the incubation period or before symptoms appear, making the virus more difficult to deal with, the Chinese health minister said.
In his statement to reporters, the Chinese Minister of Health, Ma Xiaowei, said the virus's ability to spread appeared to be strengthened. Transmission occurs at a "crucial stage of countermeasures", said Ma Xiaowei. Some officials believe that in humans, the incubation period — the time when a person has a disease but whose symptoms are not yet visible — ranges from one to 14 days.
Without the appearance of symptoms, people with the disease may not know he has been infected but can transmit it again to the people around. Earlier, Chinese President Xi Jinping warned the spread of the deadly new Coronavirus was accelerating, after holding a special government meeting on the Lunar New Year holiday.
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| The country is facing a "serious situation" Xi told senior officials. The Coronavirus has killed at least 52 people and infected about 1,400 since it was first detected in Wuhan city. Meanwhile, researchers based in the UK have warned of the real possibility that China would not be able to deal with the virus. Travel restrictions have been imposed in several affected cities. Starting Sunday (26/01) private vehicles will be banned in downtown Wuhan which is the source of the Coronavirus outbreak. |
A second emergency hospital will be built there in a few weeks to treat 1,300 new patients and is targeted to be completed in half a month, the government newspaper People's Daily said. This is the second lightning building project carried out: previously, the hospital construction project that would handle 1,000 patients had begun. A team of medical specialists has also been flown to Hubei province, where Wuhan is located. This urgency reflects concerns both in China and elsewhere about the virus that first appeared in December.
Chinese New Year celebrations for the rat year, which was held on Saturday (01/25), have been canceled in several cities in China. Across mainland China, travelers undergo temperature checks to look for signs of fever, and train stations have been closed in several cities. In Hong Kong, the highest emergency level was announced and school holidays were extended. Several other countries, dealing with similar cases, with patients treated in solitary confinement,
What is Coronavirus?
Coronavirus is a family of viruses that includes the common cold. However, this virus has never been detected before, so it is called 2019-nCov. New viruses can become common in humans after infecting animals which then transmit them to humans. The 2013 SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak began in bats and was transferred to mongoose which was then transmitted to humans. This new virus also causes severe acute respiratory infections.
Symptoms seem to begin with a fever, followed by a dry cough and then, after a week, cause shortness of breath and some patients need hospitalization. Until now there is no specific drug or vaccine for this disease.
Based on preliminary information, it is believed that only a quarter of cases are categorized as "severe" and most of them are elderly, some of whom have conditions that have been sick before. Chinese authorities suspect the seafood market that "conducts illegal wildlife transactions" is the source of the outbreak.
Why are there concerns about this virus?
Scientists at the MRC Center for Global Infectious Disease Analysis in the UK have warned that it may be difficult to deal with the virus. They say transmission of the Coronavirus from human to human is "the only plausible explanation" for the scale of the epidemic. Their calculations estimate that each infected person spread it to around 2.5 other people.
Scientists at the center of the analysis praised the efforts of the Chinese authorities, but said the transmission of the virus needed to be reduced by 60% for the outbreak to be overcome.
According to scientists, this is a major challenge that will require isolation of patients with only mild symptoms that can be easily confused with other diseases.
Elsewhere, a team at Lancaster University has published their estimates of the number of cases that showed 11,000 were infected with the virus this year. If true, it will be more than SARS.
Where has this virus spread?
There are currently 1,372 confirmed cases throughout China, although most are concentrated in the province closest to Hubei. However, the virus has also spread abroad with a number of patients being treated in isolation. On Saturday (25/01), Australia confirmed four cases of Coronavirus - first in Melbourne, and then three more in Sydney. This virus has also spread to Europe, with three confirmed cases in France.
Meanwhile, examinations carried out on 31 people in Britain suspected of contracting the virus were declared negative, the government said. Authorities are trying to track down about 2,000 people who recently flew to Britain from Hubei province. Most of these cases involved people who had recently traveled from the affected areas in China.
Neighboring China in the Asian region is alert, with cases reported in Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, South Korea, and Nepal. There were also two cases in the United States, including a woman in her 60s who had returned to Chicago from Wuhan on January 13. Canada has a "suspected case" of the virus, but the condition of the person suffering from it is considered stable, according to a government statement.
What happened in the city that was the source of the plague?
Wuhan City was effectively isolated, with restrictions on travel in and out, and public transportation options from buses to planes were canceled. This is a major population center with up to 11 million inhabitants - its size is comparable to London. Pharmacies in the city have run out of supplies and hospitals have been filled with anxious community members. Officials urge people to avoid crowds or gatherings.
"The entire transportation system has been closed," Kahtleen Bell, who is from England and works in Wuhan, told the BBC. "In the middle of the day, private cars were not permitted and taxis were not operating." Food outlets such as McDonald's and Starbucks in the city and surrounding areas are closed.
The United States, France and Russia are among several countries that are trying to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan. China has also suspended all overseas trips by Chinese holiday tourism groups, state media reported. This outbreak has limited Chinese New Year celebrations in China, when millions of people usually go home to celebrate Chinese New Year with their families. The main public event has been canceled and the tourist location closed.