Sadly it will never kill off all chinaman
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[COVID-19 Virus] The PRC Situation Thread
- Thread starter laksaboy
- Start date
Shanghai has cases now. Like that how for you? Your beloved is from PVG.
That you have to ask meng. I wouldn't know.
tiongs can't control the spread of this new virus but want to control everything including taiwan.
Coronavirus outbreak in China is spreading through human contact, authorities confirm
Posted 5 hours ago, updated1 hour ago
Passengers wearing masks are seen at Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai, China.(Reuters: Aly Song)
Chinese authorities have confirmed that a new strain of coronavirus has been passed from person to person, sparking fresh fears of a global epidemic.
Key points:
Xinhua reported that Zhong Nanshan, a respiratory expert and head of the health commission team investigating the outbreak, had confirmed that two cases of infection in China's Guangdong Province were due to human-to-human transmission.
The outbreak, which began in the city of Wuhan, has now spread to other cities including the capital Beijing and Shanghai.
Five new cases were confirmed in Beijing and 14 more in Guangdong province. A new case was reported in Shanghai, bringing the number of known cases worldwide to 222.
On Monday, South Korea also reported a new case of the virus involving a Chinese traveller from Wuhan. Thailand has reported two confirmed cases of the virus, both of whom were Chinese tourists from Wuhan.
Japan also confirmed one case of a Japanese citizen who visited Wuhan.
The number of cases has more than tripled and three people are known to have died.
Australia's chief medical officer said there was no cause for alarm in Australia following the outbreak of the deadly virus.
Medical staff carry a box walk at Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, where patients with pneumonia caused by the new strain of coronavirus are being treated.(Reuters)
Professor Brendan Murphy said Australia had well-established procedures to ensure people with illnesses travelling into the country were detected at the border.
He is expected to discuss the matter with the United States Centre for Disease Control this morning.
China's President Xi Jinping said curbing the outbreak and saving lives was now the top priority.
There is no vaccine for the new virus.
Adding to the difficulties of containing the virus, hundreds of millions of Chinese people will be travelling domestically and abroad during the Lunar New Year holiday that starts this week.
Authorities around the globe, including in the United States and many Asian countries, have stepped up screening of travellers from Wuhan.
Specialist in infectious disease epidemics and Wellcome Trust global health charity director Sir Jeremy Farrar said there was a need to be vigilant.
"Wuhan is a major hub and with travel being a huge part of the fast approaching Chinese New Year, the concern level must remain high," he said.
The virus belongs to the same family of coronaviruses as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 800 people globally during a 2002-03 outbreak that also started in China.
Its symptoms include fever and difficulty in breathing, which are similar to many other respiratory diseases and pose complications for screening efforts.
Pedestrians wear protective masks as they walk through a shopping district in Tokyo after the first case of pneumonia detected in Japan.(AP: Eugene Hoshiko)Virus spreads beyond China's borders
South Korea confirmed its first case, a 35-year-old Chinese national who had travelled from Wuhan, the fourth patient reported outside China.
All the overseas cases involve people from Wuhan, or who recently visited the city.
A report by London Imperial College's MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis estimated that by January 12 there were 1,723 cases in Wuhan City with onset of related symptoms. Chinese health authorities have not commented directly on the report.
The World Health Organisation said on Monday that "an animal source" appeared most likely to be the primary source of the outbreak and that some "limited human-to-human transmission" occurred between close contacts.
A computer artwork of a coronavirus, named after the corona, or crown, of surface proteins (outer dots) that are used to penetrate a host cell.(Science Photo Library: PASIEKA)
Shares in pharmaceutical firms and mask makers in China surged Monday because of the outbreak.
Many of the initial cases of the coronavirus were linked to a seafood market in Wuhan, which has been closed as authorities investigate.
The state-run Global Times newspaper said in an editorial the Government needed to disclose all information and not repeat the mistakes made with SARS.
Chinese officials covered up the SARS outbreak for weeks before a growing death toll and rumours forced them to reveal the epidemic.
"We have made great strides in medicine, social affairs management and public opinion since 2003," the editorial said.
A person wearing a white biohazard suit at the hospital treating patients in Wuhan.
Reuters/AP
Posted 5 hours ago, updated1 hour ago
Chinese authorities have confirmed that a new strain of coronavirus has been passed from person to person, sparking fresh fears of a global epidemic.
Key points:
- The total number of worldwide cases of the virus is 222
- There is no vaccine for the new virus
- Nationalist newspaper Global Times has urged the Chinese Government not to cover up the outbreak, as it did with SARS
Xinhua reported that Zhong Nanshan, a respiratory expert and head of the health commission team investigating the outbreak, had confirmed that two cases of infection in China's Guangdong Province were due to human-to-human transmission.
The outbreak, which began in the city of Wuhan, has now spread to other cities including the capital Beijing and Shanghai.
Five new cases were confirmed in Beijing and 14 more in Guangdong province. A new case was reported in Shanghai, bringing the number of known cases worldwide to 222.
On Monday, South Korea also reported a new case of the virus involving a Chinese traveller from Wuhan. Thailand has reported two confirmed cases of the virus, both of whom were Chinese tourists from Wuhan.
Japan also confirmed one case of a Japanese citizen who visited Wuhan.
The number of cases has more than tripled and three people are known to have died.
Australia's chief medical officer said there was no cause for alarm in Australia following the outbreak of the deadly virus.
Professor Brendan Murphy said Australia had well-established procedures to ensure people with illnesses travelling into the country were detected at the border.
He is expected to discuss the matter with the United States Centre for Disease Control this morning.
China's President Xi Jinping said curbing the outbreak and saving lives was now the top priority.
There is no vaccine for the new virus.
Adding to the difficulties of containing the virus, hundreds of millions of Chinese people will be travelling domestically and abroad during the Lunar New Year holiday that starts this week.
Authorities around the globe, including in the United States and many Asian countries, have stepped up screening of travellers from Wuhan.
Specialist in infectious disease epidemics and Wellcome Trust global health charity director Sir Jeremy Farrar said there was a need to be vigilant.
"Wuhan is a major hub and with travel being a huge part of the fast approaching Chinese New Year, the concern level must remain high," he said.
The virus belongs to the same family of coronaviruses as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 800 people globally during a 2002-03 outbreak that also started in China.
Its symptoms include fever and difficulty in breathing, which are similar to many other respiratory diseases and pose complications for screening efforts.
Pedestrians wear protective masks as they walk through a shopping district in Tokyo after the first case of pneumonia detected in Japan.(AP: Eugene Hoshiko)Virus spreads beyond China's borders
South Korea confirmed its first case, a 35-year-old Chinese national who had travelled from Wuhan, the fourth patient reported outside China.
All the overseas cases involve people from Wuhan, or who recently visited the city.
A report by London Imperial College's MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis estimated that by January 12 there were 1,723 cases in Wuhan City with onset of related symptoms. Chinese health authorities have not commented directly on the report.
The World Health Organisation said on Monday that "an animal source" appeared most likely to be the primary source of the outbreak and that some "limited human-to-human transmission" occurred between close contacts.
A computer artwork of a coronavirus, named after the corona, or crown, of surface proteins (outer dots) that are used to penetrate a host cell.(Science Photo Library: PASIEKA)
Shares in pharmaceutical firms and mask makers in China surged Monday because of the outbreak.
Many of the initial cases of the coronavirus were linked to a seafood market in Wuhan, which has been closed as authorities investigate.
The state-run Global Times newspaper said in an editorial the Government needed to disclose all information and not repeat the mistakes made with SARS.
Chinese officials covered up the SARS outbreak for weeks before a growing death toll and rumours forced them to reveal the epidemic.
"We have made great strides in medicine, social affairs management and public opinion since 2003," the editorial said.
A person wearing a white biohazard suit at the hospital treating patients in Wuhan.
Reuters/AP
China confirms human-to-human transmission of Wuhan virus as WHO emergency group meets
Hundreds of millions of Chinese people head to their hometowns for Chinese New Year but many travellers seemed unfazed by the mystery virus. (Photo: AFP/Hector Retamal)
21 Jan 2020 02:27AM
(Updated: 21 Jan 2020 07:21AM)
Bookmark
BEIJING: A SARS-like virus that has spread across China and reached three other Asian nations is contagious between humans, a government expert said, and the World Health Organisation announced that a key emergency committee would meet this week to discuss the infections.
The news came as Wuhan health authorities reported on Tuesday (Jan 21) that a fourth person had died from the coronavirus.
The new coronavirus strain, first discovered in the central city of Wuhan, has caused alarm because of its connection to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.
Factfile on the coronavirus family, which circulate in animals and can be transmitted to humans. A new strain of this virus has been identified in Wuhan, China. (AFP)
The total number of people diagnosed with the new virus has risen to 218.
Beijing and Shanghai confirmed their first cases on Monday while more than a dozen more emerged in southern Guangdong province and 136 new ones were found over the weekend in Wuhan, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Scientists have scrambled to determine the mode of transmission, with a seafood market in Wuhan believed to be the centre of the outbreak.
But Zhong Nanshan, a renowned scientist at the National Health Commission who helped expose the scale of the SARS outbreak, said patients could contract the new virus without having visited the city.
"Currently, it can be said it is affirmative that there is the phenomenon of human-to-human transmission," he said in an interview with CCTV.
READ: Wuhan pneumonia virus outbreak: What we know so far
In Guangdong, two patients were infected by family members who visited Wuhan, Zhong explained.
Fourteen medical personnel helping with coronavirus patients have also been infected, he said, though he added that more than 95 of the total cases were related to Wuhan.
Zhong predicted an increase of viral pneumonia cases during the Chinese New Year holiday - when millions travel in China - but expressed confidence in curbing the spread of the virus, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.
The World Health Organization panel will meet in Geneva on Wednesday to determine whether to declare the outbreak "a public health emergency of international concern" - a rare designation only used for the gravest epidemics.
WHO said earlier that an animal source seemed to be "the most likely primary source" with "some limited human-to-human transmission occurring between close contacts."
Wuhan has 11 million inhabitants and serves as a major transport hub, including during the annual Chinese New Year holiday, which begins later this week and sees hundreds of millions of Chinese people travel across the country to visit family.
Destinations of planned flights from Jan 20-27 from Wuhan, where a mystery virus outbreak has killed three people and infected over 200. (AFP/Simon MALFATTO/Jacky FONG/Sabrina BLANCHARD)READ: Wuhan pneumonia virus casts shadow over Chinese New Year festival
Weighing in on the matter for the first time, President Xi Jinping said on Monday that safeguarding people's lives should be given "top priority" and that the spread of the epidemic "should be resolutely contained", according to CCTV.
Xi said it was necessary to "release information on the epidemic in a timely manner and deepen international cooperation," and ensure people have a "stable and peaceful Spring Festival", the broadcaster said.
READ: China to step up countermeasures as Wuhan virus outbreak grows
Five cases were reported in Beijing while in Shanghai a 56-year-old woman who had come from Wuhan was hospitalised and in stable condition, local health authorities said.
South Korea on Monday also reported its first case - a 35-year-old woman who flew in from Wuhan. Thailand and Japan have previously confirmed a total of three cases - all of whom had visited the Chinese city.
There are also six suspected cases in Shanghai and four provinces and regions in the east, south and southwest of the country.
The virus did not slow down the annual holiday travel rush, though some travellers wore masks at crowded railway stations in Beijing and Shanghai.
"Watching the news, I do feel a little worried. But I haven't taken precautionary measures beyond wearing regular masks," said Li Yang, a 28-year-old account manager who was heading home to the northern region of Inner Mongolia for the Chinese New Year.
Hundreds of millions of Chinese people head to their hometowns for Chinese New Year but many travellers seemed unfazed by the mystery virus. (Photo: AFP/Hector Retamal)
21 Jan 2020 02:27AM
(Updated: 21 Jan 2020 07:21AM)
Bookmark
BEIJING: A SARS-like virus that has spread across China and reached three other Asian nations is contagious between humans, a government expert said, and the World Health Organisation announced that a key emergency committee would meet this week to discuss the infections.
The news came as Wuhan health authorities reported on Tuesday (Jan 21) that a fourth person had died from the coronavirus.
The new coronavirus strain, first discovered in the central city of Wuhan, has caused alarm because of its connection to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.
The total number of people diagnosed with the new virus has risen to 218.
Beijing and Shanghai confirmed their first cases on Monday while more than a dozen more emerged in southern Guangdong province and 136 new ones were found over the weekend in Wuhan, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Scientists have scrambled to determine the mode of transmission, with a seafood market in Wuhan believed to be the centre of the outbreak.
But Zhong Nanshan, a renowned scientist at the National Health Commission who helped expose the scale of the SARS outbreak, said patients could contract the new virus without having visited the city.
"Currently, it can be said it is affirmative that there is the phenomenon of human-to-human transmission," he said in an interview with CCTV.
READ: Wuhan pneumonia virus outbreak: What we know so far
In Guangdong, two patients were infected by family members who visited Wuhan, Zhong explained.
Fourteen medical personnel helping with coronavirus patients have also been infected, he said, though he added that more than 95 of the total cases were related to Wuhan.
Zhong predicted an increase of viral pneumonia cases during the Chinese New Year holiday - when millions travel in China - but expressed confidence in curbing the spread of the virus, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.
The World Health Organization panel will meet in Geneva on Wednesday to determine whether to declare the outbreak "a public health emergency of international concern" - a rare designation only used for the gravest epidemics.
WHO said earlier that an animal source seemed to be "the most likely primary source" with "some limited human-to-human transmission occurring between close contacts."
Wuhan has 11 million inhabitants and serves as a major transport hub, including during the annual Chinese New Year holiday, which begins later this week and sees hundreds of millions of Chinese people travel across the country to visit family.
Weighing in on the matter for the first time, President Xi Jinping said on Monday that safeguarding people's lives should be given "top priority" and that the spread of the epidemic "should be resolutely contained", according to CCTV.
Xi said it was necessary to "release information on the epidemic in a timely manner and deepen international cooperation," and ensure people have a "stable and peaceful Spring Festival", the broadcaster said.
READ: China to step up countermeasures as Wuhan virus outbreak grows
Five cases were reported in Beijing while in Shanghai a 56-year-old woman who had come from Wuhan was hospitalised and in stable condition, local health authorities said.
South Korea on Monday also reported its first case - a 35-year-old woman who flew in from Wuhan. Thailand and Japan have previously confirmed a total of three cases - all of whom had visited the Chinese city.
There are also six suspected cases in Shanghai and four provinces and regions in the east, south and southwest of the country.
The virus did not slow down the annual holiday travel rush, though some travellers wore masks at crowded railway stations in Beijing and Shanghai.
"Watching the news, I do feel a little worried. But I haven't taken precautionary measures beyond wearing regular masks," said Li Yang, a 28-year-old account manager who was heading home to the northern region of Inner Mongolia for the Chinese New Year.
This is the results of having disregards of what you eat ... Chink eats anything and everything.
IQ and Race
IQ and Race
6.9th case.
Sinkieland has 6 (suspected?) cases already?
https://sg.yahoo.com/news/wuhan-vir...ident-44-is-7th-suspected-case-122147286.html
Wuhan virus outbreak: Singapore female resident, 44, is 7th suspected case here
Even with epidemics Singapore also punch above our own weight.
Sinkieland has 6 (suspected?) cases already?
Wuhan pneumonia outbreak: 15 medical workers infected, 1 in critical condition
Medical staff transfer a patient from an ambulance at the Jinyintan hospital, where the patients with pneumonia caused by the new strain of coronavirus are being treated, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China Jan 20, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Stringer CHINA OUT.)
21 Jan 2020 09:47AM
(Updated: 21 Jan 2020 02:37PM)
Bookmark
WUHAN, Hubei: Fifteen medical workers in Wuhan have been diagnosed with pneumonia, with an additional worker suspected of having the disease, the local health authority said in a Weibo post on Tuesday (Jan 21).
One of the workers is in critical condition, it said, while the others are in a stable condition.
The news comes as authorities confirmed a fourth death from the disease in Wuhan, with a Beijing government expert warning of human-to-human transmission, a development that raises the possibility that it could spread more quickly and widely.
READ: China confirms human-to-human transmission of Wuhan virus as WHO announces emergency meet
The victim, an 89-year-old man, was the latest casualty of a new SARS-like virus that has spread across China and reached at least three other countries in Asia.
To date, more than 200 people have fallen ill with the new coronavirus in China.
The majority of the cases have been in Wuhan, although the disease has since spread to other Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.
Four cases have been reported in Thailand, Japan and South Korea.
"Medical workers are the main forces in fighting an outbreak," said the Weibo post, which was in Chinese.
In order to protect the health of medical personnel, the city has stepped up protection measures at hospitals, added the statement.
READ: Wuhan virus: All travellers arriving in Singapore from China to undergo temperature screening
The authorities have also confirmed the virus is contagious between humans, and the World Health Organization announced that a key emergency committee would meet this week to discuss the infections.
Factfile on the coronavirus family, which circulate in animals and can be transmitted to humans. A new strain of this virus has been identified in Wuhan, China. (AFP)
Zhong Nanshan, a renowned scientist at the National Health Commission who helped expose the scale of the SARS outbreak, said patients could contract the new virus without having visited the city.
"Currently, it can be said it is affirmative that there is the phenomenon of human-to-human transmission," he said in an interview with CCTV.
Zhong predicted an increase of viral pneumonia cases during the Chinese New Year holiday - when millions travel in China - but expressed confidence in curbing the spread of the virus, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.
Source: CNA/agencies/nc(aj)Get the CNA newsletter in your inbox
SubscribeChina confirms human-to-human transmission of Wuhan virus as WHO announces emergency meet
Hundreds of millions of Chinese people head to their hometowns for Chinese New Year but many travellers seemed unfazed by the mystery virus. (Photo: AFP/Hector Retamal)
21 Jan 2020 02:27AM
(Updated: 21 Jan 2020 02:40PM)
Share this content
Bookmark
BEIJING: A SARS-like virus that has spread across China and reached three other Asian nations is contagious between humans, a government expert said, and the World Health Organisation announced that a key emergency committee would meet this week to discuss the infections.
The news came as Wuhan health authorities reported on Tuesday (Jan 21) that a fourth person had died from the coronavirus.
The new coronavirus strain, first discovered in the central city of Wuhan, has caused alarm because of its connection to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.
Factfile on the coronavirus family, which circulate in animals and can be transmitted to humans. A new strain of this virus has been identified in Wuhan, China. (AFP)READ: Wuhan pneumonia outbreak: A timeline of how the new coronavirus spread
The total number of people diagnosed with the new virus has risen to 218.
Beijing and Shanghai confirmed their first cases on Monday while more than a dozen emerged in southern Guangdong province and 136 new ones were found over the weekend in Wuhan, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Scientists have scrambled to determine the mode of transmission, with a seafood market in Wuhan believed to be the centre of the outbreak.
But Zhong Nanshan, a renowned scientist at the National Health Commission who helped expose the scale of the SARS outbreak, said patients could contract the new virus without having visited the city.
"Currently, it can be said it is affirmative that there is the phenomenon of human-to-human transmission," he said in an interview with CCTV.
According to the Xinhua news agency, Wuhan health authorities have established headquarters for the control and treatment of the pneumonia caused by the coronavirus.
Public gatherings should be reduced or cancelled, the news agency reported.
Other measures such as the closing of related markets, circulation control of wild animals and body temperature checks of commuters at airports, railway station and wharfs should also be implemented, the report added.
READ: Wuhan pneumonia virus outbreak: What we know so far
In Guangdong, two patients were infected by family members who visited Wuhan, Zhong explained.
Fifteen medical workers helping with coronavirus patients in Wuhan have also been diagnosed with pneumonia, with one in critical condition, local authorities said.
Zhong predicted an increase of viral pneumonia cases during the Chinese New Year holiday - when millions travel in China - but expressed confidence in curbing the spread of the virus, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.
The World Health Organization panel will meet in Geneva on Wednesday to determine whether to declare the outbreak "a public health emergency of international concern" - a rare designation only used for the gravest epidemics.
WHO said earlier that an animal source seemed to be "the most likely primary source" with "some limited human-to-human transmission occurring between close contacts."
Wuhan has 11 million inhabitants and serves as a major transport hub, including during the annual Chinese New Year holiday, which begins later this week and sees hundreds of millions of Chinese people travel across the country to visit family.
Destinations of planned flights from Jan 20-27 from Wuhan, where a mystery virus outbreak has killed three people and infected over 200. (AFP/Simon MALFATTO/Jacky FONG/Sabrina BLANCHARD)READ: Wuhan pneumonia virus casts shadow over Chinese New Year festival
Weighing in on the matter for the first time, President Xi Jinping said on Monday that safeguarding people's lives should be given "top priority" and that the spread of the epidemic "should be resolutely contained", according to CCTV.
Xi said it was necessary to "release information on the epidemic in a timely manner and deepen international cooperation," and ensure people have a "stable and peaceful Spring Festival", the broadcaster said.
READ: China to step up countermeasures as Wuhan virus outbreak grows
Five cases were reported in Beijing while in Shanghai a 56-year-old woman who had come from Wuhan was hospitalised and in stable condition, local health authorities said.
South Korea on Monday also reported its first case - a 35-year-old woman who flew in from Wuhan. Thailand and Japan have previously confirmed a total of three cases - all of whom had visited the Chinese city.
There are also six suspected cases in Shanghai and four provinces and regions in the east, south and southwest of the country.
The virus did not slow down the annual holiday travel rush, though some travellers wore masks at crowded railway stations in Beijing and Shanghai.
"Watching the news, I do feel a little worried. But I haven't taken precautionary measures beyond wearing regular masks," said Li Yang, a 28-year-old account manager who was heading home to the northern region of Inner Mongolia for the Chinese New Year.
Medical staff transfer a patient from an ambulance at the Jinyintan hospital, where the patients with pneumonia caused by the new strain of coronavirus are being treated, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China Jan 20, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Stringer CHINA OUT.)
21 Jan 2020 09:47AM
(Updated: 21 Jan 2020 02:37PM)
Bookmark
WUHAN, Hubei: Fifteen medical workers in Wuhan have been diagnosed with pneumonia, with an additional worker suspected of having the disease, the local health authority said in a Weibo post on Tuesday (Jan 21).
One of the workers is in critical condition, it said, while the others are in a stable condition.
The news comes as authorities confirmed a fourth death from the disease in Wuhan, with a Beijing government expert warning of human-to-human transmission, a development that raises the possibility that it could spread more quickly and widely.
READ: China confirms human-to-human transmission of Wuhan virus as WHO announces emergency meet
The victim, an 89-year-old man, was the latest casualty of a new SARS-like virus that has spread across China and reached at least three other countries in Asia.
To date, more than 200 people have fallen ill with the new coronavirus in China.
The majority of the cases have been in Wuhan, although the disease has since spread to other Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.
Four cases have been reported in Thailand, Japan and South Korea.
"Medical workers are the main forces in fighting an outbreak," said the Weibo post, which was in Chinese.
In order to protect the health of medical personnel, the city has stepped up protection measures at hospitals, added the statement.
READ: Wuhan virus: All travellers arriving in Singapore from China to undergo temperature screening
The authorities have also confirmed the virus is contagious between humans, and the World Health Organization announced that a key emergency committee would meet this week to discuss the infections.
Zhong Nanshan, a renowned scientist at the National Health Commission who helped expose the scale of the SARS outbreak, said patients could contract the new virus without having visited the city.
"Currently, it can be said it is affirmative that there is the phenomenon of human-to-human transmission," he said in an interview with CCTV.
Zhong predicted an increase of viral pneumonia cases during the Chinese New Year holiday - when millions travel in China - but expressed confidence in curbing the spread of the virus, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.
Source: CNA/agencies/nc(aj)Get the CNA newsletter in your inbox
SubscribeChina confirms human-to-human transmission of Wuhan virus as WHO announces emergency meet
Hundreds of millions of Chinese people head to their hometowns for Chinese New Year but many travellers seemed unfazed by the mystery virus. (Photo: AFP/Hector Retamal)
21 Jan 2020 02:27AM
(Updated: 21 Jan 2020 02:40PM)
Share this content
Bookmark
BEIJING: A SARS-like virus that has spread across China and reached three other Asian nations is contagious between humans, a government expert said, and the World Health Organisation announced that a key emergency committee would meet this week to discuss the infections.
The news came as Wuhan health authorities reported on Tuesday (Jan 21) that a fourth person had died from the coronavirus.
The new coronavirus strain, first discovered in the central city of Wuhan, has caused alarm because of its connection to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.
The total number of people diagnosed with the new virus has risen to 218.
Beijing and Shanghai confirmed their first cases on Monday while more than a dozen emerged in southern Guangdong province and 136 new ones were found over the weekend in Wuhan, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Scientists have scrambled to determine the mode of transmission, with a seafood market in Wuhan believed to be the centre of the outbreak.
But Zhong Nanshan, a renowned scientist at the National Health Commission who helped expose the scale of the SARS outbreak, said patients could contract the new virus without having visited the city.
"Currently, it can be said it is affirmative that there is the phenomenon of human-to-human transmission," he said in an interview with CCTV.
According to the Xinhua news agency, Wuhan health authorities have established headquarters for the control and treatment of the pneumonia caused by the coronavirus.
Public gatherings should be reduced or cancelled, the news agency reported.
Other measures such as the closing of related markets, circulation control of wild animals and body temperature checks of commuters at airports, railway station and wharfs should also be implemented, the report added.
READ: Wuhan pneumonia virus outbreak: What we know so far
In Guangdong, two patients were infected by family members who visited Wuhan, Zhong explained.
Fifteen medical workers helping with coronavirus patients in Wuhan have also been diagnosed with pneumonia, with one in critical condition, local authorities said.
Zhong predicted an increase of viral pneumonia cases during the Chinese New Year holiday - when millions travel in China - but expressed confidence in curbing the spread of the virus, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.
The World Health Organization panel will meet in Geneva on Wednesday to determine whether to declare the outbreak "a public health emergency of international concern" - a rare designation only used for the gravest epidemics.
WHO said earlier that an animal source seemed to be "the most likely primary source" with "some limited human-to-human transmission occurring between close contacts."
Wuhan has 11 million inhabitants and serves as a major transport hub, including during the annual Chinese New Year holiday, which begins later this week and sees hundreds of millions of Chinese people travel across the country to visit family.
Weighing in on the matter for the first time, President Xi Jinping said on Monday that safeguarding people's lives should be given "top priority" and that the spread of the epidemic "should be resolutely contained", according to CCTV.
Xi said it was necessary to "release information on the epidemic in a timely manner and deepen international cooperation," and ensure people have a "stable and peaceful Spring Festival", the broadcaster said.
READ: China to step up countermeasures as Wuhan virus outbreak grows
Five cases were reported in Beijing while in Shanghai a 56-year-old woman who had come from Wuhan was hospitalised and in stable condition, local health authorities said.
South Korea on Monday also reported its first case - a 35-year-old woman who flew in from Wuhan. Thailand and Japan have previously confirmed a total of three cases - all of whom had visited the Chinese city.
There are also six suspected cases in Shanghai and four provinces and regions in the east, south and southwest of the country.
The virus did not slow down the annual holiday travel rush, though some travellers wore masks at crowded railway stations in Beijing and Shanghai.
"Watching the news, I do feel a little worried. But I haven't taken precautionary measures beyond wearing regular masks," said Li Yang, a 28-year-old account manager who was heading home to the northern region of Inner Mongolia for the Chinese New Year.
Even with epidemics Singapore also punch above our own weight.
Brimming with patriotic pride.
Piss and poop is a microcosm of the CCPee. If they can cover up there, ours can cover up here too.
Let's see how many of us can see the next CNY.
Let's see how many of us can see the next CNY.
What's on sale at the Wuhan 'seafood' market.
can eat, don’t waste.
Then its sixty now. I love diversity! And overcrowding!
Sinkieland has 6 (suspected?) cases already?
New China virus: Warning against cover-up as number of cases jumps
Video caption China virus advice: 'Wash your hands, be honest with your doctors', says Hong Kong expert
China's top leaders have warned lower-level officials not to cover up the spread of a new coronavirus that has now infected nearly 300 people.
Anyone who concealed new cases would "be nailed on the pillar of shame for eternity", the political body responsible for law and order said.
The warning came as state media said six people had now died from the virus, which causes a type of pneumonia.
It's been confirmed the virus can pass from person to person.
The World Health Organization (WHO) will on Wednesday consider declaring an international public health emergency over the virus - as it did with swine flu and Ebola. Such a declaration, if made, will be seen as an urgent call for a co-ordinated international response.
China's National Health Commission on Monday confirmed for the first time that the infection could be transmitted from human-to-human. It said two people in Guangdong province had been infected in this way.
In a separate statement, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said at least 15 medical workers in Wuhan have also been infected with the virus, with one in a critical condition.
The workers presumably became infected with the virus due to contact with patients. All of them are being kept in isolation while being treated.
Image caption Fifteen medical staff in Wuhan have been infected with the virusWhere has the virus spread?
A total of 291 cases have now been reported across major cities in China, including Beijing and Shanghai. However most patients are in Wuhan, the central city of 11 million at the heart of the outbreak.
The disease was first identified there late last year and the outbreak is believed to be linked to a seafood market that also sells live animals.
A handful of cases have also been identified abroad: two in Thailand, one in Japan, one in South Korea and one in Taiwan. Those infected had recently returned from Wuhan.
Authorities in many places, including Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan have stepped up screening of air passengers from Wuhan. US authorities last week announced similar measures at airports in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York.
In Australia, a man who had travelled to Wuhan has been placed in isolation and is undergoing tests. China is the largest source of tourists to Australia, with more than one million people visiting last year.
How fast is it spreading?
There are fears that the virus could spread swiftly - and further across the country - as millions of people across China prepare to travel home for the Chinese New Year holidays later this week.
Image copyright Getty ImagesImage captionMillions in China are heading to their hometowns for Chinese New Year
This mass movement of people could also mean that authorities will not be able to monitor further spread of the disease.
And experts say there already could be many cases going undetected.
A report by the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London suggested there could be more than 1,700 infections. However, Gabriel Leung, the dean of medicine at the University of Hong Kong, put the figure closer to 1,300.
Why are there warnings against a cover-up?
The outbreak has revived memories of the Sars virus - also a coronavirus originating in China - that killed 774 people in the early 2000s across several countries, mostly in Asia.
China initially withheld information about the epidemic from the public. It later vastly under-reported the number of people that had been infected, downplayed the risks and failed to provide timely information that experts say could have saved lives.
Analysis of the genetic code of the new virus shows it is more closely related to Sars than any other human coronavirus.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for "all-out efforts" to control the outbreak, according to state media, including quickly making information available and taking measures to "guide public opinion".
In its commentary published online on Tuesday, the Communist Party's Central Political and Legal Commission talked of China having learned a "painful lesson" from the Sars epidemic and called for the public to be kept informed.
Deception, it warned, could "turn a controllable natural disaster into a man-made disaster".
What do we know about the virus?
The virus, known also as 2019-nCoV, is understood to be a new strain of coronavirus that has not previously been identified in humans.
It is believed to have originated from infected animals at a seafood and wildlife market in Wuhan.
Video captionThe BBC spoke to people in Beijing who seemed largely unconcerned about the virus
Coronaviruses are a broad family of viruses, but only six (the new one would make it seven) are known to infect people.
The World Health Organization has advised people to avoid "unprotected" contact with live animals, thoroughly cook meat and eggs, and avoid close contact with anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms.
Signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.
- 21 January 2020
- China
China's top leaders have warned lower-level officials not to cover up the spread of a new coronavirus that has now infected nearly 300 people.
Anyone who concealed new cases would "be nailed on the pillar of shame for eternity", the political body responsible for law and order said.
The warning came as state media said six people had now died from the virus, which causes a type of pneumonia.
It's been confirmed the virus can pass from person to person.
The World Health Organization (WHO) will on Wednesday consider declaring an international public health emergency over the virus - as it did with swine flu and Ebola. Such a declaration, if made, will be seen as an urgent call for a co-ordinated international response.
China's National Health Commission on Monday confirmed for the first time that the infection could be transmitted from human-to-human. It said two people in Guangdong province had been infected in this way.
In a separate statement, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said at least 15 medical workers in Wuhan have also been infected with the virus, with one in a critical condition.
The workers presumably became infected with the virus due to contact with patients. All of them are being kept in isolation while being treated.
A total of 291 cases have now been reported across major cities in China, including Beijing and Shanghai. However most patients are in Wuhan, the central city of 11 million at the heart of the outbreak.
The disease was first identified there late last year and the outbreak is believed to be linked to a seafood market that also sells live animals.
A handful of cases have also been identified abroad: two in Thailand, one in Japan, one in South Korea and one in Taiwan. Those infected had recently returned from Wuhan.
Authorities in many places, including Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan have stepped up screening of air passengers from Wuhan. US authorities last week announced similar measures at airports in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York.
In Australia, a man who had travelled to Wuhan has been placed in isolation and is undergoing tests. China is the largest source of tourists to Australia, with more than one million people visiting last year.
How fast is it spreading?
There are fears that the virus could spread swiftly - and further across the country - as millions of people across China prepare to travel home for the Chinese New Year holidays later this week.
Image copyright Getty ImagesImage captionMillions in China are heading to their hometowns for Chinese New Year
This mass movement of people could also mean that authorities will not be able to monitor further spread of the disease.
And experts say there already could be many cases going undetected.
A report by the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London suggested there could be more than 1,700 infections. However, Gabriel Leung, the dean of medicine at the University of Hong Kong, put the figure closer to 1,300.
Why are there warnings against a cover-up?
The outbreak has revived memories of the Sars virus - also a coronavirus originating in China - that killed 774 people in the early 2000s across several countries, mostly in Asia.
China initially withheld information about the epidemic from the public. It later vastly under-reported the number of people that had been infected, downplayed the risks and failed to provide timely information that experts say could have saved lives.
Analysis of the genetic code of the new virus shows it is more closely related to Sars than any other human coronavirus.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for "all-out efforts" to control the outbreak, according to state media, including quickly making information available and taking measures to "guide public opinion".
In its commentary published online on Tuesday, the Communist Party's Central Political and Legal Commission talked of China having learned a "painful lesson" from the Sars epidemic and called for the public to be kept informed.
Deception, it warned, could "turn a controllable natural disaster into a man-made disaster".
What do we know about the virus?
The virus, known also as 2019-nCoV, is understood to be a new strain of coronavirus that has not previously been identified in humans.
It is believed to have originated from infected animals at a seafood and wildlife market in Wuhan.
Video captionThe BBC spoke to people in Beijing who seemed largely unconcerned about the virus
Coronaviruses are a broad family of viruses, but only six (the new one would make it seven) are known to infect people.
The World Health Organization has advised people to avoid "unprotected" contact with live animals, thoroughly cook meat and eggs, and avoid close contact with anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms.
Signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.
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