BEIJING, Jan 19, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – China reported 17 new cases of the
mysterious SARS-like virus on Sunday, including three people in serious
condition, heightening fears ahead of China’s Lunar New Year holiday when
hundreds of millions of people move around the country.
The new coronavirus strain has caused alarm because of its connection to
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which killed nearly 650 people across
mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.
Of the 17 new cases in the central city of Wuhan — believed to be the
epicentre of the outbreak — three were described as “severe”, of which two
patients were too critical to be moved, authorities said.
Those infected range from 30 to 79 years old.
The virus has now infected 62 people in Wuhan, city authorities said, with
eight in a severe condition, 19 recovered and discharged from hospital, and
the rest in isolation receiving treatment.
Two people have died so far from the virus, including a 69-year-old man on
Wednesday after the disease caused pulmonary tuberculosis and damaged
multiple organ functions.
Authorities said they had begun “optimised” testing of pneumonia cases
across the city to identify those infected, and would begin “detection
work… towards suspected cases in the city” as a next step, as well as
carrying out “sampling tests”.
Scientists with the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at
Imperial College in London warned in a paper published Friday that the number
of cases in the city was likely to be closer to 1,700, much higher than the
number officially identified.
Authorities said Sunday that some of the cases had “no history of contact”
with the seafood market believed to be the centre of the outbreak.
No human-to-human transmission has been confirmed so far, but Wuhan’s
health commission has previously said the possibility “cannot be excluded”.
Three cases have also been reported overseas — two in Thailand and one in
Japan.
-Rumour quashing-
Though China has not yet reported cases outside of Wuhan, discussion about
the coronavirus spreading to other Chinese cities has swelled on social
media.
On Sunday evening there were more than 400 million views of the hashtag
“Shanghai pneumonia” on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media site, while
“Shenzhen pneumonia” garnered at least 340 million views.
China’s centre for disease control moved to quash speculation about the
mysterious disease on Saturday, publishing a flyer that dismissed “five big
rumours”.
One of them included claims about the coronavirus spreading, which China’s
disease control authority dismissed by saying all cases were being treated in
Wuhan.
A hospital in Guangzhou, a city in southern China, also moved to dispel
rumours about suspected cases of the Wuhan pneumonia, reported state-run
Global Times on Sunday.
The original post, which was published through the hospital’s official
Weibo account on Saturday, has since been deleted.
– Screening measures –
Although there has been no official announcement of screening measures on
the mainland, Wuhan deputy mayor Chen Xiexin said on state broadcaster CCTV
that infrared thermometers had been installed at airports, railway stations
and coach stations across the city.
Chen said passengers with fevers were being registered, given masks and
taken to medical institutions. Nearly 300,000 body temperature tests had been
carried out, according to CCTV.
Authorities in Hong Kong have stepped up detection measures, including
rigorous temperature checkpoints for inbound travellers from the Chinese
mainland.
The US said from Friday it would begin screening direct flights arriving
from Wuhan at San Francisco airport and New York’s JFK, as well as Los
Angeles, where many flights connect.
Thailand said it was already screening passengers arriving in Bangkok,
Chiang Mai and Phuket, and would soon introduce similar controls in the beach
resort of Krabi.
Wuhan is a city of 11 million inhabitants that serves as a major transport
hub, including during the annual Lunar New Year holiday when hundreds of
millions of Chinese people travel across the country to visit family.