Tag: disease

China’s Viral Death Toll Hits Grim New High as World Health Agency Declares a Global Crisis

Newsmax – January 30, 2020

The World Health Organization declared the outbreak sparked by a new virus in China that has spread to more than a dozen countries a global emergency after the number of cases spiked more than tenfold in a week, including the record number of deaths in 24 hours reported Friday.

China counted 9,692 confirmed cases with a death toll of 213, including 43 new fatalities. The vast majority of the cases have been in Hubei province and its provincial capital, Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. No deaths have been reported outside China.

The U.N. health agency defines an international emergency as an “extraordinary event” that constitutes a risk to other countries and requires a coordinated international response.

China first informed WHO about cases of the new virus in late December. Eighteen other countries have since reported cases, as scientists race to understand how exactly the virus is spreading and how severe it is.

Experts say there is significant evidence the virus is spreading among people in China and have noted with concern instances in other countries — including the United States, France, Japan, Germany, Canada, South Korea and Vietnam — where there have also been isolated cases of human-to-human transmission.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva on Thursday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted the worrisome spread of the virus between people outside China.

“The main reason for this declaration is not because of what is happening in China but because of what is happening in other countries,” he said. “Our greatest concern is the potential for this virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems which are ill-prepared to deal with it.”

https://www.newsmax.com

China’s Unproven Antiviral Solution: Quarantine of 40 Million

Bloomberg – January 24, 2020

(Bloomberg) — China’s lockdown of Wuhan and its surrounding areas to contain the coronavirus represents the first large-scale quarantine in modern times.

The effectiveness of attempting to cordon off the epicenter of the disease — an area of roughly 40 million people — will probably be scrutinized far into the future.

“The containment of a city hasn’t been done in the history of international public health policy,” said Shigeru Omi, who headed the World Health Organization’s Western Pacific Region during the SARS outbreak in the early 2000s. “It’s a balance between respecting freedom of movement of people, and also prevention of further disease and public interest. It’s not a simple sort of thing; it’s very complex.”

Aside from raising questions about its probable effectiveness and implications for human rights, a quarantine could cause panic, public health experts said. The government will also have to ensure supplies of food, water and medical materials.

Some argue the authorities may have had no choice, since certain patients appear to have milder symptoms that can go undetected, allowing them to unwittingly spread the disease. Saturday also marks the start of the Lunar New Year holiday, when more than 500 million trips by plane and rail may be taken within and out of China.

Restricting the movement of those who may be carriers of diseases is an approach that goes as far back as the 14th century, though historically it was used mainly in smaller cities or neighborhoods. In China, the city of Wuhan alone — where the first outbound travel restriction was announced — has a population greater than any U.S. city at 11 million.

Chinese authorities first suspended all plane and train travel out of Wuhan early Thursday. The restrictions were later extended to other nearby cities.

https://www.msn.com

SARS-like coronavirus spreads from China to Japan as epidemic fears grow

Anders Anglesey – January 16, 2020

Japanese officials have confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus in the country as epidemic fears grow.

A government official said today that a Japanese man in his 30s, who travelled to Wuhan in eastern China, tested positive for the virus.

The SARS-like virus has struck down dozens in China since the outbreak was first recorded in December.

It is believed an outbreak of pneumonia caused the fresh coronavirus strain.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned the virus could spread further and has told hospitals across the world to be alert.

Maria Van Kerkhove, acting head of the WHO’s emerging diseases unit, said: “From the information that we have it is possible that there is limited human-to-human transmission, potentially among families, but it is very clear right now that we have no sustained human-to-human transmission.

She added: “It is still early days, we don’t have a clear clinical picture.”

Coronaviruses are infections that can cause colds to more-serious illnesses like SARS.

In all, 41 cases of pneumonia have been reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, which preliminary lab tests cited by state media showed could be from a new type of coronavirus.

One of the patients has died, a 61-year-old man who had bought goods from a wholesale seafood market in Wuhan.

https://www.dailystar.co.uk

Chinese Health Authorities Confirm 44 Cases of Mystery Viral Pneumonia in Wuhan

Sputnik News – January 3, 2020

BEIJING (Sputnik) – The toll of people infected with pneumonia of unknown kind in the Wuhan city of the central Chinese province of Hubei has risen to 44 as authorities fear the return of deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) coronavirus, the local health committee said in a statement on Friday.

“As of 3 January, a total of 44 pneumonia cases have been detected, with 11 people currently in severe condition, while the vital signs of the rest are considered generally stable”, the Wuhan health authorities said.

The infected patients have been quarantined along with 121 people who had been in close contact with them, the statement read.

An investigation of experts from the central Chinese National Health Commission has found that the outbreak in Wuhan could have begun in the seafood market. At the same time, the nature of the viral outbreak remains unknown. The investigators have so far ruled out common flu, avian flu, adenovirus infection and other common respiratory diseases.

The infected individuals reportedly display symptoms typical of pneumonia and other acute respiratory diseases. It prompted fears on the Internet that the nation might be experiencing a return of the SARS, an epidemic that had claimed more than 600 lives in China throughout 2002-2003.

The Wuhan authorities confirmed the outbreak on 31 December, saying that 27 people have tested positive since the beginning of that month.

https://sputniknews.com