Seventeen more people in central China have been diagnosed with a new form of viral pneumonia that has killed two patients and placed other countries on alert as millions of Chinese travel for Lunar New Year holidays.
In total, 62 cases of the 2019-nCoV virus have been identified in the city of Wuhan, where the virus appears to have originated.
The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission reported the new cases in a statement yesterday.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Nineteen of those individuals have been discharged from the hospital, while two men in their 60s — one with severe pre-existing conditions — have died from the illness. Eight are in critical condition.
Those infected range from 30 to 79 years old.
The commission’s statement did not say whether these patients had visited the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which has been suspended after many infected individuals reported having either worked at or visited the venue.
Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention director and chief physician Li Gang (李剛) told state broadcaster China Central TV (CCTV) that “the infectivity of the new coronavirus is not strong.”
Infectivity refers to how rapidly a virus might spread between individuals.
Most patients are experiencing mild symptoms, Li said, and no related cases have been found in more than 700 people who came into close contact with infected patients.
This “does not rule out the possibility of limited human-to-human transmission, but the risk of continuous human-to-human transmission is low,” Li said. “With the implementation of our various prevention and control measures, the epidemic can be prevented and controlled.”
Although China has not yet reported cases outside of Wuhan, discussion about the coronavirus spreading to other Chinese cities has swelled on social media.
Last night there were more than 400 million views of the hashtag “Shanghai pneumonia” on Sina Weibo (微博), while “Shenzhen pneumonia” garnered at least 340 million views.
Although there has been no official announcement of screening measures, Wuhan Deputy Mayor Chen Xiexin (陳邂馨) said on CCTV that infrared thermometers had been installed at airports, railway stations and bus stations across the city.
Chen said passengers with fevers were being registered, given masks and taken to medical institutions, while CCTV said that nearly 300,000 body temperature tests had been carried out.
TAIWAN’S CDC
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said onboard inspection for respiratory symptoms has been conducted on 32 flights from Wuhan — including 3,693 passengers and crew — between Dec. 31 last year and Saturday.
A teenage male passenger with severe special pneumonia was reported on Saturday, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.
The teen had not visited the Huanan seafood market or been exposed to livestock recently.
The result of a preliminary test result yesterday afternoon was negative for the 2019-nCoV virus, but showed that he had type A (H3N2) influenza, but a second test was scheduled for today, Chuang said.
Additional reporting by Lee I-chia and AFP
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