The Chinese city of Wuhan has been placed under quarantine in an effort to stop the spread of the killer coronavirus believed to have originated there.
No one will be allowed to enter or leave Wuhan, a city of 11 million in China’s Hubei province, beginning 10am Thursday, just ahead of Saturday’s Lunar New Year, which marks one of the country’s busiest travel seasons.
The quarantine was announced through state-run media Wednesday as Chinese officials warned that the deadly new virus is mutating and becoming increasingly difficult to control.
Following confirmation of the first American case – a Washington state man in his 30s – on Tuesday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began to ‘funnel’ all inbound passengers from Wuhan to five major US airports equipped to screen for the virus.
The coronavirus, a SARS-like disease, has killed 17 and sickened at least 532 people worldwide – including in Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and the US – since the first cases were reported in Wuhan in late December.
International concern has grown with the revelation that the virus spreads not just from animals to people, but between people. Its spread seems to be picking up speed, with some estimating up to 10,000 in China are already infected.
Despite branding Wuhan’s measure to contain the outbreak ‘strong’, World Health Organization (WHO) officials on Wednesday declined to call the new coronavirus an international emergency, instead delaying global recommendations until they reconvene Thursday.
The virus, called 2019-nCoV, is thought to have spread into humans from a Wuhan seafood market ‘which illegally traded wild animals’ before travelers carried it to at least five other countries, including the US.
American officials set up screening checkpoints at Los Angeles International Airport, New York’s John F Kennedy airport and San Francisco International Airport last week.
New checkpoints are being installed at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago and Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta by the end of this week.
WHO officials met Wednesday to decide whether to declare the outbreak a ‘public health emergency of international concern’, but members’ opinions were ‘split’ and the committee will continue deliberations on Thursday.
Experts say its possible up to 10,000 people in China alone have been exposed to the virus, which is from the same family that caused previous outbreaks of SARS and MERS, killing hundreds of people in dozens of countries.
US RESPONSE TO THE OUTBREAK
Dr Martin Cetron, director for the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine at the Centers for Disease Control, described the US plan to control the spread of coronavirus following a media briefing confirming the first American case on Tuesday.
Given how quickly the virus has spread, Cetron said the CDC has instructed the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Department to redirect anyone who tries to get from Wuhan to the US without going through any of those five airports.
Cetron described funneling as ‘a very complex process that involves reissuing tickets and rerouting passengers from all over the globe through connecting indirect flights’.
‘With increasing cases, we decided to move into this full-on, 100 percent coverage strategy, which means adding additional airports and … begin our funneling approach and redirect all the traffic to airports that have screening so that the benefit of the alert could be more completely covered,’ Cetron said.
CDC officials have also suggested the possibility of redirecting entire flights inbound from China through airports with screening checkpoints.
When a traveler is sent for a screening in the US, they are first required to take a survey about possible symptoms, such as cough or fever, as well as whether they visited the meat or seafood markets in Wuhan that have been tied to the outbreak.
If they appear to have any symptoms associated with coronavirus, they are taken to on-site triage for further examination and a temperature check.
Two passengers flying from Shanghai on United Airlines were reportedly examined at O’Hare on Tuesday after appearing to show symptoms of coronavirus, the airline said.
It’s unclear what led officials to single out the passengers, but they were both cleared and released after examination.
‘We continue to follow CDC guidelines and remain in close contact with authorities in the United States and Asia to further ensure the safety of our customers and employees,’ a United spokesperson told CNBC.
President Donald Trump addressed the deadly new virus during remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, early Wednesday morning.
He praised the CDC’s rapid response and said the situation is being handled ‘very well’.
‘The CDC has been terrific, very great professionals. We’re in very good shape and I think China is in very good shape also,’ Trump said.
The president added in an interview with CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ that he was ‘not at all’ concerned about the possibility of a pandemic.
‘It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control,’ he said.
‘We have it totally under control. We do have a plan, and we think it’s going to be handled very well.’
The American man infected has not been named by CDC officials but is said to be a resident of Snahomish County, north of Seattle.
He is currently hospitalized and in ‘good’ condition but is being closely monitored in isolation.
The man traveled from Wuhan, but did not visit any of the markets at the epicenter of the outbreak, according to state health officials.
He arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport – but not directly from Wuhan – on January 15, the day before screening was in place, and before he developed symptoms.
But he reportedly recognized his own symptoms – which typically include cough, fever and runny nose – after seeing online coverage of the virus.
The patient reached out to doctors on January 16, was tested on the 17th and his diagnosis was confirmed Monday, health officials said.
The patient is currently at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett.
A top official at the National Institute of Health (NIH) revealed Wednesday that human trials for a vaccine targeting 2019-nCoV could begin within three months.
Anthony S Fauci, the director of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Bloomberg Law that his agency is working with Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech company Moderna Inc to develop the vaccine.
‘We’re already working on it,’ Fauci said. ‘And hopefully in a period of about three months, we’ll be able to start a phase I trial in humans.’
Fauci said his agency was also working with the WHO and CDC to obtain information about helping doctors around the world identify symptoms of coronavirus.
‘Obviously as is always the case when we have these outbreaks, it’s a lot of collaboration and synergy between the CDC and the WHO and the NIH,’ he said. ‘Our job ultimately is to develop countermeasures.’
Vaccine experts at Baylor University are also reportedly working on modifying a vaccine they designed to prevent SARS to protect against the new, related coronavirus.
But the school’s Dean of Tropical Medicine, which is developing the shot, Dr Peter Hotez, told DailyMail.com that it’s likely years away from deployment.
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION DEBATES DECLARING PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY
The WHO was expected to declare the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in a meeting held in Geneva on Wednesday – but members failed to come to a consensus and decided to reconvene Thursday.
If the UN body declares it an emergency, it will be just the sixth time in history that it has happened.
The only other outbreaks to have been granted such a status include the 2009 Swine flu epidemic, the resurgence of Polio in 2014, the worldwide spread of Zika in 2016 and the two most recent Ebola outbreaks in 2014 and last year.
The WHO has already advised governments to be prepared for the disease and ready to test anyone with symptoms who has traveled to affected regions.
Public health officials around the world have been desperately trying to contain the outbreak, which officials have confirmed has passed between humans.
2019-nCoV infects the nose, throat, or sinuses and can cause fever and lead to pneumonia.
Cases have risen nine-fold in the space of a few days, with just 48 confirmed cases on January 17.
At least 20 healthcare workers have since been infected, including one doctor investigating the outbreak.
Sir Jeremy Farrar, a renowned specialist in infectious disease epidemics, told MailOnline on Tuesday that the coronavirus may have been lurking in animals for decades and only recently adapted to infect humans.
CHINESE OFFICIALS REACT TO OUTBREAK
In the wake of the outbreak, Chinese officials have urged travelers to stop visiting the city where its believed to originated, Wuhan – which is home to 11 million people.
They warned that that are at ‘the most critical stage’ of containment and control and said the virus could spread further, especially as people travel to see relatives to celebrate Lunar New Year this week.
China’s National Health Commission vice-minister Li Bin said: ‘Basically, do not go to Wuhan. And those in Wuhan please do not leave the city.’
In the same public briefing, he also warned there is a possibility the virus will mutate, warning it could mean a further spread of the disease.
Li said: ‘There has already been human-to-human transmission and infection of medical workers. Evidence has shown that the disease has been transmitted through the respiratory tract and there is the possibility of viral mutation.’
It is common for viruses to undergo mutation, a process which can make them more dangerous if they become immune to treatments designed to combat them.
The flu, for example, undergoes mutation, which is why scientists create a different vaccine to combat strains each year.
Li addressed reporters again on Wednesday and attributed the growing number of confirmed cases to greater monitoring efforts and understanding of the virus.
He said 2,197 people who were in close contact with coronavirus patients had been placed under observation and 765 have since been released while 1,394 are still being observed.
Gao Fu, the director-general of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, also spoke about the outbreak on Wednesday and confirmed that the virus is mutating and adapting.
FEARS OF INCOMPLETE CHINESE REPORTS
Leading scientists have accused China of under-reporting cases, saying it has a ‘track record’ of doing so and warning the ‘true picture may be completely different’.
Piotr Chlebicki, at Mount Alvernia Hospital in Singapore, told South China Morning Post it was ‘hard to believe [the official number of] cases’.
He added: ‘China has a track record of under-reporting cases, so the true picture may be completely different.’
The newspaper reported experts are concerned about the number of bureaucratic steps – put in place after the 2003 SARS outbreak – before a case can be confirmed.
The virus has caused alarm because it is from the same family of viruses as SARS, which killed nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen today urged China to release all information about the outbreak of a new virus and work with Taiwan on curbing its spread.
At China’s insistence, Taiwan is not a member of the World Health Organization and is not allowed to participate in any of its meetings. However, large numbers of Taiwanese travel to and live in China.
Tsai said: ‘I especially want to urge China, being a member of international society, that it should fulfill its responsibilities to make the situation of the outbreak transparent, and to share accurate information on the outbreak with Taiwan.’
One case of the coronavirus has been confirmed in Taiwan, which is home to 23 million people.
Sharing information is also important for the health of the Chinese population and Beijing ‘should not put political concerns above the protection of its own people,’ Tsai said.
China regards Taiwan as its own territory and says it is not entitled to representation in most international bodies.
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ON HIGH ALERT
So far the vast majority of coronavirus cases reported have come out of China – with eight reported in other nations.
Thai officials on Wednesday confirmed a fourth case, a 73-year-old woman who developed a fever after returning from Wuhan.
She was being monitored in an isolated ward in a hospital in Nakhon Pathom, 37 miles (60km) west of Bangkok.
In a message to the country, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said: ‘We can control the situation.
‘There have not been cases of human-to-human transmission in Thailand because we detected the patients as soon as they arrived.’
Saying there are no reports of the infection spreading to others, he added: ‘We checked all of them: taxi drivers, people who wheeled the wheelchairs for the patients, doctors and nurses who worked around them.’
Two other Chinese patients in Thailand have recovered and been sent home, while a third will return once tests show he is clear of the virus. One of the four patients was a Thai national.
Thai officials have stepped up screening at airports to look for passengers with high body temperatures, coughs, headaches and trouble breathing.
The Chinese-ruled gambling hub of Macau also confirmed its first case of the coronavirus on Wednesday – a 52-year-old Wuhan businesswoman.
She took a high-speed train to the Chinese city of Zhuhai on January 19, then a shuttle bus to Macau. She had dinner with two friends, then went to the hotel and spent a long time in casinos.
She was in a stable condition in an isolation ward. Her two friends were also being monitored and were in isolation.
Officials quickly moved to tighten temperature screening measures in casinos and around the city. A total of 405 guest entrances and 47 staff entrances have been provided with portable screening devices and all casino staff have to wear surgical masks.
All performers and staff at the events hosted across Macau will be screened.
Entry points into Macau will also have temperature checks and visitors will be asked to fill in a health declaration form.
The tourist-magnet casino industry in Macau, which returned to Chinese rule in 1999, accounts for more than 80 percent of the revenue in the city of 600,000 people.
Macau is a popular Lunar New Year destination for mainland Chinese.
Taiwan, where one case of the coronavirus has been detected, has called on people not to visit Wuhan unless they absolutely have to.
Australian officials on Tuesday announced a traveler had been placed in quarantine with symptoms of the virus after returning home from a trip to China.
The man is being kept at his home in Brisbane as he awaits test results for the virus. Earlier tests were inconclusive, Queensland health chiefs said.
The suspected case prompted Prime Minister Scott Morrison to warn Australians travelling to China to ‘exercise a high degree of caution’ in China’s Wuhan area.
The Philippines also announced that it was investigating its first potential case of the coronavirus.
A five-year-old child arrived in the country on January 12 from Wuhan and has since been hospitalized with flu symptoms.
While the child tested positive for a virus, authorities in Manila said they were not sure if it was the same one that has killed 17 people in China.
North Korea, which keeps public health data closely guarded as a state secret, has not reported any cases but has restricted the movement of tourists amid fears the disease could spread there.
Countries such as Russia, Kazakhstan and Malaysia have reportedly upped their screening methods to detect travelers with a fever in airports.
Public health officials in the United Kingdom have instructed NHS hospitals on how to deal with cases amid fears the virus will spread – as London’s Heathrow airport vowed to separate passengers flying in from Wuhan.
PUBLIC PANIC IN CHINA
Reports also state face masks are flying off the shelves across China as the country’s citizens prepare themselves for the potential spread of the outbreak, which has already swept the nation.
Pictures and videos circulating on the country’s social media show residents in various cities queuing to stock up on the medical products.
On Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter, web users reported to have seen huge lines of customers in and outside pharmacies in hope of buying the sought-after item.
Prices for face masks have surged, according a report from Beijing Evening News.
Some vendors on the country’s e-commerce site have increased the price of the N95 masks – which is made by US company 3M and particularly popular in China – from 99 yuan ($14) a box to nearly 1,000 yuan ($145) a box, the report said.
A topic page titled ‘the main force of buying face masks’ on Weibo has attracted around 570 million clicks as the Chinese citizens discuss the apparent nationwide buying spree.
Professor John Oxford, a virologist at Queen Mary College, yesterday admitted he was ‘quaking in my shoes’ over the potential spread of the virus that could happen over the Chinese New Year.
He told LBC: ‘None of us have faced a new virus faced with so many people in a community travelling around.
‘That’s what’s going to happen in China at the end of the week. Once they are close together in taxis or small rooms, then there may be a problem.’
And Professor Oxford added: ‘The only way to stop it is physical cleaning and social distance – keeping away from people.’
Locals have made more than four million trips by train, road and air since January 10 in the annual travel rush for the most important holiday in the country.
The transport peak season will last until February 18 and see three billion trips made within China, according to official statistics.
People in China have been urged not to panic and to try and enjoy the festive season.
A piece in Chinese newspaper the Global Times said on Sunday: ‘The entire Chinese society should be vigilant but should not be in panic.
‘We should make the upcoming Spring Festival happy and peaceful, and also pay close attention to every link where the pneumonia may increase transmission.’
Families of sicked loved who have died of mystery respiratory diseases in recent weeks believe the true number of cases and deaths is far higher than what China has admitted, The Guardian reported yesterday.
On the microblog Weibo, Wuhan residents have shared stories of family members who had shown symptoms of the virus, but not been tested for it at hospital.
One posted images of her mother’s diagnosis of viral pneumonia and described long queues of patients with similar symptoms late on Monday night, none of whom appeared to have been tested for coronavirus.
‘Could all these people suddenly have viral pneumonia?’ she said.
THE NEW CORONAVIRUS IN CHINA TIMELINE
December 31 2019: Total of 27 suspected cases
The WHO China Country Office was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. Around 27 suspected cases were reported in the month of December.
January 1 2020: Total of 27 suspected cases
A seafood market was closed for environmental sanitation and disinfection after being closely linked with the patients.
January 5 2020: Total of 59 suspected cases
Doctors ruled out severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) as being the cause of the virus, as well as bird flu, Middle East respiratory syndrome and adenovirus. Meanwhile, Hong Kong reported suspected cases.
January 9 2020: Total of 59 confirmed cases, one death
A preliminary investigation identified the respiratory disease as a new type of coronavirus, Chinese state media reported.
Officials at Wuhan Municipal Health Commission reported the outbreak’s first death on January 9, a 61-year-old man.
January 13 2020: Total of 42 confirmed cases, one death
A Chinese woman in Thailand was the first confirmed case of the mystery virus outside of China. The 61-year-old was quarantined on January 8, but has since returned home in a stable condition after having treatment, the Thai Health Ministry said.
January 14 2020: Total of 42 confirmed cases, one death
The WHO told hospitals around the globe to prepare, in the ‘possible’ event of the infection spreading.
It said there is some ‘limited’ human-to-human transmission of the virus. Two days previously, the UN agency said there was ‘no clear evidence of human to human transmission’.
January 16 2020: Total of 43 cases, two deaths
A man in Tokyo is confirmed to have tested positive for the disease after travelling to the Chinese city of Wuhan.
A second death, a 69-year-old man, was reported by officials at Wuhan Municipal Health Commission. He died in the early hours of January 15 at Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan city having first been admitted to hospital on December 31.
January 17 2020: Total of 44 cases, two deaths
Thailand announces it has detected a second case. The 74-year-old woman had been quarantined since her arrival on Monday. She lived in Wuhan.
Scientists at Imperial College London fear up to 4,500 patients in Wuhan may have caught the virus. A report said if cases are this high, substantial human to human transmission can’t be ruled out.
John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK), San Francisco International Airport and Los Angles International Airport (LAX) will start screening passengers arriving from Wuhan, US officials said.
January 18 2020: Total of 48 cases, two deaths
Thailand steps up monitoring at four airports receiving daily flights from Wuhan. Airports in Japan, Malaysia and Singapore are also screening passengers from Wuhan, authorities said.
Four more cases have been identified in a viral pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan, bringing the total to 45 in the city alone.
January 19 2020: Total of 65 cases, two deaths
China reported 17 more cases of pneumonia caused by a new coronavirus strain had been found in Wuhan. It takes the city’s total to 62, including two deaths, and the global total to 65.
All of the cases to this point involved people either living in Wuhan or who have travelled to the city.
Public Health England and Britain’s chief medical officer said they would not be introducing screenings at UK airports at this point.
January 20 2020: Total of 222 cases, three deaths.
China reported a sharp rise in the number of people infected with a new coronavirus over the weekend, including 136 more cases in Wuhan city, taking its total to 198.
The outbreak spread across China; five cases in Beijing, 14 in Guangdong, and one in Shanghai.
South Korea confirmed its first case – a 35-year-old woman arriving at Seoul’s Incheon airport tested positive for the virus. She had been in Wuhan the week prior. This took the total cases outside China to four.
Details were not revealed about the third death.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said saving lives was a top priority, adding that information about the disease was being released in a ‘timely manner’.
China’s National Health Commission team confirmd the virus can spread between humans.
Two patients in southern China also caught the virus from infected family members, according to local media.
The WHO announced it would hold an emergency meeting to debate whether the outbreak should be declared an international public health emergency.
January 21 2020: Total of 308 confirmed cases, six deaths
On this day, the death toll rose to six.
The fourth person had died on January 19, an 89-year-old man who developed symptoms, including severe breathing difficulties, on January 13.
The mayor of Wuhan announced two more victims of the lethal infection – a 66-year-old man, known only as Li, and a 48-year-old woman, known only as Yin. Both died from multiple organ failure.
Authorities also said 15 medical workers in the city were included in the confirmed cases. There is also one other suspected case. Of the infected staff, one was in critical condition.
The first American – a man in his 30s – was confirmed to have the new coronavirus outside Seattle in Washington state.
Washington officials said he was in ‘good’ condition but was in isolation and being closely monitored at Providence Regional Medical Center – Everett, near his home in Snahomish County.
The CDC announced that all passengers arriving to Wuhan from direct or connecting flights would be re-ticketed and rerouted through the three airports with screening already set up and two additional airports, Chicago O’Hare and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta.
A Brisbane man is being held in isolation over fears he may have contracted the deadly coronavirus while in Wuhan.
Queensland’s chief medical officer Dr Jeannette Young confirmed the man has been tested for the illness when he presented with flu-like symptoms after returning home. The results are still unknown.
Australia began screening passengers arriving from a Chinese city in a bid to stop the spread, Brendan Murphy, the chief medical officer for the Australian government, said.
The Philippines also announced that it was investigating its first potential case of the coronavirus. A five-year-old child arrived in the country on January 12 from Wuhan and has since been hospitalised with flu symptoms.
Taiwan reported its first confirmed case. Health officials announced the woman, thought to be around 50 years old, worked in Wuhan. She is currently in hospital receiving treatment, according to local media.
Stock markets in China and Hong Kong dipped today amid fears tourists will refrain from travelling. But shares in firms which make surgical face masks have surged.
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