Whole world
must be ready to deal with coronavirus, says WHO
Countries
urged to be on alert as number of confirmed cases passes 6,000
Sarah Boseley
Health editor
Wed 29 Jan
2020 19.39 GMTLast modified on Wed 29 Jan 2020 21.00 GMT
The whole
world must be on alert to deal with the spread of coronavirus, the World Health
Organization has said as it urged countries to prepare so that they are ready
to detect any cases that occur and isolate and treat the sick.
WHO will
reconvene its expert committee on Thursday to decide whether to declare the
Wuhan coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
There are now 6,065 confirmed cases of viral pneumonia caused by the virus and
132 deaths, all of them in China.
Just 68
cases have been confirmed outside China, in 15 countries, but in three
countries, Germany, Vietnam and Japan, there has been human-to-human
transmission, raising fears over the spread of the disease.
“The whole
world needs to be on alert now. The whole world needs to take action and be
ready for any cases that come from the epicentre or other epicentre that
becomes established,” said Dr Michael Ryan, the head of the WHO health
emergencies programme.
He and the
WHO director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, praised China for its
openness and its crackdown in Wuhan, the centre of the disease outbreak. “The
fact that to date we have seen only 68 cases outside China and no deaths is due
in no small part to the extraordinary efforts China has made,” said Tedros.
“They are doing that at the expense of their economy and other factors.”
But China’s
containment of the coronavirus, which emerged probably from wild animals sold
for food in Wuhan’s seafood market, has only reduced the danger to the rest of
the world, not removed it.
“The
continued increase in cases and the evidence of human-to human transmission outside
China are of course most deeply concerning,” he said. “Although the numbers
outside China are still relatively small, they hold the potential for a much
larger outbreak.”
The
emergencies committee met on two days last week but backed off from declaring
the outbreak of international concern, largely because the spread to other
countries had not been extensive. The declaration, which was made in the Ebola
outbreaks in west Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as the
Sars epidemic, would attract resources to countries that have outbreaks and
streamline the measures taken. Ryan warned that 194 countries implementing
unilateral measures was a “potential recipe for disaster”.
The virus
is thought to have originated in the Huanan seafood and live animal market in
Wuhan. Photograph: Héctor Retamal/AFP via Getty Images
The
evacuation of foreign nationals from Wuhan began with airlifts of hundreds of
people by Japan and the US. A government-chartered plane carrying 206 Japanese
nationals arrived in Tokyo from Wuhan on Wednesday morning. Two showed symptoms
of pneumonia following scans, but a coronavirus diagnosis had not been
confirmed, hospital representatives said. Two more were admitted to hospital.
Seven others with symptoms such as coughs and fever will undergo tests.
The rest of
the passengers were sent home with instructions to stay in and not mix with
people for 14 days.
Officials
in the US said a chartered plane had made a refuelling stop in Anchorage,
Alaska, with about 240 US citizens onboard, including staff from the US
consulate in Wuhan. The passengers were due to be re-screened in Anchorage and
hospitals there were on alert to take any who needed medical tests or
treatment.
The first
cases in the Middle East were reported in the United Arab Emirates. Four
members of a Chinese family who had been in Wuhan and arrived in the UAE on 16
January for a visit were confirmed to have the virus. All four are in a stable
condition and under medical observation, the health ministry said. The Gulf
Cooperation Council’s (GCC) health committee met on Wednesday in the Saudi
capital of Riyadh to discuss the virus and to unify Gulf efforts to prevent its
spread, Bahrain’s state news agency BNA said.
There have
been several suspected cases in African countries, although none have yet been
confirmed.
The toll of
the Wuhan coronavirus now exceeds the 5,327 confirmed cases in mainland China
during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) epidemic. The Sars outbreak
killed more than 770 people globally, including 349 in mainland China. The
death rate from Sars, caused by a more virulent member of the coronavirus
family than the Wuhan strain appears to be, was more than 10%. So far, the
death rate among confirmed cases of coronavirus is 2%, and may be less if there
are many mild cases that do not end up in hospital, as experts believe.
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Unicef said
it had shipped six tonnes of respiratory masks and protective suits to Shanghai
to protect health workers. “This coronavirus is spreading at a breakneck speed
and it is important to put all the necessary resources into halting it,” said
Unicef’s executive director, Henrietta Fore. “We may not know enough about the
virus’s impact on children or how many may be affected – but we do know that
close monitoring and prevention are key. Time is not on our side.”
British
Airways said on Wednesday it had suspended all direct flights to and from
mainland China after British authorities warned against “all but essential”
travel to the country.
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