Beijing, China
Reuters
The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in China rose to 131 as health authorities at the epicentre of the epidemic reported another 840 confirmed cases, even as Beijing reiterated its confidence in containing the disease.
Fears of the spreading virus led airlines to reduce flights to China and global companies to restrict employee travel to the country. CNBC reported that the White House had told US airlines it may suspend all China-US flights due to the outbreak.
Tedros Adhanom, director general of the World Health Organization, meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi before a meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, on 28th January. PICTURE: Naohiko Hatta/Pool via Reuters
The Hubei province health authority said in a statement early Wednesday that 25 further people had died as of end-Tuesday. The virus emerged late last year in Wuhan, Hubei’s capital and a major transportation hub, and much of the province has been under virtual lockdown as China seeks to contain the virus from spreading further.
With Hubei’s latest figures, the total number of confirmed cases in China is at least 5,355. China’s National Health Commission on Tuesday reported a total of 4,515 cases as of end-Monday and is expected to give an updated national tally later on Wednesday.
AUSTRALIAN SCIENTISTS CLAIM FIRST RE-CREATION OF CORONOVIRUS OUTSIDE CHINA
A team of scientists in Australia said on Wednesday they have successfully developed a lab-grown version of coronavirus, the first to be recreated outside of China, in a breakthrough that could help combat the global spread of the illness.
The researchers at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne said they would share the sample, which was grown from an infected patient, with the World Health Organization and laboratories around the world.
A laboratory in China had successfully grown the virus but had released only the genome sequence, not the sample itself, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
“Having the real virus means we now have the ability to actually validate and verify all test methods, and compare their sensitivities and specificities”, the Doherty Institute’s virus indentification laboratory head, Julian Druce, said in a statement.
“The virus will be used as positive control material for the Australian network of public health laboratories, and also shipped to expert laboratories working closely with the World Health Organization in Europe.”
The Australia-grown virus sample would be used to generate an antibody test, which would allow detection of the virus in patients who had not shown symptoms, as well as contributing to the creation of a vaccine, the institute said.
The virus was grown from a patient who had arrived at the institute on 24th January, it added.
The Peter Doherty Institute is a joint venture of the University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Hospital.
– BYRON KAYE, Reuters
The flu-like virus has spread overseas to more than a dozen countries. None of the confirmed deaths to date has been outside China. However, confirmations of person-to-person transmission in Germany, Vietnam, Taiwan and Japan – as opposed to a traveller from China – has heightened concern.
Known as “2019-nCoV”, the newly identified coronavirus can cause pneumonia and, like other respiratory infections, it spreads between people in droplets from coughs and sneezes. It is too early to know what its death rate will be, since there are likely to be many cases of milder disease going undetected.
“The virus is a devil and we cannot let the devil hide,” state television quoted Chinese President Xi Jinping said during a meeting with World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Beijing on Tuesday.
“China will strengthen international cooperation and welcomes the WHO participation in virus prevention…China is confident of winning the battle against the virus.”
China’s assurances failed to calm investors, however, as and health authorities around the world continued to step up efforts to stop the virus from spreading on their shores.
The United States said it was expanding screening of arrivals from China from five to 20 airports and would consider imposing further travel curbs.
“All options for dealing with infectious disease spread have to be on the table, including travel restrictions,” said US Health Secretary Alex Azar.
From France to Japan, governments were organising evacuations, while Hong Kong – scene of anti-China unrest for months – planned to suspend rail and ferry links with the mainland. United Airlines said it was suspending some flights between the United States and China for a week from 1st February due to a “significant decline in demand.”
The US Embassy in Beijing said a chartered plane would pick up its consular staff on Wednesday. The European Commission said it would help fund two aircraft to fly EU citizens home, with 250 French nationals leaving on the first flight.
– Additional reporting by MICHELLE NICHOLS at the United Nations, STEPHANIE NEBEHAY in Geneva, MATTHIAS BLAMONT in Paris, MANAS MISHRA in Bengaluru and CAROLINE HUMER in New York
