China Wuhan coronavirus updates: 2019-nCoV deaths, spread, symptoms – Business Insider

The first case of the virus was reported in Wuhan in December. The central Chinese city has a population of 11 million.

Its pneumonia-like symptoms include fever and difficulty breathing.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, a person could be at risk if they have:

• Fever and symptoms of lower respiratory illness, such as coughing or difficulty breathing, after traveling to Wuhan or having close contact with someone who was ill and is now under investigation for the virus in the past two weeks.
• Fever or symptoms of lower respiratory illness after having close contact in the past two weeks with someone who’s been confirmed to have the virus.

As of Friday, the virus has killed 41 people.

“The people who are likely to die first will have other illnesses,” Adrian Hyzler, the chief medical officer at Healix International, which offers risk-management solutions for global travelers, told Business Insider.

“But as it spreads, it’ll pick up more people like flu does.”

Most patients who died were elderly or otherwise unwell, according to Chinese officials. But it can also kill younger people: one recent victim was a 36-year-old man.

A total of 1,287 people in China have been infected.

Chinese authorities launched an investigation in the first week of January, amid fears that the virus could be like SARS. That coronavirus also originated in China and killed 774 people from November 2002 to July 2003.

This coronavirus is not as deadly as SARS, though the two belong to the same family.

Many coronaviruses are not very serious and only threaten people with weakened immune systems.

But there are still ways to protect yourself. Travelers should avoid touching their eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.

There are no vaccines to protect humans from contracting a coronavirus. Travelers should wash their hands frequently with soap and water, making sure to scrub for at least 20 seconds, the CDC says.

Wearing a mask might shield you from other people’s sneezes and coughs, but it’s not the most important line of defense against a virus. 

“There’s little harm in it,” Eric Toner, a senior scientist at Johns Hopkins University, told Business Insider. “But wearing masks, except in the situation of a healthcare provider, has never been shown to be a very effective way to protect yourself from infectious diseases.”

For now, health experts believe the virus could be milder than SARS.

“On the other hand, it may be more transmissible than SARS, at least in the community setting,” Toner said.

Scientists are still learning about the virus’ incubation period — the time between when a patient gets infected and when they start showing symptoms. During that period, people can be contagious without realizing they’re sick.

Health officials believe the coronavirus outbreak came from a seafood market in Wuhan.

They initially said the virus could only spread from animals to humans. But on January 20, Chinese officials confirmed that the virus can be transferred from person to person as well.

“Now we can say it is certain that it is a human-to-human transmission phenomenon,” Zhong Nanshan, the scientist the Chinese government appointed to lead the effort to battle the disease, said.

Early research suggests the virus might have jumped from bats to snakes, then to humans.

In a paper in the Journal of Medical Virology, researchers revealed that the protein codes favored by the Wuhan virus closely resemble the protein codes in snakes.

Since snakes often hunt bats in the wild — and they were sold at the seafood market in Wuhan — the researchers think the virus may have originated in bats before mutating and infecting humans. 

On Thursday, local officials quarantined the city of Wuhan by shutting down all transportation.

All of the city’s public transportation — including buses, metros, ferries, and train — were shut down as of 10 a.m. local time on Thursday. Trains and airplanes coming in and out of the city were halted and roadblocks were installed to keep taxis and private cars from exiting.

Wuhan’s 11 million residents have been told not to leave the city, barring special circumstances.

Doctors in Wuhan report that there aren’t enough resources to treat a rising tide of patients.

A doctor in Wuhan told the BBC that thousands of patients were waiting for hours in line to receive medical care. Another doctor told the South China Morning Post that medical workers did not have enough protective gear — and that some were catching the virus as a result.

Test kits have been reserved for patients with the most severe symptoms. This means many diagnoses are delayed.

Mimi Lau, a reporter at the South China Morning Post, said patients in Wuhan hospitals have likened getting a kit to winning the lottery.

The city is rushing to build a new hospital in just six days.

The new hospital will have 1,000 beds for treating patients. It is expected to be operational by February 3.

As of Friday, China had imposed travel restrictions on at least 12 cities in the Hubei province.

The city Huanggang, home to around 7.5 million people, placed its urban core under lockdown on Thursday, closing subway and train stations as well as theaters and internet cafes.

Additional cities — Ezhou, Chibi, Xiantao, Zhijiang, Qianjjiang, Huangshi, Xianning, Yichang, Enshi, and Suizhou — have followed suit with their own travel restrictions.

The restrictions so far affect an estimated 33 million people.

The virus has spread to at least 10 other countries and many other parts of China, including Beijing, Guangdong province, Zhejiang province, Tianjin, and Shanghai.

Cases are also suspected in more regions of China.

Outside of China, at least 11 countries have confirmed cases.

These are the countries to report confirmed cases, and the number:

Thailand: 5
Singapore: 3
France: 3
Malaysia: 3
United States: 2
Japan: 2
South Korea: 2
Vietnam: 2
Nepal: 1
Taiwan: 1
Australia: 1

“I think we’re going to see cases popping up in cities all over the world,” Hyzler said. This chart shows the rate at which the virus is spreading.

This map shows where the virus has spread so far.

Hyzler added that he worries a single person with the virus could infect 10, 20, or 30 people.

The true number of infected people is probably higher than the official total.

As of Thursday, academics from Imperial College London estimated that the true number of infected people might be between 4,000 and 9,700.

Chinese officials have warned that the virus is mutating, which could make it harder to control and treat.

Gao Fu, the director-general of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Wednesday that the virus was adapting and changing — making it harder to fight.

Airports around the world are implementing screening protocols.

Five US airports — New York’s JFK airport, San Francisco International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta, and Chicago’s O’Hare airport — have started screening passengers for the virus.

Airports in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and South Korea are also screening people.

The outbreak comes as as hundreds of millions prepare to travel for the weeks-long Chinese New Year, which is one of the largest annual human migrations in the world.

The holiday starts this weekend, and experts worry the surge in travel could boost the virus’ spread.

“This couldn’t have happened at a worse time for Wuhan,” Hyzler said.

Beijing canceled its Spring Festival celebrations on Thursday.

Shanghai Disneyland is slated to close down on Saturday, along with other attractions.

The announcement comes at a time of peak spending at the park, which has said it will refund tickets. 

The Badaling section of the Great Wall of China is scheduled to temporarily close on Saturday as well. 

Earlier this week, Chinese health officials said the virus is “still preventable and controllable.”

The World Health Organization said on Thursday that it is “too early” to consider the outbreak a public-health emergency.

“There is no evidence of human-to-human transmission outside China, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen,” director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference. “WHO is following this outbreak every minute of every day.”