Page 20 - HOH

A11
WORLD NEWS Thursday 30 January 2020
Health experts: Human-to-human spread of new virus worrying

By KEN MORITSUGU the death rate of the new
Associated Press virus at 2%, but said the fig-
BEIJING (AP) — World ure was very preliminary.
health officials expressed With fluctuating numbers of
"great concern" Wednes- cases and deaths, scientists
day that a dangerous new are only able to produce a
virus is starting to spread rough estimate of the fatal-
between people outside ity rate and it's likely many
of China, a troubling de- milder cases of the virus are
velopment as China and being missed.
the world frantically work to In comparison, the SARS vi-
contain the outbreak. For rus killed about 10% of peo-
a second day, the number ple who caught it.
of infections grew dramati- The new virus is from the
cally. coronavirus family, which
The new virus has now in- includes those that can
fected more people in cause the common cold as
China than were sickened well as more serious illness-
there during the 2002- es such as SARS and MERS.
2003 SARS outbreak. On Ryan noted there were
Wednesday, the number of several aspects of the new
cases jumped to 5,974, sur- virus outbreak that are ex-
passing the 5,327 people tremely worrying, citing the
diagnosed with SARS. recent rapid spike in cases A girl wears a face mask as she play on a swing near the Yingwuzhou Yangtze River Bridge in
The death toll, which stood in China. He said that while Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020.
at 132 Wednesday, is still scientists believe the out- Associated Press.
less than half the number break was sparked by an a refueling stop in Alaska. nounce they are planning most far-reaching disease
who died in China from animal virus, it's unclear if All 201 passengers, who in- evacuations. control measures ever im-
SARS, or severe acute respi- there are other factors driv- cluded diplomats from the British health secretary Matt posed. WHO's director-
ratory syndrome. Scientists ing the epidemic. U.S. Consulate in Wuhan, Hancock tweeted that general, Tedros Adhanom
say there are many ques- "Without understanding passed health screenings "anyone who returns from Ghebreyesus, commend-
tions to be answered about that, it's very hard to put in China and Anchorage, Wuhan will be safely isolat- ed China's response. The
the new virus, including just into context the current and were to undergo three ed for 14 days, with all nec- low number of infections
how easily it spreads and transmission dynamics," he days of monitoring at a essary medical attention." outside China "is due in no
how severe it is. said. Meanwhile, countries Southern California military The measures are a step small part to the extraordi-
The World Health Organi- began evacuating their base to ensure they show up from those during the nary steps the government
zation's emergencies chief citizens from the Chinese no signs of the illness. devastating 2014-16 Ebola has taken to prevent the
told reporters on Wednes- city hardest-hit by the vi- "The whole plane erupted outbreak, when return- export of cases," he said.
day that China was taking rus. Chartered planes car- into cheers when the crew ing travelers from West Af- "They're doing that at the
"extraordinary measures in rying about 200 evacuees welcomed them back to rica were asked to monitor expense of their economy
the face of an extraordi- each arrived in Japan and the United States," Dr. Anne themselves for symptoms. and other factors."
nary challenge" posed by the United States as other Zink, Alaska's chief medical Mark Woolhouse, a profes- During the 2002-2003 SARS
the outbreak. countries planned similar officer, told reporters in An- sor of infectious disease ep- epidemic, China was
Dr. Michael Ryan spoke at evacuations from the city chorage. idemiology at the University slammed for hiding that
a news conference after of Wuhan, which authori- Four passengers on the of Edinburgh, said the steps outbreak for months, allow-
returning from a trip to Bei- ties have shut down to try evacuation flight to Japan are justified to prevent the ing it to spread unchecked
jing to meet with Chinese to contain the virus. had coughs and fevers, introduction of the virus before reporting it to the
President Xi Jinping and The first cases in the Mid- and two were diagnosed and its spread. WHO. Even after inviting
other senior government dle East were confirmed with pneumonia. It wasn't "There's always a balance international experts to in-
leaders. He said the epi- Wednesday, a family of clear whether they were between the draconian vestigate the epidemic,
demic remains centered four from Wuhan that was infected with the new virus, measures of public health SARS patients were moved
in the city of Wuhan and visiting the United Arab which first appeared in Wu- and what people might from hospitals and driven
in Hubei province but that Emirates. Airlines around han in December. Its symp- want to do, and obviously around in ambulances to
"information is being up- the world announced they toms, including cough and it's regrettable if people conceal the true extent of
dated and is changing by were cutting flights to Chi- fever and in severe cases who turn out not to have the virus' spread.
the hour." na, and Hong Kong was pneumonia, are similar to the virus are quarantined The source of the new vi-
Ryan said the few cases of suspending rail travel to many other illnesses. unnecessarily," he said. rus and the full extent of its
human-to-human spread and from the mainland at Takeo Aoyama, an em- The outbreak has affect- spread are still unknown.
of the virus outside China — midnight. ployee at Nippon Steel ed international sporting However, the World Health
in Japan, Germany, Cana- The number of cases in Corp.'s subsidiary in Wu- events. The International Organization said most cas-
da and Vietnam — were of China rose 1,459 from the han, told reporters he was Hockey Federation post- es reported to date "have
"great concern"and were previous day, a smaller in- relieved to return home. poned Pro League games been milder, with around
part of the reason the U.N. crease than the 1,771 new "We were feeling increas- in China, and soccer, bas- 20% of those infected ex-
health agency's director- cases reported Tuesday. ingly uneasy as the situa- ketball and boxing qualifi- periencing severe illness."
general was reconvening a Australia, Finland and Sin- tion developed so rapidly ers for the Tokyo Olympics Scientists expect many
committee of experts Thurs- gapore were among those and we were still in the city," in February have been crucial questions about
day. It will assess whether reporting new cases, as Aoyama said, his voice moved outside of the the virus' behavior will be
the outbreak should be de- the number outside China muffled by a white surgical country. In China's Hubei answered in the coming
clared a global emergen- topped 70. The vast major- mask. province, 17 cities including weeks as the outbreak
cy. To date, about 99% of ity are people who came Australia, New Zealand Wuhan have been locked evolves and it becomes
the nearly 6,000 cases are from Wuhan. The U.S. plane and Britain were among down, trapping more than clearer how people are in-
in China. Ryan estimated arrived in California after the latest countries to an- 50 million people in the fected. q