As Australia confirms first case
A deadly viral outbreak in China has now killed 41 people, while the number of infected cases has soared to nearly 1,300, authorities said Saturday.
The 15 new deaths all took place in Wuhan, the city of 11 million where the deadly respiratory contagion first emerged, the Hubei Health Commission said.
At least 444 new cases of the virus have been found, raising the total number to 1,287, the National Health Commission said in a separate statement.
The disease has spread to 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.
Wuhan and 13 other cities in Hubei have been locked down in an unprecedented quarantine effort aimed at containing the deadly respiratory contagion, which has spread to several other countries.
The Hubei Health Commission also reported 180 new cases overall in the province, 77 of them in Wuhan but the bulk of the rest spread out across the locked-down smaller cities. There are now 729 cases in Hubei alone.
Several of those cities were reporting their first cases of the pathogen — 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) — the commission said.
The previously unknown virus has caused global concern because of its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed hundreds across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.
It also has struck at possibly the worst time for China, when hundreds of millions of people are travelling across the country or overseas to celebrate the Lunar New Year holiday, China’s most important festival.
Meanwhile, Australia on Saturday confirmed its first case of the virus, thus becoming the latest country in a growing list to be affected by the illness.
The sick man arrived in Melbourne from China a week ago from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, the government said.
Authorities in Victoria state have followed “strict protocols, including isolating the affected person,” said Professor Brendan Murphy, Australia’s chief medical officer.
“I understand the patient has pneumonia and is in a stable condition.”
The previously unknown 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is thought to have originated in a market in Wuhan where exotic animals and bush meat were sold.
It has infected around 1,300 people in China and spread to almost a dozen other territories, including France and the United States.
The virus has caused global concern because of its similarity to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed hundreds across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.
Health experts say some human-to-human transmission has been recorded, particularly in Wuhan, a city of 11 million now under lockdown in a bid to limit the spread of the disease.
Australian health minister Greg Hunt said passengers who travelled on the same Melbourne-bound plane as the infected man were being contacted “to provide them with information and advice”.
AFP
