Why in news?
- An outbreak of a new coronavirus has spread to more Chinese cities, including the capital Beijing and Shanghai, authorities said on 20th January, and a fourth case has been reported beyond China’s borders
- China’s National Health Commission confirmed that the virus, which causes a type of pneumonia, can pass from person-to-person,
Spreading outside
South Korea on 20th January confirmed its first case, a 35-year-old Chinese national who had travelled from Wuhan, the fourth patient reported outside China.
More about corona virus?
- There were more than 200 confirmed cases of patients with pneumonia caused by the new strain of coronavirus as of January 20th.
- The outbreak is strongly linked to a seafood market in Wuhan, but some patients diagnosed with the new coronavirus deny exposure to this market.
- China confirms person-to-person spread of new virus
- The outbreak has spread from the central city of Wuhan to cities including Beijing and Shanghai
Countermeasures
- There is no vaccine for the new virus. Symptoms include fever, difficulty in breathing as well as pneumonic infiltrates in the lungs.
- Chinese authorities have stepped up monitoring and disinfection efforts ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in late January, when many of the country’s 1.4 billion people will travel domestically and overseas.
- Airport authorities in the United States as well as many Asian countries, including Japan, Thailand, Singapore and South Korea, have stepped up screening of passengers from Wuhan.
- The World Health Organization sent directives to hospitals around the world on infection prevention and control.
