Health official: New China virus 'not as powerful as SARS'

Tan KW

Publish date: Mon, 27 Jan 2020, 12:52 AM

BEIJING: A top Chinese health official said the new deadly virus that has infected nearly 2,000 people and killed dozens in China is “not as powerful as SARS.”

The new virus has sparked alarm amid a rising death toll and the discovery that it comes from the same family of coronaviruses as SARS, which killed nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong.

But Chinese officials told reporters that the new disease was less powerful than SARS – though it was becoming more contagious.

“From what we see now, this disease is indeed...not as powerful as SARS,” said Gao Fu, head of China’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, at a press briefing in Beijing.

However, it also appears that the “spreading ability of the virus is getting stronger”, added Ma Xiaowei, head of China’s National Health Commission (NHC).

The new disease also has an incubation period of up to two weeks, Ma said at the press conference, and that it was “contagious during the incubation period.”

“This is very different from SARS,” he added.

The new virus was first reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan last month, but has since spread to at least 30 regions in China, resulting in restrictions on public transport and even tour groups as Chinese authorities scramble to contain the disease.

Four cities – including Beijing and Shanghai, and the eastern province of Shandong – announced bans on long-distance buses from entering or leaving their borders, a move that will affect millions of people travelling over the Lunar New Year holiday.

And on Thursday, the Chinese government put the hard-hit province of Hubei under effective quarantine in an unprecedented operation affecting tens of millions of people to slow the spread of an illness that President Xi Jinping said posed a “grave” threat.

At today’s press briefing, Chinese health officials said the Lunar New Year holiday was the “best window” of time to contain the epidemic.

If the transport restrictions are successfully implemented, they could “buy time” for the next phase of prevention and control, said Li Bin, deputy minister at the NHC.

“We’re still not clear on the potential changes of the epidemic,” he admitted.

“The situation of how the epidemic develops is still not entirely in our control.”

- AFP

Discussions

1 person likes this. Showing 11 of 11 comments

probability

there has not been any spreading to the locals in foreign country so far...that's a little reassuring

2020-01-27 01:39

probability

these people who are patients in overseas obviously travelled for many hours in confined planes with other nationalities.....and yet there were no cases of other nationality getting infected.

this means the virus requires are much closer contact....as good as being close relatives to get infected

2020-01-27 10:40

probability

yup, so far all patients reported internationally had directly been in wuhan earlier....

it as though...the virus has a territory in wuhan only...may be it requires an ideal specific temperature during spreading...which wuhan was able to provide

2020-01-27 11:13

miker

May be the virus only infect those eating the exotic wild animal....

2020-01-27 11:29

probability

China detects large quantity of novel coronavirus at Wuhan seafood market

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-01/27/c_138735677.htm

the above means, most of the living and non living food sold at the market already got contaminated ...and had been consumed by the wuhan residents for quite some time...even storing in their fridge...

these consumers itself can easily reach thousands...

this explains the unusually large victims in wuhan and most importantly...it means

"the virus needs close contact for infecting human"

2020-01-27 13:58

probability

Expert believes China's control measures on Wuhan virus will take effect in 20 days

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/regional/2020/01/27/expert-believes-china039s-control-measures-on-wuhan-virus-will-take-effect-in-20-days

BEIJING (Xinhua): Momentum of the Wuhan virus epidemic outbreak may decline in 20 days based on the current prevention and control measures of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), a leading virologist said on Sunday (Jan 26).

The increase in confirmed cases recently resulted from people infected with the virus about 20 days ago,
...............................

said Wen Yumei, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, adding that the current measures are expected to prevent future infection.

The human body will gradually become immune to the microorganism, which may drive an end to the epidemic, said Wen, who is also a professor at a key lab on medical molecular virology in Shanghai.

Noting most patients that are in critical condition have other existing diseases with immune system disorders, Wen said the public does not need to panic, as a large number of those infected will recover with the help of their immune system.

However, effective self-protection measures like wearing masks are needed, as the epidemic is infectious without typical symptoms during the incubation period, said Cao Wei, deputy director with the infection department at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital. -Xinhua

2020-01-27 14:11

DickyMe

Nothing to worry, Epidemic will subside in 2 months. By then an antidote will be found. Avoid non-vegetarian food. Take some pepper and basil leaves, daily.

2020-01-27 16:35

sensonic

ANY COUNTER IN BURSA SELLING MASK?

2020-01-27 17:06

Sslee

Dear all,
https://klse.i3investor.com/blogs/Sslee_blog/2020-01-26-story-h1482930339-CNY_Eating_Binge_Corona_Virus_Greed_and_Lusts.jsp

Thank you
P/S: In this age of Google and Wikipedia, it is wise to seek relevant sources of information to inform oneself rather than listening to hearsay.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syndrome
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Between November 2002 and July 2003, an outbreak of SARS in southern China caused an eventual 8,098 cases, resulting in 774 deaths reported in 17 countries, with the majority of cases in China mainland and Hong Kong (9.6% fatality rate) according to the World Health Organization (WHO). No cases of SARS have been reported worldwide since 2004. In late 2017, Chinese scientists traced the virus through the intermediary of civets to cave-dwelling horseshoe bats in Yunnan province

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_respiratory_syndrome-related_coronavirus
The first confirmed case was reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012. Egyptian virologist Dr. Ali Mohamed Zaki isolated and identified a previously unknown coronavirus from the man's lungs.
Over 2,000 cases of MERS have been reported by 2017 and the case fatality rate is >30%

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza
Influenza spreads around the world in yearly outbreaks, resulting in about three to five million cases of severe illness and about 290,000 to 650,000 deaths. About 20% of unvaccinated children and 10% of unvaccinated adults are infected each year

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019%E2%80%9320_Wuhan_coronavirus_outbreak
Note: Fatality rate most affected those have been already in poor health.

2020-01-27 17:06

probability

The video below explains why WHO never declared it as an emergency:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9E1iwUn_d8

simply because it does not spread internationally

2020-01-27 22:13

SarifahSelinder

Theoretically virus is suppose to b dormant in cold temperature mcm musim winter kat Wuhan skrg

Tapi cold temperature kat winter oso is d problem sbb ni prompt d virus to jump to human body which is warm for shelter

Tapi.....

Spring is already here as you can tell by Spring Festival as such there is hope tis coronavirus kan over soon

2020-01-28 10:25

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