Tag: coronavirus

Coronavirus: ‘This is an emergency in China’ says WHO, as virus death toll rises to 18

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The World Health Organization (WHO) called a new coronavirus that has killed 18 people in China and infected around 650 globally “an emergency in China” on Thursday but stopped short of declaring the epidemic of international concern.

Chinese state television said 634 cases had been confirmed so far. China’s National Health Commission said there had been 17 deaths as a result of the virus in Hubei, the province at the centre of the outbreak, and health authorities confirmed the first Chinese death outside Hubei.

Non-fatal cases have been found in at least seven other countries.

Health officials fear the transmission rate could accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel at home and abroad during week-long holidays for the Lunar New Year, which begins on Saturday.

Nonetheless, it was a “bit too early” to consider the outbreak a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern,” WHO Emergency Committee panel chair Didier Houssin said after the body met in Geneva. Such a designation would have required countries to step up the international response.

“Make no mistake, though, this is an emergency in China,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“It has not yet become a global health emergency. It may yet become one,” he said.

Scrambling to contain the outbreak, the local government in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people in Hubei province, suspended most transport on Thursday, including outgoing flights, and people were told not to leave. Hours later, neighbouring Huanggang, a city of about 7 million people, announced similar measures.

“The lockdown of 11 million people is unprecedented in public health history,” said Gauden Galea, the WHO’s representative in Beijing.

The organisation said, however, that it was not yet recommending any broader restrictions on travel or trade.

The previously unknown virus strain is believed to have emerged late last year from illegally traded wildlife at an animal market in Wuhan.

It has created alarm because there are a number of unknowns surrounding it. It is too early to know just how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between people.

There is no vaccine for the virus, which can spread through respiratory transmission. Symptoms include fever, difficulty breathing and coughing.

Michael Ryan, head of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, said data from China suggested almost three-quarters of the cases were in people aged over 40, with some 40% having underlying health conditions.

“At the moment, we haven’t seen many mild cases,” he said, cautioning that it was difficult at the start of an epidemic to estimate the severity or true fatality rate.

There had been human-to-human transmission of the virus in China, limited to family groups and health workers, said Tedros.

Three research teams working on a vaccine, a global coalition set up to fight diseases said. It is aiming to have a shot developed and approved within a year.

The committee of 16 independent experts had been divided in its conclusion not to declare a global emergency, said Tedros, adding that the decision “should not be taken as a sign that the WHO does not think the situation is serious.”

Peter Piot, a professor of global health and director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the outbreak was at a critical phase.

“Regardless of the decision not to declare this a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, intensified international collaboration and more resources will be crucial to stopping this outbreak in its tracks,” he said. “There cannot be any complacency as to the need for global action.”

The biggest tumble in Chinese stocks in more than eight months led global equity markets lower on Thursday as concern mounted about the outbreak.

TRAVEL WARNINGS

In Wuhan, the Hankou railway station was nearly deserted on Thursday, state broadcasts showed. State media reported highway toll booths around Wuhan were closing, effectively cutting off road exits, and all ride-hailing services would be cancelled from Friday. Guards were patrolling highways, one resident said.

As the city slipped into isolation, residents thronged hospitals for medical checks and rushed to buy supplies, clearing out supermarket shelves and queuing for petrol.

Other cities were also taking steps to contain the virus.

Nearby Ezhou shut train stations. Beijing cancelled large gatherings, including two Lunar New Year temple fairs, and closed the Forbidden City, the capital’s most famous tourist attraction, to visitors until further notice.

The U.S. State Department warned travellers to exercise increased caution in China as airports worldwide stepped up the screening of passengers arriving from the country.

Cases have already been detected in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States.

Five people were being tested in Scotland for the virus as a precaution, the BBC reported on Thursday. All had respiratory symptoms and had recently been in Wuhan, it said.

Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, which has two confirmed cases, is turning two holiday camps into quarantine stations as a precaution.

Taiwan has banned anyone from Wuhan from going to the island.

Chinese people had their own ways of protecting themselves.

“I go straight to where I need to go, and then I go home,” said 79-year-old Li Meihua, from behind a mask, on the streets of Shanghai.

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Indian Embassy in Beijing opens hotline for Indians in wake of Coronavirus outbreak

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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As China stepped up measures to control the spread of coronavirus, locking down Wuhan and Huanggang cities in the Hubei province where several Indians live, the Indian Embassy in Beijing has set up hotlines for their assistance.

Chinese officials assured all assistance, including food supply, to the Indians who stayed put in the province, the Indian Embassy said in a press release on Thursday.

Wuhan and its surrounding area became the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak as the confirmed cases climbed to over 600 mostly from the city and the province with 17 deaths so far.

China has virtually sealed Wuhan and Huanggang cities, halting all public transport, including flight services, and advised people to stay at home and follow the precautions. The two cities put together have a population of over 17 million people.

Chinese officials said the measures have been taken to prevent the spread of the virus to other cities and the world.

Concerns arose for India too as about 700 Indian students, mostly studying medicine in different Chinese universities, resided in Wuhan and its neighbouring areas.

While many of them were believed to have left home for the Chinese New Year holidays, others remained in the city to complete their academic work. However, the exact number is not yet known.

“The Embassy of India has been receiving queries from Indians in Hubei province as well as their relatives in India in connection with the evolving situation of coronavirus infection in China,” the embassy press release said.

The embassy is in touch with relevant Chinese authorities in Beijing and Wuhan as well as Indians in Hubei Province, especially in Wuhan, it said.

“We are closely monitoring the evolving situation in China, including the advisories issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO),” the embassy said.

According to the embassy, Chinese authorities have assured all assistance to residents of Wuhan, including food supply.

“At present, it is reported that supermarkets (particularly those that are government-run) and e-commerce services, including food delivery, continue to remain operational in Wuhan,” it said.

The embassy has started two hotlines for those who wish to get in touch with the Mission in this regard in the following phone numbers: +8618612083629 and +8618612083617.

“All are advised to also keep track of the embassy’s social media accounts (Twitter:@EoIBeijing; Facebook: India in China) for updates on this evolving situation,” the release said.

Meanwhile, the Chinese foreign ministry said all assistance would be provided to consular officials of the foreign missions to ensure the safety of the foreigners in the country.

Asked whether China would consider any request from the respective countries to move their citizens out of Wuhan, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, “We always help foreign consular officials in China in their official jobs, we offer them all the assistance and convenience necessary and we work to guarantee foreign citizens’ legitimate rights and interest in China.”

He said while specific detailed would be provided by local officials, China in principle, has always handled issues according to domestic laws, international laws and bilateral consular agreements.

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IndiGo to connect Mumbai-Chengdu daily from March 15

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Budget carrier IndiGo will operate direct flight between Mumbai and Chengdu daily from March 15, exactly six months after it launched Delhi-Chengdu.

This will be the third connectivity of IndiGo with China as it also operates a daily direct flight between Kolkata and Guangzhou. This will increase the frequency to 42 IndiGo flights operating to and fro between India and China each week.

The airline had entered China in September 2019 with a daily direct flight between Delhi and Chengdu.

As of now, there is no direct connectivity between Mumbai and Chengdu and there are one-stop flights available from IndiGo, Etihad, Air China among others on the route.

IndiGo has offered introductory fares on Chengdu-Mumbai route from Rs 10,920 and fares on Mumbai-Chengdu route start from Rs 11, 107.

Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province of China. It is also considered as one of the important economic, financial, commercial, cultural, transportation, and communication centres in Western China. Its airport also serves as the hub for Air China and Sichuan Airlines.

“We are committed to increasing accessibility and mobility between the two countries while promoting economic growth and social cohesion. Besides being a popular destination for Indian travellers, China is also the world’s largest source of travellers, over 100 million outbound trips estimated in 2020. We strive to build Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata as gateways from China to connect with over 60 destinations in India,” William Boulter, chief commercial officer, IndiGo said.

In the light of the outbreak of coronavirus in certain areas of China, IndiGo said it is taking necessary measures and its flight schedules are unaffected as of now.

“We are aware of the concerning situation of the coronavirus in certain areas of China and are working with the authorities to ensure the health and safety of our passengers and crew. At present, our flight schedules are unaffected,” Boulter added.

With its fleet of over 250 aircraft, the airline offers over 1500 daily flights and connects 63 domestic destinations and 24 international destinations. IndiGo ended 2019 with 47.1 percent market share.

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Kerala nurse in Saudi Arabia tested positive for coronavirus, 30 more quarantined in hospital

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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According to media reports, a nurse from Ettumannur in Kottayam district, working at the Al Hayat hospital in Saudi Arabia, has tested positive for the new coronavirus, which has killed 17 people in China.

At least 30 nurses from Kerala have also been kept under isolation at the hospital and they had taken care of a Filipino nurse who had tested positive for the virus, reports said.

However, health department sources in Thiruvananthapuram said they have no information about any nurses from the state having been affected. The department has issued an alert in the wake of the virus outbreak in China.

In Kerala, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan urged union external affairs minister S Jaishankar to take up the matter with the Gulf nation and ensure expert treatment for the nurses.

Vijayan made the request in a letter to Jaishankar in this regard, a statement from the chief minister’s office said in Thiruvananthapuram.

The government should get in touch with its counterpart in Saudi Arabia and take urgent steps including ensuring expert treatment and protection to those affected by the virus. The matter should be viewed seriously, Vijayan said in the letter.

State health minister KK Shyalaja has said those who have returned from China should inform district medical officers besides instructing officials to step up surveillance in all four airports– Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode and Kannur–in the state.

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China closes off large city to stop spread of deadly virus

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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China closed off a city of more than 11 million people Thursday in an unprecedented effort to try to contain a deadly new viral illness that has sickened hundreds and spread to other cities and countries in the Lunar New Year travel rush.

Normally bustling streets, shopping malls, restaurants and other public spaces in Wuhan were eerily quiet. Social media users posted that movie theaters were canceling showings and complained that food vendors were exploiting the situation with huge price increases on fresh produce.

Police, SWAT teams and paramilitary troops guarded the city’s train station, where metal barriers blocked the entrances at 10 am sharp. Only travelers holding tickets for the last trains were allowed to enter, with those booked for later trains being turned away. Virtually everyone at the scene was wearing masks, news website The Paper’s live broadcast showed.

“To my knowledge, trying to contain a city of 11 million people is new to science,” Gauden Galea, the World Health Organization’s representative in China, told The Associated Press in an interview at the WHO’s Beijing office. “It has not been tried before as a public health measure. We cannot at this stage say it will or it will not work.”

Local authorities have demanded all residents wear masks in public places and urged government staff to wear them at work and for shopkeepers to post signs for their visitors, Xinhua news agency quoted a government notice as saying.

Train stations, the airport, subways, ferries and long-distance shuttle buses were stopped in the city, an industrial and transportation hub in central China’s Hubei province. Xinhua cited the city’s anti-virus task force as saying the measures were taken in an attempt to “effectively cut off the virus spread, resolutely curb the outbreak and guarantee the people’s health and safety.”

Cake Liu left Wuhan last Friday after visiting her boyfriend there. She said everything was normal then, before human-to-human transmission of the virus was confirmed. But things have changed rapidly.

“(My boyfriend) didn’t sleep much yesterday. He disinfected his house and stocked up on instant noodles,” Liu said. “He’s not really going out. If he does he wears a mask.”

The illnesses from a newly identified coronavirus first appeared last month in Wuhan, and the vast majority of mainland China’s 571 cases have been in the city. Other cases have been reported in the Thailand, the United States, Japan and South Korea. One case was confirmed Thursday in Hong Kong after one was earlier confirmed in Macao. Most cases outside China were people from Wuhan or who had recently traveled there.

A total of 17 people have died, all of them in and around Wuhan. Their average age was 73, with the oldest 89 and the youngest 48.

The significant increase in illnesses reported just this week come as millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year, one of the world’s largest annual migrations of people. Analysts have predicted the reported cases will continue to multiply.

“Even if (the number of cases) are in the thousands, this would not surprise us,” Galea said, adding, however, that the number of cases is not an indicator of the outbreak’s severity, so long as the mortality rate remains low.

The coronavirus family includes the common cold as well as viruses that cause more serious illnesses, such as the SARS outbreak that spread from China to more than a dozen countries in 2002-2003 and killed about 800 people, and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome, which developed from camels.

China is keen to avoid repeating mistakes with its handling of SARS. For months, even after the illness had spread around the world, China parked patients in hotels and drove them around in ambulances to conceal the true number of cases and avoid WHO experts.

In the current outbreak, China has been credited with sharing information rapidly, and President Xi Jinping has emphasized that as a priority.

“Party committees, governments and relevant departments at all levels must put people’s lives and health first,” he said Monday. “It is necessary to release epidemic information in a timely manner and deepen international cooperation.”

The first cases in the Wuhan outbreak were connected to people who worked at or visited a seafood market, which has since been closed for an investigation. Experts suspect the virus was first transmitted from wild animals but the virus also may be mutating. Mutations can make it deadlier or more contagious.

WHO plans another meeting of scientific experts Thursday on whether to declare the outbreak a global health emergency, which it defines as an “extraordinary event” that constitutes a risk to other countries and requires a coordinated international response.

Many countries are screening travelers from China for illness, especially those arriving from Wuhan. North Korea has banned foreign tourists, a step it also took during the SARS outbreak and in recent years due to Ebola. Most foreigners going to North Korea are Chinese or travel there through neighboring China.

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What we know about the new coronavirus spreading in China and beyond

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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An outbreak of a new coronavirus that began in the central Chinese city of Wuhan has killed 17 and infected nearly 600 people globally.

Global health authorities fear the transmission rate will accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel at home and abroad during the week-long Lunar New Year holiday.

KNOWN CASES

China’s National Health Commission confirmed 571 cases and 17 deaths at the end of January 22.

Thailand reported four cases, and South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the United States one each. Patients in these cases were either residents of Wuhan or recent visitors to the city.

AUTHORITIES INVESTIGATING ORIGIN

Chinese authorities are trying to determine the origin of the virus, which they say came from a market in Wuhan where wildlife was traded illegally. The World Health Organization (WHO) says an animal appears most likely to be the primary source.

China’s National Health Commission Vice Minister Li Bin told reporters on Jan. 22 there was evidence of respiratory transmission of the virus from patient to patient. Chinese authorities say 15 medical staff have been infected.

Some experts say the virus may not be as deadly as other coronaviruses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 800 people during a 2002-2003 outbreak also originating from China.

COUNTER-MEASURES

There is no vaccine for the new virus, which China says is mutating. Symptoms include fever, cough and difficulty in breathing.

Chinese authorities shut down all urban transport networks and suspended outgoing flights from Wuhan as of 0200 GMT Thursday, urged residents to not leave the city and advised against travel into the city.

They have also stepped up monitoring and disinfection efforts ahead of the Lunar New Year break that starts on January 24.

Airports in the United States and Britain, as well as many Asian countries, including Japan, Thailand, Singapore and South Korea, stepped up screening of passengers from Wuhan. Russia strengthened sanitary and quarantine controls at entry points.

Taiwan advised people not to visit Wuhan unless absolutely necessary and suspended Wuhan tourist groups from visiting the island. Britain, Singapore and Australia also have advised against all but essential travel to the city.

The WHO sent directives to hospitals around the world on infection prevention and control. The UN body will decide on Thursday whether to declare the outbreak a global emergency.

PUBLIC, COMPANIES REACT

While the WHO has yet to recommend trade or travel restrictions, some Chinese travel booking platforms and airlines have offered free cancellations for Wuhan trips. Beyond Wuhan, some Chinese have begun cancelling travel plans for the Lunar New Year and avoiding public areas like cinemas and shopping centres.

Companies are handing out masks and warning staff to avoid Wuhan. Shanghai’s Disneyland will waive some rescheduling fees for customers who change travel plans. Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd will let passengers to Wuhan change or cancel flights without charge through February 15 and permit cabin crew to wear masks on flights to the mainland.

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Taiwan’s China Airlines suspends flights to Wuhan as coronavirus fears mount

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Taiwan’s China Airlines on Thursday said it would suspend flights to the central Chinese city of Wuhan from January 23 to February 29, after the city shut its airport as part of moves to tackle a new flu-like virus.

China Airlines’ flights from Taipei leave from the city’s main Taoyuan international airport. Its sister carrier Mandarin Airlines is also cancelling flights from Taipei’s smaller Songshan airport to Wuhan.

The airline said it would assist passengers who want to return to Wuhan to opt for other nearby destinations

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

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China’s Wuhan shuts down transport as global alarm mounts over virus spread

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Deaths from China’s new flu-like virus rose to 17 on Wednesday, with more than 540 cases confirmed, leading the city at the centre of the outbreak to close transportation networks and urge citizens not to leave as fears rose of the contagion spreading.

The previously unknown coronavirus strain is believed to have emerged from illegally traded wildlife at an animal market in the central city of Wuhan. Cases have been detected as far away as the United States.

Contrasting with its secrecy over the 2002-03 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 800 people, China’s communist government has this time given regular updates to try to avoid panic as millions travel for the Lunar New Year.

After a meeting at its Geneva headquarters on Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it would decide on Thursday whether to declare the outbreak a global health emergency, which would step up the international response.

If it does so, it will be the sixth international public health emergency to be declared in the last decade.

“This is an evolving and complex situation,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

As it seeks to stop the spread of the virus, Wuhan’s local government said it would close all urban transport networks and suspend outgoing flights from the city as of 10 a.m. on Thursday (0200 GMT), state media reported, adding that the government said citizens should not leave the city unless there were special circumstances.

The measure was intended to “effectively cut off the transmission of the virus, resolutely curb the spread of the epidemic, and ensure the health and safety of the people,” state media cited Wuhan’s virus task-force as saying.

Wuhan’s move was praised by Ghebreyesus as a “very strong” measure that could minimize the risk of contagion.

“If Wuhan is taking such drastic measures, we must assume widespread community transmission in this central China megacity & transport hub,” Lawrence Gostin, a public health expert at Georgetown University Law School in Washington, wrote in a tweet.

With more than 11 million people, Wuhan is central China’s main industrial and commercial centre, home to the country’s largest inland port and gateway to its Three Gorges hydroelectric dam.

The latest death toll in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, rose to 17 by midday on Wednesday, state television quoted the provincial government as saying.

However, the virus has already spread beyond the city to population centres including Beijing, Shanghai, Macau and Hong Kong.

The official China Daily newspaper said 544 cases had now been confirmed in the country. Thailand has confirmed four cases, while the United States, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan have each reported one.

Britain advised its citizens against all but essential travel to Wuhan.

Many Chinese were cancelling trips, buying face masks, avoiding public places such as cinemas and shopping centres, and even turning to an online plague simulation game as a way to cope.

“The best way to conquer fear is to confront fear,” said one commentator on China’s Twitter-like Weibo.

RESPIRATORY THREAT

China’s National Health Commission Vice Minister Li Bin said the virus, which can cause pneumonia and has no effective vaccine, was being spread via breathing. Symptoms include fever, coughing and difficulty breathing.

“I feel fearful, because there’s no cure for the virus,” said Fu Ning, a 36-year-old woman in Beijing. “You have to rely on your immunity if you get an infection. It sounds very scary.”

The WHO’s head of emergencies programme, Mike Ryan, said the priority was to find the roots of how the virus was passing between people.

Fears of a pandemic initially spooked markets but they regained their footing on Wednesday, with investors citing the robust response from authorities as reassuring.

But companies with operations in China, from Foxconn <2317.TW> to Huawei Technologies and HSBC Holdings <HSBA.L>, warned staff to avoid Wuhan and handed out masks.

The European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) said in a risk assessment that further global spread of the virus was likely. “The likelihood of case importation is highest in countries with the greatest volume of people travelling to and from Wuhan,” the ECDC’s director Andrea Ammon said in a statement.

Airports globally stepped up screening from China.

Russia strengthened its sanitary and quarantine controls, and Singapore and Saudi Arabia started screening all passengers from China.

The Chinese-ruled gambling hub of Macau confirmed its first case of pneumonia linked to the coronavirus and tightened body-temperature screening measures.

A first case emerged in Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, media reported, with the patient arriving via high-speed railway from the mainland, and Mexico was investigating a potential case.

North Korea banned foreign tourists, several foreign tour operators said. Some qualifying boxing matches for the 2020 Olympics set for Wuhan were cancelled and women’s football qualifiers were shifted to Nanjing.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

As Coronavirus spreads, anxiety rises in China and overseas

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Face masks sold out and officials at airports and train stations checked passengers for fevers as China on Tuesday sought to control the outbreak of Coronavirus that has reached four other countries and territories and threatens to spread further during the Lunar New Year travel rush.

Anxiety grew both at home and abroad after Chinese government expert Zhong Nanshan confirmed fears on state television late Monday that the new type of coronavirus can spread from human to human.

Six people have died and 291 have been infected in China, the National Health Commission said Tuesday.

The US on Tuesday reported its first case, saying a Washington state resident who returned last week from the outbreak’s epicenter was hospitalized near Seattle.

The stock prices of some companies that sell masks rose Tuesday, but markets fell in much of Asia as investors worried about the potential impact on tourism and the economy.

Concerned about a global outbreak similar to SARS, another coronavirus that spread from China to more than a dozen countries in 2002-2003, numerous nations have adopted screening measures for travelers from China, especially those arriving from Wuhan, the central city where the virus appears to have originated.

Guards at Wuhan’s airport pointed electronic thermometers at travelers. Several online retailers were sold out of masks, which were being sold for more than 10 times their original price. Users of the popular Weibo social media platform urged others to wash their hands and stay home.

Outside the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where many of the coronavirus patients are receiving care, several workers were dressed in full-body biohazard suits, supplemented by goggles, masks and plastic wrapped around their shoes.

While many wore masks in Wuhan, streets were far from deserted and people appeared to be carrying on with their regular activities.

“I’m not that worried,” said Helen Cao, a Wuhan resident who was shopping on a downtown avenue lined with stores and full of pedestrians. Like many in the city, she began wearing a mask after hearing Zhong’s assessment of human-to-human transmission.

“Maybe people from other places are more concerned about our health, but (Wuhan) locals actually are continuing to eat, go out and take strolls, go clubbing at night,” Cao said. “Everything’s very normal, everyone’s just wearing masks, nothing more.”

Initial symptoms of the new coronavirus include fever, cough, tightness of the chest and shortness of breath.

The first cases late last month were connected to a seafood market, and transmission was thought to be occurring from animals to humans. Authorities previously had not confirmed human-to-human transmission.

In addition to 258 cases in Wuhan, more than 20 have been diagnosed in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong province in the south and Zhejiang in the east. Four cases have been confirmed overseas among Chinese travelers in South Korea, Japan and Thailand. A Taiwanese businesswoman who just returned from Wuhan tested positive for the virus, Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control reported Tuesday.

Fifteen medical workers have also tested positive for the virus, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said.

Two cases in Guangdong were people who had not visited Wuhan but fell ill after family members returned from there. Zhong cited those as evidence the disease had spread between humans.

Australia, Japan, South Korea and the U.S. were among the countries increasing airport screenings. Three weekly direct flights from Wuhan to Sydney will be met by border security and biosecurity staff for assessments, chief Australian medical officer Brendan Murphy told reporters.

“Please take every possible precaution,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instructed the health minister and other government departments.

The coronavirus family includes those that cause the common cold, but some found in bats, camels and other animals have evolved into more severe illnesses like SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, and MERS, Middle East respiratory syndrome.

The possibility the virus can be transmitted between people increases the chances it could spread faster and more widely. The Chinese government has estimated people will make around 3 billion trips during the Lunar New Year travel season, but some social media users have said they may stay home due to concern about the virus.

In his first public remarks on the illness, Chinese President Xi Jinping instructed government departments to promptly release information on the virus and deepen international cooperation.

When SARS began infecting people in southern China, the Chinese government initially tried to conceal the severity of the epidemic, which ended up killing nearly 800 people. The cover-up was exposed by a high-ranking physician.

Gabriel Leung, dean of medicine at the University of Hong Kong, said Chinese authorities have responded much more quickly this time.

“Our underlying assumptions are the force of infection is very different now … because so many public health measures have been undertaken and so many interventions have been executed,” Leung told reporters at a briefing.

Leung, who was heavily involved in the response to SARS, said modeling shows that cases will multiply over the coming weeks but the outbreak will gradually lose momentum as precautions take effect.

For the moment, the new coronavirus appears to be far less lethal than SARS.

“Based on current information, an animal source seems the most likely primary source of this outbreak with limited human-to-human transmission occurring between close contacts,” World Health Organization spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said at a briefing.

“Based on current data, some new cases seem to experience milder diseases which is within the milder end of the spectrum of symptoms caused by respiratory illnesses,” Jasarevic said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang pledged rigorous measures to tackle the virus.

“We will resolutely contain the spread of the epidemic,” Geng said.

Surgical masks were mandatory Tuesday at Beijing United Family Hospital, where all visitors had their temperatures taken at the entrance.

At one pharmacy in Shanghai, a shopkeeper named Liu Zhuzhen said more than 100 people had bought masks by midday. They were already sold out despite having recently been restocked.

3M, an American brand popular in China for anti-pollution masks, was sold out of masks on its official online stores on e-commerce platforms Taobao and JD.com as of Tuesday afternoon. Other retailers were selling 3M masks at a markup, including for as much as 40 yuan ($7) a mask. Websites that track online pricing show the same masks used to sell for 3 yuan (53 cents) each.

State broadcaster CCTV quoted Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang urging limitations on travel.

“Unless it’s necessary, people outside should not come to Wuhan, and citizens of Wuhan should not leave the city,” Zhou said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow