The World Health Organization declared on Thursday that the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak poses a global health emergency, acknowledging that the disease now represents a risk beyond China, where it emerged last month.
The decision reversed the organization’s decision just a week ago to hold off such a declaration.
Since then, W.H.O. officials said, thousands of new cases in China and clear human-to-human transmission in several other countries — now including the United States — warranted a reconsideration of that decision by the agency’s expert committee.
Although the agency’s declaration — officially called a “public health emergency of international concern” — does not have the force of law, it serves notice to all United Nations member states that the world’s top health advisory body thinks the situation is grave. It is up to the governments to make decisions whether to close country’s borders, cancel flights, screen people arriving at airports or take other protective measures.
Declaring an emergency is an act that adds urgency to any W.H.O. appeal for money. The countries most affected — China, Japan, Germany, South Korea, the United States and Vietnam — can afford to wage their own battles against the virus. By contrast, the Democratic Republic of Congo has needed large infusions of cash and medical expertise to fight an ongoing Ebola outbreak, and the need for money was one of the reasons the W.H.O. declared an international emergency in that case, even though Ebola has not spread outside of Congo except in a few patients who briefly entered Uganda.
China has now confirmed cases in every province and region. The agency praised China’s leadership for its aggressive response to the virus, effectively walling off Hubei Province, which stranded more than 30 million people, at the height of the New Year holidays. China official said on Thursday that another 38 people had died from the disease, bringing the total to 170. Nearly 8,000 cases have been reported worldwide, almost all of them in mainland China. On Thursday, Russia closed its 2,600-mile border with China and stopped all trains except for one between Moscow and Beijing. In efforts to contain the Coronavirus: Countries evacuate their nationals and limit travel to China. There been reports of disinformation about Coronavirus on Social Media Platforms.
U.S. Evacuates Citizens from Wuhan as Death Toll Mounts
The airlifting by foreign governments of their citizens out of Wuhan is under way. A chartered plane carrying 240 Americans from the Chinese city at the epicenter of a coronavirus outbreak landed in Alaska on Tuesday night. The passengers, including diplomats and businesspeople, will undergo medical screening and quarantined, depending on their health condition before continuing on to their final destination in California. According to US authorities, the screening of travelers is expanded to 20 ports of entry. Governments and businesses around the world issues fresh warnings today and Americans are now discouraged from visiting China. United Airlines and Air Canada said on Tuesday that they would reduce flights to China, canceling dozens of scheduled trips over the coming days and weeks because of a sudden drop in demand. Health officials in the United States have also warned against all nonessential travel to China.
“The passengers will be screened and go through the immigration process,” US officials said. “They will re-board their flight and head to their final destination.”
However, any passengers found to have a cough, fever or shortness of breath in Anchorage will be further assessed by medical experts, according to a statement released by Alaska’s Department of Health and Social Services. If the medical team determines that special care is necessary, it will refer those passengers to a nearby hospital. Alaska has had no cases of the new coronavirus or people suspected of having it. But after officials announced on Monday that the plane would be taking Americans to Alaska from Wuhan, the health department said that it had activated its emergency operations center to help coordinate detection and response efforts.
Other countries that have evacuated or plan to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan include France, South Korea, Japan, Morocco, Germany, Kazakhstan, Britain, Canada, Russia, the Netherlands, Myanmar and Australia. British Airways cancels all flights to and from China amid fears of the outbreak. A dearth of test kits has hindered health officials’ ability to accurately diagnose and track the illness.
The Spread of Outbreak Outside China:
Thailand has reported 14 cases of infection; Hong Kong has eight; the United States, Taiwan, Australia and Macau have five each; Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia each have reported four; Japan has seven; France has four; Canada has three; Vietnam has two; and Nepal, Cambodia, Germany and the United Arab Emirates each have one. Cases recorded in Taiwan, Germany, Vietnam and Japan involved patients who had not been to China. There have been no reported deaths outside China.
SARS, or severe acute respiratory illness, was a coronavirus that rapidly spread across China in 2003 and killed 774 people in 17 countries. The Wuhan virus was later determined to be a different disease, the new coronavirus.
Scientists Race to Develop a Coronavirus Vaccine
According to an article published in the journal Science Advances, Swiss and British researchers who had previously produced a gold-based anti-viral, have succeeded in developing an antiviral using natural glucose derivatives, called cyclodextrins. They have modified sugar molecules to enable to destroy viruses that they come in contact, without toxicity to humans. The method could apply, for example, to the new coronavirus in China. “So-called “virucidal” substances, such as bleach, destroy viruses by simple contact, but they cannot be applied to the human body without causing serious damage,” noted the University of Geneva (UNIGE) in a statement.