RTSun, 26 Jan 2020 17:00 UTC
© cnsphoto / Reuters
The mysterious coronavirus is now spreading more rapidly and little is still known about it, China's senior health officials said, as Beijing grapples with shortages of hazmat suits and protective masks.
"The virus' transmission ability has become stronger," National Health Commission Minister Ma Xiaowei said at a press briefing on Sunday.
Ma said that the previously-unknown coronavirus, which has already killed 56 people in China, is spreading faster, while the outbreak is entering a "more serious and complicated phase."
The official noted that the government's knowledge of the new virus remains limited and they remain puzzled about the risks posed by its mutations. Beijing will dispatch additional teams of medics to assist patients and study the virus, he added.
Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention head Fu Gao said that there were no signs of clear mutation of the virus so far, but further surveillance is needed.
Local media has reported about the shortage of basic protective gear, like goggles and masks, in Wuhan, the capital of the central Hubei Province, which has been hit hardest by the outbreak. Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology Wang Jiangping said that Hubei needs about 100,000 protective medical suits per day but the factories across the country are making only 30,000 of them daily.
The authorities have ordered an increase in production and have diverted millions of masks, along with scores of hazmat suits, gloves and goggles, to Wuhan. The local office of the Red Cross has set up a 24-hour hotline for accepting donations of equipment. E-commerce giant Alibaba, laptop-maker Lenovo, and the world's largest gaming company Tencent have all pledged to donate large sums of money to purchase medical supplies.
Wuhan and nine other major cities in Hubei were partially quarantined in an effort to contain the outbreak. Ma said that the week-long Lunar New Year vacation provides the best window for the "isolation and disinfection" of the area.
Comment: TASS
reports on China's progress on a vaccine:
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention has started developing a vaccine against coronavirus of the new type 2019-nCoV that causes pneumonia, China Daily has reported.
"Research and development of a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, which has caused a wider outbreak in China, is under way," the paper writes, citing Xu Wenbo, head of the center's viral disease control and prevention institute.
"Scientists from the center have successfully isolated the virus, and are working to select the proper strain for vaccine production," the report said.
Other countries are implementing measures to protect their populations from the spread. In
India:
On Saturday, Health Ministry officials briefed top cabinet members, including the home, foreign, defense and civil aviation secretaries, about the screening and other preventative measures being undertaken as more countries report 2019-nCoV infections.
While nobody in India has tested positive for the new coronavirus yet, authorities routinely take samples from all travelers who show any respiratory disease symptoms. Over 20,000 passengers on 115 flights at seven international airports across India have been screened in recent days.
In addition to thermal scanners set up earlier, several multidisciplinary teams comprising public health experts, clinicians and microbiologists were sent to airports in New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi on Sunday. According to Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, screening measures have also been increased at the border with Nepal, which reported the first coronavirus case on Friday.
The Health Ministry also issued a fresh advisory for travelers going to or returning from China, urging them to avoid close contacts and promptly seek medical attention, and report to the Indian Embassy, if they feel sick and have symptoms like fever and cough.
While in
Hong Kong, part of the population is panicking, a situation
U.S.-backed protestors seem happy to exploit :
In a bizarre attack, masked protesters have thrown Molotov cocktails into the lobby of a building that the Hong Kong authorities were planning to use to quarantine people in need of testing for the deadly coronavirus.
© Reuters / Tyrone SiuHong Kong protesters set alight the building that authorities planned to use as a quarantine facility.
As of Sunday, a total of eight people in Hong Kong had been diagnosed with the disease originating from the mainland China city of Wuhan, with three more patients added to the list. Hong Kong has declared a state of emergency over the outbreak and rolled out measures to prevent the spread of the infection.
One of these was meant to reserve a newly-built empty public housing building in the Fanling area as a backup quarantine area for people who may have contacted infected patients but don't show symptoms themselves.
But the decision has sparked protests from some local residents fearful that the building would pose a public health threat. On Sunday, some seemed to have taken their fears to another level, by using firebombs.
In the wake of the incident the Hong Kong health authorities said the plan to use the building was suspended. Several other sites in more isolated locations have been set aside for the same purpose.
The firebombing incident highlights how the tactics embraced by violent anti-Beijing protesters in Hong Kong has become common in the city. Amid the coronavirus outbreak the city authorities have come under increased pressure, with a medical staff union demanding the closure Hong Kong's border, threatening to go on strike otherwise.
The city is also working on providing isolated temporary housing to medics working with infected patients and who want to live separately from their families until the threat is dealt with.
The hunt for blame takes to social media as a Chinese travel blogger was forced
to apologize for eating a bat on camera in 2017:
The clip from the show resurfaced and went viral after Chinese scientists discovered that the new rapidly-spreading coronavirus, which has already killed 56 people in the country, is nearly identical to the coronavirus found in bats, a delicacy in some part of China.
Many commenters on social media deemed Wang's video unsettling and accused her of spreading a dangerous message by encouraging others to consume bats. "Every Chinese ppl think it's disgusting," one person wrote of Twitter.
The blogger promptly apologized, saying that she was "just trying to introduce the life of local people" to the viewers.
"I didn't know that bat is a primary reservoir of viruses ... I really did not check the information or explain its dangerous nature," she wrote, promising not to eat wild animals ever again. After the backlash, the video has been taken down from the channel.
China is struggling to maintain internal order and also to present to the world the appearance of a competent, pro-active response to the emergency:
Comment: TASS reports on China's progress on a vaccine: Other countries are implementing measures to protect their populations from the spread. In India: While in Hong Kong, part of the population is panicking, a situation U.S.-backed protestors seem happy to exploit : The hunt for blame takes to social media as a Chinese travel blogger was forced to apologize for eating a bat on camera in 2017: China is struggling to maintain internal order and also to present to the world the appearance of a competent, pro-active response to the emergency: