Accra, Jan. 22, (UPI/GNA) – A recently
identified coronavirus has killed nine people in the central Chinese city of
Wuhan and infected 440 others nationwide, Chinese health officials said
Wednesday as they attempt to clamp down on an outbreak that has spread past its
borders.
China’s National Health Commission Deputy
Director Li Bin increased the death count to nine after three people died since
Tuesday, stating in a televised address that all the deaths occurred in Hubei
province where the coronavirus was first detected late last month in the city
of Wuhan.
The nearly 450 confirmed cases of the
coronavirus were discovered in 13 provinces and more than 300 patients are
currently under medical watch, he said.
“Our experts believe the cases are
mostly linked to Wuhan,” he said.
Cases have also been reported in Japan,
Thailand and South Korea with the majority of the patients connected to the
outbreak city of Wuhan. The United States confirmed its first case of the
disease on Tuesday.
Health officials in Wuhan first confirmed
patients were falling ill with pneumonia caused by a mysterious virus on Dec.
31. The disease was identified about a week later as a coronavirus similar to
the one behind severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, which killed
hundreds of people in China between 2002 and 2003.
The disease is believed to have originated
from a now-closed Wuhan seafood market and it was originally thought only
transferable by animals.
However, human-to-human transmission has
been observed, raising fears of it spreading.
Li said medical workers in Wuhan have
contracted the disease suggesting “community-based transmission” is
possible but evidence shows that the disease is mainly transmitted through the
respiratory tract.
However, the disease may mutate, he said,
“and there is risk of further spread.”
The National Health Commission has upgraded
the new strain of the coronavirus to a Class B infectious disease but Li said
it will be treated as a Class A disease, which allows health officials to
quarantine suspected cases and lockdown areas.
However, with Lunar New Year celebrations on
Saturday with millions expected to travel throughout the country, China will be
taking additional stringent measures to contain the disease including
quarantine of patients and those they come into contact with and additional
body temperature screenings at bus stops, airports and other populous venues,
he said.
“We must not let down our guard and we
must be highly vigilant,” he said.
The Wolrd Health Organization said the
disease is a new coronavirus strain that has not been previously identified in
humans and has called an emergency meeting for Wednesday to decide whether the
outbreak meets the criteria of a public health emergency.
GNA