Accra, Jan. 23, (UPI/GNA) – Chinese
officials expanded travel restrictions on Thursday to include two more cities,
one of which was also ordered to lock down to mitigate the spread of a deadly
coronavirus.
China has closed off access to the major
port city of Wuhan, where the outbreak originated, but officials added
Huanggang and Ezhou to the restricted list. Huanggang, like Wuhan prevously,
was also placed on lockdown.
Huanggang, 30 miles east of Wuhan, is home
to 7 million people and Ezhou 1 million.
Chinese officials also said tighter
regulations will be placed on certain vehicles leaving Wuhan, to prevent
potentially infected persons from spreading the virus outside the restricted
zone. And drivers and conductors should all be monitored and disinfected, a
notice said.
Earlier, Chinese scientists said the
coronavirus may have originated with a snake. The researchers published the
findings in the Journal of Medical Virology, which says the virus most likely
transferred to humans from the snake — a many-banded krait or Chinese cobra.
Scientists conducted a sequence analysis of
the virus isolated from a patient and compared it to other animals, determining
the two snakes — which are common in southeastern China — are most likely the
source.
“Our findings suggest that the snake is
the most probable wildlife animal reservoir,” the team wrote.
Researchers called for more investigation to
confirm that snakes serve as reservoirs for the virus, but said their findings
are “highly significant for effective control of the outbreak.”
Patients first became ill from the mystery
virus last month that was later identified as a coronavirus the World Health
Organization classifies as 2019-nCoV. The origin was traced to a seafood market
in Wuhan, where a variety of live animals are sold, including snakes, chickens
and bats.
The virus — which is similar to that which
caused a SARS outbreak that killed hundreds in China in the early 2000s — has
since jumped borders with cases reported in Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Hong
Kong and the United States. In China, at least 17 people have died and nearly
600 have become ill.
Chinese officials placed Wuhan under partial
lockdown ahead of the Lunar New Year weekend, during which millions are
expected to travel across the country. The partial lockdown took effect at 10
a.m. Thursday and halted all transportation in and out of the city. Trains,
airplanes, buses, subways and ferries have been grounded and highways have been
closed.
“People who don’t obey the requirements
shall be dealt with by authorities in accordance with their respective duties
and laws,” the Wuhan government said in a statement.
The WHO will meet again Thursday to decide
if the outbreak constitutes “a public health emergency of international
concern.”
“Our team in China working with local
experts and officials to investigate the outbreak,” WHO Director-General
Tedros Abhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday. “We will have much more to say
[Thursday].”
GNA