With an incubation period of 14 days, coronavirus infections may be much higher than the over 1,300 reported
Fears of a global pandemic are rising as authorities in China struggle to contain the spread of a pneumonia-like illness with a travel lockdown widening to include a dozen cities in central China.
Fifteen new deaths were announced by health officials in Hubei province on January 25, the start of the Lunar New Year holiday, raising the death toll to 41. All but three of the victims of the newly identified coronavirus perished in Wuhan, the central Chinese city of 11 million at the epicenter of the outbreak.
Though more than 20 cases of the virus have been identified elsewhere in Asia and as far afield as Europe and the United States, fatalities have thus far been confined to China. There is no vaccine or specific treatment for the Wuhan coronavirus, though China has confirmed it can be transmitted through human contact.
The majority of fatal cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), are among the elderly with pre-existing chronic conditions that would increase their susceptibility to infectious diseases.
Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.
Fears of a global pandemic are rising as authorities in China struggle to contain the spread of a pneumonia-like illness with a travel lockdown widening to include a dozen cities in central China.
Fifteen new deaths were announced by health officials in Hubei province on January 25, the start of the Lunar New Year holiday, raising the death toll to 41. All but three of the victims of the newly identified coronavirus perished in Wuhan, the central Chinese city of 11 million at the epicenter of the outbreak.
Though more than 20 cases of the virus have been identified elsewhere in Asia and as far afield as Europe and the United States, fatalities have thus far been confined to China. There is no vaccine or specific treatment for the Wuhan coronavirus, though China has confirmed it can be transmitted through human contact.
The majority of fatal cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), are among the elderly with pre-existing chronic conditions that would increase their susceptibility to infectious diseases.
Read the full story at Asia Times.
