Hebei outbreak from overseas; patient zero before Dec 15
The virus strain found in coronavirus-hit Hebei Province in North China is believed to be from overseas and patient zero had emerged before December 15, Hebei authorities revealed on Sunday, but how the virus was imported remains a mystery.
Even though Shijiazhuang reported 40 more confirmed cases in the morning of Sunday, experts predicted that whether this outbreak can be brought under control depends on whether the number of new confirmed cases sees a downward trend in the next two weeks.
The tracking of infection sources is ongoing, but preliminary estimates showed that the virus strain of the Hebei outbreak may have originated from overseas. The virus gene sequencing results showed the virus strain belongs to a European family branch, and has no relation with previous domestic outbreaks, Shi Jian, an official from the Hebei provincial disease prevention and control center, said at a press conference on Sunday.
Furthermore, the full genome sequence of the coronavirus in this outbreak does not contain the mutant viruses detested in Great British and South Africa, Shi revealed.
Based on the time of the onset of the early cases and the passage of the virus, it is initially thought that patient zero had emerged before December 15.
Previously, experts have said the Shijiazhuang international airport could have brought the virus into neighboring villages, which is also the epicenter of the current outbreak.
Those infections were distributed to within a few kilometers around the airport, and some of the infections are related to hotels with villagers living nearby, Shi said.
As part of efforts to find the source of infections, local authorities will thoroughly check any quarantined people from overseas and working staff, and airport working staff involved in international cargo loading from November. Cold-chain industry personnel and imported cargo will also be disinfected.
Local authorities revealed at the Sunday conference that no turning point is in sight.
Wang Guangfa, a respiratory expert at Peking University First Hospital, told the Global Times on Sunday that if local prevention and control measures are effective, the new confirmed cases in Shijiazhuang will see a downward trend within two weeks.