Coronavirus: Is it time to panic?
The news is dominated by the spread of this new virus that can cause pneumonia and kill. Here’s all you need to know…
At the time of going to press, it had killed 170 people, infected nearly 8,000 and dominated global headlines as well as shutting down some of the planet’s biggest cities and rattling financial markets.
The unpromisingly named 2019-nCoV – better known as the Coronavirus – has become a household name.
Its story started on New Year’s Eve, when the World Health Organisation ( WHO) was alerted to several cases of pneumonia in Wuhan in the Hubei Province of China.
This new virus did not match any other known virus. A week later, on 7 January, Chinese
authorities confirmed that it was a new coronavirus, from a family of viruses that include the common cold and viruses such as SARS, which killed over 700 people in an outbreak between 2002 and 2003.
Like SARS, which was transmitted from civet cats, a local delicacy in Southern China, this new virus is thought to have been transmitted from either a bat or a snake in the livestock market in Wuhan.
Also like SARS, this virus causes pneumonia, with those who have fallen ill suffering coughs, fever and breathing difficulties. And, as this is viral pneumonia, antibiotics are of no use. Recovery depends on the strength of a patient’s immune system – those who have died so far were already in poor health.
Within a month, Coronavirus has spread to 18 countries, with cases reported as far afield as Australia and the USA.
Last week, the first three European cases were confirmed in France – all from people who had recently visited the Wuhan area and brought it back with them.
Then Germany confirmed its first case on 28 January; a 33-year-old man who caught the virus from a Chinese work colleague who visited the country last week.
So, should we be worried here in the UK? At the time of going to press, there had been no confirmed cases here; although people have reported symptoms, all tests have come back negative. So far.
Dr Ellie Cannon, a Londonbased GP, cautioned against panic when we spoke to her last week: ‘It’s always very difficult not to over-panic and always very difficult not to underplay in regard to people’s worries,’ she said. There are two important things to remember, she says: ‘One: there have been no cases in the UK as yet.
‘Secondly, so far with this new respiratory virus the fatality rate does not appear to be as high as it was with the SARS virus which was a very worrying infection.’
Reassuringly, she says that frontline NHS staff, like herself, are constantly being updated on the situation: ‘The most important thing is identifying people who could be at risk.
‘Obviously, those who have returned from Wuhan, where most of the cases are. And to look at a patient’s travel history.
‘The current guidance is to concentrate on people from that region and those who have been in contact with them.
‘But on the whole, it’s a pretty low risk to anyone else.’
At Heathrow, the UK’s busiest airport, a ‘health hub’ has been set up to screen passengers coming from the affected area who may be showing symptoms.
The NHS has already set up four centres for isolation and treatment if needed – two in London, one in Liverpool and one in Newcastle.
WHO’s advice to avoid transmission is to ‘frequently clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water’.
Also to avoid anyone who has a fever and cough and to cover your nose and mouth with tissues when coughing and sneezing.
Bin used tissues immediately and wash hands.
It has issued a stark warning: ‘the whole world needs to be on alert’.
Officials are desperately trying to track down 1,500 people who are still in the UK after landing from Wuhan in the past three weeks.
Heath minister Matt Hancock said last week, ‘ We are asking anyone in
the UK who has returned from Wuhan in the last 14 days to self-isolate. Stay indoors and avoid contact with other people – and to contact NHS 111. If you are in Northern Ireland, you should phone your GP.
‘If you develop respiratory symptoms within 14 days of travel to the area, and are now in the UK, call your GP or ring 111 informing them of your symptoms and your recent travel to the city.
‘Do not leave your home until you have been given advice by a clinician.’
‘ The whole world needs to be on alert’