Virus’s people-to-people spread raises new worries
BEIJING — World health officials expressed “great concern” Wednesday that a dangerous new virus is starting to spread between people outside China, a troubling development as China and the world frantically work to contain the outbreak. For a second day, the number of infections grew dramatically.
The new virus has now infected more people in China than were sickened there during the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak. On Wednesday, the number of cases jumped to 7,711, surpassing the 5,327 people diagnosed with SARS.
The death toll, which stood at 170 Wednesday, is still less than half the number who died in China from severe acute respiratory syndrome. Scientists say there are many questions to be answered about the new virus, including just how easily it spreads and how severe it is.
The World Health Organization’s emergencies chief said Wednesday that China was taking “extraordinary measures in the face of an extraordinary challenge” posed by the outbreak.
Dr. Michael Ryan spoke at a news conference after returning from a trip to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other senior government leaders. He said the epidemic remains centered in the city of Wuhan and in Hubei province but that “information is being updated and is changing by the hour.”
Ryan said the few cases of human-to-human spread of the virus outside China — in Japan, Germany, Canada and Vietnam — were of “great concern”and were part of the reason the U.N. health agency’s director-general was reconvening a committee of experts today. It will assess whether the outbreak should be declared a global emergency.
To date, about 99% of the nearly 6,000 cases are in China.
Ryan estimated the death rate of the new virus at 2%, but said the figure was very preliminary. With fluctuating numbers of cases and deaths, scientists are only able to produce a rough estimate of the fatality rate and it’s likely many milder cases of the virus are being missed.
In comparison, the SARS virus killed about 10% of people who caught it.
The new virus is from the coronavirus family, which includes those that can cause the common cold as well as more serious illnesses such as SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome.
Ryan noted there were several aspects of the new virus outbreak that are extremely worrying, citing the recent rapid spike in cases in China. He said that while scientists believe the outbreak was sparked by an animal virus, it’s unclear if there are other factors driving the epidemic.
“Without understanding that, it’s very hard to put into context the current transmission dynamics,” he said.
Meanwhile, countries began evacuating their citizens from the Chinese city hardest-hit by the virus. Chartered planes carrying about 200 evacuees each arrived in Japan and the United States as other countries planned similar evacuations from the city of Wuhan, which authorities have shut down to try to contain the virus.
The first cases in the Middle East were confirmed Wednesday, a family of four from Wuhan that was visiting the United Arab Emirates. Airlines around the world announced that they were cutting flights to China, and Hong Kong was suspending rail travel to and from the mainland at midnight today.
Australia, Finland and Singapore were among those reporting new cases. The vast majority are people who arrived from Wuhan.
The U.S. plane arrived in California after a refueling stop in Alaska. All 201 passengers, who included diplomats from the U.S. Consulate in Wuhan, passed health screenings in China and Anchorage, and were to undergo three days of monitoring at a Southern California military base to ensure they show no signs of the illness.
“The whole plane erupted into cheers when the crew welcomed them back to the United States,” Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska’s chief medical officer, told reporters in Anchorage.
Australia, New Zealand and Britain were among the latest countries to announce that they are planning evacuations.
The outbreak has affected international sporting events. The International Hockey Federation postponed Pro League games in China, and soccer, basketball and boxing qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics in February have been moved outside the country.
In China’s Hubei province, 17 cities including Wuhan have been locked down, trapping more than 50 million people in the most far-reaching disease-control measures ever imposed.