Image courtesy: WHO
With the internet and social media flooding with false information and disinformation of all sorts about the coronavirus outbreak in central China, it’s important to have unpolluted information about what’s happening globally. Here are the facts or credible information of what the situation was by Wednesday, 29 January 2020.
Virus name:
Novel (new) Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)
Origin:
Wuhan, Hubei province, China – It is reported that 2019-nCoV emerged from Wuhan’s Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which is a live animal and seafood market in the city’s Jianghan District.
Source:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in its online evolving situation summary of the coronavirus outbreak states:
“2019-nCoV is a betacoronavirus, like MERS and SARs, all of which have their origins in bats. The sequences from U.S. patients are similar to the one that China initially posted, suggesting a likely single, recent emergence of this virus from an animal reservoir.”
– CDC
Risk:
According to the CDC:
“This is a serious public health threat. The fact that this virus has caused severe illness and sustained person-to-person spread in China is concerning … The risk to individuals is dependent on exposure.”
– CDC
History of the outbreak:
On its 2019-nCoV information page, the World Health Organisation (WHO) states:
“On 31 December 2019, WHO was alerted to several cases of pneumonia in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. The virus did not match any other known virus. This raised concern because when a virus is new, we do not know how it affects people. One week later, on 7 January, Chinese authorities confirmed that they had identified a new virus. “
– WHO
Infections:
By mid-morning on Wednesday, 29 January 2020, the daily WHO situation report noted 6 065 confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV infection:
- 5 997 confirmed cases in China;
- 68 confirmed cases in 15 other countries in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America;
- No confirmed cases in Africa (although there have been reports of suspected cases in a number of countries);
- 132 deaths.
Treatment:
There is as yet no treatment / cure for 2019-nCoV.
For more information and facts, regularly look in on the WHO situation report page and make use of its Myth busters to spread the facts.
For some quick information on coronaviruses, see this WHO video: