The number of infections with the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in mainland China exceeded that of the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) epidemic in the country in 2002-2003, according to official figures released Wednesday, January 29.
Chinese health officials counted 5,974 confirmed cases of contamination in mainland China on Wednesday, more than 1,400 more than the previous day, while the death toll worsened with 132 deaths. SARS, also a coronavirus, had infected 5,327 people in mainland China, and caused 349 deaths in the country. Globally, according to the WHO, the SARS epidemic killed 774 out of 8,096 cases in 2002-2003 before being brought under control.
- Deemed less “powerful” and more contagious than SARS was
Appeared in Wuhan (central China) in December, the new virus, like SARS, is transmitted between humans and results in severe respiratory problems. This virus, baptized 2019-nCoV, and that of SARS belong to the same family of coronaviruses, and have 80% of genetic similarities.
The 2019-nCoV is however judged less “Potent” and more contagious. “As we see it now, this disease is not (…) not as powerful as SARS “said Gao Fu, head of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, to the press on Sunday. In contrast, the new virus has an incubation period of up to two weeks and “Contagion is possible during the incubation period”, even before symptoms appear, “Which is also very different from Sras”, noted Ma Xiaowei, head of the National Health Commission (CNS).
- Plane with 200 Japanese evacuees from Wuhan lands in Tokyo
A plane dispatched by the Japanese government carrying some 200 Japanese nationals evacuated from the city of Wuhan, the main focus of the new coronavirus appeared in China, landed Wednesday morning in Tokyo, a team from Agence France-Presse (AFP) found on square. The aircraft landed shortly before 8:45 a.m. (local time, 12:45 a.m. Paris time) at Tokyo Haneda Airport.
- Canada seeks to repatriate nationals to China
Canada consults with allies and “Study all his options” to repatriate Canadians living in the region of China hit by the new coronavirus, the Minister of Foreign Affairs announced on Tuesday when three cases were detected in this country.
François-Philippe Champagne said during a press briefing on Tuesday evening that 126 Canadians living in the Wuhan region (central China), where the new virus appeared, had requested consular assistance. “We are consulting our allies and we are studying the different options” to repatriate them, he explained, at a time when several countries like France, Japan and the United States were speeding up their preparations to rescue part of their nationals trapped in the metropolis of Wuhan. “Either a country sends a plane to bring its citizens back, or it talks with other countries to get seats on the plane”, he summed up.
- Australia manages to replicate new coronavirus
Scientists in Australia have successfully replicated the coronavirus that appeared in China in December in what they describe as a crucial step forward in the fight against the ongoing viral pneumonia epidemic. The Doherty Institute in Melbourne announced on Wednesday that it had been able to create a new coronavirus from a sample obtained from an infected patient, for the first time outside China.
“By getting the real virus it means that we now have the ability to validate and verify all of our tests, and compare reactions and sensitivities”, said one of the people in charge of this laboratory, Julian Druce. “It is fundamental for the diagnosis”, he added.
China had quickly succeeded in sequencing the genome of this new coronavirus and in publishing the results, allowing scientists around the world to develop new diagnostic tools. The Chinese authorities, however, have not shared the virus itself with laboratories around the world, which the Australian institute will now do, via the World Health Organization (WHO), which however indicated for its part that Beijing had authorized the arrival in China of international experts to collaborate with their Chinese counterparts.
Our selection of articles on the new Chinese coronavirus
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