World Health Organization says there is 'window of opportunity' to stop spread of coronavirus
(Baonghean.vn) - Global health experts say the world has a "window of opportunity" to prevent the spread of a deadly new virus, as the number of people infected with the virus in China has jumped to 24,000 and millions of others are forced to stay home to prevent the disease.
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| A doctor talks to a patient during an online consultation at a hospital in Liaoning, China. Photo: AFP |
The death toll in mainland China has risen to 490, after the worst-hit province of Hubei reported 65 more deaths, AFP reported. More than 20 countries have also confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global health emergency, several governments to impose travel restrictions, and airlines to suspend flights to and from China.
But on February 4, the WHO said the measures China was taking showed there was a window of opportunity to stop the spread of the disease. “While 99% of cases are in China, the rest of the world we have only 176 cases,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “That doesn’t mean it won’t get worse. But we certainly have a window of opportunity to act.”
The WHO announcement came as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand reported new cases not originating in China. And on February 5, Japanese officials said at least 10 passengers on a cruise ship carrying 3,711 people had been infected with the virus.
In a sign of growing concern about the spread of the coronavirus to other densely populated urban areas in China, authorities in three more cities, including one near Shanghai, have imposed drastic travel restrictions.
Parts of Hangzhou, including the area where Chinese tech giant Alibaba is headquartered, are now allowing only one person per household to go out every two days to buy necessities, affecting about 3 million people. The city is less than 175 kilometers (109 miles) from Shanghai, which has reported 200 cases and one death.
The outbreak is believed to have originated in December at a wildlife market in Wuhan, and spread rapidly as people travelled during the Lunar New Year holiday in January. China has tried to contain the virus with unprecedented measures, including a virtual lockdown of more than 50 million people in Wuhan province. The WHO has insisted that the disease does not constitute a “global pandemic”. But its head, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has accused rich countries of failing to meet their data-sharing obligations. “Of the 176 cases outside China, WHO has only received complete reports for about 38%,” he said.
