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 Officials confirmed that the new mystery virus can spread between
humans and said 15 medical staff have now been infected, stoking
fears about an international pandemic and prompting airport
authorities around the world to step up screening of travelers
arriving from China.
The latest update on the outbreak that began in the central city of
Wuhan sent shivers through financial markets, as the World Health
Organization called a meeting for Wednesday to consider declaring an
international health emergency.
The National Health Commission (NHC) put the number of confirmed
cases at 291 by the end of Monday, but individual provinces gave
more up-to-date information on Tuesday showing a widening geographic
spread.
Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, has confirmed 258 cases and
six deaths, Mayor Zhou Xianwang told Chinese state television on
Tuesday.
The NHC said another 14 cases were reported in the southern province
of Guangdong, five in the capital Beijing and another two in
Shanghai by the end of Monday.
But on Tuesday, the virus was confirmed to spread to more parts of
the country, with the eastern province of Zhejiang reporting five
cases, and the northern city of Tianjin reporting two.
"Information about newly reported infections suggest there may now
be sustained human to human transmission," WHO Regional Director for
the Western Pacific Takeshi Kasai said in an email statement.
The scare brought back bad memories of Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS), another coronavirus that broke out in China in
2002/2003, resulting in the death of nearly 800 people in global
pandemic.
Two cases have already been identified in Thailand, one in Japan and
one in South Korea, while the Philippines reported on Tuesday its
first suspected case.
Taiwan, the self-ruled island that China claims as its own, also
confirmed its first case, a woman who had returned from working in
Wuhan, on Tuesday.
Taiwan, which has close economic and people-to-people links with
China despite political tensions, on Monday set up an epidemic
response command center to coordinate the island's response to the
virus. More than 1,000 beds were prepared in isolation wards in case
the virus spreads further.
The mounting anxiety was transmitted to regional markets.
China's onshore yuan <CNY=> fell 0.6%, its biggest daily drop since
Aug. 26, 2019, while airline and travel stocks fell across the
region.
European shares also slipped on mounting concerns about the impact
of the outbreak, with luxury goods firms particularly hard-hit on
worries about weaker demand from Chinese consumers.
The virus can cause pneumonia, with symptoms including fever and
difficulty in breathing. As those symptoms are similar to many other
respiratory diseases, extra screening is needed.
AIRPORT SCREENING
The origin of the virus has yet to be identified, but the primary
source is most likely animal, according to WHO. Chinese officials
have linked the outbreak to a seafood market in Wuhan.
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"The outbreak of a SARS-like coronavirus in Wuhan is developing into
a major potential economic risk to the Asia-Pacific region now that
there is medical evidence of human-to-human transmission," said
Rajiv Biswas, Asia Pacific Chief Economist for IHS Markit, in an
email statement.
So far, the WHO has not recommended trade or travel restrictions but
such measures could be discussed at Wednesday's emergency meeting.
China's National Health Commission will also give an update on the
outbreak at a press briefing at 10 a.m. (0200 GMT) on Wednesday.
Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China will attend the
WHO meeting and share relevant information.
"China is willing to deepen its global cooperation and work with the
international community to work together to deal with the epidemic,"
Geng told reporters at a regular daily briefing.
Airport authorities in the United States as well as most Asian
nations also are screening passengers from Wuhan.
Australia on Tuesday said it would screen passengers on flights from
Wuhan, while Singapore announced it would quarantine individuals
with pneumonia and a history of travel to Wuhan within 14 days prior
to the onset of symptoms.
QUEUES FOR MASKS
Wuhan officials have been using infrared thermometers to screen
passengers at airports, railway stations and other passenger
terminals since Jan. 14.
Zhong Nanshan, head of the National Health Commission's team of
experts investigating the outbreak, said in footage shown by state
television on Monday there was no danger of a repeat of the SARS
epidemic so long as precautions were taken.
Images of long lines of people queuing to buy face masks were
circulating widely on Chinese social media, where the outbreak was
one of the top trending topics.
Some online vendors were limiting sales of masks and hand sanitizers
as demand surged.
And Shanghai's market regulator warned on Tuesday that it will
punish speculators who hoard masks and other products used for
preventing diseases, according to the Shanghai Observer - a web
publication backed by a Communist Party newspaper.
Trip.com, China's top online travel booking platform, said it would
refund customers who cancel bookings in Wuhan this month, or whose
travel plans are disrupted by quarantines or other regulatory
efforts to prevent the spread of the virus.
(Reporting by Brenda Goh in Shanghai, Se Young Lee, Sophie Yu, Lusha
Zhang, Huizhong Wu and Judy Hua in Bejing, John Geddie in Singapore;
Editing by Stephen Coates & Simon Cameron-Moore)
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