The spread of Wuhan's Coronavirus accelerates: the Chinese National Health Commission said in its daily updates that the confirmed cases of infection have risen to 4,515 units, almost doubled in 24 hours on the 2,744 units yesterday.
At the moment there are 106 dead and there are almost 7,000 suspect cases awaiting confirmation.
The Chinese health authorities say that the transmission takes place mainly by air but also through contact . This information was revealed in a health plan for the diagnosis and treatment of pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus, published today by the Chinese National Health Commission. Compared to the previous version, the plan adds three epidemiological characteristics of the virus, stating that the main source of infection at the moment is people who are themselves infected with the virus.
Private flights from China arriving in Italy "will land in the airports . " This was reported by the Ministry of Health, after today's meeting of the task force coronavirus (2019-nCoV). In particular, it was decided to channel any private flights arriving from China to the Ciampino airport to the Rome Fiumicino airport. Steps are being taken to extend the same measure to other Italian airports and to allow flights from China to land only in Rome Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa.
Meanwhile, the president of Ferderalberghi Bernabò Bocca raises the alarm on tourism: "Unfortunately, I think the worst is yet to come".
New suspect case in Romania : a passenger landed in Cluj-Napoca, coming from Warsaw, was taken over on arrival by the airport's medical team. And the coronavirus also alarms New York where the alert is highest. The hospitals of the metropolis are mobilized to prevent a possible spread of the epidemic, with tight controls on all the patients who have recently been to Wuhan. Currently, nine suspected cases have been investigated across New York state , two of which are in the city: four were negative, while the other five are awaiting response.
The World Health Organization admitted the error and said that the global risk from Chinese coronavirus is "high", not "moderate" as it had written in the latest reports. In the most recent one, in fact, the UN body detects a risk "very high in China, high at a regional level and high at a global level". In a note he added that in the communications of the previous days it had been said "incorrectly" that the risk was "moderate", said spokeswoman Fadela Chaib.
The WHO, however, appreciates the measures taken by the Chinese government against the epidemic of the new coronavirus 2019-nCoV and trusts in the country's ability to prevent and contain the infection. The Director General of the Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said this today, meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing. The WHO, he added, does not recommend the evacuation of citizens of other countries from China and calls on the international community to "remain calm and not overreact"
Hong Kong has decided to block high-speed train and ferry connections with mainland China since January 30, in efforts to stop the spread of Wuhan's coronavirus. Wearing a protective green mask, Governor Carrie Lam said she saw the total closure of borders with China "unjustified", adding that the total number of cross-border flights will be halved. Individual travel permits, he said in a media briefing, will be suspended.
Excluding the idea of a "transfer by land, which implies rather complex quarantines" for Italians stranded in China, the Farnesina "is also evaluating together with other subjects including the Spallanzani Institute, the Ministry of Health and the inter-force center l idea of an air transfer ", which however" will be complex ". The head of the Crisis Unit Stefano Verrecchia said it, in Unomattina. "We are always in contact with compatriots - he said - who are around seventy in good health".
The first repatriation of French citizens from Wuhan is expected the day after tomorrow . "A first repatriation plane will leave Paris tomorrow to return probably on Thursday, with people without symptoms," said Secretary of State for Transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari to CNews microphones. Djebbari added that there will subsequently be a "second flight", with dates yet to be determined, "with people potentially affected by the virus"
In view of the new coronavirus epidemic, Chinese citizens are sent to avoid overseas travel to ensure "health and safety" of Chinese and foreigners. It is the message of the Chinese National Immigration Administration, according to which the reduction of cross-border movements can help prevent and control the spread of pneumonia caused by the 2019-nCoV coronavirus, whose outbreak was found in Wuhan. In a statement, the administration asks to "move unnecessary travel abroad".
China has decided to postpone sine die the beginning of the second semester for schools and universities in efforts to contain the Wuhan coronavirus epidemic. The Ministry of Education, with students in the midst of the Lunar New Year holidays, did not provide any further details.
There is a first confirmed case of Chinese coronavirus in Germany in the southeastern state of Bavaria. The Bavarian Ministry of Health announced this. The German patient would have been infected by a person who had no symptoms of the disease, explained the director of the Taskforce of Infeziology, Martin Hoch, in Munich.
"This is a new element, which we did not know," he said, although the same thing had occurred in one of the first cases identified outside of China, in Vietnam. Hoch also explained that the transmission of the virus, it appears, can also take place in a contact between two people who speak, in a face-to-face confrontation, for about fifteen minutes. The woman who carried the virus came from China, was apparently well and participated in a working group together with the infected person. Only upon returning to his country did he experience the symptoms of the virus.
Meanwhile, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has decided to donate $ 10 million to the fight against the new coronavirus . The American millionaire announced it. Half of the figure will go to China, the other half to Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "The sum will be spent" to help first-line rescuers in China and Africa contain the spread of the new virus, "is written in a statement from the foundation.
