The World Health Organization (WHO) has ruled this Thursday to declare the international emergency for the new coronavirus. China has extended to two cities the isolation measures already applied in Wuhan, a city of 11 million inhabitants considered the epicenter of the epidemic, which has caused 17 deaths and global alarm.
After two days of meetings at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, an emergency committee made up of medical experts from various countries dismissed the possible alert for now being "too soon," said committee chairman Didier Hussin.
After ordering the blockade of public transport and banning the departure of airplanes and trains in Wuhan, a city in central China that hosts 11 million people, now the authorities have established similar measures for two nearby cities, Huanggang and Ezhou. Likewise, access to public places such as theaters or internet cafés will also be prohibited.
The restrictions are going to be implemented in the two cities as of this Friday, according to The Associated Press. With the quarantine of these cities, now up to 18 million people are affected by the restrictions.
The intention of the authorities is to try to stop the spread of the virus, an unprecedented effort that will spoil the plans of millions of people just in a time of travel in the Asian country due to the impending traditional holiday of the Chinese New Year.
"To my knowledge, trying to contain a city of 11 million people is something new for science," said Gauden Galea, representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in China. Security forces guarded the train station on Thursday to prevent passengers from accessing it from 10 am local time.
But the virus does not worry only in China, where since last December more than 550 cases of people infected by this strain of coronavirus have never been seen before and that shows fever, cough or respiratory distress as the first symptoms.
Some cases have already appeared outside its borders, in total 11 countries have reported cases, including the United States.
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A 30-year-old man from Washington State was diagnosed with the disease upon returning to the United States from China, while a passenger who arrived in Los Angeles from Mexico City is hospitalized for symptoms related to the coronavirus .
The US authorities are transferring all the people who fly from Wuhan to the airports of Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and San Francisco to identify possible new cases and try to avoid contagion in the country.
For its part, Mexico ruled out that the 57-year-old doctor of Asian origin and resident in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, suffers from the virus and was diagnosed with a common cold , but three other possible cases in Jalisco are still under evaluation, the secretary said Thursday of Health, Gloria Molina, as reported by Milenio.
However, the Mexican authorities maintain the checkpoints in some airports and have designated a spokesperson who will give regular parts on the deadly virus.
Brazil also investigates a case that could be related to the disease, as well as Colombia.
In Central America, the Honduran government activated the siege against the disease at airports and borders, as well as calling all Hondurans suffering from respiratory symptoms and high fever to go to hospitals. Likewise, the Guatemalan Ministry of Public Health, who promised to strengthen surveillance, was able to “detect any unusual respiratory eventuality.” In El Salvador, measures are already taken at the main tourist entry points.
The first cases in the Wuhan outbreak were related to people who worked or visited a seafood market , which has since been closed for investigation.
Experts suspect that the virus was first transmitted from wild animals, but the virus could be mutating. Mutations can make it more deadly or more contagious .
The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) have made suggestions to avoid contagion. Martin Cetron, director of the global migration and quarantine division of the CDC, said, however, that "it is not a time for people to be alarmed and extremely worried," but rather " vigilant and conscientious ."
Edited by Olga Luna and Francesco Rodella with information from AP and NBC News.
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