The corona virus continues to spread. Now there are dramatic figures from China, the WHO chief has also issued a clear warning.
- The corona virus * has claimed more than 1,300 lives to date.
- Suddenly there are suddenly more infected people in the Chinese province of Hubei .
- Experts continue to suspect a very high number of unreported cases - and are now issuing drastic warnings.
Update of February 13, 5:55 p.m .: The epicenter of the novel lung disease Covid-19 is in China in the province of Hubei. Lothar Wieler President of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said on Thursday in Berlin that the mortality rate for people with the Sars-CoV-2 virus (previously coronavirus) in China is 2.2 percent. Christian Drosten, director of virology at the Berlin Charité, explains the high death rate as an overload of the statistical data. There is a "completely wrong assessment of the numbers".
The situation in Wuhan is dramatic. According to the scientists, the Sars-CoV-2 outbreak was probably not treated quite consistently. In Germany and Europe, the spread of the coronavirus had been curbed, the chain of infection was interrupted with quarantine measures.
Coronavirus risk: MWC mobile phone exhibition in Barcelona canceled
Update from February 13, 11.40 a.m .: The world's largest mobile phone trade fair, the World Mobile Congress (WMC) in Barcelona, has now been canceled due to the corona virus. The cancellation costs were around 100 million euros, according to organizers. This does not yet include losses for participating companies including hotels and other affected companies in the host city.
The only direct flight connection between Berlin and Beijing is still suspended until the end of March because of the corona virus, which now bears the official name Sars-CoV-2. The airline Hainan Airlines canceled all flights until March 28th.
Update from February 13, 10:04 a.m .: Overnight there was a horror report from China : Suddenly the number of corona infected has increased dramatically, in Hubei there are almost 15,000 more people who contract Covid19 in one fell swoop .
The danger is immense - Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , Director General of WHO . In Geneva, he said recently that everything must be done to stop the threat. He made clear how serious the situation is with one sentence: "A virus can have more severe consequences than any terrorist attack."
Coronavirus: "Enemy of the State" - Drastic warnings from the WHO
It is clear to him that action must be taken as quickly as possible: "If the world does not wake up and regards this virus as the number one enemy of the state, we will learn nothing from it," he added.
We've been repeatedly saying the world spends too little money on preparedness & measures to keep people safe when health emergencies strike. With # COVID19 at our door, we urge solidarity from everyone to support the most vulnerable. We are only as strong as the weakest link https://t.co/8OPV92ka4D
- Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) February 13, 2020Meanwhile, experts assume that an infected person passes the virus on to an average of two and a half other people. For example, 60 to 80 percent of the world's population could become infected with Covid19 if the threat was not taken seriously.
Coronavirus: could about 45 million people die in the end?
Gabriel Leung , a professor of medicine from the University of Hong Kong, went even further: "Even if the death rate were only one percent, the result would still be devastating." According to the calculations, the corona virus could affect 7.7 billion people on earth today kill more than 45 million people.
However, the researchers also warn against considering this horror scenario as the most likely case . Exactly that could threaten humanity if the signals are ignored. Therefore apply: Caution at all levels.
Coronavirus: Terror report from China - number of infected people increased dramatically
First report from February 13, 6:41 a.m .: Beijing - The Coronavirus * keeps the world in suspense. In the meantime, more than 1,300 people have died of the disease, and the number of people infected is also increasing in Germany *. It all started in Upper Bavaria, where a Webasto employee had contracted the new lung disease *.
In the meantime, a Formula 1 race in China has also been canceled *. There is great concern among the population, even when traveling abroad. Cruises are the main focus, after all, there are already more than 150 infected passengers on a ship.
Now there is scary news from China: the number of infections detected skyrocketed overnight, and the number of fatalities in the severely affected Hubei province more than doubled compared to the previous day.
Corona virus: oppressive news from China - the number of infected people is suddenly increasing rapidly
The number of newly detected infections in Hubei almost increased tenfold. As the authorities said on Thursday, 242 new deaths were registered in Hubei , bringing the total number of deaths in the province to 1,310 since the onset of the disease.
The number of infections detected rose by 14,840 to 48,208 known cases. The previous day, 97 deaths and 1,638 new infections were reported in Hubei . Nationwide, there was initially no new information on the spread of the virus on Thursday. However, the new infections in Hubei , where the lung disease in Wuhan City had originally broken out, have increased the total number of infections in mainland China to over 59,000.
Coronavirus: Significantly more infected people in the Chinese province of Hubei
But: The new cases did not suddenly appear. As the health commission of the Hubei province announced , the diagnostic results were "revised" after an examination . Patients were added according to the new classification. Accordingly, cases of "clinical diagnoses" have been included in the number of confirmed diagnoses since Thursday.
WHO has published key considerations for repatriation and quarantine of travelers in relation to # COVID19 https://t.co/VSbTX2QRsd
WHO Situation Report 12 February 2020 https://t.co/Z65V69JD3a pic.twitter.com/4Rw0q2ph8a
As the China Daily reported, citing Chinese experts, doctors can now make an official diagnosis based on a combination of factors such as lung pictures, physical condition, and epidemiological history. So far, only one test procedure using nucleic acids was allowed, but it only recognized many clear diseases after three or four tests.
Coronavirus in China: "Clinical diagnoses" are now included in the "confirmed diagnoses"
In general, experts suspect a very high number of unreported cases . So the possibilities to test for the new virus are limited. Furthermore, China's changing reporting system with different definitions of the individual cases appears particularly complicated for local authorities. According to experts, the numbers reported daily therefore represent the ability to identify and report cases rather than the true extent of the epidemic.
* Merkur.de and tz.de are part of the Germany-wide Ippen-Digital editors network
akl / dpa
List of rubric lists: © dpa / Salvatore Di Nolfi
