China’s top coronavirus expert has warned that the contagion is ravaging the world as it did in Wuhan in the early stages of the epidemic, raising the alarm that bug-riddled countries could head down the same path as the epicentre.
Dr Zhong Nanshan, Beijing’s leading medical advisor on the virus, said the current pattern of the outbreaks outside of China was similar to the trajectory of the outbreak in Wuhan in its early days.
He urged nations around the world to step up their efforts to control and prevent the virus in order to defeat the pandemic.
Dr Zhong Nanshan, Beijing’s leading medical advisor on the virus, said the current pattern of the outbreaks outside of China was similar to the early trajectory of the outbreak in Wuhan. The leading expert on the coronavirus is pictured in an interview in Guangzhou on February 11
Dr Zhong said the only way to contain the pandemic would be for countries around the world to impose draconian measures like what the Chinese government has done. The picture shows a medical staff member speaking with a patient at Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan on March 10
Officials on both sides of the Atlantic have said that Europe is now the new epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic with cases soaring in countries including Italy, Spain and France. The picture shows a Gucci shop closed in Via del Corso in Rome during the Coronavirus crisis
Dr Zhong made the statement today while commenting on the rising number of ‘imported cases’ brought into China from overseas.
Dr Zhong said that the total infections outside of China had already exceeded 40,000 and the fatality rate averaged 3.2 per cent.
He explained: ‘The percentage is very high and similar to the situation in Wuhan in the early stages (of the outbreak).
‘This means doctors and the general public have not raised their alertness. That’s why they are going through this process.’
Dr Zhong said the epidemic was already under control in China, even in its hotbed Hubei Province.
But at the same time, China has identified 79 ‘imported’ coronavirus cases, and many of them did not show obvious symptoms when they entered the country.
The European Center for Disease said the continent has more than 22,000 cases of the new coronavirus and 943 deaths. The outbreak has escalated in Europe in the past two weeks
The crisis is also deepening in other parts. Pictured, members of Panama’s Metro system spray sanitiser on a train as a precaution measure against the coronavirus in Panama City today
Hazmat-donning Polish medical staff are picture arriving in the Public Hospital, where one patient infected with coronavirus is being treated, in Lublin, Poland, on March 12
A couple wearing a protection mask are pictured in central Dresden, Germany, on March 12
He said: ‘[The situation] is similar to the conclusion drawn from the first 1,100 patients in China. Around 50 per cent of them didn’t develop fevers and only had coughs and general symptoms of a cold…
‘Right now, generally speaking, overseas countries are not paying enough attention to the situation, [and people still] think there is no problem to go on business trips… so we need to tighten our monitoring.’
He continued: ‘Although it has not happened right now, if [the virus] mutates in the future, more infections could occur.’
The expert said it was unlikely that researchers would develop an effective drug against the disease in the next few months, therefore the only way to contain the pandemic would be for countries to impose draconian measures.
He added that it was particularly important for world leaders to stay in touch with China to discuss the progress of the containment.
Hubei reported no new daily coronavirus cases outside of Wuhan for the first time on Friday. Pictured above, medical workers in protective suits distribute meals to coronavirus patients being treated at a makeshift hospital converted from a sports hall in Wuhan on March 2
The coronavirus pandemic could be over by June if countries follow China’s example of strict health measures, Dr Zhong also claimed.
He urged countries to ‘get mobilised’ and ‘intervene on a national scale’ to halt a crisis which is now spiralling outside China.
Dr Zhong’s warning comes after the World Health Organization yesterday declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic after blaming ‘alarming levels of inaction’ by governments across the planet for fuelling the crisis.
The WHO said it was ‘deeply concerned by the alarming levels of spread and severity’.
Director-General of the UN agency Dr Tedros Adhanom also blasted governments for ignoring repeated WHO pleas to take urgent and aggressive action.
Cases of the deadly illness outside of China have risen 13-fold in the space of a fortnight because of escalating crises in Italy, Iran, Spain, Germany, and France.
The WHO said: ‘Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death.’
Officials on both sides of the Atlantic have said that Europe is now the new epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic.
Public gatherings of more than 250 people have been banned in Washington, California and Oregon in response to the mounting coronavirus threat. The Coachella music festival in California (above in a file photo) was rescheduled last week ahead of the ban
As of Thursday morning there are 1,364 confirmed coronavirus cases in the US and 39 deaths
Face masks have been increasingly in evidence on the streets of London (pictured) as fears over coronavirus spread
Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States, told US lawmakers in House hearing that ‘within the world now, over 70 per cent of new cases are linked to Europe. … Europe is the new China.’
The head of the Danish Health Authority, Soeren Brostroem, also said that ‘the epidemic has gotten a new epicentre, and that is Europe.’
He told reporters that ‘if one looks at day-by-day developments, Europe has the greatest growth now. And it is not just Italy, but also a number of other countries in Europe that have had a worrying development.’
Sophie Grégoire Trudeau has been tested for coronavirus. She is pictured with her husband, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, last October
The European Center for Disease said the continent has more than 22,000 cases of the new coronavirus and 943 deaths.
In the latest development, the wife of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been tested for the coronavirus.
According to a statement released Thursday morning, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, 44, recently returned from the UK and began displaying mild flu-like symptoms, including a low fever, on Wednesday night.
Mrs Trudeau is currently self-isolating at the Prime Minister’s residence in Ottawa and is awaiting the return of her test results. Her symptoms have reportedly subsided.
Prime Minister Trudeau is not displaying any symptoms of the virus himself, but is also self-isolating and spending the day working from home ‘out of an abundance of caution’.
Originating in Wuhan, the new coronavirus outbreak has killed at least 3,169 people and infected more than 80,700 inside China.
Globally, the deadly disease has killed at least 4,718 people and infected over 127,710.