The number of deaths in China reached 100 today. The estimated number of cases is to be just under 3,000. As a result of the increasing amount of cases, Chinese officials placed Wuhan and some surround areas on partial lockdown as of last Thursday. Officials also reported that five million people had left Wuhan before this went into effect. As the virus is continuing to spread throughout the country, certain measures are being put into place to control the spread, including the closure of Disneyland Shanghai and banning the trade of wildlife. Also, in response to the rising number of cases, China will allow international experts to come help study and contain the virus, which means that officials for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and other similar agencies around the world will be able to go to Wuhan.
It’s thought that the incubation period for the new coronavirus is between 10-14 days. A concerning factor is that the virus can still be transmitted to during this period, which means you’ve contracted the virus, but don’t have symptoms yet and still are pass it on to someone else. This differs from other coronaviruses, including the one that caused the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak in 2003. Numerous health experts have expressed concern over this fact because it’ll take control of the outbreak incredibly challenging.
The United States is evacuating American citizens from Wuhan. Several other countries are doing this as well and have implemented travel restrictions for individuals traveling from certain parts of China. Several airlines are reducing or suspending direct flights to China and the CDC issued a statement advising Americans to avoid all nonessential travel to China.
Currently, there are now five cases here with one in Washington state, one in Chicago, two in California and one in Arizona. According to the CDC, there are a little over 100 individuals being monitored in 26 states because they had traveled to Wuhan or had contact with someone who did and they were exhibiting signs of fever, cough or shortness of breath. Despite this, health officials are continuing to state that the risk to the general public is still considered low.
The CDC is urging everyone to get the flu shot if you haven’t already. This will help to decrease the number of looking to get treatment for symptoms that could be confused with the new coronavirus. The CDC also said that they’re working making on test kits that will be sent to state health departments rather than needing to send all samples to the CDC for testing. They estimate these will be ready in the next few weeks.