Thursday, 6 February 2020

The Wuhan coronavirus has killed more than 630 people and infected nearly 31,000. Here's everything we know about the outbreak.

Wuhan virus China Beijing railway stationKevin Frayer/Getty Images

The death toll of a coronavirus outbreak sweeping China has reached more than 630, with nearly 31,000 people infected as of Thursday.

A man in the Philippines on Saturday became the first person to die of the virus outside mainland China, followed by a 39-year-old man in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

The virus has spread to every province and region in China as well at least 25 other countries. Both the death toll and the number of infected patients in mainland China have exceeded those of the 2003 SARS outbreak there (though SARS killed more people in total).

The virus may have jumped from animals to people at a market in the city of Wuhan. Outside China, cases have been reported in Australia, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, the US, and Vietnam.

The US has reported 12 cases so far, the latest of which was confirmed in Wisconsin on Wednesday. 

The World Health Organization declared a public-health emergency last week, and Chinese President Xi Jinping said the virus posed a "grave threat."

Here's everything we know:

The first case of the coronavirus was reported in Wuhan in December. The central Chinese city has a population of 11 million.

Ruobing Su/Business Insider

The virus' pneumonia-like symptoms include fever and difficulty breathing.

Samantha Lee/Business Insider

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a person could be at risk if they have:

  • Fever and symptoms of lower respiratory illness, such as coughing or difficulty breathing, after traveling to Wuhan or having close contact with someone who was ill and is now under investigation for the virus in the past two weeks.
  • Fever or symptoms of lower respiratory illness after having close contact in the past two weeks with someone who's been confirmed to have the virus.

Chinese health officials say the incubation period for the virus ranges from one to 14 days, during which time carriers can be infectious. 



The virus has killed more than 630 people in China and abroad.

Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

"The people who are likely to die first will have other illnesses," Adrian Hyzler, the chief medical officer at Healix International, which offers risk-management solutions for global travelers, told Business Insider. "But as it spreads, it'll pick up more people like flu does."

Most patients who died were elderly or otherwise unwell, according to Chinese officials, but one victim was a 36-year-old man.




See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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