The last major quarantine of an entire urban area took place \u201cin Sierra Leone surrounding the 2014 Ebola epidemic,\u201d said Raina MacIntyre, a doctor and epidemiologist who leads the biosecurity research program at the University of New South Wales. What China is doing is \u201cunprecedented,\u201d she said. \u201cWe haven\u2019t seen a lockdown at this level before.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s a measure that could help prevent a Chinese health crisis from becoming a global one, she said. The World Health Organization has held back from declaring the Wuhan virus an international emergency, with spokesman Tarik Jasarevic saying Friday, \u201cIt\u2019s still too early to draw conclusions on how severe the virus is.\u201d<\/p>\n
By halting air travel from the region, \u201cit will instantly reduce the risk of cases ending up in other countries,\u201d Dr. MacIntyre said. \u201cPerhaps while there\u2019s so much uncertainty about what\u2019s the source of this infection, what\u2019s the exact mode of transmission \u2014 we need to know those things to control the disease \u2014 then it\u2019s probably a good strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Early data show a fatality rate of 14 per cent among those hospitalized for the Wuhan virus, a study published by University of Hong Kong researchers. That compares to roughly 12 per cent of all cases in SARS, and 24 per cent for the subsequent Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERCS), also a coronavirus.<\/p>\n
Those figures show that the Wuhan virus does not appear to be as serious as SARS or MERS, since hospitalized cases tend to be the most serious, Dr. MacIntyre said. But the Wuhan virus remains \u201ca serious infection.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n “A lockdown unlike any the world has seen before” – @nvanderklippe<\/a> and Alexandra Li report on a terrifying Chinese New Year for 35 million people https:\/\/t.co\/Qc1MoNb4c4<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) January 24, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n