The Corona Virus outbreak has thrown the Lunar New Year celebrations into disarray
The situation in China has turned alarming as the number of deaths caused due to Coronavirus has crossed the mark of 80 with more than 2,800 confirmed cases across China.
The Chinese health authorities have said that the virus can be spread even before any symptoms appear. This means that the infected people may not even realise they are infected, before they transmit the virus to others.
More than 15 cities across China, covering a population of 57 million, have been put under complete or partial lockdown. The city of Wuhan has been most affected with the virus. The Government is sending an additional 1,200 health workers, along with 135 People’s Liberation Army medical personnel, to help the city’s stretched hospital staff.
Besides, in the wake of alarming situation, China has postponed the Lunar New Year holiday to February 2, 2020. All the mass celebrations have been cancelled. The authorities have urged people to avoid holding traditional large family gatherings.
Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, headed by the President of China – Xi Jinping, has taken direct control of operations. Chinese Premier – Li Keqiang reached Wuhan today, i.e., January 27, 2020, to tour local hospitals. Government has allocated a corpus of 11 billion yuan (U.S. $ 1.58 billion) to fight he menace of Coronavirus.
Talking about its spread outside China, Australia and United States (U.S.) have reported 5 confirmed cases. Thailand has reported 8 cases. While Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia and South Korea reported 4 cases each, France and Japan reported 3 cases each. Vietnam has also diagnosed 2 cases. Nepal, Canada and Cambodia have confirmed 1 case each.
Switzerland has announced it is diagnosing people for the possible infection. After confirmed cases were reported in France, it announced to fly its citizens back from Wuhan to France.
Hong Kong has declared that people of Hubei, the Province of which Wuhan is the capital, and people who have visited the region in the last 14 days, will not be able to enter the city. The Chief Executive of Hong Kong – Carrie Lam has said that the situation has shifted from “serious” to “emergency”. Schools have also been closed till February 17, 2020. Besides, Spain is working with other European nations to organize a joint repatriation flight. There are 60 Italians in Wuhan. Italy is also working on a plan to evacuate its citizens.
The Officials of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have said that they had successfully isolated the virus in environmental samples taken from a seafood and wildlife market.
Around 33 of the 585 environmental samples collected from the Wuhan’s Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, were found to contain the nucleic acid of the coronavirus. Out of this, 31, came from the section of the market that sells wild animals. It is believed that the virus has emerged from illegally traded wildlife at the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan.
Prior to this, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, China had announced the suspension of trading of wild animals.
