Asia On “Maximum Alert” About The New Chinese Virus

Many Asian countries on Tuesday tightened controls on the spread of the new SARS-like virus, which has already killed six people in China and raised fears of a global health crisis.

From Bangkok to Hong Kong, from Singapore to Sydney, authorities are carrying out systematic checks on the arrival of flights from risk areas, after Beijing has confirmed that this new coronavirus is transmissible between humans.

Russia, where a million and a half Chinese visit each year, has also announced a tightening of its controls. At the airport of Sheremetyevo, the largest in Russia, the temperature of passengers from China is now monitored on planes using thermal cameras.

China identified 77 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to nearly 300, as the disease claimed three lives in Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic that infected several others in Japan and Korea. from the South and Thailand. A first case was announced Tuesday in Taiwan.

And 922 patients remained under observation in Chinese hospitals, according to figures released by health authorities. Wang Guangfa, one of the doctors at the Chinese National Health Commission investigating the epidemic, announced on Hong Kong television on Tuesday that he was infected with the virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) will meet on Wednesday to decide whether to declare a “public health emergency of international concern”.

Thai authorities have implemented mandatory thermal detections at airports in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Krabi, for passengers from Chinese risk areas.

Health surveillance has also been strengthened at airports in Australia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, India and the United States.

In a statement, the Thai Minister of Health, Anutin Charnvirakul, announced that these passengers were screened “without exception”, and placed under observation in quarantine for 24 hours if they show signs of fever.

“Maximum alert”

Thailand alone hosts a quarter of international flights departing from Wuhan, a city of 11 million inhabitants where the disease was first detected in December on a market.

On the occasion of the Chinese New Year, which begins this weekend, around 1,300 passengers should take this route every day and the kingdom is keen to avoid any risk of epidemic while the tourist season is in full swing.

In Hong Kong, the authorities also say they are on “maximum alert”, while the memory of the SARS epidemic (severe acute respiratory syndrome) which killed several hundred people in 2002-2003 still haunts everyone’s mind.

“We are ready for the worst. We have not lowered our guard, “Matthew Cheung, number two on the Hong Kong executive, told reporters.

The city’s airport, one of the busiest in the world, already carries out thermal checks on all passengers in normal times. Those arriving from Wuhan must also complete a form. They face penalties of up to 6 months in prison for lying.

China’s vast land borders are also under scrutiny.

In Vietnam, the Ministry of Health has declared a “high risk of infection” and ordered reinforced controls at its northern border, an intense crossing point between the two countries.

The offending strain is a new type of coronavirus, a family with a large number of viruses. They can cause mild illnesses in humans (like a cold) but also other more serious ones like SARS.

Contagion between humans

Zhong Nanshan, a Chinese scientist with the National Health Commission, said on Monday evening that contagious transmission between people was “proven”. It was the first time that such an assertion was made publicly.

WHO estimates that the animal seems to be “the most probable primary source”, with “limited transmission from human to human by close contact”.

Out of 8,096 cases, the SARS virus killed 774 people worldwide, including 349 in mainland China and 299 in Hong Kong, according to the WHO. The international organization at the time strongly criticized Beijing for having delayed raising the alarm and trying to conceal the extent of the epidemic.