Within days, the disease is spreading like wildfire. Traveling across borders, the number of cases has increased by 60%. And this is a tentative figure, as there are possibilities of the actual number crossing the stated due to limited resources of diagnoses.
As a precautionary measure, countries have limited the passengers coming from China or even those having any indirect link with Wuhan – the origin of the virus. Furthermore, those who lost their fight against the disease have crossed 100. As per the statistics, on Tuesday the number was 133. Overall, the digits rose to 6018 from 4515 in a day, of all those who got affected by the epidemic (National Health Commission). The virus didn’t spare the little ones as well, with the youngest on record is a 9-month-old girl from Beijing.
The most affected region is central Hubei, a Chinese province, holding around 2714 cases alone. Other numbers include:
- 14 from Thailand.
- 8 from Hong Kong.
- Taiwan, Australia, Macau, and the United States reported 5 each.
- Japan gave a count of 7.
- Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea, 4.
- 3 from France.
- Canada and Vietnam having 2.
- Nepal, Cambodia, and Germany last in the list, with 1 patient each.
There isn’t any news of deaths outside China. As per the urgent measures being taken, the travelers coming from Wuhan are being restricted. The United States has limited 20 ports to only 5.
Earlier in a news briefing in Washington, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said: “Right now, there is no spread of this virus in our communities at home. The coming days and weeks are likely to bring more cases including the possibility of person-to-person spread. Our goal is to contain this virus and prevent the sustained spread of the virus in our country.”
The majority of the airports as well as land inter-change points are being provided with equipment to test all those crossing them. As per the latest reports, the first human-to-human transmission has taken place in Germany and Vietnam. Now, the challenge lies in the hands of respective governments to control the spread of the virus within their own country.
Another sad story from Japan followed where a man in his 60s, who had no travel history linked with Wuhan, was diagnosed with the virus. Examination revealed that he had recently worked as a driver for two tour groups from Wuhan.
Hong Kong has imposed serious bans and restrictions for travelers coming from China, suspending many trains and reducing the number of flights. A safe city, with no patients, recorded yet is Tibet, which has taken serious precautionary measures closing all tourist sites.
