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Chinese city at epicentre of coronavirus outbreak put on lockdown

A man wears a mask as he takes a photograph of the Yangtze river, Wuhan - Getty Images AsiaPac
A man wears a mask as he takes a photograph of the Yangtze river, Wuhan - Getty Images AsiaPac

The city at the centre of a mystery virus sweeping through China and beyond has been put on lockdown as authorites battle to contain this fast-moving outbreak.

From 10am Thursday Beijing time, Wuhan - a city of 11 million people - will be in effective quarantine, with air, bus, ferry and rail terminals all closed in a bid to prevent people leaving the city and potentially spreading the disease even further around the country.

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city in December, has infected at least 571 people and killed 17.

The announcement of the lockdown came as the World Health Organisation pulled back from declaring the situation a global health emergency.

An emergency meeting of the WHO will reconvene again on Thursday to discuss whether the outbreak is an international health emergency, a designation that will mean that affected countries must report cases - although China has been widely praised for its transparency so far.

The designation also gives the WHO powers to implement measures to control the global spread and impose trade and travel restrictions.

The agency has only used the label a handful of times, including during the H1N1 – or swine flu – pandemic of 2009 and the current Ebola outbreak that authorities have been battling for 18 months in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO, said the decision to declare an emergency should not be taken lightly.

“[The decision] is one I’m only prepared to make with appropriate consideration of the evidence,” he said.

Dr Tedros described the outbreak as an "evolving and complex situation" but would not be drawn on whether he supported the shutting down of Wuhan.

"We will need some time to understand the specific measures that are being taken," he said.

The vast majority of cases of the pneumonia-type illness have been in China - but there have also been four cases in Thailand as well as single cases in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Mexico and the United States. Russia has also reported a suspected case.

The novel coronavirus comes from the same family as the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) virus that swept through the world in 2002 to 2003. That too emerged in China and eventually infected around 8,000 people, killing 800.

The disease is thought to have originated in an animal market in Wuhan and preliminary research published in the Journal of Medical Virology showed the disease may have come from snakes. But disease experts are still unsure which animals are transmitting the disease.

Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, acting head of WHO's emerging infectious diseases unit, said evidence showed the virus is spreading between humans.

"What we have seen is human-to-human transmission events among close contacts and family, and in health care settings. This is not unexpected for a respiratory pathogen.

"We have not seen any evidence of ongoing transmission where we have third, fourth or fifth generation contacts. Colleagues are working very hard to better understand the extent of the infection," she said.

Disease modelling carried out by researchers at Imperial College, London showed that thousands of cases may have not yet been identified, with as many as 4,000 people - and 9,700 in a worst case scenario - in Wuhan alone likely to be infected.

Neil Ferguson, professor of mathematical biology at Imperial College, said that over the coming weeks the number of cases would increase rapidly.

“It will be much more complicated to estimate for the whole of China,” he added.

The virus causes a pneumonia-type illness, leading to fever, cough and breathing difficulties and is spread through coughing and sneezing.

Dr Mike Ryan, WHO's head of emergencies, said the virus was stable and not mutating greatly - a good sign because that means transmission will not suddenly speed up.

"The virus is showing stability and not showing any unusual activity. All viruses change but we're not seeing huge changes in the viral genetic sequence," he said.

He added that 72 per cent of the more severe cases of the disease were over 40, around two thirds were male and 40 per cent had underlying symptoms.

Many countries in Asia and as far away as the US have stepped up screening measures at airports for incoming travellers from China. North Korea has also closed its borders to all foreign tourists, most of whom visit from China.

Hong Kong reported its first case early on Thursday morning. In the city, hospitals are monitoring more than 100 people with related symptoms, and the government has prepared quarantine camps as an emergency measure, the public broadcaster reported.

Face masks have begun disappearing off shelves in stores and online retailers are running out of stock, as many Chinese seek to protect themselves against the new virus.

Wuhan is preparing 2,000 more hospital beds as it works to mitigate the impact, and has set up a prevention and control centre. Chinese airlines are also offering refunds to passengers with fevers banned from travelling out of the city.

Additional reporting by Yiyin Zhong

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