January 24 coronavirus news

By James Griffiths, Tara John and Steve George, CNN

Updated 8:38 PM ET, Fri January 24, 2020
16 Posts
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11:57 p.m. ET, January 23, 2020

Hubei raises public health emergency response to highest level

Authorities in central China's Hubei province have lifted the public health emergency response to Level 1, the highest level, according to state broadcaster CGTN.

Three cities in the province, including the capital Wuhan, center of the coronavirus outbreak, have been placed under travel restrictions in an effort to control the spread of the virus.

Hospitals in Wuhan are struggling to handle the intake of patients. A new, 1,000-bed hospital is being built on the outskirts of the city, to be completed by February 3. In the meantime, hospitals have asked for donations of medical supplies, including masks, medical gloves and protective suits, CGTN reported.

11:54 p.m. ET, January 23, 2020

How does the Wuhan virus compare to regular winter flu outbreaks?

With global attention on the Wuhan coronavirus and its spread around China and other countries, it's important to put it in the context of other deadly infections, including seasonal influenza, which claims the lives of thousands of people every year.

According to a September 2019 study by Chinese scientists in The Lancet, there are an average of around 88,100 influenza-related deaths every year in China, with a mortality rate of between 1.6% and 2.6%. The majority of those who died as a result of the flu were aged over 60, the report said.

While the true extent of the new coronavirus is unclear, it appears to be more deadly than seasonal influenza. Of the 846 confirmed cases, there have been 26 deaths, a mortality rate of 3%.

However, that is far less deadly than related coronaviruses SARS and MERS. SARS has a mortality rate of around 10%, while MERS has killed 34% of those infected with that virus.

11:17 p.m. ET, January 23, 2020

An Indian nurse in Saudi Arabia thought to have the Wuhan virus actually has MERS

From CNN’s Vedika Sud in New Delhi

An Indian nurse being treated at a hospital in Saudi Arabia has Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), not the Wuhan coronavirus, according to the Consul General of India in Jeddah.

On Thursday, India’s foreign office reported that the nurse had the Wuhan coronavirus.

However, the Consulate tweeted on Friday that the nurse "is suffering from MERS-CoV (and) not 2019-NCoV (Wuhan). We request everyone to refrain from sharing incorrect info."

MERS is in the same family of coronaviruses as the infection detected in Wuhan.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of November 2019, a total of 2,494 laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS have been reported globally.

Of those, 858 patients died as a result of the disease, a fatality rate of 34.4%. The vast majority of the cases have been reported in Saudi Arabia.

10:53 p.m. ET, January 23, 2020

Video shows new hospital under construction in Wuhan

Construction has begun on a new, 1,000-bed hospital in Wuhan dedicated to treating the new coronavirus. According to the state-run People's Daily, the hospital will be ready by February 3.

Similar efforts were put in place in 2003 during the SARS crisis, with a new hospital built in Beijing in less than a week.

10:45 p.m. ET, January 23, 2020

Macao shuts schools amid Wuhan virus scare

Schools in the semi-autonomous Chinese city of Macao will not return after the Lunar New Year break in an attempt to stop the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus.

Two confirmed cases of the virus have been diagnosed so far in the Macao Special Administrative Region.

On Friday, the city's Education and Youth Bureau (DSEJ) posted a statement online confirming that schools will not resume until February 10.

"In response to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, the DSEJ has announced that all non-tertiary education schools in Macao will resume classes on or after 10th February, 2020 (Monday) after the (Lunar) New Year holiday," the statement read. 
"Private tutorial centers and continuing education institutions must also postpone their resumption date to 10th February (Monday) or after. During this period, the DSEJ will continue to closely monitor the development of the epidemic situation and make corresponding arrangements in due course."
10:37 p.m. ET, January 23, 2020

Hong Kong is running out of face masks as people bulk buy

Many pharmacies and other shops in Hong Kong are running low on face masks as residents of the city -- where memories of the 2003 SARS crisis are still very fresh -- bulk buy them ahead of the Lunar New Year break.

Pedestrians wear face masks as they walk through a crosswalk in Causeway Bay on January 23, 2020 in Hong Kong.
Pedestrians wear face masks as they walk through a crosswalk in Causeway Bay on January 23, 2020 in Hong Kong. Anthony Kwan/Getty Images

According to public broadcaster RTHK, multiple stores have already run out, raising fears that they will not be able to restock before the middle of next week, due to the public holiday, which runs through until Wednesday in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong's Department of Health and the Hospital Authority said in a statement that there was a three-month stockpile sufficient to cover medical workers and patients. The city's Food and Health Bureau is liaising with suppliers at the wholesale level to "ascertain scope for expediting the delivery of and stepping up local supplies."

The city's Consumer Council urged traders not to raise prices of face masks to "outrageous levels" as demand spikes. In mainland China, online retailer Taobao has banned stores from hiking prices.

Pharmacies in Macao have reportedly begun restricting the sale of face masks to 10 per customer.

10:17 p.m. ET, January 23, 2020

China is building a dedicated Wuhan pneumonia hospital in just 6 days: report

Authorities in China are reportedly planning to build a dedicated pneumonia hospital in Wuhan to help treat the hundreds of people affected by the deadly coronavirus in that city.

According to the Beijing News, a state-backed newspaper, the hospital will be a prefabricated, box-type model that can be built in six days. A design plan will be released on Friday, the paper said, with construction due to begin soon afterward in Wuhan's southwestern Caidian District.

A military official explains the surveillance system of a newly built 1,000 bed SARS hospital to journalists on May 7, 2003 in Xiaotangshan, near Beijing, China.
A military official explains the surveillance system of a newly built 1,000 bed SARS hospital to journalists on May 7, 2003 in Xiaotangshan, near Beijing, China. Getty Images

During the 2003 SARS crisis, Xiaotangshan Hospital was constructed in six days and seven nights in Beijing. Dedicated to tackling that virus, it was used to treat almost 700 SARS patients, only eight of whom died, a mortality rate of 1.18%, far below the national average.

10:06 p.m. ET, January 23, 2020

The Wuhan virus is the last thing China's economy needs right now

Analysis from CNN Business' Sherisse Pham

China's economy is slumping and the country is still suffering the effects of the trade war with America. An outbreak of a new and deadly virus is the last thing it needs. 

The Wuhan coronavirus — which has killed 17 people and infected nearly 600 so far — has already roiled Chinese markets and thrown plans for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday into chaos for millions of people. 

If Beijing fails to contain the disease quickly, it will cause more pain for a country that was already trying to stave off a serious downturn by trying to encourage more consumer spending. An epidemic could have the opposite effect. 

"If you're trying to rebalance the Chinese economy, this is one of the last events you want to see," said Logan Wright, director of China markets research at Rhodium Group.

The world's second biggest economy grew at its slowest pace in nearly three decades last year as it contended with rising debt, cooling domestic demand and US tariffs, many of which remain in place despite a recent truce. Beijing is worried about unemployment, too, and has announced a wave of stimulus measures in recent weeks aimed at preventing mass layoffs.

Read more here

10:09 p.m. ET, January 23, 2020

The Wuhan virus has spoiled China's Lunar New Year plans

From CNN's Helen Regan

January 25 is the first day of the Lunar New Year, as countries across Asia greet the Year of the Rat.

Celebrations will be considerably smaller in China than in previous years, however, as authorities have canceled many large public gatherings in order to help contain the Wuhan coronavirus.

Authorities in Beijing have canceled all large-scale New Year celebrations "in order to control the epidemic."

"It is decided to cancel all the large-scale events, including temple fairs, in Beijing as of today," the city's Culture and Tourism Bureau said Thursday.

"Citizens shall strengthen the preventative measures and support the decision. We will notify the policy changes with the epidemic development. After organizers will deal effectively with the effect of canceling the large-scale events. And wish all citizens a happy (Lunar New Year)."

Celebrations have also been canceled in Hong Kong, and many other cities have issued guidance to citizens to avoid large public gatherings.

In Wuhan, the city of 11 million at the center of the outbreak, a "temporary suspension" of public transport has been introduced, and people have been told not to leave, meaning they may not see their families during the Lunar New Year period.

This is easier said than done, however, and the scale of the challenge facing authorities tasked with implementing the blockade is immense. By way of comparison, the lockdown is akin to closing down all transport links for a city more than three times the size of Chicago, two days before Christmas.

"The Chinese new year is the most important festival for Chinese. And many of the mobile population, they're coming from rural China to work in Wuhan, and now you ask them not to leave to see their relatives, that is difficult," professor Yuen Kwok-yung, a leading microbiologist, told CNN.