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‘I am substantially more concerned than I was a week ago’: Growing fears of spreading coronavirus
With more than 300 reported cases, authorities have confirmed the virus can be transmitted between humans – and may already be in Australia.
Public health authorities within China and around the world are keeping a close watch on the new coronavirus.
UPDATED
Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy has said the risk of a large-scale outbreak is low, but admits there is ‘no way of preventing this getting into the country if this becomes bigger’.
Professor Murphy’s declaration came amid fears a man who arrived in Australia from China with flu-like symptoms may have contracted coronavirus.
Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said earlier the results may not be known for several days as authorities require further medical information from China, but he has since been released from home isolation.
‘At the moment we can only do a generic test for coronavirus,’ Dr Young said.
‘We can’t do the specific test for this specific virus because we haven’t seen it before, so we’ve got to develop the specific tests to be able to say it’s this particular virus.
‘We don’t have the primer yet. The World Health Organization released [the primer] after China gave them specifics, so that’s now available.
‘We need to obtain the primers that have been developed against this specific coronavirus.’
The man was originally identified for testing after presenting to his GP with flu-like symptoms last month, leading Queensland authorities to ask GPs to collect specimens from any suspected cases and to send them to Brisbane.
It is believed the man has family near the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the current outbreak started.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has raised the level of travel advice for Wuhan, and is urging anyone who plans to visit the city to check the Smartraveller website and exercise a high degree of caution.
The number of reported cases of the
novel coronavirus in China – now known as
2019-nCoV – has
risen to more than 300, almost triple the number from last week. Authorities have also
confirmed the virus, which is believed to have been sourced from animals and has so far claimed six lives, can be transmitted between humans.
The virus has now spread to Chinese cities other than Wuhan, including to places hundreds of kilometres away. Cases have also been reported in Japan, South Korea and Thailand.
Some scientists believe the disease, which is
more closely related to SARS than any other coronavirus found in humans, may have already spread more widely than is reflected in the official figures.
‘For Wuhan to have exported three cases to other countries would imply there would have to be many more cases than have been reported,’ Professor Neil Ferguson, a scientist who specialises in analysing disease outbreaks,
said.
‘I am substantially more concerned than I was a week ago.’
But Professor Murphy has been clear in his belief that Australia is at low risk.
‘There is no need for alarm, and the risk to the Australian public from this novel coronavirus remains relatively low,’ he said.
Professor Murphy
added, however, that stricter screening measures would apply to direct flights travelling from Wuhan to Sydney in response to the ‘rapidly emerging situation’. The flights will be met by border security, biosecurity and staff from NSW Health.
‘Australia has well established mechanisms to respond to ill travellers at points of entry,’ he said.
Professor Murphy also
warned that, because 2019-nCoV has a one-week incubation period, it may not be possible to prevent its spread to Australia in the event of a large-scale outbreak.
‘You cannot absolutely prevent entry into the country of a disease like this,’ he said. ‘There’s no way of preventing this getting into the country if this becomes bigger.’
Screening measures have also been implemented within Wuhan itself, with
checkpoints installed at the airport, train stations and bus terminals, while airports in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and three major American cities are also
screening passengers from the Chinese city.
Experts have also expressed concerns about the
impact the Lunar New Year holidays, during which hundreds of millions travel around China, may have on the spread of the disease.
The situation is being closely monitored by global health authorities, with the World Health Organization (WHO)
this week convening an emergency committee on the virus. Neither the WHO nor the Chinese Government has
recommended any travel restrictions.
Dr Young has urged anyone returning from China with respiratory issues to visit their GP immediately.
‘At this stage, anyone who returns from Wuhan, if they develop any respiratory conditions or anything, we’re asking GPs to collect specimens and to send them to Brisbane,’ Dr Young said.
‘The advice is that anyone who travels to Wuhan and comes back and is unwell, for them to go and see their GP or emergency department, and to isolate themselves.
‘There is no vaccine for this virus and we don’t see one on the horizon.’
Important 2019-nCoV facts
- High fever is the most common symptom of the virus, but other symptoms include a cough, breathlessness and sore throat.
- In severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death, the WHO says.
- The virus has an incubation period of one week, meaning people with the bug might not show symptoms over that period.
- All of the confirmed cases have been in adults and no children have been infected.
- In the severe or fatal cases, the people were already sick or had other medical conditions.
With AAP
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