SL on high alert as deadly Wuhan coronavirus spills over to 11 other countries

41 dead, 1,237 people infected so far in China

BY SURESH PERERA-January 25, 2020, 7:35 pm

With precautions ramped up, Sri Lanka has been placed on high alert as the outbreak of the deadly Wuhan coronavirus in China showed signs of spilling over to more countries in Asia, with many positive cases already reported from Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Macau, Nepal and also to USA and France.

With 41 deaths reported so far, the new strain of the life-threatening virus, has already infected 1,237 people in China, with 237 of them in critical condition.

In an alarming development, the previously unknown respiratory illness has also made landfall in the US, where two infected persons, including a man in Washington state, are now under medical treatment.

As thousands of visitors arrive in Colombo from China and other vulnerable countries, preemptive measures are now in place at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) to ward off the possible threat posed by persons infected with the life-threatening illness entering Sri Lanka, officials assured.

The preventive measures rolled out at the BIA were discussed at length during a two-day joint emergency meeting with the participation of World Health Organization (WHO) representatives and Health Ministry, Airport and Aviation Services and Civil Aviation Authority officials at the airport complex last week.

The BIA’s Health Unit is closely monitoring all passengers arriving in the country, with three elevated thermal body temperature screening machines installed at vantage points to detect suspected carriers of the killer disease, they said.

The Unit has been advised to immediately transfer passengers with possible symptoms of the virus arriving from China and other affected countries to the IDH Fever Hospital for quarantine.

"With many flights originating from Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu, we are not taking any chances, as on an average, around one thousand visitors from these Chinese cities arrive at the BIA on a daily basis. This is in addition to passenger volumes from countries, where the new coronavirus strain has infected dozens of people", the officials noted.

Apart from China, there is also a considerable influx of arrivals from Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea, which are listed among the countries, where the deadly illness has surfaced after it first broke out in the Wuhan, the sprawling capital of Central China’s Hubei province, during end December 2019.

Sri Lankans travelling to the 12 countries affected by the killer respiratory disease have been advised to take all necessary precautions as they could come into contact with the infection, which has a seven-day incubation period, and unknowingly carry it back home, the officials cautioned.

People infected with the new strain of virus usually show signs of mild to moderate upper respiratory tract illness similar to a common cold, runny nose, cough, sore throat, possibly a headache and maybe a fever, which can last for a couple of days, medical sources said.

The Epidemiology Unit in Sri Lanka advised the public to cover their mouths and noses with a tissue or a handkerchief (not hands) when coughing or sneezing, wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, avoid touching their nose and face often, and avoid loitering in crowded places. Furthermore, small children, pregnant women and elderly persons should restrict visits to congested areas.

The first 17 people killed by the Wuhan coronavirus in China were older men with existing health problems, the country’s health commission revealed. Some of the victims suffered abnormal renal functions and severe damage to multiple organs, it was reported.

While warning that the deadly illness can spread between people, raising the possibility of increased transmissions, the Chinese government has canceled celebrations during the busy Lunar New Year and imposed a travel ban in an effort to curb the transmission of the infection, which likely started from a "spillover" incident when the virus was passed from animal to human linked to the now shuttered Hua Nan Seafood Market in Wuhan.

The Chinese city of 11 million people has been placed under lockdown with public transport suspended in 10 neighboring cities.

The British authorities are now trying to trace as many as 2,000 visitors who have flown in to the UK from Wuhan, reports said.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that the outbreak "has not yet become a global health emergency, but it may become one".

In Geneva, the WHO cited Chinese efforts to prevent transmission and the limited number of cases recorded abroad as its reasons for not declaring that the outbreak was a public health emergency of international concern.

"The decision", Ghebreyesus underscored, "should not be taken as a sign that WHO does not think the outbreak is serious or that we’re not taking it seriously. Nothing could be further from the truth."

In 2002/3, around 800 people in more than two dozen countries were killed by the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus. However, the cases in the Wuhan pneumonia outbreak have tested negative for both SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).