A collection of key developments in the fight against the Wuhan coronavirus (nCoV-2019), updated throughout the week for those who just want the signal and not the noise. If there’s something you think we should include, sound off in the comments thread attached to each week’s post.
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
- The Chinese health ministry confirmed on Wednesday via state TV that 2019-nCoV is spreading in Beijing and other cities, with many cases observed among people who did not come from Wuhan. These are often family clusters.
- The Chinese health ministry also confirmed that 2019-nCoV is capable of spreading by skin contact.
- In China, confirmed case numbers, still doubling every two days, soared to almost eight thousand, exceeding the count Chinese of victims in the SARS epidemic 16 years ago, as the government began widening its lockdown to include regions outside Hubei.
- In the rest of the world, confirmed case numbers grew, with 105 confirmed cases in 19 countries and territories, with confirmation of human-human transmission of the virus in Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, and a cluster of four related cases in Germany.
- Some countries and airlines outside China took a number of moves seemingly motivated by panic, such as Papua New Guinea banning travelers from Asia and shutting its land border with Indonesia, and a number of airlines stopping all flights to and from China.
- In response to these new developments, the WHO confirmed it will convene another emergency meeting Thursday to determine whether the widening epidemic merits PHEIC status.
Monday, January 27, 2020
- [10:03 pm] The confirmed case number is now over 4,500, including over 2700 cases in Wuhan, over 100 in six other Chinese cities, and 65 cases in 18 countries/territories outside China. Known human-human transmission outside China is still very limited. Deaths have risen to over a hundred. Case numbers are still doubling every two days, and several days remain until we have even an early indication of the effectiveness of the quarantine.
- [8:14 pm] Report from Beijing: life during the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak
- [1:30 pm] General updates: the media coverage gets darker, but there’s good news.
- [11:30 am] Why this Wuhan case, and the Chinese gov’s fast and large lockdown in response, is likely the new normal in modern countries.
