INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The spread of a deadly new virus is accelerating, Chinese President Xi Jinping warned, after holding a special government meeting on
the Lunar New Year public holiday.The country is facing a "grave situation" Mr Xi told senior officials.The coronavirus has killed at least
56 people and infected almost 2,000 since its discovery in the city of Wuhan.The US has announced that staff at the Wuhan consulate will be
evacuated on a special flight on Tuesday.The State Department said that private Americans most at risk will also be able to board the flight
to San Francisco.Meanwhile, UK-based researchers have warned of a real possibility that China will not be able to contain the virus.Travel
restrictions have come in place in several affected cities
From Sunday, private vehicles will be banned from central districts of Wuhan, the source of the outbreak.A second emergency hospital is to
be built there within weeks to handle 1,300 new patients, and will be finished in half a month, state newspaper the People's Daily said
It is the second such rapid construction project: work on another 1,000-bed hospital has already begun.Specialist military medical teams
have also been flown into Hubei province, where Wuhan is located.The urgency reflects concern both within China and elsewhere about the
virus which first appeared in December.Lunar New Year celebrations for the year of the rat, which began on Saturday, have been cancelled in
many Chinese cities.Across mainland China, travellers are having their temperatures checked for signs of fever, and train stations have been
shut in several cities.In Hong Kong, the highest level of emergency has been declared and school holidays extended.Several other nations are
each dealing with a handful of cases, with patients being treated in isolation.A coronavirus is a family of viruses which include the common
cold.But this virus has never been seen before, so it's been called 2019-nCov, for "novel coronavirus".New viruses can become common in
humans after jumping across the species barrier from animals.The Sars [Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome] outbreak of 2003 started in bats
and transferred to the civet cat which passed it on to humans.Queues have been growing at hospitals in WuhanThis new virus also causes
severe acute respiratory infection.Symptoms seem to start with a fever, followed by a dry cough and then, after a week, lead to shortness of
breath and some patients needing hospital treatment.Based on early information, it is believed that only a quarter of infected cases are
"severe", and the dead are mostly - though not exclusively - older people, some of whom have pre-existing conditions.The Chinese authorities
suspect a seafood market that "conducted illegal transactions of wild animals" was the source of the outbreak.Why is there concern about
containing the virus? Scientists at the respected MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis in the UK have warned that it may not be
possible to contain the virus to China.They say self-sustaining human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus is the "only plausible
explanation" for the scale of the epidemic.Their calculations estimate each infected person is passing it onto, on average, 2.5 other
people.The centre praised the efforts of the Chinese authorities, but said transmission of the virus needed to be cut by 60% in order to get
on top of the outbreak.The coronavirus has killed at least 56 peopleThis is a massive challenge, the scientists suggest, which will require
finding and isolating even patients with only mild symptoms that could easily be confused with other diseases.
Elsewhere, a team at
Lancaster University have published their estimates of the number of cases suggesting 11,000 have been infected this year
If true, that would be more than Sars.
Where has it spread?There are now 1,372 confirmed cases across China, though most are concentrated
in those provinces closest to Hubei.
But it has also spread abroad - in isolated cases affecting small numbers of patients.
On Saturday,
Australia confirmed its first four cases - first in Melbourne, and then three more in Sydney.
It has also spread to Europe, with three
cases confirmed in France
Tests in the UK on 31 people have come back negative, the government has said
Officials are trying to trace around 2,000 people who have recently flown to the UK from Hubei province.
Wuhan woman who 'cheated' checks
found in FranceFourteen people in UK tested for new strainThe cases largely involve people who had recently travelled from the affected
region in China.
China's neighbours in the Asia region are on high alert, however, with cases reported in Thailand, Singapore, Japan,
Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, South Korea and Nepal.
There are also two cases in the United States, including a woman in her 60s who had
returned home to Chicago from Wuhan on 13 January.
Canada has a "presumptive case" of the virus, but the condition of the person suffering
from it is deemed stable, according to a government statement.
What's happening at the source?The city of Wuhan is effectively on lockdown,
with heavy restrictions on travel in and out, and public transport options from buses to planes cancelled.
It is a major population centre
with up to 11 million inhabitants - comparable in size to London.
Pharmacies in the city have begun to run out of supplies and hospitals
have been filled with nervous members of the public.
Officials have urged people to avoid crowds and gatherings.
"The whole transport
system has been shut down," Kathleen Bell, who is is originally from the UK and works in Wuhan, told the BBC
"From midnight tonight private cars are not allowed on the road
And taxis aren't running."ajor Western brands such as McDonald's and Starbucks have closed in the city and in others nearby.The US, France
and Russia are among several countries trying to evacuate their nationals from Wuhan, reports say.Media captionThe WHO's regional director
gives some measured advice on the outbreakChina is also suspending from Monday all foreign trips by Chinese holiday tour groups, state media
reported.The outbreak has severely restricted Lunar New Year celebrations in China, when millions of people normally travel home
Major public events have been cancelled and tourist sites shut.China's travel industry counts cost of coronavirus24 January 2020Share this
with Facebook Share this with Messenger Share this with Twitter Share this with Email ShareRelated TopicsCoronavirus outbreakImage
copyrightGETTY IMAGESAs public health concerns rise over a new virus, the impact is being felt by China's travel and tourism sector.
More
than 400m Chinese were expected to travel over the Lunar New Year which starts today, normally one of the busiest periods for airlines,
hotels and tourist attractions.
Instead, flights and hotels are being cancelled as people face travel restrictions or choose to stay
home.
The virus has already taken 25 lives, with more than 800 cases globally.
Many airlines have agreed to refund fares or let passengers
rebook free of charge if affected, while major hotel chains are now following suit as more travel restrictions are announced.
After the
Civil Aviation Administration of China announced that airlines should give refunds for cancelled flights, the country's three major
airlines, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and China Air all saw their share prices take a dive
China Eastern Airlines has seen its value fall about 13% this week.
Firms warned not to hike prices over coronavirusHow do you quarantine a
city - and does it work?China coronavirus: Your questions answeredHong Kong's national carrier Cathay Pacific was among the first airlines
to allow passengers scheduled to fly to or from Wuhan to reschedule for free while, at the same time, allowing cabin crew to wear surgical
masks on flights.
Wuhan is where the first cases in the outbreak were reported
The flu-like virus has since spread to several our parts of China and internationally with cases being confirmed in Singapore, Thailand and
the US among others countries.
China's biggest online travel agency, Trip.com, is also waiving cancellation fees on all hotels, car rentals
and tickets for tourist attractions to Wuhan and is ''actively monitoring the situation to ensure the safety of all travellers''.
Hotels
and casinos hitHotel groups are also paying out refunds to tourists who want to cancel trips to Wuhan and other parts of China.
Both
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and Hyatt will allow guests to change or cancel stays at the majority of their Chinese hotels over the
IHG has 443 hotels in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan under different brands, with four in Wuhan.
Casino operators have also seen shares
fall, particularly those with businesses in Macau
The city is home to casinos owned by Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts.
The release of seven movies over the Lunar New Year has also been
postponed.
Blow to economyTourism has become an increasingly important part of the Chinese economy and is estimated to contribute about 11%
of China's economic growth and employ about 28 million people.
In 2018, 62.9 million tourists visited China, ranking it the fourth most
popular tourist destination behind France, Spain and the US, according to the UN's World Tourism Rankings.
Outside of China, luxury goods
brands are also likely to take a battering as Chinese tourists stay at home rather than travel overseas for shopping sprees
LVMH, which owns the Burberry, Louis Vuitton and Hermes brands, saw its value slide this week.How is the Chinese city at the centre of the
outbreak coping?By Reality Check teamBBC News24 January 2020Share this with Facebook Share this with Messenger Share this with Twitter Share
this with Email ShareRelated TopicsReality CheckImage copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionOutbound trains in Wuhan have been stoppedThere have
been widely-shared reports on social media and some state-run services that healthcare services in Wuhan - one of China's largest cities -
are under strain following the outbreak of coronavirus.
Hu Xijin, the editor of state-run newspaper Global Times, said there had been a
"failure" to contain the virus, and videos of patients queuing to get seen in hospitals.
However, other Communist-party outlets have
praised the response to the outbreak.
Wuhan is a major transit hub with a population of about 11 million people, and has effectively been
put on lockdown, along with other major cities in the region, in an unprecedented move to stop the spread of the virus.
Can healthcare in
Wuhan cope?The city serves as the main economic hub for the wider province, Hubei, and has the most advanced healthcare facilities in the
region.
The metropolitan area has seven major hospitals - considered some of the best in China, with Tong Ji Hospital ranked third
nationally - treating patients.
It has seven more hospitals supporting the efforts, and 61 clinics around the city which are testing
patients for symptoms of the virus.
A local government report from 2014 included Wuhan among the top six cities for medical treatment in
the country - although it ranks behind Beijing and Shanghai.
In terms of capacity, the report said Wuhan had 6.51 hospital beds and 3.08
doctors per 1,000 people - this isn't a straightforward indication of healthcare capacity (more doctors doesn't always mean better
healthcare), but it does rank Wuhan among the more developed places in the world
The UK and US have 2.8 and 2.6 doctors per 1,000 heads, respectively.
GETTYWuhan in numbers6.51Hospital beds per 1,000 people
3.08Doctors
per 1,000 people
Source: Local Chinese government report 2014So - is is this enough for a such a large city undergoing a mass
shutdown?
The lockdown in Wuhan has caused panic in the city - the World Health Organization (WHO) has said that containing a large city
like this is "new to science".
Image Copyright @xinyanyu@XINYANYU>ReportHubei as a province has a lower number of doctors per 1,000 people,
at 2.55 according to the latest government statistics.
"It's yet to be seen whether the costs associated with this kind of mass quarantine
measure (not just financially, but with respect to personal liberty too) will translate into effective infection control," said Dr
Maia Majumder, an expert at Harvard Medical School in the US, who is tracking the virus.
Hubei has declared a "Grade 1 public health
emergency", the most severe level - that means the response is led centrally from Beijing by the State Council, the government's
cabinet.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionA hospital under construction in WuhanBeijing has tried to allay concerns by sending more
healthcare professionals, and constructing a hospital.
Reports from state-run media say there are 405 medical staff from Shanghai and 205
staff from Guangdong travelling to the region, and officials are building one new healthcare centre with 1,000 beds from scratch over the
They're also expanding existing capacity in other facilities.
The government has also assigned 21 centres in Hubei province to help
co-ordinate treatment, and train local health officials.
Professor Shenglan Tang, an expert in global health at Duke University in the US,
says there are concerns that rural areas will struggle to cope.
"I'm confident that the health centres in Wuhan will be able to handle the
outbreak, but I am a bit worried about Hubei province - rural workers have gone back home from Wuhan to celebrate Chinese New Year, and in
these areas the hospital capacity is weak," said Professor Tang.
Was Beijing slow to act?Despite resilient rhetoric from the government,
people are expressing concern about the city's ability to cope with the outbreak.
The BBC spoke to a number of people in the region who
said that getting test results was taking longer than officials are claiming.
We were told that in some cases medical staff lack equipment
and doctors are overstretched
There are also claims that local government, which was apparently made aware of the outbreak in mid-December, ignored initial warning
signs.
We haven't been able to independently verify these claims.
The government has called for people to report poor medical responses
to an online "inspection" platform.
The regional government has issued a statement appealing for donations to help with the response,
including asking for facemasks.
How do you quarantine a city - and does it work?By Owen AmosBBC News23 January 2020Share this with Facebook
Share this with Messenger Share this with Twitter Share this with Email ShareRelated TopicsCoronavirus outbreakImage copyrightGETTY
IMAGESImage captionWorkers disinfect the Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan, a day before the shutdownWith two days until the Chinese New Year,
the railway station in Wuhan should be buzzing.
Across the country, millions of people are heading home to see loved ones
But in China's seventh biggest city - home of the coronavirus - most platforms are deserted.
As of 10:00 on Thursday (02:00 GMT), buses,
trains, subways and ferries were stopped from leaving the city.
Flights were also suspended
Roads are not officially closed, but roadblocks have been reported, and residents have been told not to leave.
So the question is - can you
quarantine an entire city? And if you can - does it work?
Image copyrightREUTERSImage captionThermal scanners that detect temperatures of
passengers inside the Hankou station in TuesdayWuhan is a huge place - the 42nd biggest city in the world, according to UN data - and cannot
easily be turned into an isolation ward.
More than 20 major roads come into Wuhan, plus dozens of smaller ones
Even with public transport closed, sealing the city would require a massive military effort.
"The only way you could do it, realistically,
would be to ring-fence the city with the PLA [Chinese military]," says Professor Adam Kamradt-Scott, a health security expert from the
University of Sydney.
But even if they do it, where - literally - would they draw the line? Like most modern cities, Wuhan sprawls into
smaller towns and villages.
"Cities are shaped in unorthodox ways," says Professor Mikhail Prokopenko, a pandemics expert also from the
University of Sydney,
"You can't really block every road and every connection
It may be possible to an extent but it's not a foolproof measure."
Gauden Galea, the World Health Organization's representative in China,
puts it more bluntly.
"To my knowledge, trying to contain a city of 11 million people is new to science," he told the Associated Press
"We cannot at this stage say it will or it will not work."
And - even if it proves possible to shut the stable door on Wuhan - the horse
may already have bolted.
Media captionBritish passenger Thomas Crosby describes journey from virus-hit WuhanThe Wuhan virus was reported
to the WHO on 31 December
It wasn't until 20 January that officials in China confirmed it could be passed human-to-human.
By that time, tens of thousands of people
had been and gone from the city
The virus has since been reported across China and Asia, and even in the US - all in people who had recently been in Wuhan.
But, even
though the virus is spreading worldwide, Prof Kamradt-Scott says the domestic situation is more worrying.
"In each of the [other] countries
where we've seen cases emerge, it's only been one or two, or four in Thailand," says Prof Kamradt-Scott.
"They're very small numbers of
It appears they have effectively been caught in time to prevent further transmission locally
So the bigger concern is within China."
Of the 571 cases reported by Thursday, 375 were in Hubei province, where Wuhan is the capital
But there were another 26 in Guangdong, 10 in Beijing, plus 38 possible cases in Hong Kong.
"If the virus is already there, and there's
already local community transmission, then the measures in Wuhan are too late," says Prof Kamradt-Scott.
Prof Prokopenko agrees that the
international response has been good
Passengers on the last plane from Wuhan to Sydney, for example, were greeted by biosecurity officials.
The problem, the professor says, is
many people could have the virus and not even know it.
"There is a difference between infected and infectious," he warns.
"Infected people
have a virus in their organism, but they are not yet infectious
They look totally normal until they have already been in contact with other people."
The normal incubation period for flu, he says, is two
But for a coronavirus, it could be five to six days, a week, or even longer.
That is - someone could have caught the virus last week, taken
it across the world, infected others, and still not know they are ill.
"And when they do start showing symptoms, it may be confused with
common cold or flu," says Prof Prokopenko
"That's the difficulty."
Fear grips Chinese city as virus lockdown beginsWuhan: The London-sized city where the virus beganCoronavirus: How
worried should we be?New China virus: Your questions answeredNone of this means China is wrong to try to contain the virus
The WHO has praised their efforts, and there are some precedents for what experts call "social distancing".
In April 2009, Mexico City shut
down bars, cinemas, theatres, football grounds, and even churches in an attempt to stop swine flu
Restaurants were only allowed to serve takeaway food.
"It did apparently slow the transmission of the virus in Mexico City, and helped
authorities get a handle on the situation," says Prof Kamradt-Scott
"Did it stop it completely? No."
So overall, is the Wuhan shutdown worthwhile?
"China has only been reporting confirmed cases," says Prof
Kamradt-Scott.
"On the basis of those numbers [571 cases, with 17 dead], if it was me, I probably wouldn't do it
But if there are thousands of suspected cases, then that would considerably change the equation."
Death toll rises as more cities restrict
travel24 January 2020Share this with Facebook Share this with Messenger Share this with Twitter Share this with Email ShareRelated
TopicsCoronavirus outbreak
Media captionWhat's life like in quarantined Wuhan?China has widened its travel restrictions in Hubei province -
the centre of the coronavirus outbreak - as the death toll climbed to 26.
The restrictions will affect at least 20 million people across 10
cities, including the capital, Wuhan, where the virus emerged.
On Thursday, a coronavirus patient died in northern Hebei province - making
it the first death outside Hubei.
Another death was later confirmed in north-east Heilongjiang province.
The province borders Russia and
is more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) from Wuhan.
'We've been advised not to leave our rooms'Has China learned lessons since deadly
Sars epidemic?Nationally, there are currently 830 confirmed cases of patients infected with the virus.
A small number of confirmed cases
have also been found outside China, including in Thailand, the US, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam and Singapore.
The growing list of
restrictions comes on the eve of Lunar New Year - one of the most important dates in the Chinese calendar, when millions of people travel
home.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionMillions of people across China are making their way home for Lunar New YearTravel
restrictions vary from city to city.
Wuhan is effectively on lockdown: all bus, subway and ferry services have been suspended and all
outbound planes and trains cancelled.
China's travel industry counts cost of coronavirusResidents have been advised not to leave, and
roadblocks have been reported.
Ezhou, a smaller city in Hubei, shut its railway station
The city of Enshi has suspended all bus services.
City officials in the capital, Beijing, and Shanghai have also asked residents who return
from affected areas to stay at home for 14 days to prevent the spread of the virus, local media report.
Have you been affected? Get in
touch: haveyoursay@bbc.co.ukAnalysis - Can the coronavirus be stopped?We now know this is not a virus that will burn out on its own and
disappear.
Only the decisions being made in China - including shutting down cities - can stop it spreading.
Scientists have revealed each
infected person is passing the virus onto between 1.4 and 2.5 people.
It is known as the virus's basic reproduction number - anything
higher than 1.0 means it's self-sustaining.
Those figures are early estimates, but put coronavirus in roughly the same league as Sars
There are two crucial outstanding questions - who is infectious and when are they infectious.
The fact only 25% of reported cases are
severe is a mixed blessing.
Yes, that is less dangerous than Sars, but if those hard-to-detect mild or maybe symptomless cases are
contagious too, then it is much harder to contain.
And we still don't know when people are contagious
Is it before symptoms appear, or only after severe symptoms emerge? One is significantly harder to stop spreading than the other.
The
impact of the coronavirus is not limited to Hubei province
Authorities have also shut major tourist sites including the Forbidden City in Beijing and a section of the Great Wall and cancelled major
public events in other parts of the country, including:
Traditional temple fairs in BeijingAn international carnival in Hong KongHong
Kong's annual football tournamentAll public Lunar New Year celebrations in MacauShanghai's Disney Resort is temporarily closing, as are
McDonald's in five cities.
Media captionWHO regional director says China now has "stronger capacity" to deal with infectious
outbreaksEarlier, information from China's National Health Commission, when the death toll was 17, said the youngest person who died from
the virus was 48 and the oldest was 89.
Most victims were elderly and suffered from other chronic diseases including Parkinson's and
diabetes.
Wuhan woman who 'cheated' checks found in FranceHow do you quarantine a city - and does it work?Coronavirus: How worried should
we be?Wuhan - home to around 11 million people - is now rapidly building a new 1,000-bed hospital to deal with the increasing number of
victims.
Image copyrightAFPImage captionThis photo was taken at the construction site on FridayThe project will "solve the shortage of
existing medical resources" and would be "built fast [and] not cost much because it will be prefabricated buildings".
Media captionWhat
are viruses? And how do they spread?Videos have been circulating on social media, reportedly taken by Wuhan residents, showing long queues
at local hospitals.
In one video on Twitter taken from Chinese social media, a man can be heard complaining, saying patients could be
queuing for as long as 10 hours
The video could not be independently verified by the BBC.
Skip Twitter post by @xinyanyu
Xinyan Yu@xinyanyuI&m not on the
#WuhanCoronavirus story as a journalist this time
I&m a very concerned 武汉人 posting videos I see in chat groups
Here is a another one - the man in the video speaks with a Wuhan accent: &I&m at the Hankou Hospital (1/2)
Embedded video7897:24 PM - Jan
23, 2020Twitter Ads info and privacy720 people are talking about thisReportEnd of Twitter post by @xinyanyuThe World Health Organization has
not classed the virus as an "international emergency", partly because of the low number of overseas cases.
"It may yet become one," said
the WHO's director-general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Wuhan: The London-sized city where the virus beganFourteen people in UK tested
for new strainHow are people coping in the lockdown?One doctor, who requested anonymity, describes the conditions at a hospital in
Wuhan.
"In the last two weeks, there has been an alarming rate of spread," she told the BBC
"The hospitals have been flooding with patients, there are thousands, I haven't seen so many before."
One woman, Jane, flew back to Wuhan
from Beijing just before the lockdown.
"I feel very uneasy," she said
"But for me, because my child, my husband and family… are in the Wuhan area, I have to go back."
Daniel Pekarek, a software engineering
student at Wuhan University, told the BBC he and his friends were all staying in their rooms.
"I was planning to stay in my apartment
because I'm scared to go to the gym, and I'm scared to go to out in public, and not many people are willing to go out."
Read more: Life as
a foreigner in WuhanWhat's the global situation?Vietnam and Singapore were on Thursday added to the nations recording confirmed cases,
joining Thailand, the US, Taiwan and South Korea.
Japan and South Korea have both confirmed their second cases.
On Friday, Singapore
confirmed its third case - who is known to be the son of another patient
Thailand has five.
Other nations are investigating suspected cases, including the UK, US, and Canada.
Many authorities have announced
screening measures for passengers from China, including on Thursday the major airport hubs of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Taiwan has banned people
arriving from Wuhan and the US state department warned American travellers to exercise increased caution in China.
