US starts screening Chinese passengers at 3 airports
People arrive to Los Angeles International Airport after touchdown of an Air China flight from Beijing, which serves as a connector from Wuhan, China to Los Angeles, on the first day of health screenings for coronavirus of travelers from Wuhan on January 18, 2020 in Los Angeles, California.
The
United States began screening passengers arriving from Wuhan, the
Chinese city at the heart of a mysterious virus, officials said, after
an outbreak that has stricken dozens and claimed a second life.
Martin
Cetron, a senior official at the US Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention told reporters, “To further protect the health of the
American public during the emergence of this novel coronavirus, CDC is
beginning entry screening at three ports of entry.”
These
are San Francisco airport and New York’s JFK, which both receive direct
flights, as well as Los Angeles, the biggest destination for connecting
flights, he said, adding: “We’re expecting that the screening over the
next couple of weeks could include as many as 5000 people.” Incoming
travelers will be asked to fill out a questionnaire and submit to a
temperature check, with those showing possible signs of infection sent
on to another facility for a diagnostic test that could take up to a
day.
Thailand said it was already screening passengers arriving in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket and would soon introduce similar controls in the beach resort of Krabi.
Wuhan confirms 136 new coronavirus-related pneumonia cases, death toll rising to 3
Li Gang, director of the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, answers questions during a press conference in central China's Wuhan City on Sunday.
China reported 136 new cases of the mysterious virus early Monday, including one person dead, bringing the death toll to three.
These patients, 66 male and 70 female, ranged from 25 to 89 years old. They showed symptoms such as fever, cough, oppression of the chest or difficulty in breathing before Saturday, the commission said.
Of the patients, 33 were in serious condition, while three critical — one of the three succumbed to death.
This has brought the death toll linked to the new coronavirus-related pneumonia to three.
The first a 69-year-old man who died last Wednesday after the disease caused pulmonary tuberculosis and damaged multiple organ functions.
The second man to die became sick on December 31 and his condition worsened two weeks ago.
The virus has now infected 198 people in Wuhan, with three dead, nine in critical condition, 35 in serious condition, 25 cured and discharged from hospital, and the rest remaining in isolation receiving treatment.
Epidemiological investigations into the new cases are underway and close contacts are being traced, the authority said.
Three cases Beijing, Shenzhen
Meanwhile, the health commission in Beijing's Daxing District confirmed early Monday that two pneumonia patients, who both had been to Wuhan, were infected with the new coronavirus. They showed the symptom of fever but are both in stable condition. No more details about the patients are available.
About the same time, the health commission of southern China's Guangdong Province said that a 66-year-old man in Shenzhen was infected with the new coronavirus.
The man went to Wuhan to see his relatives on December 29, 2019, and showed the symptom of fever on January 3. He came back to Shenzhen the next day and was transferred to a designated hospital in isolation receiving treatment on January 11. He is now in stable condition.
'Controllable'
China’s National Health Commission said earlier on Sunday the outbreak of a new strain of coronavirus is controllable.
The transmission path of the new virus hasn’t been mapped completely and the source of the virus is unknown, it said, adding that it will step up monitoring during Lunar new year, when much of China’s population will travel to celebrate the holiday next week.
Authorities said they had begun “optimized” testing of pneumonia cases across the city to identify those infected, and would begin “detection work... towards suspected cases in the city” as a next step, as well as carrying out “sampling tests.”
Epidemiological analysis of previously published cases found that some cases had no exposure to Wuhan’s Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which is believed to be related to most of the infected cases.
It has been temporarily closed while disinfection is carried out.
No human-to-human transmission has been confirmed so far, but Wuhan’s health commission had previously said the possibility “cannot be excluded.”
A total of 727 among the 817 close contacts placed under medical observation had been released. No cases were found among the close contacts.
Two cases have also been reported in Thailand and one in Japan — both involving people who traveled from Wuhan. One of the two patients in Thailand has recovered.
Wuhan deputy mayor Chen Xiexin said on China Central Television that infrared thermometers had been installed at airports, railway stations and coach stations across the city.
Chen said passengers with fevers were being registered, given masks and taken to medical institutions, with nearly 300,000 body temperature tests carried out already, according to China Central Television.
Source: Agencies; SHINE;
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