January 24, 2020
Coronavirus 'will infect 350,000 people in Wuhan ALONE': Scientists dramatically increase estimate as China locks down FOURTEEN cities and races to build 1,000-bed hospital in FIVE DAYS to deal with the crisis
• The Wuhan coronavirus has infected more than 900 people and killed 26 around the world so far this month
• Major cities and towns in China are cancelling public transport and closing roads to try and stop the spread
• Hospitals in Wuhan, the outbreak's centre, have been 'overwhelmed' this week, experts said
• The government has ordered the six-day construction of a new hospital in Wuhan to deal with the virus
• Chinese New Year celebrations planned for the next week have been cancelled in Beijing and HongKong
• Report shared with MailOnline suggests 250,000 people – up to 350,000 – will have caught virus by February
By SAM BLANCHARD and VANESSA CHALMERS and CONNOR BOYD and STEPHEN MATTHEWS HEALTH EDITOR FOR MAILONLINE
Up to 350,000 people could be infected with China's new virus in a single city by the beginning of February, according to experts in the UK and US who predict only one in 20 cases are actually being diagnosed.
China has gone into lockdown today as authorities and businesses scramble to shut tourist attractions and public transport systems in a bid to stop the spread of the deadly new coronavirus that has killed at least 26 people.
Construction workers are putting in huge efforts to build a new hospital from scratch in Wuhan – the city at the centre of the outbreak – within just five days, after being order to do so by the government.
In a drastic turn of events, part of the Great Wall of China and Disneyland in Shanghai were closed today as authorities desperately try to stop people spreading the Wuhan coronavirus.
Thirteen cities, home to around 40million people, are reported to have followed Wuhan's example and gone into some form of lockdown in the past 24 hours with public transport halted and roads closed.
And a report written by researchers from England, Scotland and Florida, has predicted that a staggering 250,000 – potentially up to 350,0000 – people may be infected just in Wuhan by the beginning of February.
A second patient has been diagnosed in the US today – a woman in Chicago – and 63 other people in 22 states are being monitored for possible cases . Across the Atlantic, British authorities have tested 14 people but all were negative – a small number of other people are expected to go through tests today.
Other shocking developments in the outbreak today include:
• Four people in Australia have been quarantined – two in Queensland and two in New South Wales – for testing
• Nepal has confirmed its first case of the infection, making it the 10th country outside of China to do so
• Chinese New Year celebrations planned for this weekend have been cancelled in Beijing and Hong Kong
• Officially, at least 900 people around the world have been infected with coronavirus and 26 have died
• Japan has confirmed its second case and a fifth patient has been diagnosed in Thailand today, Friday
• Footage has emerged reportedly showing military personnel guarding a train station
• Videos from inside hospitals show patients crammed into overcrowded corridors and laid on the floor
• Photos have emerged of Chinese construction workers starting urgent building of a new hospital in Wuhan
Photos from inside the intensive care unit at Zhongnan Hospital in Wuhan show medical workers caring for critically-ill patients today, January 24
News footage from China shows a patient being wheeled out of a Wuhan hospital on a stretcher by medics wearing protective clothing and masks
Huge efforts are being made by construction workers in Wuhan to erect a new hospital in less than a week on the government's orders. Officials said the medical facility must be built to cope with overwhelming numbers of coronavirus
Nepal today became the 11th country to declare a confirmed case, as the US and Japan confirmed their second cases, Thailand its fifth, and the global toll rose above 900
Fourteen cities across the Hubei province in China are restricting the movement of people – by reducing or cancelling public transport and closing roads – to try and stop the virus spreading
Unverified video posted on Twitter appears to show a military vehicle on the streets of Wuhan, where roads have been closed and public transport stopped
Shanghai's Disneyland will close to visitors tomorrow for 'the prevention and control of the disease outbreak'. Visitors wearing masks walk past the resort today which has taken the extraordinary step of closing during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday
An unverified video posted on Twitter claims to show members of Central Theater Command – a division of the People's Liberation Army – standing guard outside a train station in Wuhan
Workers in protective clothing scan the temperatures of patients arriving at Xianning North railway station, close to Wuhan, on the eve of the Chinese New Year celebrations. Pictured today, January 24
Shanghai Disney Resort posted on its website: 'In response to the prevention and control of the disease outbreak and in order to ensure the health and safety of our guests and cast, Shanghai Disney Resort is temporarily closing Shanghai Disneyland, Disneytown.
'We will continue to carefully monitor the situation and... announce the reopening date upon confirmation.'
A section of the Great Wall known as the Badaling section – one of the most visited parts – has been closed to tourists, Al Jazeera reports.
The following measures have been taken to control the disease's spread in and around China:
• Beijing's Forbidden Palace, which hosts the Palace Museum, will be closed to visitors from tomorrow, Saturday
• The Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, has been closed
• A four-day carnival planned in Hong Kong, from January 25 to 28, has been cancelled by the state tourism board
• Hong Kong's Lunar New Year World Cup football tournament has been called off
• All public Lunar New Year events in Macau, home to more than half-a-million people, have been cancelled
• Transport restrictions are reported to be in place in Wuhan, Huanggang, Ezhou, Zhijiang, Dangyang, Qianjiang, Chibi, Xiantao, Lichuan, Jingmen, Xianning, Yichang and Enshi
A report shared with MailOnline after being produced by researchers from Lancaster University in England, the University of Florida and the University of Glasgow, estimated that only five per cent of all the coronavirus cases are being diagnosed.
Dr Jonathan Read, a biostatistics researcher at Lancaster, wrote with colleagues: 'If no change in control or transmission happens, then we expect further outbreaks to occur in other Chinese cities, and that infections will continue to be exported to international destinations at an increasing rate.
'In 14 days’ time (4 February 2020), our model predicts the number of infected people in Wuhan to be greater than 250 thousand (prediction interval, 164,602 to 351,396).
'We predict the cities with the largest outbreaks elsewhere in China to be Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chongqing and Chengdu. We also predict that by 4 Feb 2020, the countries or special administrative regions at greatest risk of importing infections through air travel are Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea.'
Dr Read told MailOnline: 'The estimate we came back with was that one in 20 people becoming infected are getting detected and confirmed as cases. There is potentially a lot of people not recognised.
'This could be for a number of reasons. One that springs to mind the most, common with respiratory and flu-like viruses, is a lot of people will get sick and never seek medical help. Unless you present yourself to a doctor or a hospital you won’t get counted.'
Businesses around China – the world's biggest nation and home to more than one billion people, a seventh of the world's population – are already having to take drastic measures.
Seven movies which were set to premiere over this weekend have cancelled their screenings and 70,000 cinemas across the country have closed their doors, The Telegraph reports.
McDonald's is believed to have ordered the closure of branches in five cities in the Hubei province, and clothing store Uni Qlo has shut down 17 stores in Wuhan city, where the outbreak began and is most dangerous.
Wuhan has now been in lockdown for two days, with residents told not to leave and forced to wear face masks. There is no public transport, major roads have been closed and the airport has been shut down.
Reports from the city described it as a 'ghost town' as streets were deserted at a time when millions would normally be preparing to celebrate.
And at least nine other areas have started to put similar measures in place.
Huanggang, close to Wuhan, is home to more than seven million people and yesterday announced it would shut down its public transport.
Movement of people is also reportedly being restricted in Ezhou, Zhijiang, Dangyang, Qianjiang, Chibi, Xiantao, Lichuan, Jingmen, Xianning, Yichang, Huangshi and Enshi, The Telegraph reports.
All these places are in the Hubei province, which is the epicenter of the outbreak – Wuhan is the capital. Hubei has a total population of almost 60million people – slightly more than England.
Hubei has by far recorded the most cases – 549 out of the total, according to China Daily – and all but one of the 26 people who have died died in that province.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7923913/Shanghai-Disney-closed-Saturday-help-prevent-spread-virus.html
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