Coronavirus: Wuhan Braces Up for Further 1000 Patients

Wuhan, the city in which the deadly coronavirus was first discovered, is bracing for a further 1,000 coronavirus patients.

This is coming on the heel of warning from Beijing, China’s capital that the deadly bug is more contagious than SARS during the incubation stage.

Zhou Xianwan, the mayor of the disease-plagued city said officials are stepping up construction of specialised hospitals to deal with infection victims.

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It came after Beijing’s health minister assured face-masked reporters that authorities have cranked up efforts to stop the spread of disease after conceding their knowledge of how its mutates is limited.

Ma Xiaowei, who pointed out that the ability of the virus to spread is getting stronger, added that the administration would continue to curb transport links and scrap planned public gatherings.

Over 2,000 people have been infected worldwide, and 56 have been killed in China. China’s President Xi Jinping had also issued an unprecedented warning of a ‘grave situation’.

Although top health official Gao Fu said the coronavirus was ‘not as powerful’ as the SARS outbreak which rocked China in 2003, it is becoming more contagious.

According to the health officials, SARS-infected people were only contagious when their symptoms were showing, while coronavirus victims can infect others during their incubation period, which can be up to 14 days.

There was a video of nurses battling the outbreak who claimed the government is playing down the volume of the infections and said the true figure is 90,000.

But the authorities have batted back accusations of a cover-up and insisted it had ‘followed the principles of openness and transparency’ since the coronavirus broke out in Wuhan, Hubei province, last week.

To further project transparency, they announced that there would be daily press briefings on the threat posed by the virus starting today.

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Ma said he has ‘maintained close communication with the World Health Organisation’ and invited inspectors to examine the country’s response.

He also revealed Beijing is sharing information with other nations after the United States, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Australia, France and Canada all confirmed cases.

Meanwhile, the UK Foreign Office has advised against all travel to the Hubei province where the coronavirus spawned.

Wuhan is under lock-down, and the government has enforced an effective travel ban.

Four cities – including Beijing, Shanghai, and the eastern province of Shandong have also announced bans on long-distance buses from entering or leaving their borders.

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