4 things to know about the coronavirus outbreak: – The virus isn’t ‘brand new’, but the public health risk is a mystery – We still don’t know how easy it is to catch the virus – Hospitals are preparing for new cases – Widespread travel bans are unlikely
Chinese authorities have clamped down on travel in the city of 11 million people at the epicenter of the deadly coronavirus outbreak that’s spread to five other nations.
But officials still don’t know how infectious this particular virus is. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last weekend developed a test that can quickly detect the bug. Agency officials told reporters Tuesday that they will soon share the test with state and local officials. Providence St. Joseph Health saw the country’s first coronavirus patient in Washington state, and quickly turned on an electronic prompt for doctors and nurses to ask travel screening questions. That system also reminds health workers of symptoms, including a cough and a fever over 101 — and instructs them to isolate patients and contact the local infection prevention department when one screens positive.
It is very rare for WHO to issue travel warnings for a viral pandemic. The global health authority sounded the alarm for travel to Chinese cities and Toronto during the deadly 2003 SARS epidemic that killed 774 people and sickened more than 8,000 but refrained during more recent outbreaks of Ebola virus, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or the Avian flu.
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