China coronavirus: four new cases confirmed in Wuhan, but study says 1,723 people may have symptoms

Researchers at Imperial College London say estimate based on duration of detection period, catchment population of Wuhan airport and volume of international travellers

Health authorities in central China city say latest cases in stable condition

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Researchers at Imperial College London say as many as 1,723 people may have been infected with the new coronavirus. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:00pm, 18 Jan 2020Updated: 3:19pm, 17 Feb 2020

Health authorities in Wuhan, the central China city at the centre of a pneumonia outbreak that has already claimed two lives, said on Saturday that four more people have been infected with the coronavirus.

The additions take the total number of confirmed cases in the city to 45, but a new report by researchers at Imperial College London, working in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, suggests the actual figure could be 40 times higher.

The new cases in Wuhan were diagnosed on Thursday, and all of the patients were in a stable condition, the city’s municipal health commission said.

A further 763 people known to have been in close contact with the 45 confirmed cases had been given the all-clear after being tested, it said.

But the researchers in London said on Friday that it was likely there were substantially more people with moderate to severe respiratory problems caused by the virus that have yet to be identified or confirmed.

According to their models, published on the website of the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, as of January 12, an estimated 1,723 people were likely to have been infected with the new coronavirus.