Wuhan pneumonia: new strain ‘bears close similarity to Sars’ as Hong Kong health minister assures public city is prepared
- Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan says Hong Kong has plenty of beds and protective gear, but appeals to retailers not to jack up prices of masks
A new strain of pneumonia that claimed its first fatality in mainland China on Saturday has been revealed as a Sars-like coronavirus, with close to 80 per cent similarity to the widespread global epidemic that broke out in 2003, according to an unofficial international analysis.
Hong Kong officials confirmed the findings meant all people tested for infection locally so far did not carry the virus.
A group of international experts from institutions including the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Centre and Centre of Public Health, Central Hospital of Wuhan, and the University of Sydney analysed the coronavirus genome from a respiratory disease case from the Wuhan outbreak and released the results on Friday.
They showed a group-2B coronavirus, with close to 80 per cent similarity to the severe acute respiratory syndrome genome. Its primary source was likely to be bats, like Sars, and it attacked humans through a cell receptor known as ACE2.
In a joint press conference with health officials, University of Hong Kong professor and microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung said diagnosis tests of suspected cases in the city had covered the new coronavirus genome and no patients had tested positive for the disease.