China coronavirus: Europe boosts flight checks as killer virus spreads
- Airports from London to Moscow step up monitoring of passengers from Wuhan, city at heart of outbreak
- Health authorities put likelihood of virus spreading to Europe as ‘moderate’
European airports from London to Moscow stepped up checks on Wednesday on flights from the Chinese city at the heart of a new Sars-like virus that has killed 17 people and spread to the United States.
The coronavirus has sparked alarm because of its similarity to the outbreak of Sars (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) that killed nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-03.
The new virus emerged ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday during which hundreds of millions travel across China to meet up with their families.
“The upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations at the end of January will cause an increased travel volume to/from China and within China, hence increasing the likelihood of arrival in the EU of possible cases,” the European Centre for Disease and Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in a statement.