China coronavirus: outbreak spreads West as world works to contain it

Scientists around the globe are racing against time to better understand the deadly coronavirus outbreak that originated in China last month, after it has spread to more than a dozen countries and regions including Canada and the US.

Information on the fast-spreading virus is limited and its transmission is increasing, Chinese health officials said on Sunday, even though the pathogen was identified relatively quickly and despite aggressive steps taken by authorities to limit the movement of millions of people in the country.

Coronavirus: embassies make plans to get foreigners out of Wuhan

More than 2,000 infections have been confirmed worldwide, with mainland China accounting for 98 per cent of those and all 56 deaths so far. Small numbers of cases have also been found in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, the US, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, France and Australia.

Canada said on Saturday it had discovered its first case, a man in his 50s who recently flew from Wuhan – the epicentre of the outbreak – to Guangzhou and then on to Toronto. He is being treated in isolation in hospital, the city’s mayor John Tory said in a statement, adding that his condition is stable and the risk to residents “remains low”.

A patient in Southern California became the third person in the US to test positive for the virus, it was announced just before midnight on Saturday, coming on the heels of diagnoses in Washington state on Tuesday and Chicago three days later. All three patients had travelled to China.

A notice from the US embassy in Beijing said it plans to put on a charter flight on Tuesday that will proceed from Wuhan directly to San Francisco. It said there would be limited capacity and in the event that there are not enough seats, priority will be given to individuals “at greater risk from coronavirus”.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Sunday that his government was also working with Chinese authorities to arrange a charter flight for any Japanese nationals who wish to return from Wuhan.

The French consulate, meanwhile, said it was working on arranging a bus service to help French citizens leave the city, while French carmaker PSA Group said it will evacuate its employees in Wuhan, quarantine them and then bring them to France.

France, which has the only confirmed coronavirus cases in Europe, said it plans to send “medical welcoming teams” to airports including Charles de Gaulle near Paris to treat any passengers showing symptoms of the illness.

New Zealand will also begin sending health workers to meet flights from China starting Monday to look for signs of coronavirus among arriving passengers, Health Minister David Clark said.

Elsewhere, the UK has advised against all travel to China’s Hubei province, where Wuhan is the capital, and is urging British citizens in the area to get out if they are able.

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office said citizens should comply with any additional screening measures set up by local Chinese authorities and confirmed that flights arriving in the country from Wuhan were being monitored and extra screening provided where needed.

The new virus is a member of the coronavirus family and is a close cousin to the deadly Sars and Mers viruses that have caused outbreaks in the past. It has an incubation period of about two weeks before infected people start to show symptoms, which resemble a cold or flu and can include fever, coughing, wheezing and pneumonia, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

First detected in Wuhan last month, it has sparked fears of a pandemic that could rival Sars, which claimed almost 800 lives 17 years ago.