Coronavirus outbreak: virus’s ability to spread 'getting stronger', says minister

Earlier today, Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said the country would evacuate any of its citizens in Wuhan who wished to return to Japan.

Here is a full quote from the press conference today, from Ma Xiaowei, China’s health commission minister.

The transmissibility shows signs of increasing and the ‘walking source of infection’ [where patients have few signs of disease] has made it difficult to control and prevent the disease.

For this new coronavirus we have not identified the source of the infection and we are not clear about the risk of its mutation and how it spreads. Since this is a new coronavirus there might be some changes in the coming days and weeks, and the danger it poses to people of different ages is also changing.

The semi-autonomous region of Macau has imposed new restrictions on vistitors from mainland China, AFP’s Hong Kong correspondent reports.

Hubei province has suspended inter-province and inter-city buses intensifying the lockdown designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Chinese state media is reporting.

Shandong province and the cities of Beijing, Tianjin an Xi’an had earlier suspended inter-city and chartered buses from crossing their borders.

In Hong Kong, residents are protesting about the construction of a quarantine camp for people infected with the coronavirus. The reference in the first tweet to yellow and blue, alludes to the colours adopted by supporters of the city’s protest movement against Chinese interference and those who suppport the police, respectively.

The prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, has said the country will evacuate any of its citizens in Wuhan who wish to return to Japan.

Beijing is postponing the reopening date of the city’s kindergartens, schools and universities, China National Radio is reporting (via Reuters).

The UK home secretary, Priti Patel, refused to confirm or deny reports that Britain is planning an airlift of its citizens from China.

She would only tell Sophy Ridge on Sunday, on Sky News: “We are looking at all options.”

The UK foreign office has advised citizens against all travel to Hubei province.

A third case of coronavirus has been identified in the United States.

The latest case is in Orange County, Southern California. The Orange County Health Care Agency announced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed a traveler from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the centre of the outbreak, tested positive for the virus. The patient is in isolation at a hospital and in good condition, a release from the agency said.

That patient had been in contact with the local health agency and was provided guidance to reduce exposure to others while health officials awaited laboratory confirmation. After consulting with the CDC and the California Department of Public Health, the Orange County agency will follow up with people who have had close contact with the patient.

Guidance from the CDC advises that people who have had casual contact with the patient are at minimal risk for developing infection. There’s no evidence that person-to-person transmission occurred in Orange County, and the risk of local transmission remains low, the release said.

The previous two cases in the US were in Chicago and Washington state.

Taiwan has further tightened restrictions on visitors from China to prevent the spread of a new coronavirus, suspending entry for many apart from business travellers and a few other exceptions like people married to Taiwanese, Reuters reports.

Taiwan has already stopped Chinese tour groups from visiting, and has now banned all people from Hubei from coming to the island.

Most other Chinese citizens will not be allowed in for the time being, aside from people involved in fighting the virus or on humanitarian grounds, the island’s newly established Central Epidemic Command Centre said in a statement.

Chinese business travellers will also be permitted entry, but have to agree to have their health monitored for two weeks after entry, the command centre said. Spouses from Hubei will have to stay in quarantine at home for the same period, it said.

Chinese students studying in Taiwan will have to postpone their return to the island for two weeks, it added, while students from Hubei cannot return at all until further notice.