China Reports More Cases of New Virus as Hectic Travel Period Nears - Wall Street Journal

Medical staff transfer patients to a hospital in Wuhan, China. Photo: Getty Images/Getty Images

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Chao Deng

Chao Deng
The Wall Street Journal
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• @chao_deng
• chao.deng@wsj.com

Updated Jan. 19, 2020 12:50 am ET

BEIJING—Chinese health authorities have identified 17 new cases of a pneumonia-like virus that has killed two people, raising concerns the disease could spread during the coming Lunar New Year holiday—the busiest travel week of the year in China.

On Sunday, the health commission in Wuhan, the densely-populated central Chinese city where the virus was first discovered, described three of the new cases as severe. Wuhan authorities didn’t say how the new patients, 12 of whom are men, might have been infected.

The new cases bring the total number to 62, eight of which are deemed to be serious, the health commission said in a separate statement Sunday. A total of 19 people have been cured and discharged from hospital, the health commission said.

Related

• CDC to Screen Travelers From Central China for New Virus (Jan. 17, 2020)
• Virus in China Is Part of a Growing Threat (Jan. 10, 2020)
• SARS Experience Guides China’s Effort to Contain New Virus (Jan. 10, 2020)
• New Virus Discovered by Chinese Scientists Investigating Pneumonia Outbreak (Jan. 8, 2020)

Scientists believe the pneumonia is caused by a previously-unidentified coronavirus, one of a class of pathogens that can cause illness in the respiratory tract. Named for their crown-like shape, they don’t necessarily cause life-threatening diseases. Four of seven strains known to infect humans cause common colds, though one strain caused was responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, which killed hundreds after an outbreak erupted in China in late 2002.

Much remains unknown about the Wuhan coronavirus to Chinese health authorities. They are racing to better understand its origins and how it spreads, although they have said that the risk of human-to-human transmission is low.

China’s weeklong Lunar New Year Holiday begins Friday, with hundreds of millions of people expected to travel, including migrant workers returning home to their families.

In a Sunday interview with state broadcaster China Central Television, Huang Chaolin, deputy director and chief physician of Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, where many of the patients are being monitored, said authorities are expecting more new cases.

Officials in recent days have installed temperature testing points at airports and railway and bus stations to monitor those leaving Wuhan, the city’s deputy mayor, Chen Yiexin told CCTV.

Cases of the new coronavirus have been reported in Japan and Thailand. No cases have been detected in the U.S., although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection last week began screening airport travelers from Wuhan for fever, coughing and breathing difficulties.

Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post on Saturday reported three suspected cases in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen and in Shanghai, on the country’s east coast, citing unnamed sources.

Chinese health officials have previously said that two people infected with the new coronavirus have died, though both had existing health problems. Many infected patients were linked to one of Wuhan’s largest meat and seafood markets, which was shut down Jan. 1.

—Bingyan Wang contributed to this article.

Write to Chao Deng at Chao.Deng@wsj.com

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