The Wuhan coronavirus outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared, but he warned governments not to impose travel or trade restrictions on China.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the organization decided to declare an emergency, which gives WHO greater powers to direct the response, because of the danger that coronavirus could be devastating if it spreads to countries with weak public health systems. He emphasised that the move was no reflection on China, adding that the country’s response had saved the world from many more cases and deaths.
Of the 9,320 confirmed cases so far, only 98 have been outside China, he said.
“So far we have not seen any deaths outside China, for which we must be grateful,” said Tedros. “Although these numbers are relatively small compared to the number of cases in China, we must act together now to limit further spread.”
“Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems which are ill prepared to deal with it,” said Tedros. “The decision is not a vote of no confidence in China.”
The emergencies committee, which advises the director-general, made a series of recommendations. Tedros said the first of these was that “there is no reason for measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade.” It also said that it was important to combat the rumours and misinformation circulating about the outbreak.
“In the past few weeks we have witnessed the emergence of a previously unknown pathogen which has escalated into an unprecedented outbreak and which has been met by an unprecedented response,” said Tedros. “China is to be congratulated for the extraordinary measures it has taken to contain the outbreak despite the severe social and economic impact that is is having on China.”
In the UK, the chief medical officers of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland responded by increasing their risk assessment from low to moderate. “This does not mean we think the risk to individuals in the UK has changed at this stage, but that government should plan for all eventualities,” they said in a statement.
“As we have previously said, it is likely there will be individual cases and we are confident in the ability of the NHS and HSC in Northern Ireland to manage these in a way that protects the public and provides high-quality care.”
Dr Jeremy Farrar, the director of health foundation Wellcome, said the WHO had made the right call. “Countries, public health teams and researchers worldwide have been acting on this with the very highest level of concern for the last few weeks. But this virus has spread at unprecedented scale and speed, with cases passing between people in multiple countries across the world,” he said.
“Declaration of an international emergency will undoubtedly sharpen governments’ focus on protecting citizens. But we must also step up as an international community to make sure no one is left behind – with all interventions, including public health measures, diagnostics, treatments and vaccines available to everyone. This will challenge the best-resourced countries but will have disproportionate impact on fragile health systems in low- and middle-income countries.”
Most people who have fallen sick in other countries have travelled from China’s Hubei province. So far there has been only a very small number of cases in these countries of transmission from person to person – the development that health experts most fear.
The United States reported human-to-human transmission on Thursday. The man who became unwell in the US is married to a 60-year-old Chicago woman who became sick from the virus after she returned from a trip to Wuhan. There has also been human-to-human transmission in Vietnam, Japan and Germany.
In China, the health chief of Huanggang city, which has reported 500 cases – second only to Wuhan – was sacked by the Chinese government following public anger over her inability to answer questions about the outbreak on state television.
Tang Zhihong floundered when questioned by a central government inspection team and a reporter. Asked how many sick people there were in one of the hospitals, she replied: “I don’t know, I’m unclear. I only know how many beds there are. Don’t ask me how many people are being treated.”
Her TV appearance generated more than half-a-million comments on the Weibo account of state television’s news channel, most of them angry. A few hours after the programme aired, the city’s health department said in a terse and brief statement that Tang had been removed. It gave no other details.
The US and Japan have started evacuating citizens, while other countries are poised to send chartered flights to Wuhan city – the centre of the outbreak in Hubei – amid reports that some evacuations had been held up by delays in obtaining permission from the Chinese authorities.
The first British flight to evacuate citizens will carry about 150 British nationals and 50 other people, mainly from the EU. The flight is scheduled to leave Wuhan at 5am local time on Friday for RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. It is understood that the British passengers will be taken to a former NHS facility in the Wirral and quarantined for 14 days.
Australia is yet to receive permission from the Chinese government to evacuate hundreds of its citizens, and New Zealand has launched a separate rescue mission, though a timeline remains unclear.
France, South Korea and other countries are also removing their citizens or making plans to do so. About 250 French citizens and 100 other Europeans are scheduled to be flown out of Wuhan on two French planes this week.
In Italy, a cruise ship’s 6,000 passengers were kept onboard while tests were conducted on two Chinese travellers.
In Moscow, the Russian prime minister Mikhail Mishustin issued a decree ordering the temporary closure of the country’s border with China, which extends for 2,600 miles (4,200km). The border had been de facto closed because of the lunar new-year holiday, but authorities said the closure would be extended until 1 March. All train traffic between the two countries, except for one train connecting Moscow and Beijing, was stopped on Thursday.
