Wuhancorona virus is likely to be mutated - The Global Times

The Wuhancorona virus is likely to be mutated, and the Wuhanpneumonia epidemic is at risk of further spread, has been reported in China health commission according to a Global Times special-cover.

Lead paragraphs

Human-to-human transmission of the new coronavirus was confirmed Tuesday as the death toll rose to six in Chinese mainland and the nation's health authorities stepped up efforts ahead of the Spring Festival travel rush, the world's largest scale human migration.

A total 309 cases were confirmed nationwide, 270 in  Central China's Hubei Province, where the coronavirus originated, five in Beijing and 14 in South China's Guangdong Province, as of Tuesday evening, People's Daily reported.

Key notes

• As of 7 pm Tuesday, Shanghai added four more confirmed cases, bringing the city total to six, with three suspected cases. Tianjin confirmed two cases. 
• Diagnosed cases have been also reported in Thailand, Japan and South Korea. 
• The coronavirus was confirmed to be transmitted person-to-person.
• The disease was first detected in a seafood market in Wuhan.
• At the invitation of World Health Organization, China and other pneumonia-affected countries will take part in an emergency meeting on international health regulations on Wednesday night and share information with representatives from other countries, Geng Shuang, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told a press briefing on Tuesday. 
• Although classified a "class B infectious disease," the coronavirus would be handled like a "class A epidemic" the commission said, meaning the prevention, reporting and quarantine work will meet the strictest levels. 
• Cholera is among diseases classified as class A.
• The B-A approach was also applied to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) which caused 774 deaths worldwide in 2002-2003. 
• Class A measures are the strictest on the Chinese mainland, Zhou Zijun, a professor at the Peking University School of Public Health, told the Global Times Tuesday.
• "The decision was made considering the infectivity of the coronavirus," Zhou said, "but the fatalities and damage to human bodies are less serious than the plague or cholera. Therefore it is listed as B class disease." 

• The country has made progress in sharing information and preventing and controlling diseases, Yang said. 
• The incubation period of the new pneumonia is longer than SARS but the symptoms are lighter, making it difficult to identify patients, he noted.
• In Wuhan, temperature takers are being deployed at junctions to track outbound individuals and outbound tourist groups have also been cancelled. 
• "Railway stations and airports have set up temperature screening spots, while our company building has also been sterilized," a Wuhan resident told the Global Times on Tuesday.
• Relevant information was being disclosed in a more timely manner than previous days, said the resident, who did not give his full name. 
• "People have become more vigilant on the matter. However, there is no palpable panic," he said. 
• The possible animal carrier of the virus has not been identified but the disease was first detected among people who work at a seafood market that also sells wild birds, civets and snakes. 
• The coronavirus is highly likely originated from wild animals, said Zhong Nanshan, an epidemiologist and head of a National Health Commission team investigating the virus. 
• In an article on its WeChat account, the Ministry of Natural Resources on Tuesday warned the public not to eat or have contact with wild animals.
• Hunting wild animals for their meat and fur not only threatens the ecology but also puts human beings in danger, said the article.

FX implications

• First US case of Wuhan Coronavirus this afternoon - CNN

• Markets fear disease - ANZ