Coronavirus – Chinese revolt over government’s slow response as ‘Wuhan is sealed off’ trends on Weibo
RESIDENTS of the city at the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak have blasted authorities on Weibo for waiting a month to put Wuhan on lockdown after the outbreak that has killed at least 17.
Locals in Wuhan, which has a population of 11 million, have been ordered not to travel, to avoid crowds and minimise public gatherings despite Chinese New Year being two days away.
Latest figures suggest the number of coronavirus cases in China has now risen to 616. At least 17 are confirmed to have died, with figures from China suggesting that tally could have reached 25.
The virus could now be declared a global health crisis after cases of the mystery bug previously quadrupled in just four days.
Xiao, 26, a primary school teacher in Wuhan, told : "When I saw the news when I woke up, I felt like I was going to go crazy. This is a little too late now. The government’s measures are not enough."
Others criticised local authorities on the social media platform Weibo as #PrayforWuhan was trending.
One said: "It’s been a month since the first case was discovered and only now do they think of closing the city? This Wuhan emergency response is a little slow, right???"
Another added: "The government needs to address this. If things become too expensive, people will definitely panic and when people feel unsafe, terrible things happen. Right now people are fighting over supplies, soon they may just be fighting.”
Locals have shared images of their stockpiles of instant noodles and snacks on the social media platform Weibo.
One wrote: "No more going out ... so I won’t get sick. Hope Wuhan can get some support soon."
It is unusual of citizens to express such outrage at the Chinese government on the country's microblogging site.
CITY ON LOCKDOWN
Supermarket shelves are empty as residents have started stockpiling goods to keep themselves isolated at home to avoid contracting the virus.
Images shared online show food prices have spiked in Wuhan.
Cake Liu left Wuhan last week after visiting her boyfriend there and said everything was normal then, things have changed rapidly.
She said: "(My boyfriend) didn't sleep much yesterday. He disinfected his house and stocked up on instant noodles. He's not really going out. If he does he wears a mask."
Police, SWAT teams and paramilitary troops have been out on the streets patrolling the railway stations as authorities have banned travelling on subways and ferries.
The airport and train stations have been shut down to outgoing passengers travelling after 10am local time.
Petrol stations have been rammed with motorists trying to get as much fuel as possible amid rumours reserves had run out.
“It’s almost like a ghost town.
I have enough water for a few more days, but I will probably have to head out to the shops for food.
“I have no idea what to expect."
Seven million people in Huanggang, which is 45 miles away, have been told not to leave after there were confirmed cases.
Public transport stopped running at midnight local time.
And at least one million residents in Ezhou are unable to travel after the rail starions were shut.
The Sun Online travelled to the deadly epicentre as cases rapidly have continued to skyrocket.
The virus has spread from Wuhan to other parts of China as well as South Korea, Singapore the US and Thailand.
In Vietnam, a father and a son from China have tested positive for the virus.
There have been reported suspected cases in Saudi Arabia, Australia and Russia.
Local authorities are demanding that residents wear face masks in public places.
"DO NOT GO TO WUHAN"
Our on the ground reporter, who is too fearful of the Chinese authorities to be identified, says there is little activity on the streets with people shutting themselves indoors.
She said: “Only the main transport hubs, such as the airport and the train station indicate that this is a city of 11 million, as families jostle with their suitcases, eager to escape to their Lunar New Year destinations, the most important festival in the Chinese calendar, in case an all-out quarantine is enforced.
"There’s a notable difference as soon as I land in Wuhan. In the airport, almost every single person, including staff, is wearing a face mask.
"There’s hand sanitizer on every desk and some staff are wearing gloves. I walked through an infrared camera in arrivals but no one seemed to be paying any attention.
"Travelling into the city by cab, even drivers who are alone in their cars are wearing masks. With the fog, pollution and rain."
Earlier, National Health Commission vice-minister Li Bin warned people to refrain from travelling to Wuhan.
A major Lunar New Year event, the most important event in the Chinese calendar which was due to start on Friday, has been cancelled.
Around 30,000 tourists had already purchased tickets to the event and 200,000 free event coupons had been handed out.
Mr Bin said: “Basically, do not go to Wuhan. And those in Wuhan please do not leave the city.
If it's not necessary we suggest that people don't come to Wuhan.
Mayor Zhou Xianwang
“Though the transmission route of the virus is yet to be fully understood, there is a possibility of virus mutation and a risk of further spread of the epidemic.”
He added there were 2,197 people known to have come into contact with infected patients. At least 15 medical workers in Wuhan are known to be infected.
Mayor Zhou Xianwang added: “If it's not necessary we suggest that people don't come to Wuhan.”
The majority of cases have been found in Wuhan, where a seafood market which illegally sold wild animals is suspected of being the source of the outbreak.
"EXTREMELY CONCERNING"
Chinese officials confirmed 'novel coronavirus' - which causes pneumonia -can be passed from person to person.
Leading expert, Dr Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, said that marks a serious shift change in the outbreak.
He warned: "This is extremely concerning.";
"Person to person transmission has been confirmed and, as expected, we are seeing rapidly increasing case numbers across China, and in more countries, with health care workers infected.
"With travel being a huge part of the fast approaching Chinese New Year, it is right that concern levels are at the highest level.”
The mayor of Wuhan has confirmed the latest deaths, an 89-year-old man from the city, which is home to more than 11 million people.
A 66-year-old man, known only as Li, and a woman, 48, known as Yin were also confirmed to have died from multiple organ failure.
Where did coronavirus start? From bats to snakes - the theories on deadly virus' origins
The killer coronavirus was spread from bats to snakes to humans, experts have claimed.
An outbreak of the virus is understood to have started at an open air fish market in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which has since been put in lockdown after 25 people died and more than 600 people were infected globally.
A new study published in the China Science Bulletin this week claimed that the new coronavirus shared a strain of virus found in bats.
Previous deadly outbreaks of SARS and Ebola were also believed to have originated in the flying mammal.
Experts had thought the new virus wasn't capable of causing an epidemic as serious as those outbreaks because its genes were different.
But this latest research appeared to prove otherwise - as scientists scrabble to produce a vaccine.
In a statement, the researchers said: “The Wuhan coronavirus’ natural host could be bats … but between bats and humans there may be an unknown intermediate."
Meanwhile, scientists at Peking University also claim that the deadly virus was passed to humans from bats - but say it was through a mutation in snakes.
The researchers said that the new strain is made up of a combination of one that affects bats and another unknown coronavirus.
They believe that combined genetic material from both bats and this unknown strain picked up a protein that allows viruses bind to certain host cells - including those of humans.
After analysing the genes of the strains the team found that snakes were susceptible to the most similar version of the coronavirus.
It meant that they likely provided a "reservoir" for the viral strain to grow stronger and replicate.
Snakes are sold at the Huanan Seafood Market in central Wuhan and may have jumped to other animals before passing to humans, they claim.
But a senior researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, who asked not to be named, said the findings should be treated with caution.
He told the : “It is based on calculation by a computer model.
“Whether it will match what happens in real life is inconclusive.
“The binding protein is important, but it is just one of the many things under investigation. There may be other proteins involved.”
The expert believes that the new strain was an RNA virus, meaning that its mutation speed was 100 times faster than that of a DNA virus such as smallpox.
What is coronavirus?
Coronavirus is an airborne virus, spread in a similar way to colds and the flu.
The virus attacks the respiratory system, causing lung lesions.
Symptoms include a runny nose, headache, cough and fever, shortness of breath, chills and body aches.
It is incredibly contagious and is spread through contact with anything the virus is on as well as infected breath, coughs or sneezes.
Symptoms include a runny nose, headache, cough and fever, shortness of breath, chills and body aches.
In most cases, you won't know whether you have a coronavirus or a different cold-causing virus, such as rhinovirus.
But if a coronavirus infection spreads to the lower respiratory tract (your windpipe and your lungs), it can cause pneumonia, especially in older people, people with heart disease or people with weakened immune systems.
There is no vaccine for coronavirus.
In 2003 an outbreak of a similar virus, SARS, infected more than 8,000 people in 37 countries before it was brought under control, killing 800 of those worldwide.