By Francesco Rodella
A doctor from Wuhan, the Chinese city epicenter of a deadly outbreak of an unknown coronavirus until a few weeks ago, he died this saturday after being infected by it, according to various means. The international health emergency due to the rapid spread of the harmful microbe, which has already caused dozens of deaths in China, is fired hour after hour.
Liang Wudong, 62, worked at a hospital in Wuhan – a metropolis of 11 million people – where patients infected with the coronavirus were cured, he says. The Wall Street Journal. It is the first fatality registered among health teams that care for people who have been infected with the disease, he adds The guardian.
Another Wuhan doctor died Thursday of a heart attack while attending patients, as reported The Washington Post. Although it is not clear that his death was related to the virus, reports indicate that he was exhausted due to fatigue from the countless hours of work.
After remaining silent and not referring to the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country – since the first cases were recorded last month – the president of the Asian country Xi Jinping held a special meeting in which he requested A centralized response to the epidemic. “It is our responsibility to prevent and control it,” state agency Xinhua News reported.
Get the news newsletter.
–
He also said that the nation will overcome this moment, after admitting that the situation is “serious.”
The symptoms
The mysterious respiratory disease transmitted by this virus leaves more and more victims. In China, where the authorities have isolated tens of millions of people in several cities to try to stop its spread, they have already been confirmed at least 41 dead Y more than 1,200 infected. Two confirmed cases were detected in the United States, and several more in other countries, such as Japan, Malaysia and Australia.
This Friday, the French authorities reported that they detected three cases, the first confirmed in Europe. Mexico, among many other countries, performs checks on some people to find out if the symptoms they manifest, apparently compatible with those caused by the new coronavirus, are a consequence of their attack.
These usually appear in principle as those of a cold or flu, with cough and fever and, in the most serious cases, respiratory problems. But they can be further aggravated and lead to pneumonia, which could be lethal.
The outbreak allegedly began in a large seafood and animal market in Wuhan. Although in principle it was thought that only humans would be infected, then it was observed that it is also transmitted from person to person.
The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) considers the American general public at risk. This Friday, they reported that they had a follow-up more than 60 possible cases. The two patients confirmed so far, a 30-year-old man and a woman in their sixties, had just returned from Wuhan.
Chinese city authorities continue to take steps to try to stop this seemingly unstoppable outbreak, reports The Associated Press. After the transport to the city was suspended on Wednesday, including trains and airplanes, in addition to public transport within the city, the circulation of almost all vehicles In the center.
Isolation measures were also applied in 16 nearby cities, totaling 50 million inhabitants, more than New York, London, Paris and Moscow together. Hong Kong reported that it will close schools for two weeks.
The Chinese Association of Travel Services reported that all agencies have been ordered to stop group tours, while the president, Xi Jinping, addressed the problem at a meeting of leaders of the Communist Party on the day of the traditional holiday of the Lunar New Year, which he saw several acts canceled and tourist attractions and movie theaters closed due to the emergency.
“Given the serious situation of this accelerated spread of pneumonia due to infections with the new coronavirus, we must intensify the centralized and united leadership under the central party,” were his words, reported by the Chinese state chain CCTV. In his opinion, the keys to defeating the virus are “prevention” and “control.”
–
