Australia To Screen Some China Flights, Warns Deadly Wuhan Coronavirus Difficult To Stop
Australia will begin screening passengers arriving from a Chinese city in a bid to stop the spread of a new mystery virus, the country’s chief medical officer said on Tuesday, although authorities warned that an outbreak would be hard to prevent.
Chinese authorities have confirmed more than 200 people have caught the coronavirus, which can cause a type of pneumonia that has killed at least six people.
The virus - which can pass from person to person - broke out in Wuhan but four cases have been reported in Thailand, Japan and South Korea, raising concerns about its spread through international air travel.
The first US case of a new coronavirus strain has been reported in Washington state, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.
The deadly virus, which Chinese health officials have said can spread by human-to-human contact, has sickened hundreds of people, according to the mayor of China’s central city of Wuhan, where an outbreak is underway.
The male US patient is a resident of Snohomish County, Washington. He was hospitalised last week in Everett with pneumonia after returning from a trip to Wuhan, health officials said at a news conference.
“We believe the risk to the public is low,” Washington state Secretary of Health John Wiesman said. Wiesman credited the patient’s decision to seek immediate medical help for helping prevent the virus from spreading.
Brendan Murphy, the chief medical officer for the Australian government, said biosecurity officials would begin screening passengers arriving on the three weekly flights to Sydney from Wuhan starting on Thursday.
