• Xi Jinping's alarm: "The epidemic is accelerating". 80 victims in China. Beijing extends holidays
  • China virus, 56 victims. Two thousand cases, sanitary cordon for 56 million people
  • Wuhan virus, several isolated cities in China. Three cases in France
  • Sars virus. Nine died in China, the first case in the USA
  • Wuhan virus, the director of Spallanzani: "No alarm in Italy"
  • Wuhan virus, suspected case in Bari. In China, first death outside the epicenter

Share

January 27, 2020

The first case of coronavirus 2019-nCoV infection dates back to December 1 and the infected person had not been to the Wuhan fish market. This is what emerges from the reconstruction of the early stages of the epidemic published in the Lancet magazine and reported by Science magazine on its website. Of the first 41 cases examined by the Chinese research team led by Chaolin Huang, from the JinYin-tan hospital in Wuhan, 27 (66%) had been on the market since 10 December.

Beijing has decided to extend the holidays for the Chinese New Year by three days until February 2, as part of the government's measures to combat the viral pneumonia epidemic. Initially the Chinese were due to return to work on Friday January 31, after seven public holidays which have resulted in hundreds of millions of trips across China. "This measure has been taken to reduce gatherings and stop the spread of the epidemic," the Chinese government said in a statement. The Chinese New Year holiday period has been extended to "limit population movements," state media said.

769 new cases in 24 hours, 2,835 infections. Deaths soared to 81
The Chinese National Health Commission has announced that 769 new cases of coronavirus have been registered in the past 24 hours, until midnight on Sunday. The related deaths have meanwhile risen to 81, while the confirmed cases of infection in China amount to 2,835, according to the latest bulletin provided by the state television CCTV, updated at 18:00 local (11:00 in Italy), in based on communications from health authorities.

Premier visiting Wuhan
Premier Li Keqiang, "appointed by President Xi Jinping", is from Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic. According to official media reports, Li, who heads a "high-level delegation", visited patients and doctors by listening and giving instructions on handling the emergency. "You are doing all you can to save lives and while you are doing it you have to protect yours," Li said to the staff of the Jinyintan hospital, wearing blue shirts and a mask to cover his nose and mouth.

The virus forced Beijing authorities to further restrictions, such as a ban on the trade in wild animals, from which the disease originated. Mongolia has closed its road borders with China due to the risk of spreading the new coronavirus. For the same reason, schools were closed.

The contagion, by the way, went all the way to Toronto. The flight attendant, hospitalized Saturday evening in Vienna, did not contract the coronavirus. In the meantime, however, a second suspect case is reported in the Austrian capital. It is a Chinese citizen who lives in Vienna and who has recently been on vacation in the area affected by the virus. The woman was hospitalized in isolation with flu symptoms.

First suspected case in Africa
The Ivory Coast authorities are carrying out checks for a suspected coronavirus infection which, if confirmed, would be the first on the African continent. Local media reported this by citing the Ministry of Health. It is an Ivorian student returning from Beijing.