Fears of the spread of the Chinese coronavirus are revived, with the new assessment announced Wednesday January 22 by the Chinese authorities: 17 deaths and hundreds of people infected. WHO could declare an "international emergency" during the day.

A previous assessment reported 9 dead. The total number of people infected is 444 in Hubei province, the epicenter of the epidemic, officials from the central China province said during a televised press conference.

The SARS family virus, which appeared last month in the city of Wuhan, has spread to several countries in Asia and even the United States, where the first case has been recorded. Hong Kong reported its first suspected case on Wednesday, a 39-year-old man who arrived by train from Wuhan. But the final results of the medical tests will not be known until Thursday.

>> To read also: "Chinese Coronavirus: a 'first cousin' of SARS far from having revealed all its secrets"

After Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan, the United States announced the first case of the disease on Tuesday. He is a man in his thirties, originally from Wuhan and living near Seattle in the northwestern United States. Arrived on January 15 without fever at Seattle airport, he himself contacted local health services after finding symptoms.

Chinese President Xi Jinping assured his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron by telephone that China had adopted "strict prevention and control measures", according to remarks reported by the New China agency. "China is willing to work with the international community to effectively respond to the epidemic and maintain health security around the world," he said. This interview comes at a time when an ad hoc committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) is meeting in Geneva to determine whether to declare a "public health emergency of international concern".

Wearing a mandatory mask

At a press conference in Beijing, the deputy minister of the National Health Commission, Li Bin, stressed that the virus, which is transmitted by the respiratory tract, "could mutate and spread more easily".

Hundreds of millions of Chinese travel across the country to reunite with their families on Lunar New Year holidays, which begin Friday. After appearing to ignore the epidemic when it first appeared last month, the Chinese appeared to be aware of the risk in the country's major cities, where many residents were wearing respiratory masks. Authorities in Wuhan have made it mandatory to wear a mask in public places, according to The People's Daily.

In a Beijing pharmacy, an employee was forced to explain to customers that she no longer had masks or disinfectants to sell. The Chinese Industry Ministry has announced that it is doing everything it can to increase production, according to the China News Agency.

Ventilation, disinfection

Almost half of the country's provinces are affected, including mega-cities like Shanghai and Beijing. Relaying a call from President Xi Jinping to "stem" the epidemic, Mr. Li announced preventive measures such as ventilation and disinfection at airports, stations and shopping malls. Body temperature sensors could also be installed in busy sites, he said.

Qualifying matches for the Tokyo 2020 women's Olympic football tournament, originally scheduled for February in Wuhan, have been relocated to the east of the country, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced.

Many countries with direct or indirect air links to Wuhan, the city at the epicenter of the disease, have tightened up checks on arriving passengers, drawing on their experience of the SARS epidemic (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in 2002-2003. Checks have been implemented at five airports in the United States, as well as in the United Kingdom and Italy, where flights from Wuhan arrive.

With AFP

The France 24 week summary invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Download the app

google-play-badge_FR