Jordan announced today, Monday, that a Chinese worker had been quarantined on suspicion of being infected with the new Coronavirus, at a time when the number of deaths due to the outbreak in China had risen to 81. No deaths were reported outside China.
A Jordanian medical source said that the Jordanian authorities had transferred a Chinese worker who came days ago from the Chinese city of Wuhan to the Corona Virus Center to quarantine on suspicion of contracting the virus.
"An 18-year-old Chinese worker was transferred yesterday (Sunday) to the health isolation department of Al-Bashir Hospital on suspicion of being infected with the Corona virus," Mahmoud Zureikat, director of Al-Bashir Governmental Hospital, told AFP.
He added that "the worker works for a Chinese company in an oil shale mine in Karak Governorate (114 km south of Amman) and returned a few days ago from the Chinese city of Wuhan and he suffers from some common symptoms between seasonal flu and corona, and he is under quarantine for 14 days and his condition is dealt with according to To the protocol for infection with coronavirus.
For his part, the media spokesman for the Jordanian Ministry of Health Adnan Ishaq told France Press that "the Chinese worker arrived in the Kingdom a few days ago from the Chinese city of Wuhan and was placed in quarantine yesterday as a precaution."
He added that "there are also three Jordanians who arrived today (Monday) from Jordan from Wuhan and were transferred directly to the quarantine precaution until it is proven that they are free of diseases," stressing that these measures are now applied to those who arrive from China.
On the other hand, the authorities closed the site of the workers in the oil shale mine in the place where the Chinese worker, who was transferred to the quarantine in Al-Bashir Hospital, works as a precaution.
"The quarantine on the tire project came as a precaution, because of the suspected case of a Corona virus for a worker who came to the project from the Wuhan region of China, five days ago," said Mohammed Al-Maaita, a member of the Board of Directors of Tire Company.
He explained that the General Security patrols, "prevented the entry or exit of any worker to and from the project" which employed 1,800 Chinese workers.
High mortality
The death toll from the new Corona virus outbreak in China rose to 81 today, Monday, while the government extended the lunar New Year holiday and closed more major companies or asked employees to work from home, in an effort to stem the spread of the virus.
Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang visited Wuhan, the epicenter in the center of the country, as the government sought to show its seriousness in dealing with the virus.
The total number of confirmed cases of the virus jumped by about 30% to 2744, about half of them in Hubei Province and its capital, Wuhan.
And with concern growing around the world, Hong Kong has denied entry to those who visited Hobby in the past 14 days. The ban does not include residents of the city, which confirmed eight cases.
The Chinese government extended the lunar New Year holiday, a week, for another three days until February 2, in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. The holiday is an occasion in which millions usually travel, but many have had to cancel their plans because of restrictions to fight the virus.
Little is known about the new virus, including its severity and ease of spread. It can cause pneumonia that has killed people in some cases.
On Sunday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom went to Beijing for talks with Chinese officials and health experts about the new Corona virus outbreak.
Yesterday, Sunday, the Minister of the National Health Committee, Ma Xiaoya, said that the incubation period of the virus ranges from one to 14 days, and infection can also be transmitted during the incubation period, unlike SARS. The World Health Organization estimates that the incubation period ranges between two and ten days.
The virus is believed to have originated late last year in a food market in Wuhan that had been illegally selling wild animals. And spread to other cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, as well as ten other countries, including France, Japan and the United States.
Airports around the world have stepped up screening of travelers from China, although some experts have questioned the effectiveness of this. Australia, France, Italy, Japan and the United States have said they are working to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan.
25 thousand injuries
For his part, a senior public health expert in Hong Kong said today, Monday, that the true number of people infected with the new coronavirus is probably close to 25,000, which is much higher than the 2744 cases confirmed by the Chinese National Health Committee.
At a press conference, Gabriel Leung, Head of the College of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, said his team's research indicates that there are likely to be about 44,000 cases in the incubation stage (the period between HIV infection and the onset of symptoms).
Leung, who advises the Hong Kong government on preparing for the disease, said his team expected the number of cases to continue to "double every six days in the absence of any public health intervention."
According to Leung's estimates, the Chinese city of Chongqing will face the largest outbreak of the virus, as the city of more than thirty million people is densely populated and closely connected with the epicenter of the disease.
He said research indicates that the peak of the disease outbreak will strike Zhongqing, about two weeks before the disease in other major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai peaked in April or May, before receding in June or July.