More than 800 cases of coronavirus had been identified in Wuhan, China, by Friday but there could be thousands more milder cases still out there, a Maltese physician has said.
The World Health Organisation’s country representative to China, Gauden Galea, said 839 people have been identified with the disease in the city of Wuhan so far, 25 had died while 177 were considered severe.
By Saturday, the Chinese government said infections had jumped to 1,287 and the death toll had reached 41.
But there could be thousands more people with milder symptoms yet to be identified.
Speaking to Times of Malta from Beijing, Dr Galea said WHO and the Chinese centres for disease control have so far focused on finding the most severe cases in order to understand the virus’s impact on the human population.
However, a flu epidemic with similar symptoms to the coronavirus is also affecting the population, making it difficult to identify the milder cases of the latter illness.
“There could be a large number of as yet unrecognised milder cases out in the community. They are very difficult to find because there is an influenza epidemic happening at the same time and the presentation is similar, almost identical,” he said. Dr Galea said the Chinese authorities had identified this coronavirus as showing common symptoms of fever, coughing and pneumonia, which first appear after seven days.
What is Coronavirus?
Coronaviruses have existed for a long time but this one appears to be a new strain of virus on the same level of severity as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS), transferred from animals to humans. This new strain made the transition in a seafood market in Wuhan and is now being transmitted from human to human. Chinese scientists have been unable to identify the animal source, he said.
The virus has triggered a worldwide emergency response after cases have been discovered in countries like Scotland and South Korea.
Dr Galea added that WHO is focused on supporting the local health system and on limiting the impact on the human population. On a visit to Wuhan’s Zhongnan Hospital, he was filled with “cautious optimism” over their response to the crisis.
“It was quite heartening to see the pride the doctors had in their work. They have created a facility to triage people with fever. They take them through a series of examinations and process them rapidly so that the most recognisable forms of pneumonia can be placed in one set of wards. Those with coronavirus can then be placed in isolation. More severe cases are moved to a centre of excellence,” he said.
The physician said WHO and the Chinese authorities were collaborating to use the data from new cases to build a picture of how the virus is changing, how it is shed and how the chains of transmission are broken.
“It has been 24 days since the closure of the seafood market and we are working with partners night and day to fill in gaps in our knowledge as quickly as possible.”
The city of Wuhan and its 11 million population have been placed under lockdown, with a ban on mass gatherings and a travel ban preventing people from entering and exiting the city. Travel has also been banned in the cities of Huanggang and Ezhou.