DIAMOND PRINCESS HAS MORE CORONAVIRUS CASES THAN ALL COUNTRIES OUTSIDE OF CHINA COMBINED

DIAMOND PRINCESS HAS MORE CORONAVIRUS CASES THAN ALL COUNTRIES OUTSIDE OF CHINA COMBINED 

Eighty-eight new cases of coronavirus on the Diamond Princess were announced today, showing the virus continues to spread rapidly.

That means more people were confirmed in one day on the ship than during the entire outbreak in any country other than China.

The passengers, who come from around the world, are expected to face another two weeks of quarantine once they get off the boat, even if they have a clean bill of health.

The virus, named SARS-CoV-2, has infected just over 73,000 people in China and killed 1,868.

In the 28 countries and territories affected in the rest of the world, there have been a total of 443 infections and five deaths.

On the Diamond Princess there have been 542 infections and no deaths.

The global spread of cases looks like this:

    Singapore - 77
    Japan - 66
    Hong Kong - 60
    Thailand - 35
    South Korea - 31
    Malaysia, Taiwan - 22 each
    Vietnam, Germany - 16 each
    Australia, US - 15 each
    France - 12
    Macau - 10
    UK, United Arab Emirates - 9 each
    Canada - 8
    India, Philippines, Italy - 3 each
    Russia, Spain - 2 each
    Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Egypt - 1 each

Buses carrying US passengers who were aboard the quarantined cruise ship the Diamond Princess, seen in background, leaves Yokohama port, near Tokyo, early Monday. The cruise ship was carrying nearly 3,500 passengers and crew members 

How dangerous is the virus?  

The virus has a death rate of around two per cent. This is a similar death rate to the Spanish Flu outbreak which, in 1918, went on to kill around 50million people.

However, experts say the true number of patients is likely considerably higher and therefore the death rate considerably lower. Imperial College London researchers estimate that there were 4,000 (up to 9,700) cases in Wuhan city alone up to January 18 – officially there were only 444 there to that date. If cases are in fact 100 times more common than the official figures, the virus may be far less dangerous than currently believed, but also far more widespread. 

Experts say it is likely only the most seriously ill patients are seeking help and are therefore recorded – the vast majority will have only mild, cold-like symptoms. For those whose conditions do become more severe, there is a risk of developing pneumonia which can destroy the lungs and kill you.

Can the virus be cured? 

The COVID-19 virus cannot currently be cured and it is proving difficult to contain.

Antibiotics do not work against viruses, so they are out of the question. Antiviral drugs can work, but the process of understanding a virus then developing and producing drugs to treat it would take years and huge amounts of money.

No vaccine exists for the coronavirus yet and it's not likely one will be developed in time to be of any use in this outbreak, for similar reasons to the above.

The National Institutes of Health in the US, and Baylor University in Waco, Texas, say they are working on a vaccine based on what they know about coronaviruses in general, using information from the SARS outbreak. But this may take a year or more to develop, according to Pharmaceutical Technology.

Currently, governments and health authorities are working to contain the virus and to care for patients who are sick and stop them infecting other people.

People who catch the illness are being quarantined in hospitals, where their symptoms can be treated and they will be away from the uninfected public.

And airports around the world are putting in place screening measures such as having doctors on-site, taking people's temperatures to check for fevers and using thermal screening to spot those who might be ill (infection causes a raised temperature).

However, it can take weeks for symptoms to appear, so there is only a small likelihood that patients will be spotted up in an airport.

Source : Dailymail.co.uk