WHO declared global emergency over coronavirus
The new coronavirus that emerged in China on December 31 last month has caused a growing panic as the death toll continues to rise.
According to The Guardian, the total number of the virus related deaths in China as of 31 January 2020 stands at 213; an increase of 43 from last night’s 170 reported deaths. The virus labelled as 2019-nCoV has spread throughout the world since its outbreak in Wuhan, affecting countries including Australia, Japan, and Malaysia.
Malaysia started with four confirmed cases of positive Wuhan coronavirus infection reported on January 25.
The first three cases of Coronavirus were related to a 66-year old man from Wuhan China who tested positive for the virus in Singapore. The three, who entered Malaysia via Johor Baru, are the man’s 65-year-0ld wife and their grandsons aged 11 and 2.
The fourth case is a 40-year old man from Wuhan, who was making his way by bus from Singapore to Johor with a tour group. He was admitted to a hospital in the state.
Despite this, Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad said that there are no plans to stop Chinese nationals from entering the country.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Dzulkefly Ahmad has previously assured that his Ministry will intensify their level of preparedness and will be on high alert.
Unfortunately, it was not long before the country recorded another three positive cases of the Wuhan coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases to seven on January 27.
Two out of the three cases were from the Patient-Under-Investigation (PUI) group involving a four-year-old and 52-year-old man who were receiving treatment at an isolation ward at the Hospital Sultanah Maliha in Langkawi and Hospital Sultanah Aminah in Johor respectively.
The third case was apparently due to close contact with infected patients who previously tested negative.
On January 30, Malaysia reported the 8th confirmed case of the Wuhan Coronavirus in Malaysia. As the virus outbreak spreads rapidly across the globe, the World Health Organization has recently declared an emergency which would allow the organization to support periphery and semi-periphery countries to strengthen their control and prevention measures.