U.S. Advises Citizens to Reconsider China Travel Over Virus
The U.S. may also expand travel screening at its borders and is closely monitoring 110 people to stop the virus.
(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. State Department said citizens should reconsider travel to China in light of the deadly coronavirus that’s killed at least 80 there and is appearing around the globe from Singapore to Paris.
The U.S. may also expand travel screening at its borders and is closely monitoring 110 people to stop the virus, testing them for presence of the pathogen. As of Monday morning, there have been no new U.S. cases after the first five patients were identified in the past week.
In Hong Kong, authorities announced they would be temporarily closing all sports and cultural facilities starting Wednesday, including museums, swimming pools, public libraries and soccer pitches. Recreational, sports and cultural programs at those venues were canceled until further notice.
The new U.S. travel alert, Level 3, is the second highest of four State Department advisories. Previously, the U.S. had urged citizens to “exercise increased caution” when visiting China, while avoiding any travel to the area near Wuhan, the city of 11 million where the epidemic started.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is spearheading the American response, said it’s developed plans for a test that it will share with states in order to more quickly diagnose new cases. It emphasized, however, there is no evidence that the the pathogen is being transmitted within the U.S.
“At this time in the U.S., this virus is not spreading in the community,” said Nancy Messonnier, the CDC’s director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
Officials have been on close watch for cases of so-called secondary transmission, in which original patients who came from China could infect others in the community.
Anxiety is growing amid evidence that the disease has an incubation period of as long as two weeks before those infected start to show symptoms. That raises the possibility that people could travel and eventually infect others before realizing they have the illness. But Messonnier said that so far there has been no clear evidence that the virus can spread during the incubation period before patients have symptoms.
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The new coronavirus appears to be less contagious than highly infectious viruses like the measles, she said. Coronaviruses like this one, so named because of their crown-like shape, are generally transmitted by respiratory droplets, she said.
A decision on expanded traveler screening should come within a day, Messonnier said.
Of the 110 U.S. people under investigation for potential coronavirus infections, five have tested positive, 32 have come up negative and results for the other 73 are still pending, according to the CDC.
Public health officials in China and around the globe have mounted an aggressive attempt to stop the spread of the virus, which can cause a potentially deadly pneumonia-like illness in the most severe cases. While cases in other countries have been limited, Chinese officials said the virus isn’t yet under control despite aggressive steps to limit movement for millions of people who live in cities near Wuhan.
The U.S. has five cases, with three confirmed over the weekend: two in Southern California and one in Maricopa County, Arizona. All the patients had recently been in Wuhan and are hospitalized. Their close contacts are being monitored for signs that they may be developing the disease, the CDC said Sunday. Washington state and Chicago earlier had confirmed infections.
Stocks slumped around the globe on fears over the virus, with the S&P 500 Index sliding the most in almost four months. Bonds and gold rallied.
Deaths in China climbed to at least 80, the National Health Commission said Monday. That’s up from only two just over a week ago. There are at least 2,744 confirmed cases on China’s mainland, and more than 30,000 people who are under observation.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited Wuhan, and World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he’s heading to Beijing to meet with the government and assess the response.
Last week the WHO declined to label the coronavirus an international emergency, a designation that would have allowed the United Nations agency to begin coordinating government responses.
--With assistance from Michelle Fay Cortez.
To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Langreth in New York at rlangreth@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Drew Armstrong at darmstrong17@bloomberg.net, Mark Schoifet, Timothy Annett
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