the new corona virus is still spreading
and so are rumors and misinformation
about it so here's what we know and what
we don't know so far
a newly identified virus has killed at
least 170 people in China according to
the latest estimates from chinese state
media and more than 7,000 people have
been infected worldwide the center of
the novel coronavirus outbreak is Wuhan
in central China although cases have now
been diagnosed in other countries
coronavirus is the name of the group
this infection belongs to and there are
seven known corona viruses named after
their crown Lake shape under a
microscope the SARS variant infected
more than 8,000 people in 2003 and
killed 744 so where has it spread to at
the moment according to the latest data
around 7800 cases have been confirmed so
far the vast majority in China more than
50 people have been diagnosed with the
virus in 16 countries chinese state
media has put the death toll at 170 so
far but no deaths have been reported
outside of china yet the UK has tested
some 97 patients so far for suspected
Korona but no one has been found to have
the virus yet so as it stands there are
no confirmed cases in Britain how
worried should people in the UK be mark
wallhouse who's professor of infectious
disease epidemiology at the University
of Edinburgh told our fat chat team that
the risk is currently low he said anyone
with flu-like symptoms is overwhelmingly
more likely to have an ordinary
respiratory infection than this new
virus that even applies to people with
connections with wuhan however the risk
is almost certain to increase as the
outbreak develops what is the official
advice for travelers to China public
health bodies in the UK and the United
States are both advising against travel
to whom a province and the UK government
has advised against all but essential
travel to the rest of mainland China -
UK government advises that people should
seek medical attention if you have
visited Wuhan and developed a fever
difficulty breathing or a cop within 14
days the UK health secretary Matt
Hancock's have people who have returned
from Wuhan
in the last two weeks
self isolate avoiding contact with other
people for 14 days even if they do not
have symptoms and the UK government is
now preparing to fly some 200 British
citizens back from Wuhan and put them in
quarantine for two weeks
other countries are now doing the same
including Japan the United States and
the EU Australia is planning to
quarantine its a vacuous on Christmas
Island some 1,200 miles off the mainland
and this all comes as British Airways
have suspended flights to and from
mainland China
United Airlines and Cathay Pacific are
also restricting flights should I wear a
mask World Health Organization
guidelines say health care workers
treating patients should wear masks
goggles surgical gowns and gloves the
guidelines say that staff should be
trained to wear masks and other
protective equipment as they need to be
taken off and disposed of carefully and
new ones issued when treating a new
patient a number of experts have said
there is no need for the general public
to wear masks in places where the risk
of infection is low the current whu-oh
infection control device for the general
public does not mention masks or goggles
instead focusing on how washing covering
your mouth while sneezing and avoiding
raw and undercooked food is there a
vaccine no there is currently not a
vaccine available for the novel
coronavirus despite bogus claims on
social media China's state-run news
agency Xinhua said scientists in the
country have already begun working on a
vaccine Western academics have said it
may take months or years for a working
vaccine to emerge is there a cure like
SARS the new corona virus strain has no
known cure
although most cases do not prove fatal
and some patients have already recovered
and been discharged from hospital is it
caused by bats it's not implausible that
wild bats could be the source of a
corona virus epidemic both the SARS
outbreak in 2003 and MERS that's the
Middle East respiratory syndrome in 2012
may have begun in bats like Ebola swine
flu and many other infectious diseases
corona viruses are zoonotic which means
that they jump from animals to people
Chinese researchers have recently
published evidence showing that the
novel coronavirus closely resembles
similar virus found in bats but we
simply don't know the source of the
original outbreak yet the Chinese
authorities linked early cases to a
seafood market in Hunan where exotic
wild animals may have been kept in close
proximity to each other and sold for
food but a new paper published in The
Lancet shows that 14 out of 41 patients
analyzed by Chinese researchers were not
exposed to the seafood market including
the first reported case who became ill
on December the first last year so what
do you think and what questions do you
want answering about the novel
coronavirus make sure you subscribe to
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and the latest updates on the outbreak
you