"China Corona-virus" including the Forbidden City | English News | Everyday Big News

"China Corona-virus" Authorities shut major tourist sites including the Forbidden City

Infected Peoples:

Welcome to the program Beijing has canceled all major public events for the Lunar New Year even closing the iconic tourist spot of the Forbidden City as authorities try to contain the spread of the new coronavirus,

This comes as three Chinese cities have now been quarantined we know at least 18 people who were infected have died from complications and they're more than 500 people with confirmed cases.

Wuhan City:

It's also spreading abroad let's take a look China has confirmed actually its first death outside of Hebei the province where the outbreak began the city of Wuhan that's already in lockdown and the authorities have suspended planes and trains in and out of the city,

Which is home to 11 million people now these cities are Hwang gam and also of Asia with a combined population of eight and a half million they've also suspended all transport operations now you can take a look here this is the general layout of Wuhan.

It's a city where the virus originated actually in a market that was selling live animals for food the World Health Organization they have been holding the second day of talks in Geneva let's hear from their director-general this is an emergency in China,

But it has not yet become a global health emergency so what do we know about this far as well it is understood to be a new strain of coronavirus not previously identified in humans.

Corona-virus Effects:

It affects the lungs and symptoms start with a fever and a cough which can progress to shortness of breath and breathing difficulties the SARS virus.

You might remember severe an acute respiratory syndrome that killed nearly 800 people globally that was in early 2000 that was also a coronavirus as is the common colds,

And understanding how the virus transmitted between people is one of the outstanding questions in this the outbreak now the new strain of the coronavirus.

It's believed to have originated as I mentioned the market this is it here in Wuhan through illegal transactions of wild animals.

There are some suggestions that are even originated in snakes now Wuhan is actually a place that is such an important center it's the high speed pass your train network is one of the main cities and one of the main reasons.

The virus has been able to spread so quickly let's take a look here you have the city and then just a few hours by train you begin to go to some of the most populous most important cities.

China's Yangtze River:

It's also one of the most important ports along China's Yangtze River their ships connecting the city to Shanghai as you can see also Chongqing the river is more than six thousand kilometers long.

It's used to ship foods products also public transport for more on the situation in the city. Wuhan who've been going to train stations and just chaos people arriving they were hoping to travel to different areas and saying that they weren't aware that train networks have suddenly been suspended.

Everywhere else as well and we've also seen footage on social media of cars arriving get hauling boots and finding out that they've got to turn around so yeah they're absolutely stranded,

And there's not a lot of the choice for say diverting for example because other regions are also affected by  so there's quickly stepping up precautions carry well for more on the impact of the travel restrictions during Chinese New Year.

Here chou-Heung pong from the BBC Chinese service in Washington DC it's like canceling Christmas in the West as you know Lunar New Year's the most important festival for Chinese.and the locking of will Han came only three days before the Lunar New Year which is approaching this Saturday,

And as you mentioned we're not only phasing the lockdown of three cities but also canceling major events in other Chinese cities at the same time, many Chinese families are actually considering canceling their dinner on New Year's Eve,

Which is also the most important meal of the year for millions of families this is an indication of how there the situation is at the moment and are you getting a reaction from people to these cancellations I mean do people approve of what the government is doing well from different parts of the world.

The United States the first case confirmed on the west coast in Washington State that was a Tuesday for more on how this coronavirus outbreak has been spreading here's again chou-Heung Wong from Washington DC 

If we draw a comparison between the current outbreak and the SARS outbreak in 2003, a major difference that I would point out is that global travel is now more common in China.

Lockdown of Wuhan:

I mentioned that Wuhan has direct flights to other global major cities including London in New York and in this Washington State case the patient we understand that he just traveled from Wuhan back to Seattle a few days ago.

And in this case, we see that the risk of this coronavirus virus further spreading is very high given that the lockdown came relatively late and we also have no idea where the virus can spread at the moment.

We might be seeing travelers going through health check horns in major airports in the United States if they're traveling from China.

And that's a very necessary precautions at the moment Chinese social media people are asking a lot of questions and having different arguments some doubt that lockdown of Wuhan and the other two cities came a little too late,

Transportation hub:

Because of many Chinese people actually started to travel further in a new year way before the actual New Year's Day and the lockdown only came three days before that so a lot of people might have left Rohan already and we have no idea where they have been Rohan is a major transportation hub in China.

Population:

It has a population of over 11 million that's larger than the country of Austria.

It also has direct flights to New York London and Tokyo and we don't know how exactly this lockdown can work how long it will last people are panicking grocery markets are packed with shoppers shelves are empty,

Because people worried that the supply with ins ohan is not going to last for a very long time let's get the view of some of the travelers who are unable to travel out of the city of here we're at the very epicenter of the virus maybe it's best not to travel.

I'm confident that our government has the situation well in hand and that the situation will be quickly brought under control the hospitals in the city are completely over stretched with hundreds of patients waiting to see doctors here's the view of one nurse at a hospital in the city.

We are still all young we so honestly, we feel lost and afraid our family members are worried too but as long as we wear the protective clothing we'll be okay speaking of protective clothing.

Wearing surgical masks:

Millions of people across China has been wearing surgical masks not only because of this current coronavirus outbreak,

But also to protect against high pollution levels some health experts they're skeptical about the effectiveness against airborne viruses.

Dr. Nathalie McDermott:

Dr. Nathalie McDermott she was involved in fighting the outbreak of the Ebola virus here's her view on whether wearing a mask makes a difference in containing the spread of this virus I think if someone is unwell and they wear a mask,

That potentially protects the other people around them because when they cough or sneeze they're not coughing or sneezing into their hand,

It's limiting the spread if you're not unwell masks can be beneficial if you're wearing the right type but if you wear a very flimsy mask it doesn't work very well because as you breathe in and out it becomes moist and then essentially.