China today reported its biggest jump in novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) cases, reporting 3,887 new illnesses, and the World Health Organization (WHO) released a $675 million response strategy to support activities over the next 3 months.
In other developments, some donors have already announced support for the response and countries outside of China continue to report more cases, including 10 on a cruise ship in Japan.
WHO spells out response strategy
At a media briefing today, the WHO's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, said $675 million is a lot of money, but a big investment in preparedness now can lead to an even larger cost savings. He added that though the main focus is on helping China, another major worry is the potential impact on countries with weaker health systems.
The goals of the 28-page plan are to limit human-to-human transmission; identify, isolate, and care for patients; communicate critical information; minimize social and economic impact; reduce spread from animal sources; and tackle other unknowns. Three main focus areas are the rapid scale-up of international coordination, stepped-up readiness and response, and accelerated research and other innovations. The WHO said it has already released $9 million from its contingency fund. Of the $675 million price tag, about $60 million would be to support the WHO's operations,with the rest targeted to at-risk countries.
Mike Ryan, MD, who heads the WHO's health emergencies program, said, "That is why we are seeking resources to safeguard the most vulnerable countries to protect people from the new coronavirus before it arrives on the doorstep."
Meanwhile, some groups have already stepped forward with major pledges. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation today announced up to $100 million to protect at-risk populations in Africa and South Africa and to speed the development of vaccines, drugs, and diagnostics. According to a press release from the foundation, up to $20 million is for China and multinational groups to help speed detection and treatment; another $20 million is to help at-risk countries strengthen their emergency operations centers, surveillance systems, and treatment capacity; and up to $60 million is to accelerate the development of vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic tests.
In a related development, Equitorial Guinea today announced $2 million in support for China's 2019-nCoV response, according to a press release from African Energy Chamber, a trade group for Africa's energy industry.
In other outbreak developments, Tedros said the WHO today held a Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Infectious Hazards meeting to examine what's known about 2019-nCoV and to provide advice, and next week it is convening experts in Geneva to discuss and prioritize research on vaccines, drugs, and diagnostic tools.
At the media briefing today, Sylvie Briand, MD, PhD, the WHO's director of epidemic and pandemic diseases, said she has now teleconferenced twice with travel and tourism companies to discuss their risk concerns and challenges, with an eye toward keeping the dialogue going on policy matters. Several have suspended flight service to China, some due to infection concerns and others due to a drop in demand. In its temporary health emergency recommendations, the WHO advised against travel and trade restrictions.
In other global developments, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the World Food Program (WFP) today jointly announced solidarity with China and offered support for its outbreak response. The FAO said it is working closely with other global groups to help identify possible animal hosts, IFAS said it will leverage its work in China to help impacted rural communities, and the WFP said it is prepared to help as needed.
China total passes 24,000
The nearly 4,000 new cases announced by China today raises its overall outbreak total to 24,324, according to the latest update from China's National Health Commission (NHC). Deaths rose by 65, all of them patients from Hubei province, lifting the fatality count to 490. Regarding severe cases, the country reported 431 more, raising the overall total to 3,219.
At today's media briefing, Ryan said China clearly has a backlog in 2019-nCoV testing, and though they have enough reagents and materials, they don't have enough lab staff to keep up with the massive demand.
In other developments, an infant in Wuhan tested positive for the virus 30 hours after birth, raising the possibility of congenital infection, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported today.
Meanwhile, China's government appears to be clamping down on news coverage of the outbreak and social media discussion, the New York Times reported today. It said the country did little to censor the public's frustration in the early weeks of the outbreak, but now that citizens are focusing their criticisms on higher-level authorities, state-run and other media outlets have been told to focus on positive stories on the response, anonymous sources told the Times.
Cases outside of China, some with local transmission
Several countries today reported more imported and local cases, with Japan reporting 10 illnesses in 31 people who have been tested on a cruise ship that arrived at Yokohama port on Feb 3. The patient have been taken to a hospital in Kanagawa prefecture. About 3,700 passengers and crew members are under 14-day quarantine following an illness detected on a Hong Kong passenger.
Separately, Japan reported two more cases, raising its 2019-nCov total to 21. One is a man from Chiba prefecture who is a resident of Wuhan and whose wife had tested positive earlier in Japan. The other, which appears to be another instance of local transmission, is a man in his 20s from Kyoto prefecture who serves about 300 Chinese tourists at day in his work.
Hong Kong today reported three more cases, raising its total to 21. Two are the wife and daughter of a recently confirmed case, and neither had a history of travel during the incubation period, hinting at local transmission, according to a statement today from the Center for Health Protection (CHP). The third is a man who got sick on Jan 30. His travel history includes working in Shenzhen, China, where he last visited on Jan 21. He also visited Tokyo from Jan 28 to Feb 1.
In other Hong Kong developments, health officials said investigation and testing is underway on passengers and crew on a cruise ship, after infections were confirmed in eight travelers from China's mainland, the CHP said in a separate statement. Earlier today Hong Kong's government announced that due to the worsening situation and the detection of the first local cases, visitors from the mainland will be subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Elsewhere, other countries that reported earlier cases reported more, including:
- Australia, which reported another case from Queensland state, raising the country's number to 14. The patient is a 37-year-old man from Wuhan who is part of a travel group from China in which three other cases were reported earlier, Australia's ABC News reported.
- Canada has reported another presumed positive case, the second from British Columbia. According to a provincial government statement, the patient is a woman in her 50s who lives in the Vancouver region who had close contact with family visitors from Wuhan.
- Malaysia today reported two more cases involving evacuees, the health ministry reported today, bringing the country's total to 12.
- Philippine health officials today announced the country's third case, a 60-year-old Chinese woman who arrived in the country via Hong Kong on Jan 20. She sought medical care in the Philippines on Jan 22 for fever and sore throat, and a sample taken on Jan 24 initially tested negative, and the woman recovered and was allowed to return to China on Jan 31. On Feb 3, one of the labs that tested one of the woman's earlier samples said the result was positive for 2019-nCoV.
The WHO said today in its latest daily situation report that it has received 32 new reports of cases outside China, raising the total to 191, one of them fatal, from 24 countries.
See also:
Feb 5 WHO press release
WHO strategic response plan
Feb 5 Gates Foundation press release
Feb 5 Africa Energy Chamber press release
Feb 5 FAO joint statement
Feb 5 China NHC update
Feb 5 SCMP story
Feb 5 New York Times story
Feb 5 Japan health ministry statement on cruise ship cases
Feb 5 Japan health ministry statements on 20th and 21st cases
Feb 5 Hong Kong CHP statement on three cases
Feb 5 Hong Kong CHP cruise ship statement
Feb 5 Hong Kong government statement on mandatory quarantine
Feb 5 ABC News story
Feb 5 British Columbia government statement
Feb 5 Philippines health department statement
Feb 5 WHO situation report
