Human-to-human transmission confirmed in China coronavirus

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By YANAN WANG and KEN MORITSUGU

BEIJING (AP) — The head of a Chinese government expert team said Monday that human-to-human transmission has been confirmed in an outbreak of a new coronavirus.

Team leader Zhong Nanshan, a respiratory expert, said two people in Guangdong province in southern China caught the disease from family members, state media said.

The National Health Commission task force also found that some medical workers have tested positive for the virus, the English-language China Daily newspaper said.

Human-to-human transmission could make the virus spread more quickly and widely. The outbreak is believed to have started from people who picked it up at a fresh food market in the city of Wuhan in central China.



Travelers wear face masks as they walk outside of the Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. China reported Monday a sharp rise in the number of people infected with a new coronavirus, including the first cases in the capital. The outbreak coincides with the country's busiest travel period, as millions board trains and planes for the Lunar New Year holidays. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)


Read more: https://apnews.com/14d7dcffa205d9022fa9ea593bb2a8c5

[dewsgirl]

1. 14 health care workers have came down with the virus.

Link to tweet

?s=19

[getagrip_already]

2. well that's scary....

Good thing we have a science based, fully funded CDC with the mandate to protect the health of americans.

Oh... wait.....

[cstanleytech]

10. "well that's scary...." You may find it so but personally I am kinda shrugging over the whole thing.

Why? Because despite the news media is hyping it up a bit its not at threat level like the Spanish Flu was.
Granted it could get there but then again so can almost any virus so the best we can do is stay prepared for such a thing while monitoring such outbreaks.

[getagrip_already]

12. well, what I find scary is that

The US agencies responsible to monitor and react to a threat like this have been shredded. Their missions have changed. We will be caught looking the other way and with few tools to fight something like this.

Hopefully the chinese will do a good job, because I don't think we could at this point - at least after the first few hotspots pop up.

[defacto7]

3. So considering the masks, do the authorities think it's

an airborne contagion or are people just being overly protective? If it's airborne that's a whole different problem.

[MuseRider]

4. My question as well.

I hope it is not airborne.

[MissB]

5. Wearing a mask

May help prevent transmission simply by keeping them from touching their noses and mouths. It’s amazing how frequently we all touch our face.

[onetexan]

9. many Chinese in their major cities wear masks on a daily basis given the polluted the air condition

due to the many factories and poor pollution laws. Not sure how the laws are currently but many still do wear masks. Remember the concerns of effects on the athletes during the Beijing Olympics & what the government did to force less cars on the roads?

[Tikki]

15. I always wear a mask in larger clothing stores and thrift stores with clothing..My sinus have

a serious sensitivity to the fibers floating around in the air.

Tikki

[Quackers]

7. Most similar viruses under the Corona Strain are airborne.

What’s problematic is this an an entirely new strain so they can’t even give a fatality rate yet.

[cstanleytech]

11. If coughing and or sneezing is one of the symptoms then its only common sense to wear a mask in

public as viruses can potentially transmit via the air for a short distance via any droplets of fluid a person may expel when they cough or sneeze.
Of course the best precaution is to practice good hand sanitation as that will really cut down on the spread of such things.

[getagrip_already]

13. It's actually asian culture.....

It's common in japan, south korea, and other asian countries. You see a lot of asian travelors at airports wearing them, even in the us.

It's a thing there. I don't think it's panic, just hat they do when they aren't feeling well (it's usually the sick that wear them - not the healthy).

[C Moon]

14. That may explain why the girl in the photo is looking at them with concern.

[Javaman]

6. maybe the orange asshole needs to go there to spread some of his "genius"

just sayin...

[DanieRains]

8. Let's Spend Trillions On "Defense"

Cuz the military is most important!!!!!

[clayton72]

16. I was in China during SARS in 2003

It didn't wind up being an epidemic, but I saw a major metropolitan area react to the threat. There were a few doctors in my travel group, so I was assured it wasn't that bad. But there were masks everywhere. Even we who knew better used some while on planes inside the country. Grocery stores got cleaned out. The open and friendly warmth of situation normal disappeared. It was very much like a hollywood film, but it was real. It was a sobering experience. The threat doesn't have to be real for things to get dangerous. There is little faith in the administration to keep people from getting stupid.