China Coronavirus: 14 persons in the UK tested for new strains (5 negative, 9 awaited).
About 14 persons in the UK have been tested for coronavirus with five confirmed negative and nine still awaiting the results.
The executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom, Public Health England said that the number includes five people who had undergone tests for the virus in Scotland.
A statement from the Scottish government today said: ‘Following travel to Wuhan, China, two people confirmed as diagnosed with influenza are now being tested for Wuhan novel coronavirus as a precautionary measure only.
‘Three further people are also undergoing testing on a similar precautionary basis. There are currently no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK and the risk to the Scottish public remains low.’
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman also said the tests were ‘purely precautionary’.
The outbreak of the deadly virus has killed 26 people so far and infected more than 800 worldwide (UK, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan, and the United States).
Credit: Metro
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said earlier it is ‘too early’ to declare an international public health emergency over the outbreak ‘given its restrictive and binary nature’.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, said: ‘Make no mistake, this is though an emergency in China. But it has not yet become a global health emergency. It may yet become one.’
Facts so far about the virus?
Currently known as 2019-nCoV, the virus is understood to be a new strain of coronavirus not previously identified in humans.
The Sars (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) virus that killed nearly 800 people globally in the early 2000s was also a coronavirus, as is the common cold.
According to researchers, the virus, which can cause pneumonia, fever, difficulty breathing, and a cough may have been transmitted to humans from snakes.
Source: BBC
