U.S. warns citizens against travel to China as virus toll passes 200

Reuters ^ | January 31, 2020 | by Brenda Goh, Muyu Xu

[Oldeconomybuyer]

SHANGHAI/BEIJING - The United States warned Americans not to travel to China as the death toll from a new virus reached 213 on Friday and the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency, and Britain confirmed its first two cases.

“Do not travel to China due to novel coronavirus first identified in Wuhan,” the U.S. State Department said in a new travel advisory on its website, raising the warning for China to the same level as Afghanistan and Iraq.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE ADVISORY:

Do not travel to China due to novel coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China. On January 30, the World Health Organization has determined the rapidly spreading outbreak constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Travelers should be prepared for travel restrictions to be put into effect with little or no advance notice. Commercial carriers have reduced or suspended routes to and from China.

Those currently in China should consider departing using commercial means. The Department of State has requested that all non-essential U.S. government personnel defer travel to China in light of the novel coronavirus.

In an effort to contain the novel coronavirus, the Chinese authorities have suspended air, road, and rail travel in the area around Wuhan and placed restrictions on travel and other activities throughout the country.

[11th_VA]

There’s an interesting difference between this flu and the Spanish flu. When the Spanish infected a city, it would spread rapidly. Symptoms could show up at noon, and you’d be dead by nightfall. That’s why cities had a hard time controlling that virus - think ‘mass shooting’.

This NEW virus is like being attacked by a sniper. It attacks a person here, and then the onset seems very latent before the next person comes down with the flu.

If this new flu isn’t contained, it’s going be like living with a sniper in our mist - we’ll never know when or where he’s going to strike next.

[MD Expat in PA]

Just for clarification, this is not an influenza virus. Various strains of Coronavirus can cause illnesses as mild as a common cold to SARS, MERS and now this one - 2019-nCoV.

[Sacajaweau]

Why do adults have to be warned? Are they just plain stupid?

[heavy metal]

after three years of temper tantrums and stompy feet by looney lefties you still ask that question...

[MD Expat in PA]

Why do adults have to be warned? Are they just plain stupid?

Huh? What does that have to do with my post? But FWIW, that’s what the State Department does. They issue travel warnings and advisories for all sorts of reasons.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html/

[windsorknot]

Coronavirus: The China Syndrome.

[trebb]

Reported death rate is in “normal” range for Flu...haven’t heard of any deaths outside China....Global Emergency declared for all the 3rd world/socialist places that haven’t facilities to treat pneumonia which is the actual killer.

[11th_VA]

Just for clarification, this is not an influenza virus.

Good point - this pathogen causes viral pneumonia; my understanding is, it prefers the lungs to live and replicate

[pabianice]

More like 20,000.