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January 31, 2020 - Afternoon Update
EPI UPDATES
The Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering
estimates
9,925 confirmed cases and 213 deaths. Official figures from China’s National Health Commission are expected this evening. There are 106 confirmed cases in 19 countries outside of China, according to the
WHO situation report
published today. Of those 106 cases, seven were detected while asymptomatic.
US ANNOUNCES PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY AND NEW MEASURES
[
Editor’s note: Official text was not available as of this writing; details may change as more information becomes available.
] In a
press conference
this afternoon, Secretary of Health Alex Azar announced a number of new measures: (1) the ongoing 2019-nCoV outbreak has now been declared a
public health emergency
; (2) US nationals returning to the United States with travel to Hubei province in the past 14 days will be subject to involuntary quarantine; (3) US nationals returning to the United States with travel to mainland China in the past 14 days will be subject to health examination upon return and will be subject to up to 14 days of monitored self-quarantine; (4) all foreign nationals other, than immediate family of US citizens and permanent residents, who have traveled in China in the past 14 days will be denied entry to the United States. Additionally, all flights returning to the United States from China will be routed through 7 airports: JFK, Atlanta, Chicago O’Hare, LAX, San Francisco, Honolulu, Washington. These changes go into effect at 5 pm on Sunday February 2.
CDC ISSUES FEDERAL QUARANTINE ORDERS
US CDC
issued
a federal quarantine order to all 195 passengers who were repatriated to the US from Wuhan earlier this week. The quarantine will last 14 days, which is considered the upper end of the incubation period for 2019-nCoV. The CDC has updated its number of
patients under investigation
to 241 in 36 states.
TRAVEL AND FLIGHT DISRUPTIONS
Two large
East African airlines
, Kenya Air and RwandAir, as well as two
US-based airlines
, American Airlines and Delta, canceled all flights to and from mainland China.
Delta’s
new policy will take effect on Feb 6 and will last through April 30.
American Airlines
’ policy is effective immediately and will last through March 27. In other news,
Iran
,
The Philippines
,
Italy
, and
Russia
announced today that they will also restrict air travel to and from China.
Gilead Sciences
is working with Chinese and US authorities to assess the potential for an investigational antiviral, remdisivir, to treat patients infected with nCoV. Remdesivir is not licensed or approved for use. This drug has been investigated as a treatment for
Ebola
.
RESPONSE OUTSIDE OF MAINLAND CHINA
Italy
declared
a state of emergency in response to the 2019-nCoV outbreak. According to the
Washington Post
, this declaration is set to last six months will enable new funds for outbreak response and prevention. This declaration came shortly after Italy confirmed their first two cases of nCoV in Rome; both travelers are currently in isolation. In other news, Hong Kong has
extended
its school closures until the beginning of March. Several universities in the region have followed suit, extending school closures in some cases for the next two weeks.
There are initial
reports
that the India Commerce Ministry banned the export of all personal protective equipment including specifically N95 masks and other protective clothing. India recently confirmed its first case of n-CoV and is also working to evacuate Indian citizens from Wuhan. Confirmation from India’s Department of Commerce was not available at the time of this writing.
NEW ACADEMIC RESEARCH
The New England Journal of Medicine published a
report
describing the first confirmed case of nCoV in the United States, announced January 21. The patient initially had mild upper respiratory symptoms, but developed atypical pneumonia on hospital day 5. The patient’s condition had improved by day 8, but he remained in the hospital as of January 30. A
new paper
in the Lancet uses data on exported cases from Wuhan to describe the potential for epidemic growth outside of the current epicenter. Findings suggest that significant transmission is occurring in a number of major Chinese cities. The group expressed concerns over the potential for international spread. Both the
New England Journal of Medicine
and
the Lancet
have established resource pages dedicated to information on 2019-nCoV. These pages include a variety of articles and links to relevant external resource pages.
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