The World Health Organization is this evening again considering whether to declare coronavirus a global health emergency.
It came as France — the first country to confirm coronavirus in Europe — said a locum doctor had become the country’s sixth case. Germany says it has four people infected with the virus and Finland one.
The virus has killed 170 people and infected 5,974, meaning there are more with the virus than the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak.
How are evacuation efforts going?
A planned flight repatriating hundreds of British nationals from Wuhan is set to depart early on Friday morning, the UK government said.
It was initially scheduled to leave Wuhan — the epicentre of the outbreak — on Thursday but there was a delay in getting permissions from China for it to leave.
“We are pleased to have confirmation from the Chinese authorities that the evacuation flight from Wuhan airport to the UK can depart at 0500 local time on Friday 31 January,” the UK’s foreign minister Dominic Raab said.
“The safety and security of British nationals is our top priority. Our Embassy in Beijing and consular teams remain in close contact with British nationals in the region to ensure they have the latest information they need”, the statement continued.
European nations are also evacuating their nationals from China.
One aeroplane was sent to repatriate around 250 French citizens, while a second was sent to evacuate more than 100 EU citizens later this week. The transport costs will be co-financed by the European Union.
Elsewhere, several airlines have cut back or completely suspended flights to and from China, including British Airways and Lufthansa.
On Thursday, Russia has also closed the border it shares with China and has said it will stop issuing electronic visas.
What is the situation with coronavirus in Europe?
France’s health ministry announced on Thursday evening that a Paris doctor had been diagnosed with coronavirus after treating someone who had come back from China.
There are now six people infected in France.
Earlier on Thursday, a cruise ship with 6,000 passengers on board was held at a port in Italy amid fears a traveller with flu-like symptoms had the virus.
On Wednesday, a Chinese tourist was found to be infected with the virus at a hospital in Lapland, according to a statement from Finland’s National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). It said the tourist was from Wuhan and that a further 15 people may have been exposed.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has warned that it is “likely that there will be more imported cases” of the virus from China.
French health officials say the people diagnosed with coronavirus are doing “very well” and that fears of a European epidemic are premature.
Also on Wednesday, the US evacuated 201 Americans from Wuhan. They will now undergo three days of monitoring at a California military base to ensure they show no signs of the illness.
What’s the situation in China?
Ma Xiaowei, minister of the National Health Commission, declined to estimate how long it would take to bring the situation under control. He said there was still limited knowledge of the mechanism of spread of the virus, as well as the risk of it mutating.
Gao Fu, director of China’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters scientists were closely watching the virus and its behaviour and so far no obvious changes had been found.
In Hubei, bustling streets, shops, restaurants and other public spaces in the city were eerily empty as authorities put more than a dozen cities on lockdown.
The city of Wuhan announced it will build a designated hospital with space for 1,000 beds by February 3, in the style of a facility that Beijing constructed during the SARS epidemic in 2003.
Police, SWAT teams and paramilitary troops guarded the city’s train station, where metal barriers blocked the entrances.
The cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Xian and Tianjin have suspended long-distance coach services, as well as the vast province of Shandong.
As a symbol of the concern that has gripped China, the authorities have announced the closure of sections of the famous Great Wall, as well as the Disneyland resort site in Shanghai.
Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam has announced on Tuesday that all rail links to mainland China will be closed starting Friday, in order to contain the contagion. This includes both the high-speed rail station and the regular train station.
Mongolia already closed its vast border with China and North Korea said it was strengthening quarantine measures, considering such measures.
