Experts see gradual decline in new Covid-19 infections
The number of new coronavirus infections has decreased continuously but 500 medical personnel were reportedly infected.
WHO has officially named the novel coronavirus as Covid-19.
Chinese respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan expected the epidemic situation to see a decrease in numbers by the end of the month. He said that it was hard to predict since 160 million Chinese would return to work next week. If the quarantine plan is a success, the situation will improve.
The highest risk assessments showed the number of new infections decreasing since the end of January. The latest number on Monday only found a 6 per cent increase. There were 381 cases of new infections on Monday (February 10) while the number on February 3 were 890 cases, a 57 per cent decrease. In Hubei province, except Wuhan city, the number of new infections has been slowly decreasing from 1,121 cases on February 5 to 545 on Monday (February 10).
An expert at Liverpool University, England, said that new infections will drop to almost zero on February 23, depending on weather and other factors.
On February 8, China’s National Health Commission temporarily called it the novel coronavirus pneumonia. However, since the virus continues to spread from animals to people, this coronavirus won’t be novel for long.
“Covid-19 stands for coronavirus disease in 2019,” said Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist at the World Health Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland. “The virus itself is named by an international group of virologists who will look into the taxonomy,” she said. “But it is important to have a name for this disease that is used by everybody.”
Two other diseases caused by coronaviruses were given names describing the sign and symptoms: Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and Mers (Middle East respiratory syndrome).
On Tuesday (February 11), the China's authority fired two high-ranking officers of Hubei provinces for their failure to contain the virus infection control and sent the government officer instead.
According to several reporters, 500 medical staff have been infected with the virus since the middle of January while another 600 were suspected to carry the virus. Three medical officers have died because of the virus. The main reason behind their deaths was lack of medical supplies, long hours of work, and lack of awareness of the high risks from the virus.
