Travellers give wings to novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)

Abstract

A novel coronavirus, probably of bat origin, has caused an outbreak of severe respiratory infection in humans in Wuhan, China and has been dispersed globally by travelers. The WHO has declared the spread of the infection a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Can we contain the COVID-19 outbreak with the same measures as for SARS?

“…As the largest city (>11 million) in central China, Wuhan is a major transport hub and centre for industry and commerce, home to the largest train station, biggest airport, and largest deepwater port in central China. 32 China's outward travel has more than doubled in the past decade, and its urban population densities possibly even tripled. The proximity of people in residential housing, during commute, and in work environments in a megacity such as Wuhan amplifies persontoperson transmission.…”

Mapping the incidence of the COVID-19 hotspot in Iran – Implications for Travellers

“…All confirmed cases in Saudi Arabia are imported from Iran and one from Iraq and other cases are close contacts to those confirmed cases. Imported cases from Iran have been diagnosed at Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, among other Asiatic countries, but also Georgia, Estonia, Belarus, and even New Zealand [6].…”

Fear can be more harmful than the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in controlling the corona virus disease 2019 epidemic

“…The corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) appears to have started in Wuhan, China in December 2019 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] . Subsequently, it has spread within and outside China [10][11][12] and has become an unprecedented global public health issue [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] .…”

“…As of 18 February 2020, there have been 72528 confirmed infections, 1870 deaths in China (Figure 1 and Figure 2), and 804 confirmed cases with 3 deaths in 25 other countries [20] . To safeguard Chinese citizens and strengthen global health security, medical staff and government in China have made great efforts to control the epidemic [6][7][8][9]21] . It was confirmed that 1716 medical workers had been infected with SARS-CoV-2, and 6 died in hospitals for the control of epidemic on 14 February 2020 [22] .…”