Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include more information about Ukrainian airlines’ flight plans.
Ukraine has begun to take the temperatures of passengers arriving from China at Boryspil International Airport, Ukraine’s largest airport, to prevent the spread of the deadly, new coronavirus that recently appeared in Wuhan, the capital of China’s Hubei province.
As of Jan. 28, 106 deaths have been reported as a result of the coronavirus and 4,500 people have been infected.
Cases resulting in death have only been reported in China. However, the spread of the virus outside China is growing. Infected individuals have been found in Singapore, the U.S and France.
In Ukraine, so far, the Wuhan virus has not been detected.
Zoryana Skaletska, Ukraine’s health minister, said there were three suspected cases of the virus on Jan. 24. They later proved to be unrelated to the Wuhan virus.
According to Skaletska, Ukraine’s laboratories have all the necessary equipment and are prepared to test patients for the deadly new virus.
Wuhan coronavirus
Traces of the new coronavirus were found at the Wuhan Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market in Wuhan, leading scientists to suspect that the virus had spread through the live animals that were sold at the market.
The first case was reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Dec. 31 and has been under investigation since. Symptoms of the virus are similar to those found in a regular cold — including a cough, fever and breathing problems — but can be especially severe.
The outbreak of the virus reminds many of the 2003 SARS epidemic, another coronavirus, that also spread from animals in China and is described as a “cousin” of the recent outbreak. It resulted in 774 deaths across 14 countries, but was mainly centered in China and Hong Kong.
However, a lot has changed since the SARS outbreak. Unlike in 2003, Chinese officials have shared information across the world and, so far, the new coronavirus is also not as deadly. It has a 4% fatality ratio, while SARS had a 14-15% rate, CNN reported on Jan. 25.
On Jan. 1, the market where the virus likely originated was closed. More recently, transportation services in China have been mostly stopped and are highly regulated. Around 20 million people in China are under effective lockdown.
Wearing a face mask is now compulsory in Wuhan, and the city is scrambling to build a hospital in six days to treat infected patients.
The city of Wuhan has become what the BBC describes as a “ghost town,” with residents told to stay inside. Many had to abandon plans to visit their families during the Chinese New Year celebrations on Jan. 25.
The same CNN report included an interview with Peter Daszack, president of the non-profit EcoHealth Alliance, which researches emerging infectious diseases. He pointed out that not everyone’s symptoms are important enough to seek medical attention.
The Guardian’s health editor, Sarah Boseley, reported that “it’s older people who are getting to hospitals because of this. They’re usually over 40… and those who’ve died tend to have underlying conditions.” The Guardian also pointed out the recent outbreak of Ebola in West Africa as a comparison. It has killed “more than half than those infected with the coronavirus”.
It’s difficult to say whether the recent outbreak will turn into an international epidemic.
“It is expected that further international exportation of cases may appear in any country. Thus, all countries should be prepared for containment, including active surveillance, early detection, isolation and case management,” the WHO said in a Jan. 23 statement.
Ukraine’s response
Ukraine set up a task force to monitor and analyze the situation regarding the spread of the virus on Jan. 20. Medical workers started taking the temperatures of all passengers arriving by air from China on Jan. 26 and inspecting animals brought into Ukraine.
Similar procedures are being taken all across the world.
Two Ukrainian airlines have stopped direct flights to and from China. Ukraine International Airlines said it will evacuate passengers from China. SkyUp Airlines, which organizes charter flights, said it will stop its flights to and from China for the period from Feb. 3 to March 28 due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. It also said it would evacuate its tourists from China.
European airports with direct flights to Wuhan, such as Paris and London, are all testing passengers who have traveled from Wuhan as well as neighboring Chinese cities in the past 14 days. London Heathrow Airport has designated a separate area in Terminal 4 to screen passengers from Wuhan.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Health and Foreign Ministry recommended on Jan. 28 that Ukrainian citizens “temporarily refrain from traveling if there is not urgent need to Hubei and Wuhan, where there is the highest risk infection.”
