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  • from confinement on a cruise ship to confinement on the Wirral.

  • 32 British and Europeans evacuated from the Diamond Princess off the coast of Japan flew into the UK this morning.

  • They will now spend 14 days and quarantine a tarot park hospital.

  • All have tested negative for the new Corona virus Disease covered 19 but left behind in Japan In hospital a David and Sally Able, a couple from Northamptonshire who have both tested positive and who both now have pneumonia.

  • The number of cases in England is still only nine, but the N HS has now started piloting home testing for the virus and preparation for any potential outbreak.

  • So any individual that we think may have come into contact with Corona virus.

  • After assessment, we will come to their home to do the necessary nose and throat swaps, so that means N.

  • H s staff will come to you.

  • What we do ask is that you don't go to see your general practitioner on you.

  • Don't go to it any department.

  • That's the best way we have of reducing the spread of the virus.

  • It is hard to believe, but it's only 52 days since the outbreak and Wu Han and WHO Bay Province was reported to the World Health Organization.

  • China has now officially confirmed more than 76,000 cases on more than 2300 deaths.

  • This is the inside of one of the new hospitals built on Wu Han.

  • The beds filled with the critically ill and those recovering 80% of patients develop mild forms of the disease, but it is the 20% who proved more challenging to treat with most of the critically ill patients suffer from breathing difficulties and low oxygen concentrations along with other organ injuries.

  • Plus their conditions change rapidly, and we have to adjust their treatment plans quickly to stop any deterioration.

  • You wonder containment is still the W H o catchword, preventing significant spread to other countries.

  • But today there was a warning from its director general that the window of opportunity was narrowing.

  • Although the total number of cages outside China remains relatively small, we're concerned about the number of cases with no clear epidemiological link, such eyes, travel history to China or contact with a confirmed case.

  • We're especially concerned about the increasing cases in the Islamic republic off Aaron in the midst of their election, and Iran health officials have now confirmed 28 cases of covered 19 and five deaths.

  • None of the patients are believed to have traveled to China.

  • We are seeing cases that have traveled from Iran on Dhe, A confirmed that they've come from Iran on This means that there's potentially a lot of cases within Iran that were perhaps not being reported yet on then.

  • The major worry is that from there where could it spread from Iran?

  • There's connection strong connections to countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq that don't have such strong health systems on Dhe.

  • Being able to contain the disease then becomes challenging.

  • South Korea is also causing concern, with 433 cases officially confirmed on 84 jump and infections in just four days, most of them linked to a church and a hospital.

  • In the city of Day Gu, three people have died and 17 are said to be critical.

  • While a dozen towns in northern Italy effectively went into lock down on Saturday after the deaths of two people infected with the new virus and a growing cluster of cases linked to a local hospital, but with no direct links to China.

  • Well, just before we came on air, I spoke to Dr Margaret Harris by the Internet from Geneva.

  • She's on the World Health Organization's Corona virus team, so we are now seeing spread in countries outside China, as I'm sure you know, before the vast majority of off infections were in China.

  • And China in fact gave us a couple of weeks, according to the experts, the modeling experts.

  • But now we are saying that there are more clusters in North, in in Korea and in Iran and and now in Italy, and this does and also we're seeing cases that don't have a clear epi link.

  • That's means they're not associating with travel to China or two people who are infected.

  • So that is raising the alarm and means we, as as our director general, said, the window of opportunity is closing.

  • Does that mean in layman's terms that we could be on the brink of a global pandemic here, it means we certainly all have to be ready for in a, uh the arrival of Corona virus in our communities, which means health systems, individuals, everybody has to be on the alert, and some countries have stopped flights to and from Iran, for example.

  • Is that an overreaction, or is that a sensible precaution?

  • In your view, we tend to say no travel restrictions, mostly because when you stop flights, it means the help that countries need can't get in a swell.

  • So we send a lot of supplies to different countries.

  • We have sent supplies to laboratories around the world and also to health workers around the world protective supplies.

  • So when we stopped flights, when we stop that transport, the hell pig 18 is also stopped.

  • I mean, this may be a sort of how long is a piece of string question, but how long do you believe that countries around the world might have to stop this becoming a pandemic?

  • So this is a new virus.

  • This is the problem.

  • We're watching this and learning every day.

  • Now, one of the really good things, if there's a good thing to say about this, is the sharing of information.

  • But all the scientists, all the health workers, has meant that we've learned very quickly, but it's too early to say what really what we're really looking at.

  • in the end, a new talk of learning their the W h o has bean lurk on a learning exercise.

  • Really in Wuhan Now what has emerged from that that meeting today.

  • So I hate to be always saying too early to say, but I experts met with counterparts and also with the officials in the city today and that will yield a lot of very good information.

  • And as soon as we've got some very clear signals, we were certainly be letting the rest of the world on Just your hunch.

  • I know you don't really deal in hunches, but do you believe this is gonna become a pandemic or do you think we can't avoid it?

  • This is a very serious and it's a very infectious virus.

  • The one good thing is it it seems to infect a lot of people.

  • It doesn't kill everybody.

  • Unfortunately, though, if you're older, if you've got other health illness issues like you've got lung problems or you've got heart problems, you're more at risk.

  • So do what you can to mitigate that.

  • Stop smoking, do everything you can to protect your health, knowing that if you are in those groups, you are particularly at risk.

  • Dr.

  • Margaret Harris.

  • Thank you.

  • So I'm off.

  • Well, I also expect this afternoon to Joe Joshing in Wuhan.

  • He's a correspondent for the China Global Television Network, which is owned by the national broadcaster number Campbell, asking what the W.

  • H.

  • O had learned on their visit to the city earlier.

  • W TRO executive leader said that men priority for the team on the ground is first and foremost to learn as well as to understand the nature of one of the largest public health responses in history in China, adding that there are lessons to be learned from the responses of the crisis at all levels and the head of W.

  • Trow said it's daily briefing on Friday that the measures China and other countries have taken have given the rest of the world a fighting chance of containing the spread of the VAR is calling on all countries to continue their containment measures while preparing for community transmission if it occurs.

  • It has been quite a lot of criticism of China's initial response on quite a lot of anger as well at the silencing off the doctor in Wuhan who's now sadly passed away.

  • Is that anger still there?

  • I think for the death of that committee of that doctors that National Health Commission have has already extended adolescence to that, and I all already seen many of, you know, insolent user's online to share the passion or, you know, sympathy over the applause.

  • Another medical worker in Wuhan has died.

  • How confident are you that health workers have the protective gear that they need, that they're not being overworked and therefore making themselves more susceptible to infection?

  • Protective years, as you mentioned, is really an urgent need is still.

  • And over the past weeks we have seeing this kind of national trend, and also the central government has called on all manufacturers, if possible, to ramp up their preparation because I arrived actually late in January and back then when I had those interviews with nurses and doctors in hospitals they try to save.

  • They're protected years by, you know, saving not to drink water, not to have the food.

  • And then you kept themselves in that ward for at least full hours so that they can save one piece of suit.

  • But now I think the situation has been improved.

  • Chinese citizens around the world have faced discrimination and racism after this Corona virus outbreak.

  • How concerned are you?

  • Not just about the epidemic itself, but an epidemic of ignorance that has followed it.

  • I think many Chinese overseas try to show the word that we're not the virus, but sometimes, you know it has bean political sized.

  • As you know, the foreign minister said that there might be the political virus among some other countries.

  • It's not about human to human transmission, but it's about human to human compassion.

  • During this period.

  • Do you believe that Westerners are panicking about the virus or given the number of deaths in China alone more than 2300 now?

  • Is that panic in some way justified?

  • Yes, I think there is panic.

  • Um, I would be, say, honest that I did not have the panic when I received the task to come to the epicenter of the outbreak because I think there are two kinds of panic.

  • So I think, as I mentioned that the government is trying to expanding the knowledge to the citizens.

  • So I think that's the rational panic, because, of course, they're afraid of other death because In the beginning, the number was really horrifying.

  • And there another type of panic is the irrational panic.

  • As we talked about the political virus, I think this is another a panic which is not unnecessary, Jerry joshing.

  • Thank you very much for joining us.

  • Thank you, Cathy.

from confinement on a cruise ship to confinement on the Wirral.

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