- Britain declares coronavirus as a public health threat and is detaining people
- Virus-infected cases have doubled recently with even people visiting Singapore being affected
- The UK is strictly considering forcible quarantine for the infected.
- Meanwhile, the EU is holding an emergency meeting with health ministers as it thinks Coronavirus to be a public health hazard
- Danish authorities say trade is badly hit as shipping is losing $351.5 million every week.
With the coronavirus outbreak becoming a global health issue, countries after countries taking stringent measures. Trade is on halt, ships and shipping routes are jittery and cruises are stranded at sea. Amid all this, the UK has gone one step further and described the virus as a health threat and they have announced their intentions of detaining people, reports Star Tribune.
Imminent Public Threat
Britain has declared the new coronavirus that emerged from China a “serious and imminent threat to public health” and announced new measures Monday to combat the spread of the disease.
Forcible Quarantine
The U.K. Department of Health and Social Care said people with the virus can now be forcibly quarantined and will not be free to leave. It named two British specialist hospitals in London as isolation facilities for those affected: Guy’s and St. Thomas’ and The Royal Free. It also designated the Chinese city of Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei province where the virus first emerged as an “infected area.”
No. of Cases Doubles
It said the number of virus cases in Britain has doubled to eight, with the four new cases reported Monday all known contacts of an earlier U.K. case, a person who was infected in France. Experts at Public Health England were working hard to trace people who have come into contact with confirmed cases.
“The incidence or transmission of novel coronavirus constitutes a serious and imminent threat to public health, and the measures outlined in these regulations are considered as an effective means of delaying or preventing further transmission of the virus,” the agency said.
It added the changes were designed to ensure the health and safety of both patients and medical workers. Britain has only eight of Europe’s 43 confirmed virus cases but it is a key travel hub between Asia and Europe.
Strengthening Regulations
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman described the announcement as a measure to strengthen regulations and said it does not mean the threat to the public has increased.
“The U.K. threat level as set by Public Health England and the chief medical officer remains unchanged at moderate,” said spokesman James Slack.
Why this sudden action?
The change comes after a British man who caught the virus at a business conference in Singapore in January appears to be linked to at least seven other confirmed cases in Europe.
Five British citizens, including a 9-year-old boy, contracted the virus in the French Alpine ski town of Contamines-Montjoie after staying in the same chalet as the British man. French medical authorities tested scores of children and their families Sunday from the area for the new virus and temporarily closed three nearby schools.
Situation in China
China on Monday said 908 people had died of the virus on the mainland and over 40,170 had been infected. More than 360 cases have been confirmed outside mainland China, including two deaths in Hong Kong and the Philippines.
EU Considers Public Threat
In Brussels, the European Union commissioner for crisis management said Monday that the new virus will be discussed Thursday at an emergency meeting of health ministers from the 27-member bloc. Janez Lenarcic said the new virus is spreading with great speed and poses a “serious danger for public health.”
Over 500 EU citizens have been repatriated from China in the last few weeks to avoid being infected.
Ukraine, which has no virus cases, said two Ukrainians working as crew members on the Diamond Princess cruise ship that is quarantined in Japan have come down with the virus. They have been transferred to a Tokyo hospital and will be in quarantine for 14 days.
Shipping Losing Business
The Danish Sea-Intelligence analyst company, meanwhile, says the world’s shipping container business is losing about 2.4 billion kroner ($351.5 million) a week because of the virus, mainly because of a drop in transported containers in and out of China, according to industry site Maritime Danmark. Sea-Intelligence reports the drop is about 350,000 containers per week.
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Source: Star Tribune
