A disease expert hopes there may soon be”dramatic reductions” in the spread of the coronavirus later this month, as China’s death toll topped 900.
Dr Ian Lipkin, the director of Columbia University’s Centre for Infection and Immunity, said warmer weather will reduce the virus’s ability to spread and bring people out of enclosed spaces where it is transmitted more easily.
However, during an online news conference he added that if new cases spike as people return to work after the Lunar New Year holiday, which was extended to reduce the risk of spreading the virus, then “we’ll know we’re in trouble”.
Dr Lipkin assisted the World Health Organisation and Chinese authorities during the outbreak of Sars.
The death toll in China rose by 97 to 908 on Monday, with the number of confirmed cases on the mainland reported to be be 40,171.
Some 3,062 new virus cases were reported early on Monday, most of them in the central province of Hubei, where the first patients fell sick in December.
On Sunday new cases were reported in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia and Spain.
More than 400 cases have been confirmed outside mainland China.
The fatality toll has passed the 774 people believed to have died of Sars, another viral outbreak that originated in China.
The total confirmed cases of the new virus vastly exceeds the 8,098 sickened by Sars.
Agencies contributed to this story
