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Reuters

Business

Se Young Lee and Stephanie Nebehay

WHO to reconsider declaring global emergency as China virus evacuations begin

An aircraft chartered by the U.S. State Department to evacuate government employees and other Americans from the novel coronavirus threat in the Chinese city of Wuhan, is seen on the tarmac after arriving at a closed terminal at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S. January 28, 2020. Picture taken January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Kerry Tasker

Foreign governments flew their citizens out of the epicentre of China's coronavirus outbreak on Wednesday, as the number of deaths jumped to 133 and the World Health Organization voiced "grave concern" about person-to-person spread in three other countries.

The WHO said its Emergency Committee would reconvene behind closed doors on Thursday to decide whether the rapid spread of the new virus from China now constitutes a global emergency.

Members of the media watch an aircraft chartered by the U.S. State Department to evacuate government employees and other Americans from the novel coronavirus threat in the Chinese city of Wuhan, at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S. January 28, 2020. Picture taken January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Kerry Tasker

"In the last few days the progress of the virus especially in some countries, especially human-to-human transmission, worries us," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva, naming Germany, Vietnam and Japan.

"Although the numbers outside China are still relatively small, they hold the potential for a much larger outbreak."

There have been 6,065 cases of the flu-like virus in 15 countries worldwide - all but around 70 in China - according to the latest WHO figures. All the deaths so far have been in China, where the National Health Commission said there had been 132 fatalities as of end-Tuesday. Another death was reported in Sichuan province on Wednesday.

The situation remained "grim and complex", said Chinese President Xi Jinping, who on Tuesday had vowed to defeat the "devil" virus. U.S. President Donald Trump said he had spoken to Xi and his administration was working closely with China on containing the outbreak.

Some major airlines suspended flights to China, and a senior economist predicted a major impact on growth.

The WHO's panel of 16 independent experts twice last week declined to declare an international emergency, but will re-evaluate the situation on Thursday.

People wearing face masks ride a scooter through a deserted shopping area in Changsha, Hunan province, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, January 29, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

"We are at an important juncture in this event. We believe these chains of transmission can still be interrupted," said Mike Ryan, Executive Director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Programme.

Ryan also praised China's response, saying: "They are taking extraordinary measures in the face of what is an extraordinary challenge."

People wearing face masks walk in a deserted shopping area in Changsha, Hunan province, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, January 29, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

STREETS DESERTED

In many Chinese cities, streets were largely deserted. Tourist attractions were closed, while Starbucks coffee shops required people to have their temperatures taken and to wear masks.

"It's my first time here in Asia, I feel very unlucky," said Brazilian tourist Amanda Lee, 23, cutting short a trip. "I couldn't even see the places I wanted, like the Great Wall."

A woman wearing a face mask walks past a Chinese flag in Changsha, Hunan province, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, January 29, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Almost all the deaths so far have been in the central province of Hubei, home to about 60 million people and now under virtual lockdown. The virus emerged last month in a live wild animal market in the provincial capital Wuhan.

"I was extremely worried that I was stuck there," said Takeo Aoyama, who arrived in Tokyo on a chartered plane carrying 206 Japanese out of Wuhan as some governments began evacuating their citizens.

The United States flew about 210 Americans out of Wuhan, to be screened several times on arrival in California. France said a first flight of French nationals would leave on Wednesday night and Britain said it would put 200 citizens on a charter plane on Thursday. Canada was also organising evacuations.

People wear face masks as they cross an empty main street in Changsha, Hunan province, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, January 29, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

The virus is weighing heavily on the world's second-biggest economy, with companies cutting corporate travel to China and tourists cancelling trips. Various airlines are cutting flights, from British Airways <ICAG.L> and Lufthansa <LHAG.DE> to Tanzania's national carrier that postponed maiden flights.

A government economist said the crisis could cut China's first quarter growth by one point to 5% or lower as the crisis hits sectors from mining to luxury goods.

Hong Kong stocks took a beating on the first day of trading after the Lunar New Year break. Casino and financial stocks led the Hang Seng index <.HSI> 2.5% lower to a seven-month trough.

People wear masks as they wait for their train at a subway station in Shanghai, China January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song

"In our view, the worst is yet to come," securities firm Nomura said, warning of a severe, near-term blow to China's economy.

'LESS DEADLY THAN SARS'

Chinese tourists wear facial masks as they leave a train station, after Sri Lanka confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the country, in Colombo, Sri Lanka January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

But in a potentially major step towards finding a vaccine, scientists in Australia said they had developed a lab-grown version of the virus, the first recreated outside China.

The researchers at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity said they would share the sample, grown from an infected patient, with the WHO and global laboratories in the hope of hastening immunisation and detection.

The number of cases of the new virus in China now exceeds the 5,327 that were infected with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which also originated in China and killed about 800 people globally in 2002 and 2003.

A man uses a thermometer to check the temperature of a journalist covering a meeting between Tedros Adhanom, director general of the World Health Organization, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, January 28, 2020. Naohiko Hatta/Pool via REUTERS

While some experts believe the new strain, known as "2019-nCoV", is not as deadly as SARS, alarm has grown over its rapid spread and many unknown attributes.

"There have been more cases in China, but so far with a lower death rate than the SARS outbreak," said Michael Head, a health researcher at Britain's University of Southampton.

Like other respiratory infections, the new virus is spread by droplets from coughs and sneezes, with an incubation time between one and 14 days.

Tedros Adhanom, director general of the World Health Organization, meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi before a meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, January 28, 2020. Naohiko Hatta/Pool via REUTERS

(Reporting by Cheng Leng in Shanghai, Se Young Lee, Lusha Zhang, Gabriel Crossley, Tony Munroe, Huizhong W, Judy Hua, Nanlin Fang and Joyce Zhou in Beijing and Stephanie Nebehay and Emma Farge in Geneva; Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols at the United Nations, Matthias Blamont in Paris, Akira Tomoshige in Tokyo, Kate Kelland in London, Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Writing by Robert Birsel, Andrew Cawthorne and Alex Richardson; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Nick Macfie and Hugh Lawson)