Footage emerges claiming to show coronavirus victim body bags lined up in Iranian hospital

Footage claiming to show rows of body bags filled with people killed by the coronavirus in Iran has been shared online, amid fears the country is hiding the true extent of the disease outbreak. 

The country’s first vice president has reportedly been struck by the disease, which is also affecting eight per cent of Iran’s MPs and has killed 92.

Tehran announced total infections rose to 2,922 today and it was said the country’s most senior VP, Eshaq Jahangiri, was the latest high-profile figure to contract the disease. 

Footage was reportedly recorded by medical personnel in a hospital in the city of Qom in the northern Iranian province of the same name where the coronavirus, officially named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization, was first detected.  

Footage claiming to show rows of body bags filled with people killed by the coronavirus in a hospital in Iran has been shared online

The unverified video, which has been viewed over 836,000 times online, shows lines of seemingly full body bags lining the floors of the hospital.

The man recording walks through several rooms of the facility with more body bags seen on gurneys, with local media reporting the deceased are believed to be victims of COVID-19.

There has been no official response to the video and it is unclear why the bodies have not been buried, but at least one local journalist claims it is because there is no space.

The video, which MailOnline has not been able to verify, comes amid accusations that the regime has been concealing the true extent of the outbreak.  

Iranians were told Friday prayers – deeply significant in the Islamic Republic – were to be cancelled in the capital and in other areas after the death toll became the highest from the virus outside mainland China.

The judiciary meanwhile said it was freeing 54,000 inmates who have tested negative for the virus and posted bail. It added that these would not include ‘security prisoners’ jailed for more than five years.  

It comes after two Iranian men were filmed licking the walls and bars of holy shrines in the cities of Qom and Mashhad, in defiance of health warnings.

Iran on Wednesday reported 15 new deaths from the novel coronavirus and 586 additional cases. 

The unconfirmed video, which has been viewed over 836,000 times online, shows rows of seemingly full body bags lining the floors of the hospital. The man recording walks through several rooms of the facility with more body bags seen on gurneys

The provinces of Tehran and Qom were the worst-hit with 253 and 101 new cases of COVID-19 respectively, according to the spokesman.

The Shiite holy city of Qom, south of Tehran, is the epicentre of Iran’s coronavirus outbreak and where its first deaths were reported on February 19.

Authorities have since been scrambling to halt its rapid spread.

Schools have been shut, major cultural and sporting events suspended, and work hours cut back.

An Iranian medic treats a patient infected with the COVID-19 virus at a hospital in Tehran on Sunday

But the novel coronavirus is now present in all but one of Iran’s 31 provinces, according to the latest figures.

It comes amid fears that British-Iranian prisoner Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 41, might have been infected after her husband Richard Ratcliffe said she was suffering from cold-like symptoms over the weekend but had not been tested.

A judiciary spokesman poured scorn on the concerns yesterday and said Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was in good health. The Ayotallah meanwhile has been putting up a similarly combative front despite one of his most trusted advisers dying and eight percent of his parliament becoming infected. 

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (right) makes a statement on coronavirus at a cabinet meeting in Tehran earlier this month with the First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri sitting just feet from him. It has been reported today that Jahangiri is the latest high-profile figure to contract the disease

‘This calamity is not that big of a deal, and that there have been bigger ones in the past,’ Khamenei said yesterday while wearing a pair of protective gloves. ‘I do not want to underestimate this issue of course, but let us not overestimate it either’

British-Iranian prisoner Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 41, might have the deadly contagion her husband said as the Foreign Office calls on Tehran to provide medical intervention

‘This calamity is not that big of a deal, and that there have been bigger ones in the past,’ Khamenei said yesterday while wearing a pair of protective gloves. ‘I do not want to underestimate this issue of course, but let us not overestimate it either.’ 

The Foreign Office has called on the Iranian government to immediately see to it that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was jailed on spurious espionage charges, be assessed by medical professionals.

Yesterday, Labour MP Tulip Siddiq tweeted that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been granted a furlough either yesterday or today to visit her family.

Richard Ratcliffe and the couple´s daughter Gabriella. Ratcliffe has intensified his calls on the British Government to secure his wife’s release

Hampstead and Kilburn’s Tulip Siddiq aid she hoped Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe would no longer be used as a bargaining chip by the British and Iranian government

However, the Iranian ambassador to the UK Hamid Baeidinejad referred opaquely to a ‘security prisoner’ being released on furlough and later deleted his tweet. 

On Friday, Mr Ratcliffe said he was concerned about the health of his wife who already suffers from from unexplained collapses to irregular heartbeats.

Sources suggest that she already has coronavirus but warned authorities are likely to supress this information and may deny her tests to prove whether she has it.

Another inmate is believed to have died from the virus and at least four others are said to have it. 

Khamenei yesterday reiterated the importance of Islamic faith in guiding the nation after one of his top brass Mohammad Mirmohammadi, member of the Expediency Council which is hand-picked by the Supreme Leader, died aged 71 on Monday.

‘Prayer can solve many problems,’ the Ayatollah said.

Despite this, Iran’s supreme leader has put the Islamic Republic’s armed forces on alert to assist health officials in combating the outbreak.

After downplaying the coronavirus as recently as last week, Iranian authorities have now said they had plans to potentially mobilize 300,000 soldiers and volunteers to confront the virus.  

Iran’s claims to have the virus under control lost further credibility last week when the deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi, was taken into quarantine, just a day after sweating profusely at a press conference (pictured)  

Mohammad Mirmohammadi (pictured left), a member of the Expediency Council which is hand-picked by the Supreme Leader of Iran, died aged 71 after falling sick with coronavirus. In this picture he is seated alongside two other officials, including Ali Akbar Velayti (centre) 

Iranian media reported that 23 members of parliament now had the virus, as well as the head of the country’s emergency services. 

‘Whatever helps public health and prevents the spread of the disease is good and what helps to spread it is sin,’ Khamenei said, who has not worn gloves at past arbor day plantings. 

Khamenei also urged citizens to follow the health authorities’ instructions and praised their ‘honesty’ and ‘transparency,’ saying they have been keeping the public up to date since day one.

Mohammad Mirmohammadi is one of several regime members to have caught the virus, after vice president Masoumeh Ebtekar and visibly struggling health minister Iraj Harirchi were also infected. 

It comes as the Iranian regime was accused of ‘endangering the lives of Iranians and the world’ after alarming videos of worshippers licking a shrine emerged online. 

There are also fears that Iran is covering up the true scale of the crisis, with official figures showing a suspiciously high death rate – suggesting there may be more infections than the regime is willing to admit.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), has claimed that the death toll is as high as 650 – nearly ten times the official count. 

An Iranian medic treats a patient infected with the COVID-19 virus at a hospital in Tehran on March 1

Medical experts, wearing masks and hazmat suits, take care of a patient infected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) at a hospital in Tehran, Iran on Monday

Experts worry Iran’s percentage of deaths to infections, now around 3.3%, is much higher than other countries, suggesting the number of infections in Iran may be far greater than current figures show.

Iran stands alone in how the virus has affected its government, even compared to hard-hit China, the epicenter of the outbreak. 

State media announced Mirmohammadi’s death yesterday morning in the virus’s most direct blow to the regime so far.

The Expediency Council which he sat on advises the Ayatollah and helps to settle disputes between the Supreme Leader and the Iranian parliament.

He previously served as the head of the presidency under former Presidents Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Ali Khamenei, now the country’s supreme leader.

Mirmohammadi’s mother had died of the coronavirus in recent days as well, Iranian media reported.

Those sick also include Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar and Iraj Harirchi, the head of an Iranian government task force on the coronavirus who tried to downplay the virus before falling ill.  

British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe could be granted temporary release from ‘coronavirus-stricken prison’

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe could be released on furlough from Iran’s notorious Evin prison in Tehran on Wednesday, Hampstead and Kilburn MP Tulip Siddiq said.

The MP tweeted on Tuesday morning: ‘News from Iranian Ambassador that my constituent Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe may be released on furlough today or tomorrow from prison in Iran.

‘If this is true, Nazanin would welcome leaving Evin jail, but we’ve been here before.’

She added: ‘If this furlough happens, the British government has an obligation to make it permanent, and not let her be used as a bargaining chip in the weeks to come.

Evin jail (pictured above) is said to have been hit by a coronavirus outbreak and there are fears surrounding Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release

‘I remain concerned that Nazanin has told her family that she has still not been tested for coronavirus. ‘

Iran is among the worst-hit countries outside of China. As of Tuesday morning, there had been 1,501 cases recorded, with 66 deaths. The outbreak was said to have reached the prison last week.

Hamid Baeidinejad, Iran’s ambassador to the UK, had tweeted: ‘Mr. Esmaili, the spokesman of Iran’s judiciary, announced that Mrs. Nazanin Zaghari is in good health condition and has not been affected with Coronavirus.

‘He added that one of the prisoners with security charge will be granted a furlough today or tomorrow to join family.’

Richard Ratcliffe revealed his wife has been showing the symptoms of coronavirus but has still not been tested.

Mr Ratcliffe said on Monday evening the Iranian ministry of foreign affairs had falsely told the Foreign Office (FCO) that she had been tested for the disease and confirmed to be negative.

Ms Siqqiq today tweeted that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe could be granted leave from the prison in Iran

But his wife denied she had been tested and he had told the FCO.

Speaking to the PA news agency, Mr Ratcliffe said Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been told nothing of her potential release as of Monday.

‘Nazanin would be very, very pleased to come out of prison,’ he said. ‘However, I think it is a game by the Iranian authorities to avoid responsibility for testing and treating Nazanin for coronavirus.’

‘And our experience of furlough last time was very negative. It just made us a different kind of bargaining chip and the family were exposed to all sorts of threats from the Revolutionary Guard.’

‘So the UK Government needs to make sure it can protect her and her family.’

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport while travelling with her young daughter, Gabriella, to meet her parents in April 2016.

She was sentenced to five years in prison over allegations of plotting to overthrow the Tehran government.

She has been afforded diplomatic protection by the UK Government, which states that she is innocent and that her treatment by Iran failed to meet obligations under international law.

The British government is understood to be seeking clarification from the Iran on the situation.

An FCO spokesman said: ‘We are urgently seeking information from the Iranian authorities on reports that coronavirus is spreading in Evin prison. We call on the Iranian government to immediately allow health professionals into Evin prison to assess the situation of British-Iranian dual nationals there.’

It is thought in some circles that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is being held as a bargaining chip to try and hasten the resolution of a £400 million dispute between the UK and Iran over a deal for Chieftain tanks struck in the 1970s.

The row rose over a deal between International Military Services, a venture used by the Ministry of Defence to sell British weapons overseas, and the Iranian defence ministry to sell the Shah of Iran around 1,500 Chieftain tanks and armoured vehicles in 1971.

Hamid Baeidinejad tweeted that one prisoner would be given leave either today or tomorrow 

The tweet above was later deleted by Mr Baeidinejad, it states Ms Zaghari Ratcliffe’s release 

The contract was terminated after the Shah was deposed in the 1979 revolution, but Iran had already paid for the tanks and demanded its money back.

There are hopes Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe could be released if the financial dispute can finally be settled.

Ms Siddiq said in a further statement: ‘If you leave British citizens in harm’s way for long enough, they will come to harm.

‘The Government has important choices to make over Nazanin’s case in the coming months. They must do everything possible to secure her permanent release, including resolving the debt that Britain owes to Iran.

‘Nazanin’s life hangs in the balance. The UK Government can and must act quickly to keep her safe.’

Reporting by PA 

Coronavirus IS a pandemic, Germany says after 22% spike in cases overnight as Poland becomes latest country to record a case and Iraq confirms first death 

By Connor Boyd 

The coronavirus outbreak has turned into a global pandemic, Germany warned today, after it was hit by a spate of new infections and Poland became the latest European country to report a case. 

Health Minister Jens Spahn said the outbreak, which has been teetering on the verge of a pandemic for weeks, had now surpassed the level of epidemic and warned the worst was still to come.

Germany reported a 22 per cent spike in cases yesterday, taking the official toll from 196 to 240. There have been no virus deaths recorded in the country yet.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has so far stopped short short of calling the crisis a pandemic despite the outbreak fitting the bill.

More than 93,000 patients have been struck down by the deadly coronavirus across the world. The death toll today surpassed 3,200

The UN health body, which has previously described the situation as a ‘public health emergency of international concern’, defines a pandemic as an epidemic that spreads throughout the world through local transmission.

As an increasing number of people who haven’t been to China continue to catch the virus, it seems it is only a matter of time until WHO officially declares it a pandemic.

The coronavirus outbreak has so far killed more than 3,200 people and infected over 94,000 worldwide.

It came after:

• South Korea, the worst-hit country outside of China, soared by 516 in a single day, taking its toll to 5,621 and 34 deaths. Sick people in Daegu, at the heart of Korea’s crisis, have not been able to get hospital beds
• A new case was recorded in Poland, making it the 34th European country to be hit
• The death of a 70-year-old preacher in Iraq marks the first fatality in the Middle East outside of Iran
• Iran has released tens of thousands of prisoners to avoid spreading coronavirus after its cases soared to more than 2,900 today, including 92 deaths
• China’s ambassador to the United Nations declared the country is winning in the fight against coronavirus after daily cases hit a six week low
• India today revealed its number of confirmed coronavirus cases has jumped to 28, up from just five overnight
• Italy has banned kissing and hugging and ordered over-75s to stay in their homes for a month

The Iraqi preacher, who was suffering from underlying health issues, died in hospital in the Kurdish province of Sulaimaniya just hours after he contracted the disease.

He had recently met with Iraqis returning from Iran, where the virus has been running rampant.

Iraq has so far has recorded 31 cases of the virus, one Iranian student who has since been sent home and 30 Iraqis who had all travelled back from Iran.

Iraqi authorities have closed land borders with Iran and banned the entry of foreign nationals travelling from there and other badly affected countries.

Schools, universities, cinemas, cafes and other public places in Iraq have been ordered shut until March 7 to further contain the outbreak, but many continue to operate normally.

Medics in hazmat check a distressed child’s temperature at Basra airport, in Basra, Iraq following an outbreak of the coronavirus

The outbreak has fuelled public panic among Iraqis who say the war-ravaged country’s healthcare system cannot handle the epidemic.

Many hospitals in Iraq are poorly equipped or in disrepair after successive waves of conflict. According to the World Health Organization, there are fewer than 10 doctors for every 10,000 people.

Elsewhere, South Korea’s surge in cases takes the country’s total to 5,621. Most cases were in and around Daegu, the city at the heart of its crisis.

It has meant sick people with other conditions are unable to get hospital beds in the city because they are occupied by virus sufferers.

The flu-like disease has been rapidly spreading through Daegu by members of a fringe Christian group.

The death of a 70-year-old man in Iraq marks the first fatality in the Middle East outside of Iran. A child is checked on the outskirts of Duhok, Iraq 

As cases continue to rise globally, China’s ambassador to the United Nations has declared that the country is winning in the fight against coronavirus.

Just 125 infections were confirmed on Tuesday – a six week low – down from more than 15,000 new cases a day in early February.

Zhang Jun, the ambassador to the UN, said that the decline demonstrated that ‘we are not far from the coming of the victory’.

The World Health Organization admitted the ‘decline is real’, dispelling rumours that China had been masking the true scale of the outbreak.

The virus is slowly petering out in the outbreak’s epicentre as millions of citizens are forced to stay in their homes.

It comes after Iran made the drastic decision to release 54,000 inmates to prevent a potential spread.

– South Korean soldiers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at a shopping district in Seoul

Tehran’s judiciary said the inmates were allowed out only after testing negative for coronavirus and posting bail, while ‘security prisoners’ jailed for more than five years would not be released.

It comes amid fears that British-Iranian prisoner Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 41, might have been infected after her husband Richard Ratcliffe said she was suffering from cold-like symptoms over the weekend but had not been tested.

India today revealed its number of confirmed coronavirus cases has jumped to 28, up from just five overnight.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said an earlier COVID-19 patient who had travelled to Italy led to the confirmation of six other infections.

Another cluster of cases that emerged centered around a large group of Italian tourists who had entered India on Feb. 21.

People wear protective masks as a precaution against the coronavirus outbreak, at the India gate in New Delhi

India also announced Wednesday that it has imposed universal screening of all passengers on international flights.

‘There is no need to panic. We need to work together, take small yet important measures to ensure self-protection,’ India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.

‘Had an extensive review regarding preparedness on the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. Different ministries & states are working together, from screening people arriving in India to providing prompt medical attention,’ he said.

In Japan, the number of confirmed infections has reached the 1,000 mark, including the 706 that tested positive on the Diamond Prince cruise ship which was docked off Yokohama and saw the world’s biggest cluster of the disease.

Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido reported three more cases of coronavirus infections yesterday.

The new cases all involve men, one in his 50s and the other two in their 60s, the prefecture said on its website.

In Italy, 27 people died from coronavirus in a single day, bringing the total number of dead to 79 with the number of infections at 2,502.

The country has reportedly issued a series of drastic new measures including banning kissing and hugging for a month.

The Italian government’s special scientific committee on coronavirus published a set of recommendations it hopes everyone in the country will follow on Wednesday.

It advises all over-75s to stay at home to limit their risk of catching the virus and suffering serious complications.

The committee also says people should avoid hugging, kissing and shaking hands for a month.

People should also avoid crowded places and keep ‘at least one metre’ away from anyone else at all times, it said.

Anyone showing even mild symptoms of potential coronavirus infection is advised to stay at home and refrain from going to hospital or a GP.

The guidelines also warn not to drink from the same cups, glasses or bottles as anyone else ‘especially during sporting events’.

People will no longer be allowed to accompany friends or relatives into the emergency room and there will also be more restirctions on visitors to private clinics and retirement homes.

And all football matches and other sporting events in Italy this month must be held behind closed doors, the committee stated. 

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS?

Someone who is infected with the coronavirus can spread it with just a simple cough or a sneeze, scientists say.

More than 3,200 people with the virus are now confirmed to have died and over 94,000 have been infected. Here’s what we know so far:

What is the coronavirus? 

A coronavirus is a type of virus which can cause illness in animals and people. Viruses break into cells inside their host and use them to reproduce itself and disrupt the body’s normal functions. Coronaviruses are named after the Latin word ‘corona’, which means crown, because they are encased by a spiked shell which resembles a royal crown.

The coronavirus from Wuhan is one which has never been seen before this outbreak. It has been named SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. The name stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2.

Experts say the bug, which has killed around one in 50 patients since the outbreak began in December, is a ‘sister’ of the SARS illness which hit China in 2002, so has been named after it.

The disease that the virus causes has been named COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019.

Dr Helena Maier, from the Pirbright Institute, said: ‘Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that infect a wide range of different species including humans, cattle, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats and wild animals. 

‘Until this new coronavirus was identified, there were only six different coronaviruses known to infect humans. Four of these cause a mild common cold-type illness, but since 2002 there has been the emergence of two new coronaviruses that can infect humans and result in more severe disease (Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronaviruses). 

‘Coronaviruses are known to be able to occasionally jump from one species to another and that is what happened in the case of SARS, MERS and the new coronavirus. The animal origin of the new coronavirus is not yet known.’ 

The first human cases were publicly reported from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where approximately 11million people live, after medics first started publicly reporting infections on December 31.

By January 8, 59 suspected cases had been reported and seven people were in critical condition. Tests were developed for the new virus and recorded cases started to surge.

The first person died that week and, by January 16, two were dead and 41 cases were confirmed. The next day, scientists predicted that 1,700 people had become infected, possibly up to 7,000.

Just a week after that, there had been more than 800 confirmed cases and those same scientists estimated that some 4,000 – possibly 9,700 – were infected in Wuhan alone. By that point, 26 people had died. 

By January 27, more than 2,800 people were confirmed to have been infected, 81 had died, and estimates of the total number of cases ranged from 100,000 to 350,000 in Wuhan alone.

By January 29, the number of deaths had risen to 132 and cases were in excess of 6,000.  

By February 5, there were more than 24,000 cases and 492 deaths.

By February 11, this had risen to more than 43,000 cases and 1,000 deaths. 

A change in the way cases are confirmed on February 13 – doctors decided to start using lung scans as a formal diagnosis, as well as laboratory tests – caused a spike in the number of cases, to more than 60,000 and to 1,369 deaths.

By February 25, around 80,000 people had been infected and some 2,700 had died. February 25 was the first day in the outbreak when fewer cases were diagnosed within China than in the rest of the world. 

Where does the virus come from?

According to scientists, the virus almost certainly came from bats. Coronaviruses in general tend to originate in animals – the similar SARS and MERS viruses are believed to have originated in civet cats and camels, respectively.

The first cases of COVID-19 came from people visiting or working in a live animal market in Wuhan, which has since been closed down for investigation.

Although the market is officially a seafood market, other dead and living animals were being sold there, including wolf cubs, salamanders, snakes, peacocks, porcupines and camel meat. 

A study by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, published in February 2020 in the scientific journal Nature, found that the genetic make-up virus samples found in patients in China is 96 per cent identical to a coronavirus they found in bats.

However, there were not many bats at the market so scientists say it was likely there was an animal which acted as a middle-man, contracting it from a bat before then transmitting it to a human. It has not yet been confirmed what type of animal this was.

Dr Michael Skinner, a virologist at Imperial College London, was not involved with the research but said: ‘The discovery definitely places the origin of nCoV in bats in China.

‘We still do not know whether another species served as an intermediate host to amplify the virus, and possibly even to bring it to the market, nor what species that host might have been.’  

So far the fatalities are quite low. Why are health experts so worried about it? 

Experts say the international community is concerned about the virus because so little is known about it and it appears to be spreading quickly.

It is similar to SARS, which infected 8,000 people and killed nearly 800 in an outbreak in Asia in 2003, in that it is a type of coronavirus which infects humans’ lungs. It is less deadly than SARS, however, which killed around one in 10 people, compared to approximately one in 50 for COVID-19.

Another reason for concern is that nobody has any immunity to the virus because they’ve never encountered it before. This means it may be able to cause more damage than viruses we come across often, like the flu or common cold.

Speaking at a briefing in January, Oxford University professor, Dr Peter Horby, said: ‘Novel viruses can spread much faster through the population than viruses which circulate all the time because we have no immunity to them.

‘Most seasonal flu viruses have a case fatality rate of less than one in 1,000 people. Here we’re talking about a virus where we don’t understand fully the severity spectrum but it’s possible the case fatality rate could be as high as two per cent.’

If the death rate is truly two per cent, that means two out of every 100 patients who get it will die. 

‘My feeling is it’s lower,’ Dr Horby added. ‘We’re probably missing this iceberg of milder cases. But that’s the current circumstance we’re in.

‘Two per cent case fatality rate is comparable to the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918 so it is a significant concern globally.’

How does the virus spread?

The illness can spread between people just through coughs and sneezes, making it an extremely contagious infection. And it may also spread even before someone has symptoms.

It is believed to travel in the saliva and even through water in the eyes, therefore close contact, kissing, and sharing cutlery or utensils are all risky. 

Originally, people were thought to be catching it from a live animal market in Wuhan city. But cases soon began to emerge in people who had never been there, which forced medics to realise it was spreading from person to person.

There is now evidence that it can spread third hand – to someone from a person who caught it from another person.

What does the virus do to you? What are the symptoms?

Once someone has caught the COVID-19 virus it may take between two and 14 days, or even longer, for them to show any symptoms – but they may still be contagious during this time.

If and when they do become ill, typical signs include a runny nose, a cough, sore throat and a fever (high temperature). The vast majority of patients will recover from these without any issues, and many will need no medical help at all.

In a small group of patients, who seem mainly to be the elderly or those with long-term illnesses, it can lead to pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection in which the insides of the lungs swell up and fill with fluid. It makes it increasingly difficult to breathe and, if left untreated, can be fatal and suffocate people.

Figures are showing that young children do not seem to be particularly badly affected by the virus, which they say is peculiar considering their susceptibility to flu, but it is not clear why. 

What have genetic tests revealed about the virus? 

Scientists in China have recorded the genetic sequences of around 19 strains of the virus and released them to experts working around the world. 

This allows others to study them, develop tests and potentially look into treating the illness they cause.   

Examinations have revealed the coronavirus did not change much – changing is known as mutating – much during the early stages of its spread.

However, the director-general of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Gao Fu, said the virus was mutating and adapting as it spread through people.

This means efforts to study the virus and to potentially control it may be made extra difficult because the virus might look different every time scientists analyse it.   

More study may be able to reveal whether the virus first infected a small number of people then change and spread from them, or whether there were various versions of the virus coming from animals which have developed separately.

How dangerous is the virus?  

The virus has a death rate of around two per cent. This is a similar death rate to the Spanish Flu outbreak which, in 1918, went on to kill around 50million people.

Experts have been conflicted since the beginning of the outbreak about whether the true number of people who are infected is significantly higher than the official numbers of recorded cases. Some people are expected to have such mild symptoms that they never even realise they are ill unless they’re tested, so only the more serious cases get discovered, making the death toll seem higher than it really is.

However, an investigation into government surveillance in China said it had found no reason to believe this was true.

Dr Bruce Aylward, a World Health Organization official who went on a mission to China, said there was no evidence that figures were only showing the tip of the iceberg, and said recording appeared to be accurate, Stat News reported.

Can the virus be cured? 

The COVID-19 virus cannot be cured and it is proving difficult to contain.

Antibiotics do not work against viruses, so they are out of the question. Antiviral drugs can work, but the process of understanding a virus then developing and producing drugs to treat it would take years and huge amounts of money.

No vaccine exists for the coronavirus yet and it’s not likely one will be developed in time to be of any use in this outbreak, for similar reasons to the above.

The National Institutes of Health in the US, and Baylor University in Waco, Texas, say they are working on a vaccine based on what they know about coronaviruses in general, using information from the SARS outbreak. But this may take a year or more to develop, according to Pharmaceutical Technology.

Currently, governments and health authorities are working to contain the virus and to care for patients who are sick and stop them infecting other people.

People who catch the illness are being quarantined in hospitals, where their symptoms can be treated and they will be away from the uninfected public.

And airports around the world are putting in place screening measures such as having doctors on-site, taking people’s temperatures to check for fevers and using thermal screening to spot those who might be ill (infection causes a raised temperature).

However, it can take weeks for symptoms to appear, so there is only a small likelihood that patients will be spotted up in an airport.

Is this outbreak an epidemic or a pandemic?   

The outbreak is an epidemic, which is when a disease takes hold of one community such as a country or region. 

Although it has spread to dozens of countries, the outbreak is not yet classed as a pandemic, which is defined by the World Health Organization as the ‘worldwide spread of a new disease’.

The head of WHO’s global infectious hazard preparedness, Dr Sylvie Briand, said: ‘Currently we are not in a pandemic. We are at the phase where it is an epidemic with multiple foci, and we try to extinguish the transmission in each of these foci,’ the Guardian reported.

She said that most cases outside of Hubei had been ‘spillover’ from the epicentre, so the disease wasn’t actually spreading actively around the world.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk