What is the coronavirus from China and what are the symptoms?
The World Health Organization has declared a global health emergency over the deadly new strain of virus that has infected thousands of people and left more than 1,000 dead. Chinese officials have and for protection.
What's being done to stop the spread?
The World Health Organization convened an emergency committee on the virus in Geneva, Switzerland, and declared it a global health emergency on Thursday, January 30.
Meanwhile in the U.S., the CDC has deployed public health workers to screen passengers arriving from Wuhan at seven major ports of airline entry: New York-JFK, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago-O'Hare, Seattle and Honolulu. The agency is also beefing up screening at additional "quarantine stations" around the country, airports and other places where health workers regularly check arriving travelers for signs of illness.
Leaders of a White House task force on coronavirus announced that beginning February 2, any U.S. citizen who has been in China's Hubei province in the previous 14 days will be subject to 14 days of mandatory quarantine upon returning to the U.S. In addition, they said the U.S. will enforce a temporary ban on foreigners (without family in the U.S.) who have recently visited China.
The CDC said it has developed a test to diagnose the virus. Currently, that test must be administered at the CDC, but the organization is working to share the test with domestic and international partners.
In Hong Kong, which was ravaged by SARS in 2002 and 2003, hospitals upped their alert level and implemented temperature checkpoints for inbound travelers.
While China has closed transportation in and out of Wuhan and other cities, there were concerns that as hundreds of millions of people traveled around the country to celebrate the Chinese New Year, the virus could spread even faster.
Is it safe to travel?
On January 30, the U.S. State Department upped its China travel advisory to the highest level, "Do Not Travel." It advised Americans to avoid the country due to the risk of the outbreak, and said those already in China should be prepared to encounter restrictions on their travel.
Many airlines have curtailed flights in and out of China.
The CDC is urging people to seek medical care right away if they traveled to Wuhan in the past two weeks and have a fever, cough or trouble breathing. It says older adults and people with underlying health conditions may be most at risk for severe illness from the virus.
"Preliminary information suggests that older adults and people with underlying health conditions may be at increased risk for severe disease from this virus," it said.
–Ramy Inocencio and Grace Qi contributed to this report.
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