Wuhan coronavirus: India is one of the top 30 high-risk countries

The Wuhan coronavirus has so far claimed more than 130 victims and infected 6000 others. Experts have identified India as one of the top 30 countries at are at high-risk.

By: Jahnavi Sarma | | Updated: January 29, 2020 4:09 pm

Tags: Coronavirus novel Chinese coronavirus

Other cities at risk are Sydney at 12th position, New York at 16th position and London at 19th position. @Shutterstock

According to reports, researchers have been able to identify cities and provinces within China, as well as regions and countries across the world, which may be at high risk from the spread of the recent coronavirus. Leading the risk is Thailand at number one position with Japan and Hong Kong following closely behind in the second and third position. The US occupies sixth place and Australia tenth followed by UK in the seventeenth position and India at twenty-third place.

Researchers identify high-risk countries

The University of Southampton’s WorldPop team say that Bangkok is currently the city at highest risk from a global spread of the virus. They based this on the number of air travellers predicted to arrive there from the worst affected cities in mainland China. Hong Kong is at second highest risk, followed closely by Taipei (Taiwan) and China. Other cities at risk are Sydney at 12^th position, New York at 16^th position and London at 19^th position. The report puts Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Chongqing in the high-risk zone along with the Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Zhejiang, Sichuan and Henan.

Closely monitoring situation, says researchers

The researchers say that the spread of the new coronavirus is a fast and they are closely monitoring the epidemic to provide further analysis on the likely spread. They are also looking into the effectiveness of the transport lockdown in Chinese cities and transmission by people returning from the Lunar New Year holiday.

In the meantime, Wuhan authorities say that more than five million people may have already left the city. This further increases the spread of the disease.

Indian government’s initiative

Acknowledging the seriousness of the situation, the India government has set up a 24X7 helpline number. If you have any questions regarding symptoms and treatment, you can call this number – 011-23978046. An Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) Officer will guide you. The government has also made an appeal to people to come forward f they have travelled to China since January 1, 2020. The call centre will direct people to experts in their area. It will also monitor details of passengers provided by the Ministry of External Affairs.

With inputs from IANS

Published : January 29, 2020 4:07 pm | Updated:January 29, 2020 4:09 pm

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