Israeli health officials met Wednesday to determine how best to address the challenge of dealing with the coronavirus. Officials say the issue is not whether or not the deadly illness will reach Israel, but when.
The Health Ministry’s epidemic team on infectious diseases (CTM) met with the Director General of the Ministry of Health, the Head of Public Health Services, a representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Israel and senior ministry officials, Health Ministry spokesperson Eyal Basson said. At the meeting, the team reviewed global data and management strategies, along with the steps being taken by the Ministry of Health in professional and logistical arenas.
“There is currently a scientific consensus among all professionals that Israel and every other country in the world cannot hermetically prevent the entry of the new coronavirus into Israel and its arrival in Israel is probably only a matter of time,” Basson said.
Israelis returning from China in the last 14 days and/or Israelis returning from China and suffering from fever and cough symptoms are being advised to contact the Ministry of Health.
In addition, guidelines are being developed for Israelis who have been in China for the past two weeks and/or are expected to return from China in the coming days, and are not showing any symptoms, Basson added.
“It is important to emphasize that we are in a dynamic reality that is constantly changing and seems may continue over a significant period of time,” the spokesperson said.
“The Ministry of Health is in constant contact with the World Health Organization and other parties around the world and with the top experts in Israel.”
Another meeting is to be held between the Health Ministry and the team on infectious diseases on Thursday evening. Health Ministry Yaakov Litzman, Health Ministry Director General Moshe Bar Siman Tov and the WHO permanent representative in Israel, Dr. Luigi Migliorini, are slated to attend.
WHO: New Case Confirmed in UAE
The World Health Organization has meanwhile confirmed an outbreak of the coronavirus has spread to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Four members of a family from Wuhan who had traveled to the UAE earlier in January were hospitalized on January 25 and 27 after testing positive for coronavirus, the WHO said.
More than 130 people have died and more than 6,000 are sick with the virus in mainland China and abroad. The geographic spread is wide, the WHO said, with patients diagnosed in North America, Europe and Australia as well as several countries in Southeast Asia.
At present there are 68 cases of the illness in 15 nations outside of China – including five confirmed cases of the virus in the United States. There are more than 9,000 suspected cases in China, the WHO said.
“This coronavirus is spreading at a breakneck speed and it is important to put all the necessary resources into halting it,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. “We may not know enough about the virus’s impact on children or how many may be affected, but we do know that close monitoring and prevention are key. Time is not on our side.”
Coronavirus Spreads via Droplets, Touch
“Respiratory droplets is the major transmission route. But one can catch the disease by touch too,” China’s National Health Commission said in a document sent to regional health institutions on late Monday. Respiratory droplets can be transmitted within a distance of one to two meters (up to 6.6 feet), the commission said, according to The Standard.
Previously doctors were not certain how the disease was transmitted.
It is equally important to know, the commission warned, that asymptomatic patients can also transmit the disease. The incubation period for the virus is between three and seven days, and no longer than two weeks in extreme cases, the commission said.
“Some patients do not have obvious symptoms like fever. They may cough occasionally or feel exhausted. Even such patients can transmit the virus to some extent. It makes our effort to stop the disease more difficult and complicated,” said Li Xingwang, a member of the team of medical experts on the commission, who spoke at a news conference Tuesday in Beijing.
Multiple Airlines Suspend Routes
American Airlines and United Airlines have suspended direct flights to China from the United States, as has British Airways and Asian budget carriers Lion Air and Seoul Air.
Other airlines have reduced the number of flights to the country due to a drop in the demand for travel because of the outbreak, such as Finnair, Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific and Singapore-based Jetstar Asia.