Updates for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus in China | COVID-19
2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness (COVID-19) first detected in Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei Province.
The updated numbers
Virus containment for the date of February 4th VS May 4th:
| Date | Daily Confirmed in Hubei (Wuhan) | Daily Confirmed outside Hubei (Wuhan) | Daily Recovered of the country | Total recovered of the country | Remaining infections |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb. 4th | 3,156 | 731 | 262 | 892 | 22,980 |
| Apr. 4th | 0 | 5 | 213 | 76,964 | 2,382 |
| May 4th | 0 | 3 | 87 | 79,126 | 635 |
Warm prompt: Stay home and stay healthy.
How did the Novel Coronavirus spread from Wuhan so quickly?
a) Outbreak started in a very large city: Wuhan has more than 14 million people living in fairly high population density.
b) Outbreak coincided with a massive Chinese holiday: Due to the 2020 Chinese New Year (which this year ran from the end of January to the beginning of February), more than 5 million Wuhan residents left the city and traveled to different areas of the country to celebrate China’s largest and most important holiday with their family. Furthermore, on average, an astounding 3 billion passenger trips are taken during the Chinese New Year making this the largest human migration on the planet.
c) Virus has a long incubation period: most current estimates of the incubation period for COVID-19 range from 1-14 days - meaning people can have the virus and spread it without showing any symptoms.
What are the main things being done to contain the outbreak in China?
a) Impose a near total shutdown of Wuhan City: a mandatory quarantine along with the mandatory wearing of surgical masks has been imposed on all of Wuhan.
b) Impose strict regulations on the rest of the Chinese public: request that all 1.4 billion Chinese citizens stay in place during Chinese New Year instead of traveling back home.
c) Expand medical facility capacity in Wuhan: the Wuhan municipal government built two specialized infectious-disease hospitals with a total capacity of 2,500 beds in just 10 days in early February plus 10 other hospitals with more than 110 thousands beds.
d) Increase medical personnel capacity in Wuhan: More than 42,000 medical professionals and 4,000 medical Army staff have been sent Wuhan and Hubei Province from hospitals located all over the country.
e) Impose restrictions on Chinese tourists traveling overseas.
How did the 2019 Novel Coronavirus affect China Educational Tours (CET)?
Due to the outbreak, most of our bookings have been canceled. We issued full refunds to all the customers as per our policy for rare cases such as natural disasters and medical epidemics.
What’s the advise does CET have for travel to China?
CET does NOT suggest customers travel to China until after May 5th due to the International Labor Day holiday (May 1st to 5th). For those customers who have booked a trip with us, please contact your travel specialist with questions and for updated information. For more advise about the Most Effective Clean Methods to Stop Viruses, please see our informative articles here: Most Effective Clean Methods to Stop Viruses
True or False?
1) The COVID-19 is currently spreading rapidly across the globe and poses a significant health risk for children, elderly, and people with respiratory issues. --- true
2) The COVID-19 has killed dozens of people (at the time of this writing). --- true
3) The COVID-19 is as deadly as Ebola or HIV. --- false
4) The COVID-19 is just as serious as the Flu. --- true
5) The COVID-19 will kill most people who get it. --- false
6) There is a cure for the COVID-19. --- false
7) Currently, over 96% of those infected with the virus make a full recovery. --- true
Several different types of viruses
There are hundreds of different viruses which can be divided into dozens of different categories – from viruses that cause the stomach flu, to HIV, to other sexually transmitted viruses, to the regular Flu and common cold. For the purpose of this article, we’ll concentrate on airborne viruses that primarily affect our respiratory system (so we’ll leave out the stomach ones, as well as those found further south of the stomach).
Did you know the common cold is caused by a virus? This is one of the reasons there’s no cure for the common cold (as there are no cures for viruses). It’s also hard to vaccinate against because there are over 200 different viruses that causes it, and many mutate often making vaccinations thus far impossible. One of the most common viruses that cause the common cold is called the Rhinovirus. The only good news for this group of viruses is they usually are not very dangerous and the vast majority of people make a full recovery. One of the reasons they are no longer deadly (they used to be 500 years ago) is that over the centuries, humans have developed a fairly good natural immunity against this group.
The Flu is caused by the Influenza virus. Influenza is stronger than the common cold group and thus causes stronger symptoms. Even though most people don’t consider the Flu a deadly virus, according to the American CDC, the Flu kills between 10,000-20,000 people each year, with over 15 million infections. Thus, the Flu is … uh-hem … nothing to sneeze at.
The coronavirus category
A similar category of viruses to Influenza is the coronavirus. Currently, the Novel Coronavirus is causing worldwide concern and sometimes is incorrectly referred to as “the coronavirus”. A coronavirus is actually a category of viruses that attack the upper respiratory tract. The strain that started in Wuhan, China is simply one strain of coronaviruses. In fact, coronaviruses cause around 20% of common colds. There are over 30 kinds of coronaviruses, but only 3-4 affect humans.
Two famous types of coronaviruses are SARS and MERS, which had dangerous outbreaks in 2003 and 2015. For more on the differences between SARS, MERS, and the Novel Coronavirus, please see our article here).
2019 Novel Coronavirus
In general, the Novel Coronavirus is a super type of flu virus with similar symptoms and attacks the body in a biologically similar way. It’s important for people to understand that the Novel Coronavirus is not nearly as deadly as the much more deadly viruses like Ebola, HIV, and Rabies. All of the following have a mortality rate of nearly 100% when left untreated, and some strains of Ebola have a mortality rate of over 50% even when treated. (note, while there is no cure or “antbotic” for any virus, some viruses have treatments which can help a person recover. These viruses are extremely serious and deserve to be treated with extreme concern. However, at the time of this writing, the Novel Coronavirus – while still not completely understood – has only had a mortality rate of around 3%. It's rapid spread around the world and across China certainly poses a severe risk for many people and should continue to be taken very seriously; however, for it’s important for people to keep things in perspective. The Novel Coronavirus is barely more dangerous than the flu and doesn’t come close to the mortality potential posed by the above mentioned super deadly viruses.
For more on the mortality rates of the Novel Coronavirus, the Flu, SARS, and MERS, please see our article here).
How is it spread?
While some viruses and bacteria are spread only through direct contact, and not through the air, unfortunately we have just realized over the past few days that 2019-nCoV CAN be spread through the air. This means that if someone coughs or sneezes without covering their mouth from across the room, and you are in a closed room with no ventilation or a ventilation system that recirculates the air (such as on high speed pressurized trains and airplanes), you can be infected.
For important, life-saving information, please see our articles on “Best practices: Wearing masks, Covering our coughs/sneezes properly, Cleaning and Hand Washing to kill Viruses and Bacteria” and “Top 3 best ways to boost your immune system to protect yourself from Viruses, such as 2019-nCoV”.
Incubation period
One of the most concerning aspects of 2019-nCoV is that it has a fairly long incubation period, which is currently estimated to be as long as 14 days. The incubation period is the time when a person can carry a virus, and infect others, WITHOUT having any symptoms. In plain words, you could be carrying 2019-nCoV for 2 weeks without even knowing it, and during this time, you can spread it to others.
Deadly complications
As with other coronaviruses or influenza, infected people may develop pneumonia or other serious respiratory complications. As stated above, this happens in a small percent of cases, so there is no reason for anyone to panic. However, proper precautions should be taken to avoid getting the virus, or quickly beginning treatment if you are diagnosed with it.
Check back with us
As more information is released and updated, CET will update this page. You can count on CET for the latest, straight forward, information available.
Most Effective Clean Methods to Stop Viruses and Bacteria 
Introduction to 4 Major Type of Infections 
Important differences between SARS, MERS, COVID-19, and Influenza (the Flu) 
Top 3 ways to boost your immune system to protect yourself from Viruses, such as 2019-nCoV