The death toll from the novel coronavirus outbreak has only continued to climb in China and rose to 490 on February 5th, 2020. According to the health experts, there is no sign of slowdown of the spread of the virus due to a larger number of infections.
Report says that 65 people died in the country yesterday due to the flu-like infection and 24,324 people are known to be infected at present. The number of patients recovering from the virus also saw a steep rise.
The health officials have released details of the deaths and the mortality rate is 2.1%. The virus had hit the hardest at Hubei province with 3.1% death rate. According to the details more than 80% of the victims aged more than 60 years.
It may be mentioned that 185 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in over 25 countries worldwide suggesting for prompt action on travel restrictions on China. Several countries including Australia, New Zealand have placed travel restrictions on travellers coming from China.
President Trump has pledged to work with China on the outbreak, while Americans have undertaken a second Wuhan evacuation.
In the meantime, China has applied for the patent on an experimental drug– remdesivir where scientists believe it might fight the coronavirus. The patent application was reportedly made on January 21st, 2020.
Remdesivir is an antiviral drug, a novel nucleotide analog prodrug. It was developed by Gilead Sciences as a treatment for Ebola virus disease and Marburg virus infections.
It may be mentioned that the experimental drug was used at a hospital in Washington State as part of his treatment on a patient. After the intake of the drug, the patient started to get better and on the fourth day, his fever was gone.
In view of the current outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), the Airport Authority of India (AAI) with the help of the state governments has set up screening and testing counters in the airports of Northeast.
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