Four People In Scotland Undergoing Tests For Suspected Coronavirus - Professor

Four People in Scotland Undergoing Tests for Suspected Coronavirus - Professor

Four people in Scotland who have recently returned home from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the origin of an outbreak of a new coronavirus, are being tested for the illness, Professor Jurgen Haas, the head of infection medicine at the University of Edinburgh, said on Thursday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd January, 2020) Four people in Scotland who have recently returned home from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the origin of an outbreak of a new coronavirus, are being tested for the illness, Professor Jurgen Haas, the head of infection medicine at the University of Edinburgh, said on Thursday.

"We have currently three cases of suspected Wuhan coronavirus in Edinburgh and, as far as I understand, one case in Glasgow," Haas said as quoted by The Guardian newspaper.

He suspects that there will be many more cases from other cities across the United Kingdom.

"None of the cases I know of have been confirmed," the professor added.

According to the newspaper, the four patients arrived in Scotland within the past two weeks and show symptoms of respiratory problems.

Earlier in the day, UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock told parliament that though the likelihood of the coronavirus being recorded in the country had increased, the authorities were well-prepared and took "proportionate, precautionary measures." He added that the United Kingdom was one of a few countries that had already developed a test for the latest type of the coronavirus, allowing any suspected cases to be diagnosed at early stages.

The unknown type of viral pneumonia was first reported in Wuhan in early January and has since been confirmed by China and the World Health Organization to be a new strain of the coronavirus, currently being labeled as 2019-nCoV or Novel Coronavirus. The virus has also been detected in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, Japan and the United States. At least 17 people have died and over 600 have been infected so far.

The UK and other countries around the world have been taking precautionary measures at their respective airports. Wuhan has since been quarantined, with local residents banned from leaving the city.