The rampant coronavirus 2019-nCoV has officially reached Finland, as the country's National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) informed on Wednesday that the infection had been detected in a female tourist from Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak began
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th January, 2020) The rampant coronavirus 2019-nCoV has officially reached Finland, as the country's National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) informed on Wednesday that the infection had been detected in a female tourist from Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak began.
"The tourist was diagnosed with a coronavirus infection in the central hospital of Lapland [the northernmost and largest Finnish region]. This is the first confirmed case in Finland," the THL's communication read.
According to Finnish media, the infected individual is a 32-year-old woman from Wuhan who left China five days ago.
Located in the central Chinese province of Hubei, Wuhan first reported an outbreak of an unknown kind of respiratory disease this past December. It was soon confirmed to be a new strain of coronavirus with a human-to-human transmission that health authorities labeled 2019-nCoV.
The virus quickly crossed the Chinese border and spread through Asia, and far beyond. As of now, more than 15 countries have confirmed cases in people both with and without travel history in China. The World Health Organization estimates the threat to be "very high" for China and "high" for the world. Many airline carriers have halted flights to China, countries are stepping up security provisions at airports, and China itself has gone so far as to have shut down Wuhan and several other cities that are hotbeds of infection.
The current toll of infected individuals has exceeded 6,000 and at least 130 have died.
