Coronavirus news – live: UK hospitals instructed to create secure pods for patients as emergency Cobra meeting called

Newborn infant diagnosed just 30 hours after birth

Timelapse video shows China's emergency coronavirus hospital built within 10 days

Coronavirus could be capable of passing from a mother to her baby inside the womb, doctors fear, after a newborn tested positive for the disease just 30 hours after birth.

It came as cruise ship passengers were quarantined in Japan after 10 people aboard were found to be infected with coronavirus. Some 3,700 passengers and crew are now locked down on the Diamond Princess, including a number of Britons.

Hundreds of people are being held aboard another cruise ship in Hong Kong, where medical staff are demanding leader Carrie Lam completely close the border with China.

In the UK, The Independent can exclusively reveal that NHS hospitals have been ordered to create secure coronavirus testing areas to keep pressure off A&E departments.

While the professor leading the NHS’s coronavirus response claimed the measures were “appropriate” to ensure daily services were not affected, Dr Bharat Pankhania at the University of Exeter said the pods “could raise the risk of infection” as a result of “all sorts of issues about ventilation and air clearance”.

In the letter obtained by this paper, NHS 2019-nCoV lead, Professor Keith Willet, said the pods would need to be decontaminated in line with Public Health England guidance after every patient.

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Key Points

• Newborn baby infected
• Olympics chief fears impact of virus
• Final evacuation flight for Britons
• Hong Kong in further clampdown

[5 February 2020 10:43 · Jon Sharman]

Virus brings people together

Many Hong Kongers who formerly opposed the pro-democracy movement have had their sentiments altered after witnessing the government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak, particularly Carrie Lam’s reticence to take control, writes Brian McGleenon.

The need for greater autonomy from China now seems justifiable even to former critics, the threat of the encroaching pathogen quickly unravelling Beijing’s “one country, two systems” principle and the argument for greater self-determination evolving from one of ideology to one of survival.

[5 February 2020 10:57 · Jon Sharman]

Vaccine claims

The time needed to produce a vaccine against coronavirus has been dramatically cut from years to just days, according to a British scientist, writes Shaun Lintern.

Robin Shattock, head of mucosal infection and immunity at Imperial College London, told Sky News he is now at the stage to start testing the vaccine on animals as early as next week with human studies in the summer if enough funding is secured.

He said: “Conventional approaches usually take at least two to three years before you even get to the clinic. And we've gone from that sequence to generating a candidate in the laboratory in 14 days."

He is one of a number of scientists across the world racing to develop a vaccine to the new virus.

Earlier this week a global alliance of scientists said they were also on course to create a vaccine in record time.

The head of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations said he hoped a vaccine could be produced for clinical testing within 16 weeks from initial gene sequencing of the virus.

Dr Richard Hatchett said: “This is an extremely ambitious timeline – indeed, it would be unprecedented in the field of vaccine development.”

[5 February 2020 11:10 · Jon Sharman]

Hack attack

Hackers are leveraging the fears surrounding coronavirus in order to carry out cyber attacks on a massive scale, security researchers have warned, writes Anthony Cuthbertson.

Malware and email viruses that use coronavirus-themed lures to trick people have spread to over a dozen countries, according to security firm Proofpoint.

The company also observed that attackers are beginning to register URLs and create fake websites relating to Coronavirus in order to carry out malicious activity.

[5 February 2020 11:24 · Jon Sharman]

Pensions and ISAs hit by outbreak

The first day back to work after a long holiday is always a bit grating. But for those logging in at the Chinese stock market for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak, all bets were off, writes Kate Hughes.

The rest of the world’s markets have been riding the waves of coronavirus-induced volatility for weeks now as the infection spreads, while the epicenter remained economically silent.

No sooner had the markets opened for the first time since 23 January – thanks to the Chinese New Year and an extra two days of shutdown tagged on the end by the Chinese government – than the whole thing promptly stalled, initially selling off -8.7 per cent in Shanghai and -9 per cent in Shenzhen during early trading despite a flurry of significant measures by the state designed to cushion the blow. 

[5 February 2020 11:30 · Jon Sharman]

Infections 'under-reported'

Coronavirus deaths are overwhelmingly concentrated in central China's Wuhan city, which accounts for more than 73 per cent of fatalities  despite having only one-third the number of confirmed infections.

In Wuhan, the epicentre of the disease, one person has died for every 23 infections reported. That number drops to one on 50 nationally, and outside mainland China, one death has been recorded per 114 confirmed cases.

Experts said the discrepancy was mainly due to under-reporting of milder virus cases in Wuhan and other parts of Hubei province that are grappling with shortages in testing equipment and beds.

"In an outbreak you really have to interpret fatality rates with a very sceptical eye, because often it's only the very severe cases that are coming to people's attention," said Amesh Adalja, an expert in pandemic preparedness at the Johns Hopkins Centre for Health Security in Baltimore.

"It's very hard to say those numbers represent anything like the true burden of infection" said Dr Adalja, who estimates current fatality rates are likely below 1 per cent.

As of Tuesday, 24,551 cases have been confirmed globally. A 1 per cent fatality rate would put total cases at over 49,000, based on the current death toll of 492.

Gauden Galea, the World Health Organisation representative for China, told Reuters on Sunday that a "crude calculation" done by dividing total cases by deaths put the rate at 2 per cent and said the rate was generally falling.

"Trying to really demystify those fatality numbers by including mildly symptomatic cases will help people to better understand the risk," said Dr Adalja.

Reuters

[5 February 2020 11:42 · Jon Sharman]

Adidas impact

Adidas has taken a hit from the coronavirus outbreak. But the sports brand said it was too early to give any detail about how severe the impact is.

[5 February 2020 11:54 · Jon Sharman]

No treatment

As yet there is no known treatment for coronavirus, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.

The WHO sought to play down reports of "breakthrough" drugs being used to treat patients. WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said: "There are no known effective therapeutics against this 2019-nCoV [virus]."

[5 February 2020 12:09 · Jon Sharman]

Princeton quarantine

Princeton University has ordered 20 students who recently travelled to China to quarantine themselves following the growing threat of coronavirus, as the flu-like illness has infected more than 20,000 people worldwide and killed nearly 500 people, writes Alex Woodward.

Students from the Ivy League university who recently visited mainland China, where the outbreak was first reported, were ordered to "self-isolate" for two weeks. Students were told to remain indoors and not attend classes or enter other buildings on campus.

[5 February 2020 12:23 · Jon Sharman]

Crucial stage

China is to crack down on people spreading rumours about coronavirus and has promised to report information about the outbreak in a timely fashion, according to state media.

Xi Jinping also said that Beijing's efforts to contain the virus were at a crucial stage. Donated goods would be fully utilised in the fight against infection, the Chinese president added.

[5 February 2020 12:30 · Jon Sharman]

Leaving not easy

Getting out of China may not be practical, Britons have warned after the Foreign Office urged all UK citizen to leave the country.

Andy Roberts, a university lecturer, wrote to The Guardian to say he is currently housebound with his wife in Ningbo and he believes finding a flight would be difficult.

He has been married to his wife, a 39-year-old Chinese national, for 14 years. She has previously lived in the UK for 10 years.

The 59-year-old said the couple was restricted to staying in their apartment and only one family member is allowed to visit the supermarket every two days.

"The UK advice is not very practical as getting to an airport and finding a flight would be difficult right now," he said. "And if I did go back where would I go? My home is here in China."