Coronavirus: Here's what we know so far, symptoms and precautions to take

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An outbreak of a new coronavirus that began in the central Chinese city of Wuhan has killed 26 people and infected more than 800 globally.

The virus has caused alarm because it is still too early to know just how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between people. And because it is new, humans have not been able to build any immunity to it.

Here is what we know so far:

- There were 830 confirmed cases and 26 people had died in China, the National Health Commission said.

- China is to take stricter and more targeted measures to curb the spread, state television reported, citing a State Council meeting on virus control on Friday.

- The previously unknown strain is believed to have emerged late last year from illegally traded wildlife at an animal market in Wuhan.

- Thailand has five cases, Singapore and Taiwan three, Japan, Vietnam and South Korea with two apiece, and Nepal and the United States one each.

- In India, meanwhile, on January 24, the Ministry of Health said that there are three suspected cases of the virus in India. While two are from Mumbai, one is reported from Hyderabad, and they are under observation, news agency ANI has reported.

- Meanwhile, India's neighbour Nepal also confirmed a case of the deadly virus, identifying the infected person as a Nepali student who recently returned from the Chinese city of Wuhan, local media reports said.

- The WHO said that while the outbreak was an emergency for China, it was not yet a global health emergency.

- China says the virus is mutating and can be transmitted through human contact.

- Those most affected are older people and those with underlying health conditions.

- Three research teams are to start work on developing potential vaccines, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations said. The plan is to have at least one potential vaccine in clinical trials by June.

- Preliminary research suggests the virus was passed to humans from snakes, but Chinese government medical adviser Zhong Nanshan has also identified badgers and rats as possible sources.

So, what is coronavirus?

Seven different coronaviruses, that scientists know of, can infect people and make them sick, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In rare cases, they are zoonotic, meaning they can be transmitted from animals to humans.

However, the virus causing the current outbreak is different from those previously identified, according to Chinese scientists.

How did it begin?

In China’s Wuhan, the outbreak of the virus has been linked to a large seafood and animal market, suggesting a possible zoonotic origin to the outbreak. But, Zhong Nanshan, a renowned scientist at the National Health Commission who helped expose the scale of the SARS outbreak, said patients could contract the new virus without having visited the city.

"Currently, it can be said it is affirmative that there is the phenomenon of human-to-human transmission," he said in an interview with CCTV. In Guangdong, two patients were infected by family members who visited Wuhan, Zhong explained.

How dangerous is it?

A Chinese government expert has said that the virus was contagious between humans, fuelling fears of a major outbreak as millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year holiday in humanity's biggest migration.

The countries have gone on alert in the backdrop of Chinese travelling for Lunar New Year. Authorities in Thailand and in Japan have already identified at least three cases, all involving recent travel from China. South Korea reported its first case on January 20, when a 35-year-old Chinese woman from Wuhan tested positive for the new coronavirus one day after arriving at Seoul's Incheon airport.

China has so far reported nine deaths from the new virus.

Coronavirus symptoms

Initial symptoms of the novel (new) coronavirus include fever, cough, tightness of the chest and shortness of breath. For those with a weakened immune system, the elderly and the very young, there's a chance the virus could cause a lower, and much more serious, respiratory tract illness like pneumonia or bronchitis, says CDC.

Coronavirus treatment

There are currently no vaccines available to protect one against human coronavirus infection or treatments for illnesses caused by it, says CDC.

Most people with common human coronavirus illness will recover on their own.

Taking doctor’s prescribed medication for pain and fever, drinking plenty of fluids, getting rest and sleep as much as possible, will help to relieve the symptoms, experts say at CDCP.

What is China doing about it?

China, in the past, has made major breakthroughs in responding to infectious diseases including establishing a system for the early detection of 300 known pathogens and the screening, identifying and detection of unknown pathogens, the Ministry of Science and Technology has said highlighting China's ability to cope up with the new virus.

Wuhan, a city of 11 million, is under severe travel restrictions, with urban transport shut and outgoing flights suspended.

China has advised people to avoid crowds and 10 cities in the central province of Hubei, where Wuhan is located, have suspended some transport, the Hubei Daily reported.

Beijing has closed tourist access to the Forbidden City and cancelled large gatherings, including two Lunar New Year temple fairs, and closed part of the Great Wall.

Walt Disney Co's Shanghai Disney Resort will be closed from Saturday.

Donald's suspends business in five cities in Hubei. Airports around the world have stepped up screening.

China's central bank is temporarily raising the upper limit on small bank batch payments to 500 million yuan ($72.42 million) until Jan. 30, to ease fund transfers.

The China Development Bank has also granted a 2 billion yuan ($290 million) emergency loan to Wuhan.

How is India preparing against the virus?

In the wake of the virus outbreak in China, the health ministry has sought from the Ministry of External Affairs details of those who have applied for an Indian visa since December 31 so that they can be counselled.

The MEA has also been requested to disseminate travel advisory to Indian Embassies in China and adjoining countries in local languages for wider circulation and passenger information, the health ministry said in a statement.

The Union health secretary has also written to states and Union Territories to review their preparedness, identify gaps and strengthen core capacities in the area of surveillance, laboratory support and in particular, hospital preparedness in terms of isolation and ventilator management of patients with severe respiratory illness.

Meanwhile, global equity markets rebounded as investors took in positive economic data from Europe and worried less about the potential economic toll of the outbreak.

Some experts believe the virus is not as dangerous as the 2002-03 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that killed nearly 800 people, and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which has killed more than 700 people since 2012.

(With inputs from Reuters)