Europe getting to grips with virus threat

Europe has introduced precautions and preventative measures in its battle against the spread of the novel coronavirus, which was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan, but the continent regards the threat as relatively weak.

France is Europe's only nation with confirmed cases. It identified its third on Friday, prompting Agnes Buzyn, the health minister, to tell reporters Paris will introduce measures to stop the disease locally, before it can become an epidemic.

"You have to treat an epidemic like you treat a fire," she said. "You need to locate the source very quickly."

Officials are tracking down people who were in contact with the three confirmed cases and putting many into quarantine.

"Every person who has been in contact with patients is being identified," the Health Ministry said in a statement. "They will receive specific instructions from the health authorities to avoid contact, in order to limit the spread of the virus."

Throughout the continent, people who fear they may have the virus are being told to keep away from doctors' offices and hospitals and instead call the emergency services, again in an attempt to reduce contact.

Buzyn said health officials are intent on "containing" the SARS-like disease "as quickly as possible".

As of Monday afternoon, no other European nation had confirmed cases of the virus among the 46 detected beyond China's borders. Almost all infections outside China were in Asia and involve, say the World Health Organization, someone who recently visited Wuhan.

Astrid Vabret, a professor of virology medicine at Caen University Hospital, told FRANCE 24 she would like to see thermal cameras used at all of Europe's airports, to detect passengers with a temperature; a move already in place in China.

"Chinese authorities have put in place measures never before taken," she said, while noting that, if the disease enters the country, "everybody is prepared in the hospitals".

Buzyn said she believes the World Health Organization has held back on declaring a public health emergency until adequate medical personnel and equipment can be deployed at airports.

That lack of equipment underwhelmed passengers arriving in Paris from Shanghai on Sunday. One told Agence France-Presse: "There were a dozen first-aiders and two or three policemen. They just gave us very brief instructions. They didn't give us any form to fill, no heat control. They didn't even ask what city we were coming from." He said, in Shanghai, they were scanned with a "thermal machine" and had other checks.

But some health professionals are questioning whether screening will help.

Professor Aileen Marty, from the infectious diseases department at Florida International University, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that the fact that people are spreading the virus before developing symptoms means it will be hard to identify those with the disease.

Professor Wendy Barclay, from the department of infectious diseases at Imperial College London, told the Guardian newspaper that this, and the fact that most people only get a mild version, means the virus could spread rapidly.

"If this does prove to be the case, then controlling the spread does become more of a challenge, and measures like airport screening are unlikely to stem the virus effectively," she said.

But, thankfully, some experts believe the virus may not be as potent as feared.

Yazdan Yazdanpanah, who is caring for two of the three French patients, told Associated Press the chance of "an epidemic in France or in Europe is weak, extremely weak".

He said the "illness is a lot less serious … than, for example, SARS," the severe acute respiratory syndrome that claimed nearly 800 lives in 2002 and 2003, which he said was 15 times more deadly.

But some French cities erred on the side of caution and cancelled their Lunar New Year parades on the weekend in attempts to ensure crowds did not gather.

Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, said: "They are very emotional and concerned. They are really not in a mood to party now."

As of Monday afternoon, 73 people had been tested for the virus in the United Kingdom. All were clear, suggesting the "risk to the public remains low", said the nation's Department of Health and Social Care.

The Daily Mail notes that UK authorities are focusing on tracking down around 2,000 people who recently entered Britain from Wuhan, many likely students at UK universities.

Britain has introduced additional checks at Heathrow Airport, where teams of doctors greet passengers arriving from China. And London is considering joining Paris in airlifting citizens out of Wuhan. The Times said on Monday that help is assured and that Britons returned home will be quarantined.

Public Health England, meanwhile, believes it is making good progress on developing a genetic test to diagnose the virus "on the same working day", a step that would greatly help in the fight against the disease.