Increasing pressure over travel
- In Hong Kong thousands of medical workers went on strike to force the government to lock its borders with mainland China to prevent the spread of 2019-nCoV.
- The WHO reiterated that there is no necessity to enact restrictions that “unnecessarily” interfere with travel and trade
- The United States was the first to impose a travel ban on foreign nationals who have traveled in China within the past two weeks. China’s foreign ministry criticized the US and other countries for overreacting to the outbreak.
Canadians with coronavirus won’t be evacuated
- The federal government has a plane ready to evacuate Canadians from Hubei province in China, where the novel coronavirus is thought to have originated. Some 325 people have requested evacuation but those with respiratory symptoms will not be allowed to board the flight. On return to Canada, evacuees will be kept under observation for two weeks at a military base in Trenton, Ont.
Human trials of potential treatments
- Doctors in China are testing the efficacy of the antiviral drug Remdesivir as a potential treatment for 2019-nCoV in some 270 patients in Wuhan with mild and moderate pneumonia caused by the virus. HIV medicine Kaletra is also set to undergo human trials.