As Coronavirus Global Death Toll Rises, Flu Still A Bigger Threat For Americans, Health Officials Say

Speaker 1: 00:00 The world health organization has declared the Corona virus outbreak a global emergency. The virus has spread to 19 countries, including the United States, but China, where the Corona virus originated has been the most impacted. Over 9,000 people in China had become an effected and 213 people have died from the Corona virus here in the United States. There have been six confirmed cases. KPBS science and technology reporter Shalina Chatwani spoke with local scientists about the outbreak and joins me now. Shelina welcome. Hey, good to be here. Of the six people in the United States who have been diagnosed with Corona virus, did they all contract it when traveling in China? So five of the cases, um, happen when people travel to China. But yesterday it was announced by the CDC that we had the first patient to patient case. So it was the spouse of the woman who had traveled to China and was, um, who had contracted the Corona virus. Speaker 1: 01:00 Uh, the closest case in our areas in orange County. But for a while there was a, uh, a possibility of a case here in San Diego County. Talked to us about that. Yeah. So this has been something that has been kind of bubbling up since last weekend, concern of our San Diego patient. But last night actually it was just revealed that a test from the CDC came back negative for this patient. Um, the patient does not have the Corona virus. Um, but there was a lot of attention around that bubbling up in San Diego County. Uh, and you were on a call Wednesday with the centers for disease control. Are they expecting more people in the U S to be diagnosed? Yeah, so the way the official from the CDC explained it, she said that the situation is pretty much under control. The risk to the American public for spread of the disease is pretty low. But she does expect that there will probably be more cases because of patient to patient contact. You know, now officials are investigating where that person went. So you know, there can be the, she says it's likely that there will be probably more cases Speaker 2: 02:04 we expect to see additional cases in the United States. You think those could be in travelers returning from the province. But we also think that it's likely that we may have cases amongst close contacts of patients who had returned. Speaker 1: 02:17 Hmm. So, you know, what do we really know about Corona virus? Yeah, I think this is a really important question in the discussion about, um, how dangerous this virus actually is. So Corona virus is part of a family of, uh, viruses, Corona viruses, uh, an overarching term for a number of different viruses that can cause things like the common cold. So some of them exist in humans, some exist in animals only, um, some getting existed in both. And in this particular case, this novel Corona virus originated in animals. And that's why it's so new to us and we don't have a vaccine for it yet. Um, but I spoke with, uh, an official from UC San Diego health yesterday. And what she explained is that actually when you look at the mortality rates with Corona virus versus something like the flu this season, it's actually relatively low. Speaker 1: 03:09 This season in the United States, we've had about 8,000 deaths from the flu. Um, and among 9,000 cases of people getting the Corona virus, only around 200 have actually passed away. So if you compare the numbers, it's actually not as severe as we're making it out to be. So what are some of the specific symptoms in incubation for Corona virus? So the symptoms are very similar to the cold and the flu and that's what makes it such a difficult situation in terms of people understanding when they're at the point where they need to actually get in contact with a health official. Um, but the, the key about this one is that this is a respiratory illness, so it's like a very deep, uh, cough. And they also, the other key here is if you have traveled to China and you are experiencing these symptoms, that's when health officials say you should probably be contacting someone. Speaker 1: 04:11 But if you're experiencing cold symptoms, you should be following normal guidances for the flu. For example, contact a doctor, make sure that you're following common practices, like washing your hands, staying away from people and not getting them sick. But yeah, so in terms of how much people can contract it or how dangerous it is, it's, it's hard really to tell in terms of the incubation period because there's, there's data that's still coming out. It's a novel virus. And so officials are still trying to figure out what this is all about. Wow. And there are 201 and one people being monitored at the March air reserve base in Riverside County after they were evacuated from muon China. Uh, what do we know about that? So these are folks like American diplomats that are abroad in areas that, um, such as China or other areas that, uh, appeared to have had, um, cases, uh, outbreak cases. Speaker 1: 05:05 And so, um, they were flown in to the air force base and we know that they are, have been asked to stay there for about three days and to go through the same number of health screenings at the centers for disease control have sent out to all of the ports of entry around the United States. Um, so they'll be screened, but it was in new recent news. There was one person that I believe did try to leave but was asked to stay and was put under a quarantine period for I believe, about 14 days, which is what people are saying is the incubation period is, but again, there's, there's no clear evidence that that's actually the incubation period. Is it clear on how long they can expect to be under quarantine at the base? So right now, I believe it's just the one person who's under quarantine. The other people have been asked if they would stay. It's sort of a voluntary decision. Oh. So what it sounds like is that the health officials for the folks that are coming in will be making the decisions about whether they can leave at a particular time. Because again, three days was the minimal time that they were asked to stay there. But we don't really know what the incubation period is or when it's safe to leave. I've been speaking to Shalina chat, Mani KPBS science and technology reporter Sherlyna thank you so much. Thanks. Speaker 3: 06:24 [inaudible].