Inside Story

Wuhan coronavirus: A new pandemic?

Questions remain about authorities’ response to the coronavirus as number of confirmed cases rises.

China is reporting that people with coronavirus outside the epicentre of the outbreak have now died.

This comes as health authorities around the world fear the infection rate could increase during what is usually China’s busiest travel period of the year.

Hundreds of millions of Chinese are preparing to celebrate the Lunar New Year, although Beijing has cancelled all public celebrations.

And as the death toll rises, more countries are taking their own precautions. So are these efforts enough?

And can the virus be contained quickly?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests

Nicholas Thomas – Asian health security specialist and associate professor at City University of Hong Kong

Nathalie MacDermott – clinical lecturer at King’s College London who researches disease outbreak control