Shocking footage shows hospital in China flooded with hundreds of patients amid deadly coronavirus outbreak as leading expert warns the situation 'is already uncontrollable'
- The epidemic has killed 25 and sickened more than 800 in mainland China
- It has reached nine other countries and regions, including the United States
- A top virologist said the situation at the epicentre 'is already uncontrollable'
- Another expert warned that the number of patients would spike next month
- At least nine cities, home to 24 million, in Hubei Province are now in lockdown
Shocking footage has purported to show hundreds of people filling a Chinese hospital to the brim amid an outbreak of a deadly new virus.
The coronavirus epidemic, which has killed 25 people and sickened more than 800, has led the authorities to quarantine at least 24 million people living in nine cities in China's Hubei Province before the Lunar New Year's Day on Saturday.
A leading Chinese virologist who helped tackle the SARS epidemic in Asia in 2003 has warned that the situation in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, 'is already uncontrollable'.
Another expert in the country feared that the worst was yet to come, claiming that the peak of the outbreak would be next month.
Unverified footage posted by a blogger on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter, appears to show the corridor and lobby of a hospital crammed with hundreds of mask-donning patients waiting to see the doctor. At least nine cities in China's Hubei Province have been locked down
People queue to receive treatment at the fever outpatient department of the Wuhan Tongji Hospital in Wuhan on January 22. The local government today said that the city was witnessing a surge in the number of its fever patients and that hospitals were running out of beds
At least 800 people have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus in mainland China
Share this article
Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province with a population of 11million, has been quarantined since yesterday.
The local government today said that the city was witnessing a surge in the number of its fever patients and that hospitals were running out of beds.
Authorities have reportedly ordered a state-run construction company to build a dedicated hospital in six days to treat patients diagnosed with coronavirus.
The emergency medical facility would be modelled on a centre built in Beijing in 2003 during the epidemic of SARS, the report said.
Chinese passengers, most wearing masks, arrive to board trains before the annual Spring Festival at a Beijing railway station on January 23. The health crisis occurred just before the Chinese New Year's Day on Saturday when relatives are expected to come together for meals
Empty vegetable stalls in a market is seen at a supermarket today as people stock up on food due to the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. The city has cut off inbound and outbound traffic
A resident wearing a face mask is seen trying to buy vegetables in a supermarket in Wuhan today. The provincial capital of 11million is currently in lockdown, which sparked panic-buying
Unverified footage posted by a blogger on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter, appears to show the corridor and lobby of a hospital crammed with hundreds of mask-donning patients waiting to see the doctor.
Yang Gonghuan, the former deputy director of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, today told the press that the peak of the outbreak was yet to come.
Ms Yang predicted that the health crisis would worsen and the number of patients would spike in February.
The expert, who helped fought the SARS epidemic in 2003, made the comments to Chinese news outlet Jiemian, which is affiliated to the official Shanghai United Media Group.
Nine cities in China are under lockdown as officials battle to stop the spread of the deadly new coronavirus that has killed dozens, left hundreds seriously ill and potentially infected thousands. Pictured, passengers arrive from the city of Wuhan - where the virus originated - arrive at Narita Airport in Chiba, Japan, today. One case has been confirmed in Japan
In the picture taken yesterday, workers are seen producing face masks at a factory in Handan in China's northern Hebei province. The Wuhan government has ordered all residents to wear the medical product after the virus broke out in the city, leading authorities to lock it down
Dr Guan Yi (pictured), director of the State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases at the University of Hong Kong, claimed that the situation in Wuhan was already 'uncontrollable'
Dr Guan Yi, whose team was among the first to identify the SARS virus 17 years ago, shared the concerns.
He confessed to Chinese media that the situation in Wuhan - where the virus originated - 'is already uncontrollable'.
He feared that the new virus could lead to an outbreak at least 10 times worse than the SARS pandemic, which killed 775 people and infected more than 8,000 worldwide.
'I have experienced so much and never felt scared. Most [viruses] are controllable, but this time I am scared,' Dr Guan told Chinese outlet Caixin.
The expert, who was in Wuhan this week, claimed he had to 'escape' from the city yesterday after noticing the 'jaw-droppingly' poor preventative measures enforced by the local authorities.
The government of Wuhan has ordered a state-run construction company to design and build the emergency facility in the Caidian District, according to Chinese media. The above picture shows the south wing of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, also known as the Jinyintan hospital, where patients infected with a new strain of Coronavirus are currently treated
The emergency facility in Wuhan will reportedly be modelled on a temporary treatment centre in Beijing, which was built in seven days to tackle SARS in 2003 and had 1,000 beds. Above, medical staff of Union Hospital affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology attend a ceremony to form a 'assault team' to fight the new virus
At least nine cities in Hubei, with a combined population of 24 million, are now in lockdown. They include Wuhan, Huanggang, Ezhou, Zhijiang, Dangyang, Qianjiang, Chibi, Xiantao, Lichuan.
The number of cities is expected to rise.
The provincial market watchdog today acknowledged that the city was facing shortage of vegetables and the phenomenon was caused by panic-buying.
Chen Zhuan, a representative from the Hubei Provincial Market Management Bureau, demanded all farmers' markets and supermarkets conduct price checks on their products and keep the food prices at a 'stable' level.
China's central government has also issued the province one billion yuan (£110million) as an emergency relief fund to help the local authorities tackle the alarming health crisis.
The province has also ordered all travel companies to halt its business and cancel all tour groups.
Experts fear that the new coronavirus may have spread to humans from snakes or bats
The widespread lockdown of cities happened amid the country's annual Chinese New Year travel rush, when millions of people are on the move every day to be reunited with families.
It also occurred just before the Chinese New Year's Day on Saturday when relatives are expected to come together for celebratory meals.
The new fatal virus, which emerged in Wuhan last month, has killed dozens and afflicted hundreds more and spread to nine countries and regions outside of mainland China.
Its symptoms are typically a fever, cough and trouble breathing, but some patients have developed pneumonia, a potentially life-threatening infection that causes inflammation of the small air sacs in the lungs.
Scientists fear it may have spread to humans from snakes or bats.
This picture released by the Central Hospital of Wuhan shows a medic donning full-body hazardous material suit looking after one patient who has been infected by a new deadly virus
Another medic in hazmat suit is seen checking the medical equipment inside the hospital's intensive care units. Nine people have been killed by the virus since it emerged last month
Doctors at the Central Hospital of Wuhan clench their fists to show their determination to fight the virus. 'Salute to the medical workers who fight on the front line!' the hospital said in a post
The never-before-seen pictures were taken inside the intensive care units of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of the hospital in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak
Major Chinese New Year events in Beijing have been cancelled, authorities in Ezhou have shut down train stations, and Huanggang has announced it will suspend public buses and trains as well, following the example of Wuhan, the locked-down city at the centre of the outbreak.
Footage coming out of Wuhan today shows disastrous scenes, with a man seen disinfecting a neighbourhood with gas, traffic building up on blockaded highways and shoppers scrapping in a supermarket.
Two more countries have today announced they have recorded cases of the infection – Singapore and Vietnam.
In Singapore, a 66-year-old man who had flown from Wuhan with his family on Monday is recovering in hospital. A 37-year-old companion is also in hospital under observation but has not been diagnosed.
In Vietnam, a Chinese father a son are in hospital in Ho Chi Minh City after flying there from Wuhan and becoming ill. They are in 'good condition', according to Vietnamese authorities.
Five patients have been taken to hospital in Scotland and tested for the killer coronavirus after returning from China with flu-like symptoms, it can be revealed.
This means the illness has now spread to nine territories, including the US, and European health officials fear the never-before-seen virus will reach the continent where the UK and other nations are already on high alert.
It was revealed today that an American man infected with the deadly virus – which Chinese officials have warned will mutate and become deadlier – came into close contact with at least 16 people before he was put in isolation.
The World Health Organisation is facing increasing pressure to declare the crisis a public health emergency, like it has done for Ebola and Zika in the past. Health chiefs will meet again later today to make a final verdict.
Most watched News videos
- Incredible drone footage of Charmouth Beach following the rockfall
- Hero cop is seen sprinting toward scene before taking down knifer
- Knife-wielding man is seen chasing civilians inside Bondi Westfield
- Wind and rain batter the UK as Met Office issues yellow warning
- 'Tornado' leaves trail destruction knocking over stationary caravan
- Crowd chants 'bring him out' outside church where stabber being held
- 'Declaration of war': Israeli President calls out Iran but wants peace
- Incredible drone footage of Charmouth Beach following the rockfall
- Israeli Iron Dome intercepts Iranian rockets over Jerusalem
- Hero who tried to stop attacker with chairs speaks out
- Ray Hadley in tears over daughter and mass Bondi Junction killings
- Proof of Worcestershire panther? Motorist spots 'big cat' in a field
