More than 45,000 people in almost 30 countries have now caught the never-before-seen coronavirus. However, both individuals and institutions can prepare for and prevent the spread of novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.
Experts at Johns Hopkins have now addressed anxieties about coronavirus infection and international travel.
Lauren Sauer, director of operations at the Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR) at Johns Hopkins Medicine, said: “The most important message for the public is to go with what the facts say and use the information that’s available to you to make informed decisions.”
Sauer also encouraged people and institutions to review guidance on disease prevention provided by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization (WHO).
This service can provide both up-to-date news on the outbreak but also tips on precautions to take to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection.
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“If you are experiencing symptoms, regardless of what the cause is, if you want to wear a mask to your doctor’s office, that can help protect people in your area from being exposed.”
Rivers advised that washing hands using soap and warm water is most effective at killing germs, but alcohol-based hand sanitisers can also work.
The UK’s final evacuation flight from Wuhan, carrying more than 200 people, landed at a Royal Air Force base in central England on February 9.
And a plane carrying 83 British and 27 European Union nationals from Wuhan landed in Britain last week.
12 cases of coronavirus have now been confirmed in the US, while additional cases have been confirmed in 24 other countries.
What are the symptoms of coronavirus?
The virus multiplies in the respiratory tract and can cause a range of symptoms, according to Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, who heads the World Health Organisation’s Health Emergencies Programme.
She said: “You have mild cases, which look like the common cold, which have some respiratory symptoms, sore throat, runny nose, fever, all the way through pneumonia.
“And there can be varying levels of severity of pneumonia all the way through multi-organ failure and death,” she told reporters in Geneva last week.
However, in most cases, symptoms have remained mild.