CORONAVIRUS: ‘The worst has yet to come in China,’ analysts say

Worse situations have been predicted by analysts following the recent outbreak of the new MERS & SARS-like disease known as Coronavirus, which can be transmitted between people.

“The bad news is that the worst has yet to come, as the number of new infections is still on the rise,” warned Larry Hu, economist at Macquarie Capital.

Reports say fears are on the rise in China because the festive Lunar New Year holiday is set to kick off this Saturday with hundreds of millions of Chinese set to travel domestically and overseas — heightening the risk of more transmissions.

“The answer is wait till after Chinese New Year … we will know the degree, the speed and the breath of infections by this virus, and get a much clearer idea on mortality,” said another analyst, David Roche of Independent Strategy.

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China’s health ministry has also confirmed that the death toll arising from the outbreak has risen from four to six after the death of a 66-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman in Wuhan, stating further that sixty new cases were reported in the region on 20 January

“We’ll stay at home during the holiday. I’m scared as I remember SARS very well,” said Zhang Xinyuan, who had been bound from Beijing for the Thai resort of Phuket before she and her husband decided to cancel their air tickets.

According to a senior health official investigating the outbreak of pneumonia in China stemming from a new coronavirus, the disease can spread from person to person but can be halted with increased vigilance, as authorities confirmed the fourth death from the infection.

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