WUHAN: An unverified video of a nurse with a protective suit and face mask claiming 90,000 people infected by the new coronavirus is going viral.
The unnamed nurse claims she is working in a hospital in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus first emerged.
Grave situation
“I am currently at the infected Hankou District in Wuhan. Let me brief you on the current situation of Hubei province and China,” she said.
“So far, more than 90,000 have been infected by Coronavirus.”
“What is the infection rate? Without immediate quarantine or effective treatment, one infected person can pass the virus to 14 more nearby. The infection rate is extremely high.”
The nurse’s report has been viewed almost 596,535 times on YouTube.
Watch the full video here:
In the footage, she warns the people to refrain from going out and also made a plea for supplies.
“We don’t care what the government says. I will tell you through social media. Everyone, please donate masks, glasses and clothes to Wuhan.
UK experts concur
This claim by a Wuhan nurse (about 100,000 infected) contradicts what the government and the mainstream media reported so far.
A public health expert in the UK concur with the nurses’ assessment, with Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College told The Guardian that his “best guess” was that there were 100,000 affected by the new coronavirus even though there are only 2,000 confirmed cases.
Cover-up
China initially praised for its transparency in managing the situation but critics have now claimed the government is not revealing the true situation and covering-up the matter.
Newspapers were forbidden from reporting and scrubbing the internet of footages that reveal the true situation.
Global alarm
China is struggling to contain a rapidly spreading disease that has sparked global alarm, with countries scrambling to evacuate their citizens from the epicentre of the epidemic.
The fatality in Beijing raises the death toll from the new virus to 82.
Cases have been identified in more than a dozen other countries, including the first confirmed patients in Canada and Sri Lanka.
The United States urged its nationals to “reconsider travel” to China as the epidemic spreads, and categorically advised against travel to Hubei.
Turkey and Germany likewise advised their citizens to avoid non-essential travel to China.
Landlocked Mongolia — which is heavily dependent on trade with China — closed the border with its huge neighbour to cars, cancelled classes until March 2 and suspended large public gatherings.
Malaysia banned visitors from Hubei province.
France plans to fly citizens out of the city in the middle of this week. Japan will also bring its citizens home.
Belgium, Bangladesh, India and Spain said they were working to repatriate their nationals, while Germany was considering the possibility.