HAIKOU, January 23. /TASS/. One of China's biggest resorts — the city of Sanya on the island of Hainan — set up a headquarters to coordinate measures on preventing the spread of coronavirus and take emergency steps on tackling it, the local authorities announced on Thursday.
“The headquarters set up in the city to fight against coronavirus is taking active measures to prevent the spread of the virus,” said party official Tong Daochi, addressing representatives of the Sanya authorities and relevant government agencies. "It is necessary to realize how important the work is for fighting the virus, to take joint efforts and conduct preventive measures."
All urban transport workers will be provided with protective masks and hygiene products.
The Sanya Hotel Industry Association has decided to pursue a more flexible policy regarding clients from the city of Wuhan, where the outbreak of the coronavirus originated: people can refuse to book hotel rooms without paying a fine. Those who are forced to cancel trips to the resort due to pneumonia have an opportunity to move the reservation date for free throughout the year.
What is more, special emergency response centers have been set up in Sanya, where one can get detailed information about the coronavirus. They operate at railway stations and marinas, at airports and bus terminals, where quarantine facilities are also open. Anyone arriving in the city from abroad or from other Chinese regions undergo a brief search for the virus' typical symptoms.
According to official statistics, four cases of corona virus infection have been confirmed on Hainan. All infected came from Wuhan, three of them are city residents. The first case was a 65-year-old woman who arrived in Lingao County in the north of the island on January 14. All carriers of the virus were sent for treatment to special departments of two major Hainan hospitals.
The virus
On December 31, 2019, the Chinese authorities informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of earlier unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan in central China. On January 7, Chinese specialists denoted the virus causing the disease as coronavirus 2019-nCoV. All cases of the suspected pneumonia were lab tested. As a result, infecting agents of such diseases as flu, bird flu, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) were excluded from the list of possible pathogens.
The World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines reveal that contracting the coronavirus is accompanied by the following symptoms - cold, cough, sore throat and chest congestion. Patients can also experience headaches and fever that can last up to a few days. People with low immune system, children and seniors are the high-risk group. They exhibit symptoms similar to those of pneumonia and bronchitis.