You may still be able to catch coronavirus off a dead body, NHS staff warned

You may still be able to catch coronavirus off a dead body, NHS staff warned

01/26/2020

Victims of deadly coronavirus could continue to pose a minor risk even after death, NHS staff have been warned.

Public Health England have given doctors and nurses detailed advice on how to handle suspected cases with the virus, which has so far killed at least 56 people.

A document put together by PHE warns that new patients should be left in closed rooms and not be examined and that staff who meet suspected victims should wear full-face visors.

Another warning includes not placing bodies on beds as that movement could expel infected air from the lungs.

NHS staff have also been told to use body bags and full personal protective equipment.

Controlling the disease "relies on the prompt identification, appropriate risk assessment, management and isolation of possible cases", PHE added.

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China’s health minister Ma Xiaowei said people can spread the virus even before they have symptoms.

More than 2,000 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed globally.

Scientists at Imperial College London have estimated that each person has infected two to three people, according to CNN.

The number of confirmed deaths from a viral outbreak in China has risen to 54.

Health officials are also trying to track down approximately 2,000 people who have flown into the UK from the province at the centre of the outbreak.

So far, 52 people tested negative in the UK.

Public Health England has opened a screening hub at Heathrow, where there are several direct flights a week to Wuhan, to try and prevent the virus spreading, Sky News reports.

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised "against all travel to Hubei province" due to the ongoing outbreak.

“If you are in this area and able to leave, you should do so," they said in an update published online.

The Mayor of Wuhan said that five million people have left the city due to Lunar New Year travel and the virus outbreak, while nine million people are still there, CNBC China Bureau Chief, Eunice Yoon, said on Twitter.

The deadly disease has spread as far as France, Canada and the US, with three cases in California, Washington state and Illinois.

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