Waterford student on lockdown after travelling from Chinese city at centre of coronavirus outbreak
A student is in lockdown in Waterford as a precaution after he travelled to Ireland from the Chinese city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak.
The virus, which has so far killed 81 people, is believed to have originated in Wuhan in China’s Hubei province.
The city was placed into lockdown last week by the Chinese government in a bid to contain the spread of this news strain of coronavirus, which has now been confirmed in more than 2,700 cases.
Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) has now confirmed that one of its international students arrived in Waterford on Sunday having left Wuhan before the city was closed.
“He is not ill and as a precaution he has agreed not to attend college and stay in his accommodation by himself for the time being,” a WIT spokeswoman said.
“We have been in touch with the HSE and are being directed by them.”
No cases of the outbreak have yet been confirmed in Ireland. However, the HSE’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre have described the outbreak as “an emerging, rapidly evolving situation”.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said the outbreak was detected because China has a system that picks up severe lower respiratory infections.
WHO's risk assessment is that the outbreak is a high risk regionally and globally.
More than 70 people tested for coronavirus in the UK have received negative results.
A further seven people tested in Scotland also returned negative results.
The main symptoms of coronavirus are fever, cough and shortness of breath.
According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), symptoms may appear two to 14 days after infection.
In Wuhan, a 1,000-bed hospital has been built in a number of days, specially for treating patients believed to be affected with the virus in a bid to contain the outbreak.
