What is required to prevent a second major outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 upon lifting the
quarantine of Wuhan city, China
Lei Zhang1,2,3,4
, Mingwang Shen1
, Xiaomeng Ma5
, Shu Su1
, Wenfeng Gong8
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 was first identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan in early December 2019, when a group of 27 patients with close contact with a seafood market were diagnosed with a pneumonia of unknown aetiology 1,2
. The virus was found to be highly contagious and transmit in populations via droplet, person-to-person contact and aerosol transmission 3,4. The number of infected cases increased rapidly in Wuhan during the first few weeks of the outbreak, and then quickly spread to all 31 Chinese provinces and aboard 5,6. As of 20th March 2020, 180 countries worldwide have reported cases of COVID-19. So far, China has reported 80,695 confirmed cases and 3,097 deaths, accounting for about one-third of all cases and deaths worldwide.