Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

January 30, 2020

Real-time tentative assessment of the epidemiological characteristics of novel coronavirus infections in Wuhan, China, as at 22 January 2020

Category:

Topic:

  • The epidemiologic characteristics of cases of 2019-nCoV identified as of Jan 22, 2020 by health authorities are described. Graphics and tables are valuable resources worth reviewing.
  • Case fatality among hospitalized patients was estimated at 14% (95% CI: 3.9–32%), though caution should be used in interpreting this as duration of hospitalization prior to death can be long. This may therefore be an underestimate. Overall case fatality is likely substantially lower as data indicate there are likely many undetected cases with mild symptoms.
  • While there is evidence of low person-to-person transmission earlier in the outbreak, more recent data suggest sustained human-to-human transmission. 

Wu et al. (Jan 23, 2020). Real-time tentative assessment of the epidemiological characteristics of novel coronavirus infections in Wuhan, China, as at 22 January 2020. https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.3.2000044?emailalert=true