Passengers coming from China are checked by Saudi Health Ministry employees upon their arrival at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Wednesday. Although the majority of cases have been in Hubei, cases have been detected elsewhere in China and in at least 15 other countries. The WHO's Emergency Committee is set to reconvene behind closed doors in Geneva later on Thursday to decide whether the rapid spread of the virus now constitutes a global emergency. The US has flown about 200 Americans out of Wuhan, capital of Hubei where most of the cases are concentrated. Like other respiratory infections, the new virus is spread by droplets from coughs and sneezes, with an incubation time between one and 14 days.

Source: Otago Daily Times January 29, 2020 21:41 UTC