Important breakthrough in Australia in fight against coronavirus
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A team of scientists in Australia said on Wednesday they have successfully developed a lab-grown version of coronavirus, the first to be recreated outside of China, in a breakthrough that could help combat the global spread of the illness.
The researchers at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne said they would share the sample, which was grown from an infected patient, with the World Health Organization and laboratories around the world.
A laboratory in China had successfully grown the virus but had released only the genome sequence, not the sample itself, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
Dr. Julian Druce (L) of Royal Melbourne Hospitals, and Dr. Mike Catton (R), Deputy Director of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, pose for a photograph following a press conference at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, Australia, 29 January 2020. Australian scientists at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity have managed to replicate the coronavirus in laboratory conditions in a medical breakthrough that could help speed up the development of a vaccine to combat the deadly virus. EPA-EFE/JAMES ROSS
Meanwhile, Hundreds of foreign nationals have been evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, as more deaths and cases were confirmed.
Australia plans to quarantine its 600 returning citizens for two weeks on Christmas Island – some 2,000km (1,200 miles) from the mainland.
Japan, the US and the EU are also repatriating their citizens.
President Xi Jinping called the virus a “devil” but said China would defeat it.
An expert from the Chinese National Health Commission (NHC) said it could take 10 more days for the outbreak to peak.
The number of deaths from the virus has risen to 132 in China, the NHC said on Wednesday.
