US Has Plan to Contain Coronavirus: Trump

A staff member checks the temperature of a guest entering the casino of the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau after the former Portuguese colony reported its first case of the new SARS-like virus that originated from Wuhan in China, on Jan. 22, 2020. (Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images)

The United States has a plan to contain the coronavirus, which has infected hundreds of people, President Donald Trump said on Jan. 22.

Disease experts in the United States, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have already handled things well, Trump said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“We do have a plan and we think it is going to be handled very well. We’ve already handled it very well,” he said.

“The CDC is terrific. Very professional.”

Satish Pillai, medical officer in the Division of Preparedness and Emerging Infections at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, talks about a confirmed case of coronavirus in a Snohomish County, Washington resident during a press conference in Shoreline, Washington, on Jan. 21, 2020. (Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images)

The virus has infected scores of people, and killed over a dozen in China. The first case in the United States was confirmed on Tuesday. The virus has also spread to Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.

Health authorities around the world are keeping an eye on developments. Trump said China and the United States are on top of things.

“We’re in great shape and I think China is in very good shape also,” he told reporters later in Davos.

Speaking to CNBC on the sidelines, Trump also said that “we have it totally under control” and that there were no concerns about a pandemic.

“It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine,” he added. Trump said he trusts how Chinese leader Xi Jinping has responded to the outbreak.

China’s National Health Commission vice-minister Li Bin told reporters that the virus, which can cause pneumonia, was being spread via breathing. Symptoms include fever, coughing, and difficulty breathing. About 2,200 people in contact with infected people were in isolation.

There is no vaccine for the virus.

“I believe the government for sure, but I still feel fearful. Because there’s no cure for the virus,” said Fu Ning, a 36-year-old woman in Beijing. “You have to rely on your immunity if you get an infection. It sounds very scary.”

Airports around the world have stepped up screening of people coming in from China. The World Health Organization (WHO) also began an emergency meeting to rule if the outbreak was a global health emergency, with a verdict expected later Wednesday.

WHO said this week that information from newly reported infections “suggests there may now be sustained human-to-human transmission.”

“But more information and analysis are needed on this new virus to understand the full extent of human-to-human transmission and other important details,” it added.

Reuters contributed to this report.