Key info


Date:
17 January 2020

Authors:
Natsuko Imai, Ilaria Dorigatti, Anne Cori, Steven Riley, Neil M. Ferguson

Correspondence:
Professor Neil Ferguson
neil.ferguson@imperial.ac.uk

Download the full PDF for Report 1 See all reports

WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Modelling; MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis; Abdul Latif Jameel Institute for Disease and Emergency Analytics; Imperial College London, UK

Summary

Many aspects of the COVID-19 (previously termed 2019-nCoV) outbreak are highly uncertain. However, the detection of three cases outside China (two in Thailand, one in Japan) is worrying. We calculate, based on flight and population data, that there is only a 1 in 574 chance that a person infected in Wuhan would travel overseas before they sought medical care. This implies there might have been over 1700 (3 x 574) cases in Wuhan so far. There are many unknowns, meaning the uncertainty range around this estimate goes from 190 cases to over 4000. But the magnitude of these numbers suggests that substantial human to human transmission cannot be ruled out. Heightened surveillance, prompt information sharing and enhanced preparedness are recommended.

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