Transparency and cooperation are crucial to contain new coronavirus

On Tuesday, Chinese health authorities confirmed the sixth death from the coronavirus which shares genetic similarities with the one responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome, and revealed that 15 medical workers in Wuhan had been infected, with one in a critical condition. The number of people known to be infected continues to rise with new cases still being reported.

With the head of the Chinese government expert team saying on Monday that human-to-human transmission has been confirmed and the Spring Festival travel rush under way, in which hundreds of millions of people will be crisscrossing the country and traveling overseas for the holiday, it is widely expected that more cases, and even deaths, will be reported in the days to come.

While the handling of the new SARS-like virus by local health officials in Wuhan, Hubei province, when it was first discovered last month, will come under scrutiny, that the virus was identified as a novel strain in just two weeks shows the marked progress the country has made in its ability to manage an epidemic compared with 17 years ago.