Epidemic Response Group at Briefing on Coronavirus in Davos Recommends Less Handshakes

DAVOS (Sputnik) – The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has recommended “less handshakes” amid the spread of the Novel Coronavirus at a special briefing on the disease on the sidelines of the WEF in Davos.

A health charity official from the UK recalled at the briefing how Africans altered their habits during the recent Ebola epidemics and got used to not shaking hands without much advice from above.

CEPI has entered a partnership with three research teams earlier in the day to develop a vaccine against the new disease.

The research will be conducted by Inovio Pharma, the University of Queensland, and Moderna, a US biotechnology company.

The unknown type of viral pneumonia was first reported in China’s Wuhan in early January and has since been confirmed by China and the World Health Organization to be a new strain of coronavirus, currently being labelled as 2019-nCoV or Novel Coronavirus. The virus has also been detected in the United States, Japan, South Korea and Thailand. At least 17 people have died and over 600 have been infected so far.

Sourse: sputniknews.com