#news #audio The epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak is at risk of shifting constantly, posing challenges to public health systems, a health expert said on Thursday.
“The epicenters will shift constantly,” said Teo Yik Ying, dean at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at the National University of Singapore.
Although the U.S. is now seen as the epicenter of the outbreak with cases surpassing 200,000 — “in a month’s time, the epicenter will shift,” Teo told CNBC’s “Street Signs.”
“Would it shift to South Asia? Would it shift to Africa or Latin America? We don’t know at the moment, but there is that real risk that the epicenters will continue to shift, and it could possibly even shift back to East Asia,” Teo said.
The coronavirus was first reported in December last year in the city of Wuhan — the epicenter of the outbreak in central China, but it has since spread to 180 countries and territories. While China accounted for majority of the cases up until February, the epicenter has since shifted to the West, with the U.S., Italy and Spain being the top 3 worst-hit countries right now.
Along with the changing epicenter of the disease, the appears to be a second wave of coronavirus infections in countries like China and Singapore.
China has seen more and more cases being imported from overseas, prompting the government there to close its border to foreigners.
A similar trend is also being observed in Singapore, which is witnessing another wave of infections brought in by sick residents returning from overseas.
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