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Showing posts with label Wuhan Coronavirus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wuhan Coronavirus. Show all posts
* International organisations have called for ‘life-saving intervention’ to allow aid to flow into country, which borders China, where virus was first identified
* Personal protective gear and testing kits urgently needed to prepare for possible outbreak, Red Cross says
The United States is “deeply concerned” about the possible impact of a coronavirus outbreak in North Korea and is prepared to facilitate efforts by US and international organisations to contain the spread of the virus there, the State Department said on Thursday.
“We strongly support and encourage the work of US and international aid and health organisations to counter and contain the spread of coronavirus in the DPRK,” spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said after the Red Cross called for an urgent exemption to sanctions on Pyongyang to help prevent a coronavirus outbreak.
“The United States is ready and prepared to expeditiously facilitate the approval of assistance from these organisations,” Ortagus added in a statement.
WNU Editor: If the Covid-19 coronavirus takes a hold in North Korea, I agree with all the experts that this will be a disaster. The U.S. offer to help North Korea is the right thing to do.
More News On The Coronavirus Outbreak In North Korea
* The CDC is preparing for the new coronavirus, which has killed at least 1,115 and sickened more than 45,000 worldwide, to “take a foothold in the U.S.”
* “At some point, we are likely to see community spread in the U.S. or in other countries,” said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday it is preparing for the new coronavirus, which has killed at least 1,115 and sickened more than 45,000 worldwide, to “take a foothold in the U.S.”
“At some point, we are likely to see community spread in the U.S. or in other countries,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters on a conference call. “This will trigger a change in our response strategy.”
Health officials had confirmed 13 U.S. cases of the virus, now named COVID-19, short for Corona Virus Disease.
Professor Gabriel Leung, chair of public health medicine in Hong Kong and pictured at the University of Hong Kong last month, made the comments on a visit to London
* Professer Gabriel Leung said authorities need to establish the spread of the virus
* A one per cent death rate could result in hundreds of thousands of deaths
* There are 43,000 cases worldwide so far, with more than 42,000 in China
* But if it reaches its potential, each infected person could give the virus to another 2.5, on average, sickening up to 60 percent of the world's population
* China's number of new daily cases has begun to level off, which may mean public health officials are gaining some handle on its spread
Coronavirus could kill 45 million people and infect more than 60 per cent of the global population if containment methods fail, a top Hong Kong medical official has warned.
Professor Gabriel Leung, chair of public health medicine in the city, also said that even if the death rate reaches just one per cent, the potential spread means it could still kill thousands of people.
With the global population currently at more than 7billion (7,577,130,400), that means that the virus has the potential to infect more than 4billion (4,546,278,240) if Professor Leung is correct and its spread continues to accelerate.
And if one per cent of those people die, that means there will be more than 45million deaths.
Japan confirmed 39 new cases of the coronavirus, or COVID-19, on a cruise ship quarantined at one of its ports, bringing the total number infected on the vessel to 174, health officials said Tuesday.
The Diamond Princess has been docked at the Yokohama port since Feb. 3 after it was determined some passengers had been sicked with the virus. Japan confirmed 66 new cases Monday and said officials may test everyone aboard the ship.
The American-based ship had completed a 14-day cruise in which it stopped in Hong Kong and several other Asian ports.
The camps will be set up next to 11 major airports around the US. On February 1, the Associated Press reported that they would house as many as 250 people each.
* The Department of Defense approved 11 'installation sites' near major airports around the US
* They will be used if and when hospitals are unable to accommodate passengers in their own quarantine sites
* The airports are located in Hawaii, Illinois, Texas , California , Georgia, New York, Washington state, Washington DC, New Jersey and Michigan
* Americans returning from the coronavirus outbreak epicenter in Wuhan, China, are required to spend 14 days under quarantine
* Those returning from China who did not visit Wuhan are subject to 14 days of self-isolation in their homes
* Foreign nationals who have traveled to China in the last 14 days are not allowed into the US
The Pentagon is setting up 11 quarantine camps on military bases near major airports across the US in anticipation of an influx of American citizens returning from China in need of monitoring for the deadly coronavirus that is now being called COVID-19.
The 13th US coronavirus case was confirmed in California on Tuesday. The deadly strain, which is now being called COVID-19, has killed 1,107 people and sickened more than 42,000 worldwide since the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in late December.
The Department of Defense approved a request from the Department of Health and Human Services early this month for the possible use of military facilities to accommodate 1,000 people who may have to be quarantined upon arrival from overseas through the end of the month.
GUANGZHOU, China/GENEVA (Reuters) - The coronavirus outbreak in China may be over by April, the country’s senior medical adviser said on Tuesday, and the latest numbers of new cases may further feed that optimism.
Hubei, the province at the epicenter of the outbreak that has been under virtual lockdown, reported 94 people died and there were 1,068 new coronavirus cases as of Tuesday.
That is down from a peak of over 3,000 new cases on Feb. 4, and the lowest number of new infections since 1,347 were reported on Jan. 31.
* One hundred deaths are reported in a single day for the first time, but statistics show number of new cases decreasing
* First senior heads roll as Beijing tries to contain public anger over outbreak of respiratory disease
The World Health Organisation on Tuesday gave an official name – Covid-19 – to the disease caused by the coronavirus that has ravaged China and spread across the globe, as statistics suggested that infections could level off in the coming weeks and Beijing vowed to hold local cadres to account for failing to contain the outbreak.
China’s National Health Commission said on Tuesday that the country had reported 108 new deaths from the virus – the first time that 100 or more fatalities were recorded in a single day.
The outbreak, which was generally believed to have originated from Wuhan in central China, has killed 1,018 people worldwide – including one death in Hong Kong and another in the Philippines.
While the African continent continues to battle plagues of locust and food shortages, an even bigger worry is looming on the horizon, that some of the Chinese workers have carried the virus to Ethiopia or the African countries they work in, and will those countries be able to contain it while they can, while the numbers are small?
The virus that has spread through much of China has yet to be confirmed in Africa, but global health authorities are increasingly worried about the threat to the continent where an estimated 1 million Chinese now live, as some health workers on the ground warn they are not ready to handle an outbreak.
Workers operate a vehicle to carry out disinfection in Jianghan district, following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province, China February 10, 2020. China Daily via REUTERS
A State Commission of Quality Management staff member in protective gear disinfects a ground transportation area at the Pyongyang Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, Feb. 1, 2020.
Kim Jong Un canceled a big parade with no real explanation just as the South Korean press reports coronavirus has hit North Korea hard and could explode there.
SEOUL–North Korea’s not saying a word about deaths or illnesses from the coronavirus, but the disease reportedly has spread across the border from China and is taking a toll in a country with a dismal health care system and scant resources for fighting off the deadly bug.
One sure sign of the regime’s fears is that it failed to stage a parade in central Pyongyang on Saturday, the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the country’s armed forces. Last year, Kim Jong Un himself presided over the procession that displayed the North’s latest missiles and other fearsome hardware along with goose-stepping soldiers in serried ranks.
This year, nothing about the nation’s nuclear warheads, much less the “new strategic weapon” that Kim has vowed to unveil. Rodong Sinmum, the newspaper of the ruling Workers’ Party, merely cited the armed forces’ supposed success combating “severe and dangerous difficulties”—and said nothing at all about the parade.
But reports have filtered out about Kim’s subjects falling prey to coronavirus despite the country’s decision to seal its 880-mile border with China, most of it along the Yalu River into the Yellow Sea to the west, and its 11-mile border with Russia where the Tumen River flows into the Pacific.
* Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, director general at WHO, issued warning Sunday night
* He told other countries to 'step up' their preparations for outbreaks on home soil
* Pointed to climbing number of new cases in people who've never been to China
* More than 40,000 people have so far been infected and at least 900 have died
The 40,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus may only be the ‘tip of the iceberg’, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned.
Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, director general at the WHO, urged other countries to 'step up' preparations because the epidemic may be more widespread than thought.
He pointed to a climbing number of cases in people who have never been to Wuhan, the outbreak's epicentre, or China – where 99 per cent of cases have been recorded.
The warning comes after a businessman from Brighton caught the killer infection at a work conference in Singapore and is thought to have infected at least 11 others at a ski resort in the French Alps.
Figures show at least 900 people have died from the coronavirus across the world, with all but two of the deaths recorded in China.
* China reported another 3,062 cases on Sunday, halting a series of daily declines
* The death toll has now risen to 908 in mainland China with two elsewhere
* It comes as millions of people return to work today after Lunar New Year break
Nearly 100 people died from coronavirus yesterday on the deadliest day of the outbreak so far.
The death toll in mainland China rose by 97, taking the number of global fatalities to 910.
Another 3,062 cases were reported in China yesterday - an increase of 15 per cent compared to Saturday which put an end to a series of daily declines.
The latest surge in deaths is a setback to hopes that China's drastic quarantine measures might be working.
The coronavirus outbreak is driving up the cost of food — and almost everything else in China — adding to the pressure on household budgets.
China's consumer price inflation hit 5.4% in January, according to the country's National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. Prices rose last month at their fastest rate since October 2011, when China was battling to control months of soaring inflation.
Food, which makes up nearly a third of spending by Chinese consumers, is spiking the most. Pork — a mainstay in the Chinese diet that is already under pressure because of a devastating pig disease — skyrocketed a staggering 116% compared to a year ago. Vegetables were 17% more expensive.
Other items saw modest price rises by comparison: Health care was 2.3% more expensive, for example, while clothing prices rose 0.6%.
Ambassador Cui Tiankai slammed comments from Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton.
Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai on Sunday pushed back on what he called “suspicion” and “rumors” about the origins of the Wuhan coronavirus.
In an interview with CBS’ Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation,“ Cui acknowledged that “a lot is still unknown, and our scientists, Chinese scientist, American scientists, scientists of other countries are doing their best to learn more about the virus.”
But when asked about comments made last week by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) — who, according to Brennan, suggested the virus may have come from China’s biological warfare program — Cui did not mince words.
“It's very harmful, it’s very dangerous to stir up suspicion, rumors and spread them among the people,” he said Sunday. “For one thing, this will create panic. Another thing is that it will fan up racial discrimination, xenophobia, all these things that will really harm our joint efforts to combat the virus.”
WNU Editor: Racism has nothing to do with the coronavirus. It is silly remarks like this one that makes me wonder if the Chinese government is hiding something.
Read this stunning comment left by “Wyoming Doc,” a physician in Wyoming (whose name I know) whose wife is an immigrant from China:
Has been a while since I last wrote anything. I have had the flu and have been home with my wife for the past several days. It has been fascinating. Our satellite TV provider has a service wherein you can subscribe to the People’s Republic official TV station.
There have now been four occasions where I have witnessed on live Chinese national TV public officials being frog-marched out of press conferences in hand irons. Their crimes? One had his mask on upside down. One did not have a mask on at all. One was stating (translated by my wife) that he had repeatedly been telling Beijing about the problems for weeks – and there was no response. One was answering every question with obvious double-speak (not unlike listening to Nancy Pelosi or Ted Cruz). Shortly into the press conferences, young men from the PLA show up – slapped on the hand irons – and hauled them out and in all 4 cases – it was just stunned silence in the rooms. My wife just casually tells me – “no one will ever see them again.”
It is also clear to me as a physician – listening to the Chinese doctors – and viewing footage from the hospitals and clinics – that this is many orders of magnitude worse than what they are saying. Common sense will tell you that as well – are they really going to torpedo their entire industrial heartland for months – just because 300 people have died? — I think not – I think this is way worse than we can possibly imagine.
WNU Editor: All my friends and contacts in China have been telling me this weekend that when it comes to the coronavirus they have been seeing and experiencing some surreal moments. The above post reflects some of what I have been hearing.
* The Chinese president wore a mask and surgical gown at a Beijing hospital today
* He spoke via video link to medics in Wuhan, the city where the outbreak began
* Xi promised that the government would take further action to contain the virus
Chinese leader Xi Jinping wore a face mask and a surgical gown on a visit to a hospital treating coronavirus patients today.
The Chinese president, who has largely kept out of the public eye since the outbreak began, had his temperature checked as he met doctors at a hospital in Beijing.
He also spoke via video link to medics in Wuhan, the quarantined city at the centre of the outbreak.
China has already imposed drastic quarantine measures but Xi promised today that the government would take more decisive action to contain the virus.
Oil briefly fell past the psychologically important $50 a barrel mark as hopes for an extraordinary OPEC+ meeting to decide on further production cuts to deal with the demand hit from the coronavirus diminished.
Ministers from the group and its allies are unlikely to hold an early meeting this month, while one planned for March will go ahead, Azerbaijan Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov told the RIA Novosti newswire. Russia has been resisting Saudi Arabian efforts to reduce output after OPEC+ technical experts recommended an additional cut of 600,000 barrels a day through June.
No worse than a ‘bad cold’ say some experts, but others fear it could kill 14,000 people in Hong Kong alone
Pathologists, microbiologists and public health experts from the University of Hong Kong have expressed different views about the lethality of the Wuhan coronavirus in a bid to help governments shape their strategies against the epidemic.
Based on different scientific evidence and viewpoints, some said the mortality or fatality rate, which indicates the lethality of the Wuhan coronavirus could be as low as 0.6% and that it may go down further if more minor cases are recorded.
Others said even if the mortality rate was between 1-2%, compared with 7% of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the Wuhan virus could kill tens of thousands of people due to it being highly contagious.
* US embassy staff in hazmat suits were seen boarding a State Department plane home from Wuhan Friday
* Shocking pictures taken during the boarding process of the cargo plane at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport on February 7 show staff dressed in white hazmat suits and masks and blue 'U.S. Embassy' bibs
* The first coronavirus death of an American citizen was confirmed by the US government Saturday morning
* The unnamed US national, aged 60, passed away Thursday from the virus in Wuhan
* Latest figures showed coronavirus has infected 34,957 people worldwide and killed 725, up by 88 in a day
* Number of fatalities is now higher than the death toll from the SARS outbreak of 2003
* On Friday, the last two flights that the US State Department chartered to evacuate Americans from the coronavirus outbreak's epicenter in Wuhan, China, landed in Texas and California
* One passenger on each plane developed symptoms that could indicate coronavirus
* Currently 12 Americans on US soil have been diagnosed with coronavirus and a dozen passengers - including Americans - on a cruise ship docked in New Jersey are to be tested for the virus
* The first US coronavirus patient has been discharged after treatment in Washington state
* Thursday, a Chicago couple - the first US case of human-to-human transmission left hospital
* US health officials say Americans should expect more cases of coronavirus as testing ramps up
* HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a Friday press briefing the Trump Administration will commit up to $100 million to fighting the coronavirus outbreak in the US and abroad
* Development of a treatment for coronavirus is proceeding 'without glitches,' said the NIH, and is expected to begin clinical trials in two-and-a-half months
US embassy staff in white hazmat suits were seen boarding a State Department plane in Wuhan on Friday, as the first coronavirus death of an American citizen was confirmed and the global death toll leaps by 87 overnight.
Shocking pictures of repatriation efforts of US and Canadian citizens have emerged showing the lengths necessary in order to try to limit the spread of the disease as people are brought back from China onto US soil.
Embassy staff were pictured during the boarding process of the cargo plane at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport on February 7.
In the images, staff are dressed head to toe in white hazmat suits and masks, with their blue 'U.S. Embassy' bibs over the top.
The inside of the plane is partially covered in white sheeting and cargo appears to be transported in black bin liners. Other passengers appear to be in regular clothing except for face masks.
Three months ago, Wuhan resident Zhang Yi was sitting next to two local Hubei province reporters at a restaurant. He overheard them talking about the Provincial Party Committee secretary, who was upset about a news story. The official told the reporters negative stories would no longer be published.
A month later, a mysterious virus started spreading though Wuhan’s residents, causing pneumonia-like symptoms.
In early January, Chinese officials called this new virus “preventable and controllable.” They said they had seen “no evidence of person-to-person transmission.” Throughout the week of January 11, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission published the same number of confirmed cases: 41.
Those official statements failed to convince Zhang. In his mind, he kept hearing what he’d overheard the reporters talking about in the restaurant.
I have been involved in numerous computer science projects since the 1980s, as well as developing numerous web projects since 1996.
These blogs are a summation of all the information that I read and catalog pertaining to the subjects that interest me.
