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China coronavirus: Finnair U-turns on earlier refusal to allow staff in Hong Kong permission to wear masks
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A European airline made an abrupt U-turn on Saturday night and relaxed its earlier ban on flight attendants wearing masks because of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.
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business
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Coronavirus: from one food market to global panic
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In the final days of 2019, Xia Qingqing joined her parents for a late-night dinner just 200 metres away from the now-notorious South China seafood market, in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
It has since been identified as the source of the new coronavirus that has infected more than 1,400 people worldwide, killed more than 40 and plunged China into chaos. Just as hundreds of millions of people should be reuniting with their families to celebrate the biggest holiday of the year, the lunar new year, swathes of the country have been put on lockdown and celebrations all but called off.
As Xia and her parents tucked into a special winter rice and egg porridge on 27 December, even city authorities may not have known that the virus had started spreading around the city.
It was not until three days later that they put out a public warning about a “ pneumonia of unknown cause ” which doctors had identified in Wuhan, and four days later that national authorities filed their first report about the outbreak with the World Health Organisation.
In early January, 36-year-old Xia started running a low fever. By then, authorities had closed the seafood market for disinfection, and identified 44 patients with the unknown pneumonia.
But when she went to a local hospital on 4 January for a check-up, no one asked Xia about possible links to the market, or mentioned the mystery new illness. Doctors told her to go home, rest and take over-the-counter medication.
She followed their advice but her condition continued to worsen. Her fever intensified, she started having respiratory problems, and eating or drinking became painful.
Her illness was developing in tandem with knowledge about the mysterious new outbreak. On 9 January, China announced it had identified a new coronavirus, from the same family that caused the 2002 Sars outbreak, in one of the Wuhan patients. Like all viruses in the corona family, it had originated in an animal; scientists were already racing to uncover the source.
The next day, authorities announced the first death from the disease and released the genetic sequence of the new virus online for study, winning plaudits for an approach that seemed very different from the official cover-up that exacerbated the Sars crisis.
There were even hopes that Beijing might have managed to stop the outbreak before it had really begun. On 13 January, Chinese authorities said they had not identified any new cases for over a week; and although a first case was reported outside the country in a traveller to China, she had first developed symptoms days earlier.
If the disease came only from eating some kind of infected animal, and the market where it had originated was shut, there was perhaps a real possibility that no further cases would appear.
But it has now emerged that even though China freely shared details of the cases it had identified in the early days of January, doctors on the ground in the city where the disease began were not testing widely for the new virus as the month progressed.
There is growing concern that a failure to carry out comprehensive testing during the early days of the outbreak could have helped the virus spread.
Xia believes she is one of many victims who do not show up in statistics; she was finally admitted to hospital on the day after the genetic code was released. Despite her link to the market at the centre of the outbreak, and symptoms that matched those of confirmed victims, she was never tested.
“ Before there were any testing kits, which was before 16 January, I was regarded as a highly suspected case, meaning that I showed almost all of the symptoms, ” Xia told the Observer.
But the hospital was already struggling with a sharp increase in patients showing symptoms that matched the reported coronavirus ones. Xia estimates that there were only two doctors on staff to check hundreds of people seeking help.
Terribly overstretched, they focused only on the most serious cases and so on 20 January doctors discharged Xia into the care of her parents, without even formally noting her link to the South China seafood market on medical notes.
That was the day China confirmed the disease could be spread between humans, rather than just picked up direct from an animal source.
The number of patients had tripled, cases had appeared in other major cities, including the capital Beijing, and in a sign of official concern, the country’ s authoritarian president, Xi Jinping, made his first comments on the virus, saying it must be “ resolutely contained ”.
Yet Xia was sent home, still sick, without having been tested. She is being cared for by her parents, but is terrified she might infect them; they try to protect themselves by staying five metres away from her at all times.
Three days later, China stunned its citizens and the world by putting Wuhan under quarantine. From the morning of 23 January, no trains, planes or public transport would be allowed to leave the city; roadblocks later stopped most private cars from leaving either.
Closing off a major industrial and commercial hub, home to 11 million people, was the bluntest possible admission that Beijing was now extremely worried about the new disease. Further decisive action included a pledge to build a new 1,000-bed hospital dedicated to the disease in under a week, and a second within two weeks.
Work has already started on the first, and given China’ s track record of throwing up a similar hospital in Beijing during the Sars crisis, there is little doubt that the prefabricated facility will be finished in this extraordinary timescale.
And in a sign that authorities had shifted from trying to downplay the disease, a very last-minute tribute to the doctors and nurses battling the disease was included in the new year television gala show, one of the most high-profile broadcasts of the year.
By the time lunar new year’ s day dawned, the government had gone even further. More than 50 million people were in lockdown across the country, and nearly every province in China had declared a “ level 1 ” health emergency, the most serious kind, which allows quarantines and other serious measures.
Yet all this may come too late to ward off a major public health crisis, infectious disease experts have warned. Yi Guan, a senior Hong Kong-based virologist who helped identify the cause of the Sars virus, said he was much more worried about this disease, and feared the window for controlling its spread might already have closed.
“ I’ ve never felt scared. This time I’ m scared, ” Yi, who heads the University of Hong Kong’ s state key laboratory of emerging infectious diseases, told China’ s influential Caixin magazine.
He visited Wuhan expecting to find the city on a “ war footing ” but instead was met with chaos and incompetence.
“ I don’ t think the local government has done what it should do, ” he said. “ They haven’ t even been handing out quarantine guides to people who were leaving. ”
The coronavirus could hardly have emerged at a worse time for Chinese authorities, appearing in the weeks before the lunar new year, China’ s most important holiday. It is usually the occasion for the biggest human migration on the planet – up to 3 billion trips – as people race home to celebrate with family, travelling on packed trains, buses and planes.
For the army of migrant workers from rural towns and villages who have powered decades of economic growth in China, it can be the only time in the year they get to return home and see their children and parents who have stayed behind.
Even as the scale of the crisis became apparent, millions whose travel plans did not take them near Wuhan packed their bags and set off for the annual reunion, although many journeys were longer than usual.
Evidence that patients may be able to carry the disease without any fever, cough or other common symptoms has added to concern. Tests have showed that a child in one family who did not appear unwell was in fact carrying the disease, the Lancet has reported.
But widespread apprehension has changed the nature of the celebration. Normally a time for parties and celebration, banquets and fireworks, instead across the country – even in places far from the centre or any reported cases – people were cancelling their party plans and staying home.
Streets, malls and restaurants were empty, attractions from the Great Wall to the Forbidden City and Shanghai’ s Disneyland had closed, and from Monday all group tourism – domestic and foreign – will be suspended.
Instead, many people stayed at home, and took to the internet to find out more about the crisis. From the early days of the outbreak, warnings were appearing on China’ s vibrant but censored social media. In early January, eight people were arrested for “ spreading hoaxes ” about what came to be known as the coronavirus, AFP reported.
Weeks later, vast numbers of people were turning to the internet for information about the crisis, as state media downplayed it and kept it off the front page of official papers, such as the People’ s Daily, and out of the main headlines on key television news programmes.
On Saturday, discussion about the disease on micro-blogging site Weibo had reached 8 billion views, according to the What’ s on Weibo website. “ It’ s very rare to see news topics get this big, ” site editor Manya Koetse said on Twitter.
By Saturday evening, China had confirmed it was dealing with a total of 1,372 confirmed cases, and a death toll of 41. Together with cases identified outside China – spread from Australia to the United States and France – more than 1,400 people have been infected. By comparison, during the main Sars epidemic, which lasted from late 2002 until July 2003, in total 8,098 people got sick, and 774 died.
Although most of the victims who have died from this new coronavirus have been older, and some have been in bad health, more people could be at risk if overwhelmed hospitals are not able to treat those with the disease. There is no cure or vaccine, but medical support can help patients’ own immune systems to fight the disease.
Xia – who is no longer feverish but has a bad cough, often producing blood – says she is comforted by the actions of the central government now in taking control.
“ At this point I think the focus should be on how, together, we’ re going to pull through, ” she said. But she thinks Wuhan officials will bear the brunt of scrutiny in coming weeks and months.
“ There can be no doubt they simply missed the best time for containing the outbreak, ” she said. “ The Wuhan government didn’ t offer timely and effective support to hospitals in terms of medical materials … they failed to raise awareness among the public. ”
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general
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Wuhan coronavirus: Death toll rises to 56
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The death toll from the
Wuhan coronavirus
in China continues rising as authorities and health care workers struggle to contain the
outbreak
.
Fifty-six people have been killed by the novel coronavirus in China, health officials said on Saturday. Over 1,900 confirmed cases have been reported across the country.
China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported that 237 patients are in critical condition.
Healthcare workers in the Chinese city of Wuhan say
hospitals are running low
on supplies as they treat an increasing number of patients.
The Chinese central government announced it would send more than 1,200 health workers — as well as 135 People's Liberation Army medical personnel -- to the city
in an unprecedented effort to
contain the spread
of the virus.
Read More
Lunar New Year celebrations
-- the country's most important holiday -- have been greatly impacted in Beijing, Hong Kong and other major cities due to the virus. More than 60 million people are under partial lockdown in the provinces of Hubei and Guangdong.
While most confirmed cases of the virus are in China, at least 13 places outside mainland China, including France, Australia and the United States are reporting their first cases.
In Canada, health officials on Saturday announced the first `` presumptive '' positive case of coronavirus. The case is pending additional confirmation from the country's national medical laboratory.
A visual guide to the Wuhan coronavirus
In Wuhan, ground zero for the virus, four healthcare workers -- including doctors -- have told CNN of the difficulties facing medical crews on the ground. They have asked to remain anonymous to avoid repercussions.
Through telephone conversations with CNN and posts on Chinese social media, they told of low hospital resources. In private groups online, those identified as hospital staff are coordinating with members of the public to import protective equipment as they treat an increasing number of infected patients.
`` In terms of resources, the whole of Wuhan is lacking, '' one Wuhan-based healthcare worker told CNN by phone. This person said they were looking for more protective clothing, protective goggles and masks.
`` It's really like we're going into battle stripped to the waist, '' one healthcare worker added, using a Chinese idiom that equates to `` going into battle without armor ''.
One hospital staff member claims healthcare workers have resorted to wearing diapers to work so as to avoid having to remove their HAZMAT suits, which they say are in short supply. A doctor on her Chinese social media Weibo page described similar accounts at another Wuhan hospital.
`` My family members are definitely worried about me, but I still have to work, '' another doctor told. But she said that she is hopeful they will ultimately get the gear they need. `` Our bosses, our hospital suppliers will definitely find a way to get these stocks to us, '' she added.
It's not clear if these accounts are anecdotal or whether there are widespread shortages across Wuhan.
Chinese state media has also shared posts from multiple Wuhan hospitals in which they ask for public donations of medical supplies. They report that one hospital staff member said the current supplies `` are only able to sustain three or four days ''.
The Wuhan Health Commission has requisitioned over 10,000 beds from 24 hospitals to be used in the treatment of confirmed and suspected cases.
On Friday, Wuhan officials acknowledged that local hospitals were struggling to accommodate people seeking medical attention and said measures were being put into place to alleviate the situation.
State media also reported that the city aims to build a 25,000 square meter ( 269,100 square foot) new facility within a week, increasing hospital capacity by 1,000 beds, and that several medical centers in Hubei province are asking for medical gear donations.
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Medical staff wearing protective suits ride down an escalator at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport on Wednesday, March 18.
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Hasidic Jewish men take part in a
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A patient in a biocontainment unit is carried on a stretcher in Rome on March 17.
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A pedestrian walks a dog through a quiet street in New York on March 17.
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People gather to collect free face masks in New Delhi on March 17.
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Dermot Hickey, left, and Phillip Vega ask a pedestrian in New York to take their picture on a thinly trafficked Fifth Avenue on March 17. Many streets across the world are much more bare as people distance themselves from others. In the United States, the White House has advised people
not to gather in groups of more than 10.
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Students at the Attarkiah Islamic School wear face masks during a ceremony in Thailand's southern province of Narathiwat on March 17.
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People wait outside a Woolworths store in Sunbury, Australia on March 17. Australian supermarket chains announced special shopping hours for the elderly and people with disabilities so that they can shop in less crowded aisles.
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A member of Spain's Military Emergencies Unit carries out a general disinfection at the Malaga airport on Monday, March 16.
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Displaced families near Atme, Syria, attend a workshop aimed at spreading awareness about the coronavirus.
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French President Emmanuel Macron is seen on a screen in Paris as he announces new coronavirus containment measures on March 16.
France has been put on lockdown,
and all nonessential outings are outlawed and can draw a fine of up to €135 ( $ 148). Macron also promised to support French businesses by guaranteeing €300 billion worth of loans and suspending rent and utility bills owed by small companies.
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A police officer checks the temperatures of bus passengers at a checkpoint in Manila, Philippines, on March 16.
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Flowers are stored prior to their destruction at a flower auction in Aalsmeer, Netherlands, on March 16. Lower demand due to the coronavirus outbreak is threatening the Dutch horticultural sector, forcing the destruction of products.
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Two nuns greet neighbors from their balcony in Turin, Italy, on Sunday, March 15.
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Pope Francis, inside the Church of San Marcello in Rome's city center,
prays at a famous crucifix
that believers claim helped to save Romans from the plague in 1522.
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Passengers wait for their flights at Marrakesh Airport in Morocco on March 15.
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US Vice President Mike Pence takes a question during a White House briefing about the coronavirus on March 15.
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A Sea World employee sprays disinfectant in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Saturday, March 14.
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People wait in line to go through customs at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on March 14. Travelers returning from Europe say they were
being made to wait for hours
at US airports, often in close quarters, as personnel screened them for the coronavirus.
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Hundreds of people lined up to enter a Costco in Novato, California, on March 14. Many people have been stocking up on food, toilet paper and other items. As a response to
panic buying,
retailers in the United States and Canada have started limiting the number of toilet paper that customers can buy in one trip.
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A member of the White House physician's office takes a media member's temperature in the White House briefing room on March 14. It was ahead of a news conference with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
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Reporters in Arlington, Virginia, sit approximately 4 feet apart during a briefing by Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie on Friday, March 13.
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People walk past a closed Broadway theater on March 13 after New York canceled all gatherings over 500 people.
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Body temperatures are scanned as people enter the Buddhist temple Wat Pho in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 13.
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A Costco customer stands by two shopping carts in Richmond, California, on March 13.
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A teacher works in an empty classroom at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain.
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A woman looks at an empty bread aisle in Antwerp, Belgium, on March 13.
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Employees of the Greek Parliament wear plastic gloves ahead of the swearing-in ceremony for Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou.
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A motorcyclist drives through disinfectant sprayed in Jammu, India, on March 13.
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Workers prepare to construct an additional building on a hospital on the outskirts of Moscow.
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Paul Boyer, head equipment manager of the NHL's Detroit Red Wings, wheels out equipment bags in Washington on Thursday, March 12. The NHL is among the sports leagues that have suspended their seasons.
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Students leave Glacier Peak High School in Snohomish, Washington, on March 12. Beginning the following day, schools in the Snohomish school district planned to be closed through April 24.
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An Uber Eats delivery biker stands at a deserted Piazza di Spagna in Rome.
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People at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, watch a live broadcast of US President Donald Trump on March 12. Trump announced that, in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, he would
sharply restrict travel
from more than two dozen European countries.
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Workers in protective suits disinfect Istanbul's Dolmabahce Palace on March 11.
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A person wearing a face mask walks outside of a shopping mall in Beijing on March 11.
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Police officers restrain the relative of an inmate outside the Sant'Anna jail in Modena, Italy, on March 9.
Riots broke out
in several Italian jails after visits were suspended to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
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Medical staff in Wuhan, China, celebrate after all coronavirus patients were discharged from a temporary hospital on March 9.
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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on March 9.
Stocks plummeted
as coronavirus worries and an oil price race to the bottom weighed on global financial markets.
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Rescuers search for victims at the site of a
collapsed hotel
in Quanzhou, China, on March 8. The hotel was being used as a coronavirus quarantine center.
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The Grand Princess cruise ship, carrying at least 21 people who tested positive for coronavirus, is seen off the coast of San Francisco on March 8.
The ship was being held at sea.
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Sumo wrestlers attend a tournament in Osaka, Japan, that was being held behind closed doors because of the coronavirus outbreak.
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A couple rides a bicycle at a park in Seoul, South Korea, on March 7.
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A volunteer from Blue Sky Rescue uses fumigation equipment to disinfect a residential compound in Beijing on March 5.
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Airmen from the California National Guard drop coronavirus testing kits down to the
Grand Princess cruise ship
off the coast of California on March 5.
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Municipal workers are seen at the Kaaba, inside Mecca's Grand Mosque. Saudi Arabia emptied Islam's holiest site for sterilization over coronavirus fears, an unprecedented move after the kingdom suspended the year-round Umrah pilgrimage.
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Passengers react as a worker wearing a protective suit disinfects the departure area of a railway station in Hefei, China, on March 4.
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Teachers at the Nagoya International School in Japan conduct an online class for students staying at home as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus.
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Soldiers spray disinfectant throughout a shopping street in Seoul.
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A Muslim worshipper attends a mass prayer against coronavirus in Dakar, Senegal, on March 4. It was after cases were confirmed in the country.
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People wear face masks in New York's Times Square on March 3. New York reported its first case of coronavirus two days earlier.
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A security guard stands on the Shibuya Sky observation deck in Tokyo on March 3.
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US President Donald Trump, flanked by Vice President Mike Pence, left, and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, speaks during a meeting with pharmaceutical executives and the White House coronavirus task force on March 2. Throughout
the meeting,
Trump was hyperfocused on pressing industry leaders in the room for a timeline for a coronavirus vaccine and treatment. But experts at the table -- from the administration and the pharmaceutical industry -- repeatedly emphasized that a vaccine can't be rushed to market before it's been declared safe for the public.
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Medical staff stand outside a hospital in Daegu, South Korea, on March 1.
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Healthcare workers transfer a patient at the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington, on March 1. The long-term care facility is linked to confirmed coronavirus cases.
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a London laboratory of the Public Health England National Infection Service.
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Tomoyuki Sugano, a professional baseball player on the Yomiuri Giants, throws a pitch in an empty Tokyo Dome during a preseason game on February 29. Fans have been barred from preseason games to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
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Commuters wearing masks make their way to work during morning rush hour at the Shinagawa train station in Tokyo on February 28.
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Medical staff transport a coronavirus patient within the Red Cross hospital in Wuhan on February 28.
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Inter Milan plays Ludogorets in an empty soccer stadium in Milan, Italy, on February 27. The match
was ordered to be played behind closed doors
as Italian authorities continue to grapple with the coronavirus outbreak.
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A bank clerk disinfects banknotes in China's Sichuan province on February 26.
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A child wearing a protective face mask rides on a scooter in an empty area in Beijing.
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A Catholic devotee wears a face mask as he is sprinkled with ash during Ash Wednesday services in Paranaque, Philippines, on February 26.
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People disinfect Qom's Masumeh shrine in Tehran, Iran, on February 25.
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A worker in Daegu stacks plastic buckets containing medical waste from coronavirus patients on February 24.
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Paramedics carry a stretcher off an ambulance in Hong Kong on February 23.
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People attend a professional soccer match in Kobe, Japan, on February 23. To help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, the soccer club Vissel Kobe
told fans not to sing, chant or wave flags
in the season opener against Yokohama FC.
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A team of volunteers disinfects a pedestrian bridge in Bangkok, Thailand.
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A man rides his bike in Beijing on February 23.
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Hospital personnel in Codogno, Italy, carry new beds inside the hospital on February 21. The hospital is hosting some people who have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus.
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Doctors look at a CT scan of a lung at a hospital in Xiaogan, China, on February 20.
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A sales clerk wears a mask as she waits for customers at a hat shop in Beijing on February 18.
Small companies that help drive China's economy
are worried about how much damage
the coronavirus outbreak will cause to business.
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Buses carrying American passengers arrive at the Haneda Airport in Tokyo on February 17. The passengers
were leaving the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship
to be repatriated to the United States.
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A medical worker rests at the isolation ward of the Red Cross hospital in Wuhan on February 16.
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Authorities watch as the Westerdam cruise ship approaches a port in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, on February 13. Despite having no confirmed cases of coronavirus on board, the Westerdam was refused port by four other Asian countries before being allowed to dock in Cambodia.
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A worker has his temperature checked on a shuttered commercial street in Beijing on February 12.
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Beds are made in the Wuhan Sports Center, which has been converted into a temporary hospital.
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A child rides a scooter past a police officer wearing protective gear outside the Hong Mei House in Hong Kong on February 11. More than 100 people evacuated the housing block after four residents in two different apartments tested positive for the coronavirus.
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Relatives of quarantined passengers wave at the Diamond Princess cruise ship as it leaves a port in Yokohama, Japan, to dump wastewater and generate potable water. Dozens of people on the ship
were infected with coronavirus.
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The Deneway branch of the County Oak Medical Centre is closed amid coronavirus fears in Brighton, England, on February 11. Several locations in and around Brighton were quarantined after
a man linked to several coronavirus cases in the United Kingdom
came into contact with health-care workers and members of the public.
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A police officer, left, wears protective gear as he guards a cordon at the Hong Mei House in Hong Kong on February 11.
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A worker wears a protective suit as he waits to screen people entering an office building in Beijing on February 10. China's workforce is
slowly coming back to work
after the coronavirus outbreak forced many parts of the country to extend the Lunar New Year holiday by more than a week.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping has his temperature checked during an appearance in Beijing on February 10.
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Photojournalists wearing face masks take photos of a bus carrying passengers after they disembarked from the World Dream cruise ship in Hong Kong on February 9.
More than 5,300 people were quarantined on two cruise ships
off Hong Kong and Japan.
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People participating in a Lunar New Year Parade in New York City hold signs reading, `` Wuhan stay strong! '' on February 9.
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A shopper walks past empty shelves at a grocery store in Hong Kong on February 9. China's Ministry of Commerce
encouraged supermarkets and grocery stores
to resume operations as the country's voluntary or mandatory quarantines began to take an economic toll.
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A worker wearing a protective suit uses a machine to disinfect a business establishment in Shanghai, China, on February 9.
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Workers in protective gear walk near the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Yokohama on February 7.
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People in Hong Kong attend a vigil February 7 for
whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang.
Li, 34, died in Wuhan after contracting the virus while treating a patient.
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A woman grieves while paying tribute to Li at Li's hospital in Wuhan on February 7.
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The Anthem of the Seas cruise ship is seen docked at the Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, New Jersey, on February 7. Passengers were to be screened for coronavirus as a precaution, an official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told CNN.
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A light installation is displayed by striking members of the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance and other activists at the Hospital Authority building in Hong Kong on February 7.
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Locking down the virus over Lunar New Year
Authorities have imposed indefinite restrictions on public transport and travel.
All motor vehicles will be banned in Wuhan's city center starting Sunday to control the flow of people, according to the Wuhan Command Center, the taskforce set up to combat the virus. Only vehicles with special permits, free shuttles and government vehicles will be allowed to circulate.
Amid the lockdown, countries like the US and France have been attempting to evacuate their citizens from the central Chinese city.
The
US government is arranging a charter flight
to evacuate American diplomats and citizens from Wuhan, a US official with knowledge of the matter told CNN.
A lot has changed since China's SARS outbreak 17 years ago. But some things haven't
The French government says it's planning to set up a bus service to move French nationals out of Wuhan.
Meanwhile, 56 Indian students have been trapped in Wuhan for three days, with some afraid to leave their dorm room and fearful of running out of food.
Ganesan Deepshikha, a student at the Wuhan University School Of Medicine, told CNN that the students have been told by the Indian Embassy that they are safe in Wuhan but have not received any assistance.
The virus, which was first discovered in Wuhan in December, has spread to every province in China, except the remote autonomous region of Tibet.
Among those infected is a 2-year-old girl in the southern region of Guangxi, the local health authority said. She is believed to be the youngest patient infected.
The week-long Lunar New Year holiday, which began Saturday, has led to concerns that the outbreak could quickly accelerate, as hundreds of millions of people travel across the country to visit friends and relatives.
Lunar New Year is to China what the Christmas-New Year holiday period is to the United States -- except China's 1.4 billion population is more than four times that of the US.
In many cities, festivities have been called off. Authorities in Beijing have canceled all large-scale Lunar New Year celebrations, including traditional fairs and celebrations around temples.
Shanghai Disneyland has temporarily closed its doors. Seven blockbuster movies that were set to hit theaters this weekend have been canceled or postponed.
Businesses are also taking measures to protect staff and the public.
On Saturday, coffee giant Starbucks said it has closed all 90 of its Hubei stores indefinitely. The closures will continue throughout the Spring Festival, which runs until the end of January.
`` All Starbucks stores and special star delivery in Hubei will be temporarily closed. Hubei employees are asked to rest at home, minimize going out, take care to protect themselves and their families. All store employees who were scheduled to work during the closing period will be paid as usual, '' a statement from the company said.
A global concern
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On Thursday, the World Health Organization ( WHO) moved to declare the coronavirus an emergency within China -- but refrained from classifying the outbreak as an epidemic of international concern.
Mounting evidence suggests the virus is spreading outside mainland China, however, with 13 countries and territories reporting confirmed cases, including
the United States
and France.
Australia confirmed that three men who traveled from China to Sydney had tested positive, health authorities in the city said. The country has now confirmed a total of four cases.
Nepal also confirmed its first case, a spokesman for the country's Health Ministry told CNN. The patient is a 31-year-old Nepali man studying for his PhD in Wuhan, spokesman Mahendra Kumar Shrestha said. The student flew to Nepal earlier this month and was admitted to a hospital in Kathmandu on January 13 with fever and respiratory problems.
In South Korea, the country's Centers for Disease Control has announced a third confirmed case of the virus. A 54-year-old South Korean man who lives in Wuhan and traveled to South Korea on January 20 called a hotline on Saturday to report his symptoms, the agency said.
What it will take to stop the Wuhan coronavirus
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announced that the Hong Kong Disease contingency plan has been upgraded from `` serious '' to `` emergency '' level. Schools in the Chinese territory will be suspended until February 17.
On Thursday, David Heymann, the chairman of a WHO committee gathering data on the outbreak, said the virus spreads more easily from person to person than previously thought. `` We are now seeing second and third generation spread, '' Heymann said.
Coronaviruses are transmitted by animals and people, and the Wuhan strain has been linked to a market in the city that was selling seafood and live animals, including wild species.
Third generation means that someone who became infected after handling animals at the market spreads the virus to someone else, who then spreads it to a third person. The announcement marks a development in the progress of the spread of the virus.
Heymann said there is no evidence at this point that the virus is airborne and could be spread across a room, as happens with the flu or measles.
CNN's Pauline Lockwood, Angus Watson, Chermaine Lee, Junko Ogura, Steven Jiang, Sugam Pokharel, Julia Hollingsworth, Joshua Berlinger, Tara John and Vedika Sud contributed reporting.
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The last survivors: growing old with memories of Auschwitz
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As he looks at pictures of his parents and sisters who perished in Auschwitz, Szmul Icek begins to tremble, tears clouding his eyes.
It may have been 75 years ago, but for this survivor of the Holocaust the memories of life and death in the Nazi German extermination camp remain painfully fresh.
More than a million Jews were killed at Auschwitz, in then occupied Poland. The last survivors, now all elderly, still live with the physical and mental scars of the horrors of that time.
Since their liberation three quarters of a century ago, their skin has wrinkled with the march of time and the numbers tattooed on their left arms have faded.
Much in the same way that the collective memory of the Holocaust is blurring.
These survivors are the last witnesses to traumatic events which now in the 21st century are often called into question by anti-Semitic revisionists.
So as the world this month marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the camp at ceremonies at its site to be attended by a dwindling number of survivors, AFP reporters met with about 10 of them to hear their testimonies.
Some have learnt their stories by heart, reciting every detail -- without tears.
Others no longer have the strength to speak, some have had their memories ravaged by Alzheimer's. While others are still consumed by the shame of being one of Adolf Hitler's victims.
Born in Poland, Icek, 92, struggles to talk following a car accident, and leaves it to his wife to recount the tragedy which befell his family.
In early 1942, his two sisters responded to a notice from the Gestapo that children should present themselves to the notorious secret police in order to protect their family.
`` They left, but they were never seen again, never. We don't know what happened to them, '' said Sonia on behalf of her husband, who tensed up as she began to talk.
For many years, Icek, number 117 568, kept his imprisonment at Auschwitz secret from his wife.
After living together in Belgium for years, the couple now inhabits an apartment in Jerusalem where old family portraits hang in their living room.
One shows his father with a full beard, wearing a round hat, while his mother's hair is cropped short in the style popular in that era.
A month after his sisters disappeared, the Germans came for the rest of his family. His parents, two brothers and him.
`` When he arrived at Auschwitz, on getting off the train, he held onto his father's hand like a little boy, '' Sonia said of her husband's deportation.
But Icek was separated from his dad by a Nazi. `` He cried, he wanted to be with his father. But the German said: 'no, you ( go) over there '. ''
That was the last time he saw his father, who was sent to the gas chambers. Both his parents died, although his brothers like him managed to survive.
Hearing his wife talk about Auschwitz where he spent two and a half years, Icek, dressed in a blue polo neck and a skullcap, became briefly animated.
`` It can't be, it can't be, no, '' he said, clasping his hands around his neck to mime the killings at the camp.
- Burying the ashes -
Like Icek, Menahem Haberman, born in the then Czechoslovakia in 1927, was a teenager when he arrived at Auschwitz and was separated from his family.
Their paths never crossed at the extermination camp, nor in Jerusalem where Haberman now lives in a retirement home.
His memory still sharp, he recounted how he was taken outside of the camp to the edge of some water and given a shovel.
`` There was a canal and I had to run to each side and pour ashes into the water. I didn't know what I was doing. When I came back, I asked a camp veteran: 'What have I done? '
Haberman told the man he had only arrived at Auschwitz the previous day.
`` He told me: 'All your family were ashes in that canal four hours after their arrival. '
`` It was then that I understood where I was, '' Haberman told AFP.
His bitter encounter with death at the camp was to drive his overwhelming determination to survive.
`` I told myself, I don't want to die here, I don't want my ashes to sink and flow in this canal towards the river, '' said Haberman.
`` There was a guy there who said in Yiddish: 'Those who don't have the strength to work, will end up in the chimney. '
`` I kept that phrase in mind and repeated: I do not want to die here. ''
The experiences of the last remaining survivors, who were children when they were sent to the death camps, remain seared into their minds.
`` Every day I think about it, especially at night, '' said Haberman.
`` It's deeply engrained in me. Seventy-five years later, we still live with that, we don't forget... we can not forget, '' said Haberman.
`` We are survivors, we are not escapees. The camps are imprinted in our skin. ''
Six million Jews were killed by Nazi Germany. And of more than 1.3 million people imprisoned at Auschwitz, some 1.1 million died and Haberman remains baffled that he managed to survive.
`` I really knew people who were better men than me. Why did they die and why am I still alive? ''
- Stalked by hunger -
In the suburbs of Tel Aviv, 91-year-old Malka Zaken sits in her small apartment surrounded by dolls, some of which are still in their original boxes.
`` Don't worry Sean, he's not German, he won't take me, '' Zaken reassured one of them, as AFP arrived to talk to her.
While age has muddled some of her memories and her speech is confused, the traumas of Auschwitz remain vivid.
`` When I was little, my mother bought me lots of dolls, '' said Zaken, recalling her childhood in Greece with her parents and six siblings.
`` But she was burned by the Nazis. When I 'm with the dolls, I remember her, it's like when I was a child at home, I think about it all the time, '' she said.
Zaken spends her afternoons watching soap operas, at home with a carer.
She remembers friends killed by the Nazis, as well as those who survived the war but have since died.
In Auschwitz, she recalled being beaten `` all the time, we were naked and they beat us... I never forget, never, I never forget how much I 've suffered.
`` What hell! I don't even know how I made it to survive. ''
Occasionally looking dazed, the number 76 979 marked on her wrinkled skin, Zaken said the memories haunted her long after she was freed.
`` After the liberation, I couldn't sleep, I lay awake at night crying, I was scared, and I was cared for for a long time. ''
As well as fearing the gas chamber, Zaken also remembers the starvation which stalked the death camp and reduced prisoners to walking skeletons.
Fellow survivor Saul Oren, 90, also recalled the unimaginable hunger with prisoners given watery soup.
`` And the soup was for the whole day. Or they gave us a small potato, or they gave us a small piece of bread, '' he said.
`` We didn't dare eat the whole bread because we wanted to save it for later, perhaps we couldn't stand the hunger, '' he said.
Oren's mother was killed at Auschwitz and he has no photo of her, but tries to include her image in the paintings he does at home.
Even after leaving the extermination camp, hunger followed him.
He was forced onto the `` Death March '' when, as the Soviets advanced, the Nazis made prisoners from extermination camps walk in deep winter towards Germany and Austria.
`` We marched for 12 days, practically without eating... we stopped in a forest, we found a dead horse, everyone threw themselves on the horse. Each person took a bite, '' Oren said.
Another survivor, Danny Chanoch, marched for weeks in the snow, scratching at the soil in the hope of unearthing some frozen grass.
He is still affected by seeing survivors eating the bodies of prisoners killed by the Germans.
`` They couldn't stand the hunger so they took the human flesh, cooked, ate ( it).
`` And we know that a red line is not to eat human flesh and not to take the bread from your comrade, '' said Chanoch, originally from Lithuania.
- Guarding Eichmann -
After being taken to the Mauthausen and Gunskirchen camps, Chanoch was eventually freed and made his way to Italy as a penniless 12-year-old.
In the city of Bologna he was reunited with his brother, Uri, and a photo of the two boys taken by an Italian man hangs in his home.
Chanoch, who lives in a village between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, was philosophical about his experience in the death camp: `` Sometimes I say to myself, 'how could I live without Auschwitz? ' ''
`` It led me to the right way, to not skip anything, and do what you like to do, '' he said.
Chanoch and his brother travelled illegally from Italy to Palestine, then under British mandate, while other Holocaust survivors later arrived in the land which had become Israel.
The new state swiftly passed a law setting out the death penalty for crimes against the Jewish people, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The legislation was used to execute Adolf Eichmann, one of the masterminds of the Nazis ' so-called Final Solution plan of genocide against European Jews. He was captured in the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires 15 years after the war and smuggled to Israel, and tried.
For Shmuel Blumenfeld, a 94-year-old Auschwitz survivor, tattooed with number 108 006, the Eichmann affair was a historic turnaround.
Blumenfeld served as one of Eichmann's prison guards and spoke to the Nazi, telling him who had ultimately won.
`` One day I brought him food, I lifted my sleeve so that he saw my tattooed number. He saw it but acted as if nothing was amiss, '' said Blumenfeld, who offered Eichmann another helping.
`` Then, I clearly showed my number from Auschwitz and I told him: 'Your men didn't finish their mission, I spent two years there and I 'm still alive ', '' Blumenfeld said in German, before translating the conversation into Hebrew.
`` Once Eichmann shouted to complain that he couldn't sleep, because there was too much noise. And I said to him: 'We are not in the office of Adolf Eichmann in Budapest, you are in the office of Shmuel Blumenfeld '. ''
At his home, Blumenfeld keeps a fabric bag of earth collected from the places where all his family members were killed.
`` My mother told me 'never forget that you are Jewish ' and I obeyed her, '' said Blumenfeld, who spent his career in the Israeli prison service.
- ' I overcame ' -
Despite his age, Blumenfeld continues to travel to Poland with groups of young Israelis.
At almost 95, the elegant Batcheva Dagan also remains energetic and determined to use her experiences to educate future generations.
After making it out of a camp alive, she said she had one thing in mind: `` Survive to tell ( people). ''
She worked in the heart of Birkenau camp, which neighboured Auschwitz, at a depot where shoes and other prisoners ' belongings piled up.
`` I spent 20 months there, 600 days and nights, '' said Dagan, who had to burn the luggage of Jews who arrived at the camp.
`` Work out the hours and the seconds, thinking that each second you're scared of dying. You have an idea of what that means, living each moment with the threat that that moment is your last. ''
`` I try to make something positive out of my experience for children, educational.
`` I don't only recount the horror of the Holocaust, but also wonderful things like helping each other, the capacity to share a piece of bread, the friendship... We remained human beings. ''
The survivors ' sense of victory comes through their poems, memories, but above all through living their daily lives and seeing future generations grow up.
`` I 'm alive... I suffered, but I overcame! '' said Dagan.
Icek, who for years hid his Auschwitz tattoo under long shirts, has recently started to uncover it.
`` You didn't want to show it. Now the first thing that you do when you get into a taxi, you do this, '' his wife Sonia said, showing his forearm.
`` It's like he was ashamed... I told him: 'You have been to the camp, you must be happy, you came back, ' '' said Sonia, who had to hide during the war in Belgium to avoid being sent to a death camp.
Sitting next to his wife, Icek said just three words before starting to cry: `` I have won. ''
But Sonia disagreed, saying he `` didn't win anything '' and lost his family whose pictures hang next to those of their grandchildren.
`` We have not won, but we have taught our grandchildren in a way that they understand what happened. ''
As he looks at pictures of his parents and sisters who perished in Auschwitz, Szmul Icek begins to tremble, tears clouding his eyes.
It may have been 75 years ago, but for this survivor of the Holocaust the memories of life and death in the Nazi German extermination camp remain painfully fresh.
More than a million Jews were killed at Auschwitz, in then occupied Poland. The last survivors, now all elderly, still live with the physical and mental scars of the horrors of that time.
Since their liberation three quarters of a century ago, their skin has wrinkled with the march of time and the numbers tattooed on their left arms have faded.
Much in the same way that the collective memory of the Holocaust is blurring.
These survivors are the last witnesses to traumatic events which now in the 21st century are often called into question by anti-Semitic revisionists.
So as the world this month marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the camp at ceremonies at its site to be attended by a dwindling number of survivors, AFP reporters met with about 10 of them to hear their testimonies.
Some have learnt their stories by heart, reciting every detail — without tears.
Others no longer have the strength to speak, some have had their memories ravaged by Alzheimer’ s. While others are still consumed by the shame of being one of Adolf Hitler’ s victims.
Born in Poland, Icek, 92, struggles to talk following a car accident, and leaves it to his wife to recount the tragedy which befell his family.
In early 1942, his two sisters responded to a notice from the Gestapo that children should present themselves to the notorious secret police in order to protect their family.
“ They left, but they were never seen again, never. We don’ t know what happened to them, ” said Sonia on behalf of her husband, who tensed up as she began to talk.
For many years, Icek, number 117 568, kept his imprisonment at Auschwitz secret from his wife.
After living together in Belgium for years, the couple now inhabits an apartment in Jerusalem where old family portraits hang in their living room.
One shows his father with a full beard, wearing a round hat, while his mother’ s hair is cropped short in the style popular in that era.
A month after his sisters disappeared, the Germans came for the rest of his family. His parents, two brothers and him.
“ When he arrived at Auschwitz, on getting off the train, he held onto his father’ s hand like a little boy, ” Sonia said of her husband’ s deportation.
But Icek was separated from his dad by a Nazi. “ He cried, he wanted to be with his father. But the German said: ‘ no, you ( go) over there’. ”
That was the last time he saw his father, who was sent to the gas chambers. Both his parents died, although his brothers like him managed to survive.
Hearing his wife talk about Auschwitz where he spent two and a half years, Icek, dressed in a blue polo neck and a skullcap, became briefly animated.
“ It can’ t be, it can’ t be, no, ” he said, clasping his hands around his neck to mime the killings at the camp.
– Burying the ashes –
Like Icek, Menahem Haberman, born in the then Czechoslovakia in 1927, was a teenager when he arrived at Auschwitz and was separated from his family.
Their paths never crossed at the extermination camp, nor in Jerusalem where Haberman now lives in a retirement home.
His memory still sharp, he recounted how he was taken outside of the camp to the edge of some water and given a shovel.
“ There was a canal and I had to run to each side and pour ashes into the water. I didn’ t know what I was doing. When I came back, I asked a camp veteran: ‘ What have I done?’
Haberman told the man he had only arrived at Auschwitz the previous day.
“ He told me: ‘ All your family were ashes in that canal four hours after their arrival.’
“ It was then that I understood where I was, ” Haberman told AFP.
His bitter encounter with death at the camp was to drive his overwhelming determination to survive.
“ I told myself, I don’ t want to die here, I don’ t want my ashes to sink and flow in this canal towards the river, ” said Haberman.
“ There was a guy there who said in Yiddish: ‘ Those who don’ t have the strength to work, will end up in the chimney.’
“ I kept that phrase in mind and repeated: I do not want to die here. ”
The experiences of the last remaining survivors, who were children when they were sent to the death camps, remain seared into their minds.
“ Every day I think about it, especially at night, ” said Haberman.
“ It’ s deeply engrained in me. Seventy-five years later, we still live with that, we don’ t forget… we can not forget, ” said Haberman.
“ We are survivors, we are not escapees. The camps are imprinted in our skin. ”
Six million Jews were killed by Nazi Germany. And of more than 1.3 million people imprisoned at Auschwitz, some 1.1 million died and Haberman remains baffled that he managed to survive.
“ I really knew people who were better men than me. Why did they die and why am I still alive? ”
– Stalked by hunger –
In the suburbs of Tel Aviv, 91-year-old Malka Zaken sits in her small apartment surrounded by dolls, some of which are still in their original boxes.
“ Don’ t worry Sean, he’ s not German, he won’ t take me, ” Zaken reassured one of them, as AFP arrived to talk to her.
While age has muddled some of her memories and her speech is confused, the traumas of Auschwitz remain vivid.
“ When I was little, my mother bought me lots of dolls, ” said Zaken, recalling her childhood in Greece with her parents and six siblings.
“ But she was burned by the Nazis. When I’ m with the dolls, I remember her, it’ s like when I was a child at home, I think about it all the time, ” she said.
Zaken spends her afternoons watching soap operas, at home with a carer.
She remembers friends killed by the Nazis, as well as those who survived the war but have since died.
In Auschwitz, she recalled being beaten “ all the time, we were naked and they beat us… I never forget, never, I never forget how much I’ ve suffered.
“ What hell! I don’ t even know how I made it to survive. ”
Occasionally looking dazed, the number 76 979 marked on her wrinkled skin, Zaken said the memories haunted her long after she was freed.
“ After the liberation, I couldn’ t sleep, I lay awake at night crying, I was scared, and I was cared for for a long time. ”
As well as fearing the gas chamber, Zaken also remembers the starvation which stalked the death camp and reduced prisoners to walking skeletons.
Fellow survivor Saul Oren, 90, also recalled the unimaginable hunger with prisoners given watery soup.
“ And the soup was for the whole day. Or they gave us a small potato, or they gave us a small piece of bread, ” he said.
“ We didn’ t dare eat the whole bread because we wanted to save it for later, perhaps we couldn’ t stand the hunger, ” he said.
Oren’ s mother was killed at Auschwitz and he has no photo of her, but tries to include her image in the paintings he does at home.
Even after leaving the extermination camp, hunger followed him.
He was forced onto the “ Death March ” when, as the Soviets advanced, the Nazis made prisoners from extermination camps walk in deep winter towards Germany and Austria.
“ We marched for 12 days, practically without eating… we stopped in a forest, we found a dead horse, everyone threw themselves on the horse. Each person took a bite, ” Oren said.
Another survivor, Danny Chanoch, marched for weeks in the snow, scratching at the soil in the hope of unearthing some frozen grass.
He is still affected by seeing survivors eating the bodies of prisoners killed by the Germans.
“ They couldn’ t stand the hunger so they took the human flesh, cooked, ate ( it).
“ And we know that a red line is not to eat human flesh and not to take the bread from your comrade, ” said Chanoch, originally from Lithuania.
– Guarding Eichmann –
After being taken to the Mauthausen and Gunskirchen camps, Chanoch was eventually freed and made his way to Italy as a penniless 12-year-old.
In the city of Bologna he was reunited with his brother, Uri, and a photo of the two boys taken by an Italian man hangs in his home.
Chanoch, who lives in a village between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, was philosophical about his experience in the death camp: “ Sometimes I say to myself, ‘ how could I live without Auschwitz? ' ”
“ It led me to the right way, to not skip anything, and do what you like to do, ” he said.
Chanoch and his brother travelled illegally from Italy to Palestine, then under British mandate, while other Holocaust survivors later arrived in the land which had become Israel.
The new state swiftly passed a law setting out the death penalty for crimes against the Jewish people, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The legislation was used to execute Adolf Eichmann, one of the masterminds of the Nazis’ so-called Final Solution plan of genocide against European Jews. He was captured in the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires 15 years after the war and smuggled to Israel, and tried.
For Shmuel Blumenfeld, a 94-year-old Auschwitz survivor, tattooed with number 108 006, the Eichmann affair was a historic turnaround.
Blumenfeld served as one of Eichmann’ s prison guards and spoke to the Nazi, telling him who had ultimately won.
“ One day I brought him food, I lifted my sleeve so that he saw my tattooed number. He saw it but acted as if nothing was amiss, ” said Blumenfeld, who offered Eichmann another helping.
“ Then, I clearly showed my number from Auschwitz and I told him: ‘ Your men didn’ t finish their mission, I spent two years there and I’ m still alive’, ” Blumenfeld said in German, before translating the conversation into Hebrew.
“ Once Eichmann shouted to complain that he couldn’ t sleep, because there was too much noise. And I said to him: ‘ We are not in the office of Adolf Eichmann in Budapest, you are in the office of Shmuel Blumenfeld’. ”
At his home, Blumenfeld keeps a fabric bag of earth collected from the places where all his family members were killed.
“ My mother told me ‘ never forget that you are Jewish’ and I obeyed her, ” said Blumenfeld, who spent his career in the Israeli prison service.
– ‘ I overcame’ –
Despite his age, Blumenfeld continues to travel to Poland with groups of young Israelis.
At almost 95, the elegant Batcheva Dagan also remains energetic and determined to use her experiences to educate future generations.
After making it out of a camp alive, she said she had one thing in mind: “ Survive to tell ( people). ”
She worked in the heart of Birkenau camp, which neighboured Auschwitz, at a depot where shoes and other prisoners’ belongings piled up.
“ I spent 20 months there, 600 days and nights, ” said Dagan, who had to burn the luggage of Jews who arrived at the camp.
“ Work out the hours and the seconds, thinking that each second you’ re scared of dying. You have an idea of what that means, living each moment with the threat that that moment is your last. ”
“ I try to make something positive out of my experience for children, educational.
“ I don’ t only recount the horror of the Holocaust, but also wonderful things like helping each other, the capacity to share a piece of bread, the friendship… We remained human beings. ”
The survivors’ sense of victory comes through their poems, memories, but above all through living their daily lives and seeing future generations grow up.
“ I’ m alive… I suffered, but I overcame! ” said Dagan.
Icek, who for years hid his Auschwitz tattoo under long shirts, has recently started to uncover it.
“ You didn’ t want to show it. Now the first thing that you do when you get into a taxi, you do this, ” his wife Sonia said, showing his forearm.
“ It’ s like he was ashamed… I told him: ‘ You have been to the camp, you must be happy, you came back, ' ” said Sonia, who had to hide during the war in Belgium to avoid being sent to a death camp.
Sitting next to his wife, Icek said just three words before starting to cry: “ I have won. ”
But Sonia disagreed, saying he “ didn’ t win anything ” and lost his family whose pictures hang next to those of their grandchildren.
“ We have not won, but we have taught our grandchildren in a way that they understand what happened. ”
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
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Coronavirus: la Chine multiplie les mesures pour endiguer la maladie
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►l'épidémie a fait 41 victimes à ce jour
►des mesures de dépistage ont été prises dans tous les transports publics chinois
► deux hôpitaux sont en construction pour accueillir les malades à Wuhan
► dans la province de Hubei ( centre) 18 villes sont à l'isolement soit quelque 56 millions de personnes
Le bilan du coronavirus en Chine s'est alourdi à 41 morts, a annoncé ce samedi la Commission nationale de santé, après que 15 nouveaux décès dus à l'épidémie ont été recensés dans la province du Hubei où le virus est apparu le mois dernier. Des mesures nationales de dépistage du nouveau virus ont été prises également ce samedi dans les trains, les bus et les avions, afin de tenter d'endiguer l'épidémie de coronavirus, alors que dès la semaine prochaine des centaines de millions de Chinois qui étaient en visite dans leurs familles vont devoir voyager pour rentrer chez eux, donnant la possibilité au virus de se propager à nouveau.
Pour faire face à l’ épidémie, Pékin a annulé toutes les célébrations liées au Nouvel An lunaire et la Cité interdite, le lieu le plus touristique du pays, est fermé jusqu’ à nouvel ordre, tout comme certaines parcelles de la Muraille de Chine et à Shanghai, Disneyland, théâtres et musées ont également fermé, rapporte notre correspondante, Angélique Forget.
56 millions de personnes à l'isolement
Par ailleurs, le cordon sanitaire a été élargi à cinq villes supplémentaires de la province de Hubei où se trouve la ville de Wuhan où est apparue la maladie. Cinq villes ont été ajoutées aux 13 qui étaient déjà concernées par ce dispositif, qui implique notamment l'arrêt des transports publics à destination de ces agglomérations. Les avions et les trains vont rester à l’ arrêt dans la région, seules les voitures privées peuvent circuler, annoncent les autorités locales.
Et à partir de ce soir minuit, plus aucun véhicule non autorisé ne pourra circuler dans le centre-ville de Wuhan, la capitale régionale. Les voitures avaient déjà reçu l’ interdiction de quitter la ville, désormais elles ne peuvent même plus rouler… Rappelons qu'aucun transport public ne circule plus depuis jeudi à Wuhan devenue une ville fantôme.
Les taxis quant à eux ont été réquisitionnés pour travailler gratuitement et transporter les habitants qui en font la demande mais tous les déplacements seront gérés par les autorités de quartier…
Deux hôpitaux sortent de terre
Quelque 56 millions de personnes sont concernées dans le Hubei par ces mesures d'isolement. La situation est cahotique, rapporte encore notre correspondante. Les hôpitaux sont débordés. Ils manquent de lits, de médecins… Un hôpital est actuellement en construction pour faire face à l'urgence et un second va également être édifié, apprend t-on ce samedi. Le premier bâtiment de 25 000 m2 devrait ouvrir ses portes aux patients dès le 3 février prochain, avec une capacité de mille lits. Le deuxième hôpital sera lui livré dans 15 jours, avec 1300 lits. Pour réaliser cette prouesse les ouvriers seront payés selon les autorités 150€ par jour, c’ est 3 fois plus que leur salaire habituel.
Ce n’ est pas la première fois que la Chine se lance dans un tel chantier, rappelle notre correspondante. En 2003 déjà lors de l’ épidémie de SRAS, en à peine 7 jours une maison de retraite à Pékin avait été transformée en hôpital…
Wuhan, the epicenter of the # CoronavirusOutbreak will follow Beijing's SARS treatment model by building a dedicated hospital to receive patients infected with the virus. Here are some facts about it: pic.twitter.com/IFnehXeheO
L'agence Chine nouvelle annonce encore que 450 médecins et autres personnels médicaux rattachés à l'Armée sont arrivés en avion dans la ville de Wuhan. Un médecin de l'hôpital de Wuhan, sur le front de l'épidémie dès son déclenchement, est décédé.
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Anxiety about employees trapped in Wuhan grows at Japanese firms
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BEIJING – With public transportation services suspended in Wuhan, anxiety is mounting over Japanese who might be trapped in the city at the origin of the deadly new coronavirus, which was confirmed in a third patient in Japan on Saturday.
Many Japanese companies operating in China have begun to take measures to protect the safety and health of their employees, such as urging them to avoid crowds and instructing them to go to a hospital right away if they develop a fever.
But their chief concern is whether Wuhan, with a population of more than 10 million, will become an “ inaccessible land, ” a clerk at a Japanese logistics firm said. “ They would be unable to get food and necessities down the road, ” he said, referring to the workers in the city.
Some medical experts have recently warned that the new coronavirus is more infectious than the one that caused SARS, the illness that spread through China in 2003, sickening 8,098 people and killing 774 around the globe.
Starting Thursday, just before the start of the Lunar New Year holidays, authorities in Wuhan suspended all public transportation, including buses, trains, airplanes and ferries, in an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
In the third recorded case in Japan, a tourist from Wuhan visiting Tokyo has tested positive for the coronavirus, the health ministry said Saturday. The woman, who lives in Wuhan and is in her 30s, is visiting Japan for the Lunar New Year holidays, a ministry official said.
According to the Japan External Trade Organization, there are about 160 Japanese companies and nearly 500 Japanese residing in Wuhan, located around 1,000 kilometers south of Beijing.
A Japanese businessman living in Wuhan who is currently traveling in southern China said he is effectively stranded because of the flight cancellations.
“ For the time being, I may be compelled to work in a different city. I’ m worried about my colleagues left in Wuhan, ” he said. “ Unless they have their own cars, they would struggle to secure daily essentials due to the suspension of public transportation. ”
A prolonged outbreak is likely to deal a blow to the supply chains of Japanese firms such as automakers and makers of electronics.
“ We’ ll closely watch the disease’ s economic impacts with high interest, ” industry minister Hiroshi Kajiyama told a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
Wuhan is at the core of supply chains in Asia, bringing together cutting-edge factories that make semiconductors and other high-tech components.
Some 160 Japanese companies operate in the city, including Honda Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co., Denso Corp. and Daikin Industries Ltd.
A large number of Japanese firms have already decided to ban business trips to Wuhan and have asked their employees in the city to work at home.
Management personnel at the firms are concerned that they may be forced to suspend operations for a long period if the disease continues to spread.
During the Lunar New Year holidays through next Thursday, the biggest celebration in China, most residents are on vacation, with hundreds of millions of people traveling domestically and internationally.
Delivery services using smartphone apps have been widely embraced in China, but “ they would not work well, given that stores and restaurants close and drivers return to their hometowns, ” said a Japanese housewife who has lived in Beijing for three years.
A JETRO official in Wuhan said, “ It seems that many people are rushing to grocery stores. ”
He voiced concern over how Japanese left in the city will get by if logistics services are halted. “ We need to consider how to obtain medicines, food and water for them, ” the official said.
In China, fears also are escalating that the infection will spread after the holidays, as Chinese health authorities have concluded that the new coronavirus is being transmitted among humans while the origin of it has yet to be identified.
Medical experts have called for people to wash their hands, gargle and wear masks as a preventive step because influenza and colds are common at this time of year. In Beijing, masks have sold out at many supermarkets and convenience stores.
“ It is now difficult to get masks in Beijing. I personally think that if people in Wuhan are put in a situation where they can not get masks, the infection would expand further there, ” said a physician living in the capital who declined to disclose his name.
“ If the virus continues to be transmitted from person to person, it may evolve and become highly virulent. The Chinese government should take action in order to ensure that Wuhan does not become isolated, ” he added.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged that his leadership will implement “ decisive ” measures to curb the spread of the virus.
Yutaka Yokoi, Japan’ s ambassador to China, told reporters on Tuesday in Beijing, “ We will make more efforts to gather information and provide it in a timely and appropriate manner. ”
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Japan confirms third case of new coronavirus infection
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The health ministry said Saturday it has confirmed a third case of a new deadly virus that has been rapidly spreading in China and beyond.
The patient is a woman from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak of the mysterious coronavirus began, the ministry said, adding she arrived in Japan on Jan. 18.
The ministry has not disclosed her nationality or which airport or port she used when she entered the country.
The woman in her 30s, who is in stable condition, is said to have had no symptoms at the time of arrival but developed a fever and started coughing on Tuesday night, according to the ministry.
She visited a Tokyo hospital on Thursday and later tested positive for the virus, which has killed at least 41 people in China.
She has not been hospitalized as she has been exhibiting only minor symptoms and is staying in her hotel room, a ministry official said at a news conference.
She came to Japan as part of a family of four. However, so far the other three have not developed any symptoms, the official said.
He added that the number of people suspected of contracting the virus is “ not sharply increasing ” in Japan. But he stopped short of saying how many have tested negative or are currently under observation.
The number of people with pneumonia caused by the virus topped 1,300 worldwide on Saturday, just as hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens set out on domestic and overseas trips at the start of the Lunar New Year holiday.
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Japan braces for Chinese New Year tourist influx as concerns over coronavirus grow
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With throngs of Chinese tourists arriving in Japan for the Lunar New Year holidays on Friday amid growing fears over a new coronavirus, authorities bolstered screenings at airports, airlines were urged to distribute health declarations and businesses issued warnings to their employees.
The health ministry in Tokyo revealed a man in his 40s visiting from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, was confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus, the second case in the country.
The man was admitted to a hospital in Tokyo on Wednesday after experiencing persistent fever and a sore throat. He initially felt symptoms while in China on Jan. 14. He is in stable condition.
The number of people in China infected by the pneumonia-like virus has dramatically increased, numbering more than a thousand, while the death toll had risen to at least 41, government sources said Saturday.
On Friday evening, the Foreign Ministry issued a travel advisory urging Japanese citizens not to visit Wuhan, raising the alert level to three on a four-point scale.
The government convened a meeting earlier in the day to discuss further measures. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered Cabinet ministers to beef up screening and inspection measures at entry points and also inside the country — including requesting airlines to make in-flight announcements and distribute health declaration forms to passengers on all flights originating in China. He also ordered the expansion of testing facilities at public health centers nationwide.
“ I ask Japanese citizens not to panic, exercise preventive practices against the common cold and stay calm, ” Abe said.
Separately, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Akihiro Nishimura told reporters during a news conference that a Japanese man in his 60s is being treated for pneumonia at a hospital in Wuhan. He was hospitalized on Wednesday after having a fever since around Jan. 16.
It has not yet been confirmed if the man’ s pneumonia is linked to the coronavirus, but Nishimura said test results will be known as soon as Saturday.
The World Health Organization has called for countermeasures but fell short of declaring the outbreak “ a global emergency. ” Additional cases have also been reported in Thailand and the United States.
In a desperate measure to contain the virus from spreading further, authorities in Wuhan suspended public transportation services on Thursday.
More than 700 Japanese citizens either reside in Wuhan or are visiting the city, Nishimura said, adding the government will provide necessary accommodation and information to them.
According to the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute, more than 7 million overseas trips will be made during the seven-day holiday period through Jan. 30, compared with 6.3 million last year. Chinese online travel agency Trip.com said Japan is their top foreign destination, followed by Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.
Sun Jian, a 24-year-old tourist from Shanghai, arrived around noon Friday wearing a green surgical mask at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. Sun said he is not so worried about the infection back home or in Tokyo as he believes the Chinese government will be able to control the situation.
“ I think I’ m OK at the moment, but I will take care of myself, ” he said, adding that he will probably buy more masks during his stay in the capital.
Sun said he saw many other passengers on the flight from Shanghai wearing masks.
Wuhan’ s lock down caused airlines to cancel flights to the city, including one by All Nippon Airways that was scheduled to depart at 9:30 a.m. on Friday for Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture. Flights to Japan from Shanghai have not been canceled as of yet.
In Japan, theme park operators, retailers and restaurants are instructing employees to be careful.
Oriental Land Co., which operates Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, has not taken any special measures against the virus, but is encouraging employees to wash their hands and gargle as part of the usual health management program. Alcohol-based disinfectants will be available at restrooms for park visitors and workers.
The operator of Universal Studios Japan in Osaka was asking its employees to take similar precautions.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is providing disinfectants for visitors at three locations near the entrance to Toyosu fish market, a popular destination for foreign tourists.
Meanwhile, multiple Japanese firms are canceling employee business trips to China. NTT Docomo Inc., Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. and Toyota Tsusho Corp. revealed Thursday they have instructed their employees to refrain from going on nonurgent business trips to the country.
An affiliate of major travel agency JTB Corp. has canceled tours to and from Wuhan scheduled for February and March.
Japanese firms based in Wuhan — such as Denso Corp., which develops automobile software in the city — have banned all employees from traveling to the region. MUFG Bank Ltd. and Mizuho Bank, Ltd., both of which have branches in the area, have notified their employees in Japan not to make business trips. KDDI Corp., which maintains an office there, ordered employees to stand by at home.
Firms that make face masks in Japan have stepped up production on the back of booming demand by Chinese tourists.
Department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. is making sure its staff observe thorough hygienic practices and that they understand how to handle any customer who displays symptoms of the illness, including telling them where the closest medical institution is.
It is also providing disposable masks and gloves for staff members in case customers vomit while on the premises.
“ We are informing the staff of the protocol because those who have not encountered such a situation would be at a loss about what to do, ” a company spokeswoman said. So far, Isetan Mitsukoshi has not formulated a measure specifically for customers at its stores, instead relying on them informing staff members if they feel ill while on the premises.
Some hotels have gone further in attempts to pre-empt the virus’ s spread.
JR Tower Hotel Nikko Sapporo in Hokkaido, which receives its largest numbers of foreign guests in January and February, began disinfecting elevator buttons and door knobs in lobbies and other public spaces last Saturday.
On Thursday, it also put up a poster in four languages, including Chinese, urging guests to let hotel staff know if they have a temperature exceeding 37.5 degrees and a cough.
The poster was “ intended to encourage guests to come forward ” if they are experiencing such symptoms, said Masahiko Nakamura, the hotel’ s marketing manager.
This step was taken in response to a notification from the Sapporo Municipal Government to hotels, outlining ways to manage guests from Wuhan who may show symptoms of the illness. The notification advises hotels to ask any guest who is feeling unwell to remain inside their room and report the cases to a public health center, said Ryo Yamaguchi, a city official in charge of infectious disease prevention.
Nakamura said his hotel is trying to stay ahead of the coronavirus threat. At the same time, it “ told staff members not to be too anxious. ”
He said nearly 70 percent of guests at the hotel in January and February are foreign nationals due to the Lunar New Year holiday and the Sapporo Snow Festival.
This year the annual ice sculpture event will be held in the city from Jan. 31 to Feb. 11.
Major airports nationwide displayed posters alerting travelers from Wuhan who have symptoms of the virus to contact quarantine officers. Officials are checking body temperatures via thermographic monitoring more carefully than usual by limiting the number of travelers passing through the quarantine area at the same time.
Health ministry official Takuma Kato has said measures against the infection are necessary but “ excessive caution is not. ”
He said people can prevent infection by taking the same care they would for a regular cold and flu.
“ The best way to prevent it is to wash hands, wear masks when you are coughing, and ventilate a room properly, ” he said.
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Scientists aim to create Wuhan vaccine in record time
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CHICAGO/LONDON – When a newly organized vaccine research group at the U.S. National Institutes of Health met for the first time this past week, its members had expected to be able to ease into their work.
But their mandate is to conduct human trials for emerging health threats — and their first assignment came at shocking speed.
In just three months from now, they likely will be testing the first of a number of potential experimental vaccines against the new SARS-like coronavirus that is spreading in China and beyond.
“ I told them, ‘ you are going to have your baptism of fire, folks, ' ” Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases within NIH, said of his inaugural address to the group.
Three months from gene sequencing to initial human testing would be the fastest the agency has ever gotten such a vaccine off the ground, Fauci said.
The outbreak, which began in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December, as of Saturday had infected more than 1,300 people in China and killed at least 41. Cases have also been confirmed in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Nepal, France, the United States, Australia and Malaysia.
Chinese scientists were able to quickly identify the genetic sequence of the new coronavirus, and officials posted it publicly within a few days, allowing scientific research teams to get to work right away.
With the genetic code in hand, scientists can start vaccine development work without needing a sample of the virus.
During the deadly 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome ( SARS), it took U.S. scientists 20 months to go from genetic sequencing to the first phase of human trials. By that time, the outbreak was under control.
This time, research groups worldwide are already executing plans to test vaccines, treatments and other countermeasures to stop the newly identified virus from spreading globally.
They are attacking from several angles, with global health and epidemic response agencies hoping at least one treatment will be in human trials within a few months.
Fauci’ s agency is partnering with the U.S. biotech company Moderna Inc., which specializes in vaccines based on ribonucleic acids, chemical messengers that contain instructions for making proteins.
That team hopes to make an RNA vaccine based on one of the crown-like spikes on the surface of the coronavirus that gives the family of viruses their name. Unlike many vaccines, this approach would not expose people to even a crippled form of the virus itself.
At the University of Queensland in Australia, scientists backed by a global health emergency group, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, said they are working on what they describe as a “ molecular clamp ” vaccine. This approach adds a gene to stabilize viral proteins and trick the body into thinking it is seeing a live virus and create antibodies against it.
Keith Chappell, an expert in the University’ s school of chemistry and molecular biosciences, said the technology is designed as “ a platform approach to generate vaccines against a range of human and animal viruses. ”
It has already shown promising results in lab tests on other dangerous viruses such as Ebola and the coronavirus that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome ( MERS) — a cousin of SARS and the Wuhan virus.
Novavax, which already has a vaccine in development against MERS, says it is now working on one for the Wuhan coronavirus.
Scientists also are turning to infection-fighting proteins known as monoclonal antibodies ( mAbs), which were developed against the SARS and MERS coronaviruses.
The hope is that similarities with the Wuhan virus will offer enough overlap in the antibodies to help people infected in the China outbreak.
Vir Biotechnology Chief Scientific Officer Herbert Virgin said his company has a library of monoclonal antibodies that have shown some success against SARS and MERS in lab tests.
Some of these antibodies have been shown to neutralize coronaviruses, Virgin said, and “ may have the potential to treat and prevent ( the) Wuhan coronavirus. ”
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French carmaker to evacuate expats from virus-hit Chinese city
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French carmaker PSA on Saturday said it would repatriate expat staff from Wuhan as fears grew that more cases of coronavirus would be found in France.
Three cases of the virus have been confirmed in France while Chinese authorities have said the death toll there has risen to 41 with around 1,300 infected.
The French firm, which makes brands including Peugeot and Citroen, said in a statement the evacuation was being `` implemented in full cooperation with the Chinese authorities and French consulate general '' and involved 38 people made up of staff members and their families working in the Wuhan region.
They would be quarantined in the city of Changsha, around 300 kilometres ( 180 miles) from Wuhan where the virus originated, before being allowed to return `` to their countries of origin '', the company said in a statement.
The first cases to be confirmed in Europe were announced by French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn on Friday.
Others were `` being monitored '', said Paris emergency service chief Pierre Cali, without giving an exact figure.
`` We are going to have patients suspected of having the virus, there are going to be ( more) cases, '' warned Yazdan Yazdanpanah, head of infectious diseases at Paris's Bichat hospital where two of the three cases were being treated.
Yazdanpanah said they were a couple from Wuhan, a man aged 31 and a woman aged 30, who arrived in France on January 18 as part of a trip.
The other case involved a 48-year-old man, originally from China, who returned to France on January 22 after having `` passed through Wuhan '', according to Buzyn.
He has been in hospital in the southwestern French city since Thursday after contacting doctors with a high temperature and a cough.
`` Ten to 15 people '' who had been in contact with him had come forward, Bordeaux mayor Nicolas Florian said, adding that Chinese New Year festivities planned for Sunday had been cancelled by organisers `` as a precaution ''.
An in-depth investigation into the three cases was launched which identified all those who had had close contact with the three patients to ensure that they were properly monitored to prevent the spread of the virus, French health ministry officials said.
All three were currently `` very well '', France's director-general of health Jerome Salomon said.
`` We are all reassured by their progress, '' he added.
A medical team several dozen strong would be put in place at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport from Sunday, health authorities added on Saturday.
The new virus has now infected people across China and in nearly a dozen other countries.
China's most important celebration, the New Year festivities, has been all but cancelled for at least 56 million people as authorities expanded travel bans.
The world's most populous country has scrambled to try to contain the disease, building a second field hospital in Wuhan to relieve overwhelmed medical facilities and closing more travel routes as the country marked the Lunar New Year holiday.
A seafood and live animal market in Wuhan has been identified as the centre of the outbreak.
French carmaker PSA on Saturday said it would repatriate expat staff from Wuhan as fears grew that more cases of coronavirus would be found in France.
Three cases of the virus have been confirmed in France while Chinese authorities have said the death toll there has risen to 41 with around 1,300 infected.
The French firm, which makes brands including Peugeot and Citroen, said in a statement the evacuation was being “ implemented in full cooperation with the Chinese authorities and French consulate general ” and involved 38 people made up of staff members and their families working in the Wuhan region.
They would be quarantined in the city of Changsha, around 300 kilometres ( 180 miles) from Wuhan where the virus originated, before being allowed to return “ to their countries of origin ”, the company said in a statement.
The first cases to be confirmed in Europe were announced by French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn on Friday.
Others were “ being monitored ”, said Paris emergency service chief Pierre Cali, without giving an exact figure.
“ We are going to have patients suspected of having the virus, there are going to be ( more) cases, ” warned Yazdan Yazdanpanah, head of infectious diseases at Paris’ s Bichat hospital where two of the three cases were being treated.
Yazdanpanah said they were a couple from Wuhan, a man aged 31 and a woman aged 30, who arrived in France on January 18 as part of a trip.
The other case involved a 48-year-old man, originally from China, who returned to France on January 22 after having “ passed through Wuhan ”, according to Buzyn.
He has been in hospital in the southwestern French city since Thursday after contacting doctors with a high temperature and a cough.
“ Ten to 15 people ” who had been in contact with him had come forward, Bordeaux mayor Nicolas Florian said, adding that Chinese New Year festivities planned for Sunday had been cancelled by organisers “ as a precaution ”.
An in-depth investigation into the three cases was launched which identified all those who had had close contact with the three patients to ensure that they were properly monitored to prevent the spread of the virus, French health ministry officials said.
All three were currently “ very well ”, France’ s director-general of health Jerome Salomon said.
“ We are all reassured by their progress, ” he added.
A medical team several dozen strong would be put in place at Paris’ s Charles de Gaulle airport from Sunday, health authorities added on Saturday.
The new virus has now infected people across China and in nearly a dozen other countries.
China’ s most important celebration, the New Year festivities, has been all but cancelled for at least 56 million people as authorities expanded travel bans.
The world’ s most populous country has scrambled to try to contain the disease, building a second field hospital in Wuhan to relieve overwhelmed medical facilities and closing more travel routes as the country marked the Lunar New Year holiday.
A seafood and live animal market in Wuhan has been identified as the centre of the outbreak.
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
China has so far refused to condemn its ally Russia’ s war, but Chinese painter Huang Rui is convinced that Ukraine has already won.
But as Russian bombs fell on Ukrainian cities, a shadow has fallen on Merkel's 16 years in office.
Russian forces inched towards Kyiv Saturday and pounded civilian areas in other Ukrainian cities.
Saudi Arabia on Saturday executed 81 people convicted of crimes ranging from killings to terrorism.
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general
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'Presumptive positive ' case of coronavirus detected in Ontario
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“ The individual is stable and is hospitalized ” the statement added, according to Reuters.
In a news conference on Saturday, Ontario’ s chief medical officer announced that a “ presumptive positive ” case of coronavirus has been confirmed at Toronto’ s Sunnybrook hospital, marking the first such case in Canada, reports Global News.
Health officials say they were made aware of the case on Saturday afternoon. The patient is a 50-year-old man who had traveled to Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the viral outbreak. The patient was said to be in stable condition. Toronto health officials say they are working closely with Canada’ s public health agency to “ prevent any spread ” of the virus.
Dr. Eileen De Villa, Toronto’ s medical officer of health, said right now, officials are focused on finding out who the patient may have come into contact with and what types of settings they may have been exposed to. It is not known when the patient came back from his visit to Wuhan.
“ It is understandable that people may be concerned with today’ s news of our first case and that people may worry, ” Dr. de Villa said in a press release, according to CTV News Canada.
“ But I assure you that based on the lessons we learned from SARS now 17 years ago, and given our experiences during the flu pandemic of 2009 and more recently, with Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome, we have learned, shared knowledge and built a stronger public health system that is ready to respond, as needed. ”
China’ s National Health Commission confirmed Saturday that the death toll from the new virus had climbed to 41, with the number of people infected rising to 1,287.
Karen Graham is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for environmental news. Karen's view of what is happening in our world is colored by her love of history and how the past influences events taking place today. Her belief in man's part in the care of the planet and our environment has led her to focus on the need for action in dealing with climate change. It was said by Geoffrey C. Ward, `` Journalism is merely history's first draft. '' Everyone who writes about what is happening today is indeed, writing a small part of our history.
There is no stated power in the US Constitution to regulate human reproduction.
A small dog looking at a christmas tree which has colored lights. Source - Trogain, CC SA 4.0.If you are having trouble finding a...
The hunt for answers - like whether the Omicron variant will trigger new waves of infection.
The new Omicron coronavirus variant has a high number of mutations which the WHO believes may make it more transmissible or resistant to vaccines...
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Wuhan Doctor Succumbs to Coronavirus While Treating Patients
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The medical professional is the first known fatality among staff treating victims.
A doctor treating patients got infected with the coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has sadly passed away after battling the disease for nine days. Sixty-two-year-old doctor Liang Wudong is the first known fatality among staff treating victims.
RELATED: U.S. TO SCREEN PASSENGERS FROM WUHAN, CHINA FOR NEW VIRUS
Liang worked at the Hubei Xinhua Hospital in Wuhan. On Saturday, state media revealed that a further 1,200 medical professionals were being sent to Wuhan.
Up until now, the death toll stands at 41, with 1,287 people infected. Meanwhile, around 56 million people are now subject to travel restrictions.
Wuhan has been in a virtual lockdown since Thursday, and transport restrictions have been imposed on nearly all the Hubei province.
Video has emerged, showing the chaos inside Wuhan hospitals. Corridors have been crowded with patients slumped on the floor and screaming for help.
Meanwhile, social media has been flooded with images of exhausted medical staff. Doctors and nurses are working around the clock without much rest or food. They are also burdened with uncomfortable contamination suits.
The outbreak comes at a time when citizens of Wuhan should be celebrating the lunar new year celebrations. However, with public gatherings banned and public transport suspended, there are few celebrations to be had.
In addition, Hubei is also experiencing a shortage of virus testing kits and face masks.
Meanwhile, internationally, signs of the virus have also been detected in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Nepal, Malaysia, France, the United States, and Australia.
On Saturday, officials in Australia revealed that the country had its first confirmed case of coronavirus. The victim was a Chinese national in his 50s who had been visiting Wuhan.
`` Given the number of cases that have been found outside of China and the significant traffic from Wuhan city in the past to Australia, it was not unexpected that we would get some cases, '' said at a news conference Australia's Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy.
`` This is the first confirmed case. There are other cases being tested each day, many of them are negative, but I wouldn't be surprised if we had further confirmed cases. ''
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tech
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Coronavirus: three cases in NSW and one in Victoria as infection reaches Australia
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Four men, all of whom have direct connections to Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the global coronavirus pandemic, have been confirmed as carrying the deadly virus in Australia.
A man in his 50s in Melbourne became the first confirmed case of novel coronavirus in Australia on Saturday morning, with three other cases confirmed in New South Wales late on Saturday.
Eleven countries have now confirmed cases of novel coronavirus ( 2019-nCoV), 41 people have died and more than 1,000 have been infected.
Victoria’ s health minister, Jenny Mikakos, said the man in Melbourne, a Chinese national, arrived at Tullamarine airport at 9am on Sunday 19 January on China Southern Airlines Flight No CZ321 from Guangzhou. He had previously been in Wuhan.
The man tested positive for coronavirus early on Saturday morning. He had visited a GP on Thursday and went to the Monash medical centre at Clayton on Friday, where he was put into isolation.
The man showed no symptoms while travelling, “ so may not have been contagious ” at the time, Mikakos said. But “ out of an abundance of caution ” health officials were contacting everybody who was on that flight.
“ There is no reason for alarm in the general community, ” Mikakos said. “ We have strict protocols that are in place in terms of how we deal with these infectious disease outbreaks. ”
Mikakos said the first infected man and his family “ did everything right ”.
“ He exhibited no symptoms on the flight and when he did experience some symptoms of illness they contacted the GP on Thursday, they called ahead and he was double-masked when he presented to the GP clinic.
“ He was not confirmed to have coronavirus by the GP. The family contacted the Monash medical centre on Friday, they called ahead of time and again he was masked before he turned up at [ emergency ] and immediately put into isolation. ”
The three other confirmed Australian cases, all in New South Wales, involve men aged between 30 and 60. Two had visited Wuhan in recent weeks, the other had direct contact with a confirmed case from Wuhan while in China.
A man in his 50s arrived in Sydney from Wuhan on China Eastern flight MU749 on 20 January. He developed symptoms that night and subsequently saw a doctor.
Another man, who is in his 30s, arrived in Sydney from China on 6 January. He did not develop symptoms until 15 January and saw his GP. He did not visit Wuhan but had contact with a person from the city diagnosed with coronavirus.
A third man, in his 40s, arrived in Sydney on 18 January after being in Wuhan. He did not develop symptoms until 24 January and presented to hospital on the same day.
All three men were diagnosed with novel coronavirus on Saturday 25 January. All three are currently in isolation in NSW hospitals.
A total of 18 people have been tested for the virus in NSW, with 12 of those given the all-clear.
The NSW health minister, Brad Hazzard, urged anyone with symptoms to come forward as soon as they felt unwell.
“ It is important people feel confident contacting their GP or local emergency department, ” he said. “ They should also call ahead to speak to their GP or emergency department. If the GP considers novel coronavirus testing is needed they will be referred to the emergency department for testing. ”
Nine people in Queensland have returned negative results for coronavirus, with authorities on Saturday still waiting on results from another possible case.
Four people in South Australia were also being tested but authorities said it was unlikely they actually had the virus, with a man also being checked in a Hobart hospital.
Australia’ s chief medical officer, Prof Brendan Murphy, said the man in Melbourne confirmed as having coronavirus had visited Wuhan province but had come to Australia on a direct flight from Guangzhou to Melbourne.
He said “ there are potentially others like this person... who was well when he travelled ”, but that there was “ no evidence this virus is being transmitted in Australia ”.
“ At this stage there is no risk to the general Australian community, ” Murphy said.
But he said there was significant potential for more cases in Australia.
“ There are other cases being tested each day. I wouldn’ t be surprised if we have further confirmed cases. ”
Murphy said that anyone who had travelled from China who developed flu-like symptoms should see their doctor.
The Australian foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, announced the Australian government had raised its travel advice for Hubei province in central China to level four – the highest level.
“ We now advise you: do not travel to and from Hubei province ”, the government advised.
Payne said: “ Chinese authorities have restricted travel in at least five Hubei cities. Australians going there may not be able to leave until restrictions are lifted. ”
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, said a confirmed case of coronavirus had been anticipated by the Australian government and the issue was being addressed “ incredibly seriously ”.
“ I want to assure Australians that our officials, our medical experts, our clinicians, our border security officials and agencies, our biosecurity professionals are all working closely together at both a commonwealth and state level, ” he said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has listed the virus as having “ pandemic potential ”. This allows for enhanced border protection measures.
Globally, efforts to contain the deadly new coronavirus have been stepped up, and the first cases have been reported in Europe.
China has widened restrictions on movement, expanding its unprecedented lockdown during the country’ s new year holiday period to 13 cities, covering at least 36 million people.
Late on Friday, authorities confirmed a further 15 deaths and 180 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of fatalities to 41 people and more than 1,000 people affected.
Cases have been reported in South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, the United States, Thailand and Vietnam. On Friday, the first cases were reported in Europe with France saying it had identified three cases.
The World Health Organisation has stopped short of declaring the outbreak a public health emergency of global concern but called on the international community to work co-operatively to fight the spread of the virus.
There is an emerging suspicion in China that officials may be downplaying the number of cases recorded over recent weeks, recalling the government’ s reluctance to disclose the full scale of the 2002-03 Sars outbreak, which killed almost 800 people.
Videos circulating on Weibo and other social media, reportedly from Hubei hospitals, show crowded waiting rooms and distressed and overwhelmed medical staff. Patients have reported being turned away from hospitals, which have been inundated with people who fear they have the virus.
Health facilities in Wuhan are reportedly running out of beds and diagnostic kits for patients who present with fever-like symptoms, which could mean many are unsure if they have the virus.
Initial symptoms of coronavirus are similar to those of a cold and flu, and include a cough or fever.
Most of the people who have died in the outbreak have been older men but on Friday Chinese authorities confirmed a 36-year-old man had died, the youngest fatality so far.
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Wuhan coronavirus: Death toll rises to 56
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Fifty-six people have been killed by the novel coronavirus in China, health officials said on Saturday. Over 1,900 confirmed cases have been reported across the country.
China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported that 237 patients are in critical condition.
Healthcare workers in the Chinese city of Wuhan say hospitals are running low on supplies as they treat an increasing number of patients.
The Chinese central government announced it would send more than 1,200 health workers — as well as 135 People's Liberation Army medical personnel -- to the city in an unprecedented effort to contain the spread of the virus.
Lunar New Year celebrations -- the country's most important holiday -- have been greatly impacted in Beijing, Hong Kong and other major cities due to the virus. More than 60 million people are under partial lockdown in the provinces of Hubei and Guangdong.
While most confirmed cases of the virus are in China, at least 13 places outside mainland China, including France, Australia and the United States are reporting their first cases.
In Canada, health officials on Saturday announced the first `` presumptive '' positive case of coronavirus. The case is pending additional confirmation from the country's national medical laboratory.
In Wuhan, ground zero for the virus, four healthcare workers -- including doctors -- have told CNN of the difficulties facing medical crews on the ground. They have asked to remain anonymous to avoid repercussions.
Through telephone conversations with CNN and posts on Chinese social media, they told of low hospital resources. In private groups online, those identified as hospital staff are coordinating with members of the public to import protective equipment as they treat an increasing number of infected patients.
`` In terms of resources, the whole of Wuhan is lacking, '' one Wuhan-based healthcare worker told CNN by phone. This person said they were looking for more protective clothing, protective goggles and masks.
`` It's really like we're going into battle stripped to the waist, '' one healthcare worker added, using a Chinese idiom that equates to `` going into battle without armor ''.
One hospital staff member claims healthcare workers have resorted to wearing diapers to work so as to avoid having to remove their HAZMAT suits, which they say are in short supply. A doctor on her Chinese social media Weibo page described similar accounts at another Wuhan hospital.
`` My family members are definitely worried about me, but I still have to work, '' another doctor told. But she said that she is hopeful they will ultimately get the gear they need. `` Our bosses, our hospital suppliers will definitely find a way to get these stocks to us, '' she added.
It's not clear if these accounts are anecdotal or whether there are widespread shortages across Wuhan.
Chinese state media has also shared posts from multiple Wuhan hospitals in which they ask for public donations of medical supplies. They report that one hospital staff member said the current supplies `` are only able to sustain three or four days ''.
The Wuhan Health Commission has requisitioned over 10,000 beds from 24 hospitals to be used in the treatment of confirmed and suspected cases.
On Friday, Wuhan officials acknowledged that local hospitals were struggling to accommodate people seeking medical attention and said measures were being put into place to alleviate the situation.
State media also reported that the city aims to build a 25,000 square meter ( 269,100 square foot) new facility within a week, increasing hospital capacity by 1,000 beds, and that several medical centers in Hubei province are asking for medical gear donations.
Locking down the virus over Lunar New Year
Authorities have imposed indefinite restrictions on public transport and travel.
All motor vehicles will be banned in Wuhan's city center starting Sunday to control the flow of people, according to the Wuhan Command Center, the taskforce set up to combat the virus. Only vehicles with special permits, free shuttles and government vehicles will be allowed to circulate.
Amid the lockdown, countries like the US and France have been attempting to evacuate their citizens from the central Chinese city.
The US government is arranging a charter flight to evacuate American diplomats and citizens from Wuhan, a US official with knowledge of the matter told CNN.
The French government says it's planning to set up a bus service to move French nationals out of Wuhan.
Meanwhile, 56 Indian students have been trapped in Wuhan for three days, with some afraid to leave their dorm room and fearful of running out of food.
Ganesan Deepshikha, a student at the Wuhan University School Of Medicine, told CNN that the students have been told by the Indian Embassy that they are safe in Wuhan but have not received any assistance.
The virus, which was first discovered in Wuhan in December, has spread to every province in China, except the remote autonomous region of Tibet.
Among those infected is a 2-year-old girl in the southern region of Guangxi, the local health authority said. She is believed to be the youngest patient infected.
The week-long Lunar New Year holiday, which began Saturday, has led to concerns that the outbreak could quickly accelerate, as hundreds of millions of people travel across the country to visit friends and relatives.
Lunar New Year is to China what the Christmas-New Year holiday period is to the United States -- except China's 1.4 billion population is more than four times that of the US.
In many cities, festivities have been called off. Authorities in Beijing have canceled all large-scale Lunar New Year celebrations, including traditional fairs and celebrations around temples.
Shanghai Disneyland has temporarily closed its doors. Seven blockbuster movies that were set to hit theaters this weekend have been canceled or postponed.
Businesses are also taking measures to protect staff and the public.
On Saturday, coffee giant Starbucks said it has closed all 90 of its Hubei stores indefinitely. The closures will continue throughout the Spring Festival, which runs until the end of January.
`` All Starbucks stores and special star delivery in Hubei will be temporarily closed. Hubei employees are asked to rest at home, minimize going out, take care to protect themselves and their families. All store employees who were scheduled to work during the closing period will be paid as usual, '' a statement from the company said.
A global concern
On Thursday, the World Health Organization ( WHO) moved to declare the coronavirus an emergency within China -- but refrained from classifying the outbreak as an epidemic of international concern.
Mounting evidence suggests the virus is spreading outside mainland China, however, with 13 countries and territories reporting confirmed cases, including the United States and France.
Australia confirmed that three men who traveled from China to Sydney had tested positive, health authorities in the city said. The country has now confirmed a total of four cases.
Nepal also confirmed its first case, a spokesman for the country's Health Ministry told CNN. The patient is a 31-year-old Nepali man studying for his PhD in Wuhan, spokesman Mahendra Kumar Shrestha said. The student flew to Nepal earlier this month and was admitted to a hospital in Kathmandu on January 13 with fever and respiratory problems.
In South Korea, the country's Centers for Disease Control has announced a third confirmed case of the virus. A 54-year-old South Korean man who lives in Wuhan and traveled to South Korea on January 20 called a hotline on Saturday to report his symptoms, the agency said.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announced that the Hong Kong Disease contingency plan has been upgraded from `` serious '' to `` emergency '' level. Schools in the Chinese territory will be suspended until February 17.
On Thursday, David Heymann, the chairman of a WHO committee gathering data on the outbreak, said the virus spreads more easily from person to person than previously thought. `` We are now seeing second and third generation spread, '' Heymann said.
Coronaviruses are transmitted by animals and people, and the Wuhan strain has been linked to a market in the city that was selling seafood and live animals, including wild species.
Third generation means that someone who became infected after handling animals at the market spreads the virus to someone else, who then spreads it to a third person. The announcement marks a development in the progress of the spread of the virus.
Heymann said there is no evidence at this point that the virus is airborne and could be spread across a room, as happens with the flu or measles.
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Which Is Safer For The Environment? Lithium-Ion Or Lead-Acid Batteries?
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Following recent articles I wrote on both & nbsp; lithium-ion & nbsp; and & nbsp; lead-acid & nbsp; batteries, I received significant correspondence about the environmental pros and cons of both types of battery. In this article I will use some of the feedback and references I received in an effort to compare and contrast some environmental impacts of these two types of battery. & nbsp; Because of the long history of lead-acid batteries, there is a significant body of literature discussing their impact on the environment. But lithium-ion batteries are newer to the market, and their environmental impact is still being worked out. Lead-Acid Batteries & nbsp; The single-biggest environmental issue with lead-acid batteries involves the lead component of the battery. Lead is a heavy metal with potentially dangerous health impacts. Ingestion of lead is especially dangerous for young children because their brains are still developing. & nbsp; In the 20th century, leaded gasoline and lead-based paints were extensively disseminated in the environment. Today those sources have largely been eliminated. & nbsp; According to & nbsp; the World Health Organization WHO, today around 85% of the world & rsquo; s lead consumption is for the production of lead-acid batteries. The good news is that lead-acid batteries are 99% recyclable. However, lead exposure can still take place during the mining and processing of the lead, as well as during the recycling steps. & nbsp; The WHO report referenced above noted that lead recycling is an important source of environmental contamination and human exposure in many countries where it is poorly regulated. Lead recycling in such countries is often carried out without the necessary processes and technologies to control lead emissions. But this can be a problem even in developed countries with good regulations. The & nbsp; California Department of Toxic Substances Control & nbsp; DTSC has written extensively on the case of Exide Technologies, a lead-acid battery manufacturing company. & nbsp; Exide had to & nbsp; close down & nbsp; a large battery recycling plant in California after it failed to meet emission controls and waste management standards. California regulators believe as many as 10,000 homes could be contaminated with lead from the plant. The cleanup is expected to take many years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Exide battery recycling plants in other states have also been cited for contaminating the environment with lead. & nbsp; The WHO report also highlighted cases in Senegal, Dominican Republic, and Vietnam where contamination from lead-acid battery recycling resulted in negative health effects & mdash; including potentially the death of children. Related Why The Coronavirus Is A Real Threat To Oil Markets Thus, while the 99% recycling statistic is important, it may understate the potential for lead contamination via this process. However, the situation would definitely be much worse if these batteries were being landfilled, as a single lead acid battery in a landfill has the potential to contaminate a large area. & nbsp; Lithium-ion batteries & nbsp; & nbsp; Many who wrote to me following previous articles maintained that recycling is the Achilles heel of lithium-ion batteries. They stressed that while lead-acid batteries are 99% recyclable, lithium-ion batteries are recycled at a rate below 5%. However, several companies also contacted me to argue that the 5% statistic itself is misleading. & nbsp; The primary issue with lithium-ion recycling is that beyond smaller batteries used in consumer electronics, relatively few lithium-ion batteries compared to lead-acid batteries have reached the end of life stage because they haven & rsquo; t been in the market all that long and they last a long time. & nbsp; Further, because lithium isn & rsquo; t a toxic heavy metal like lead, there has been far less pressure to recycle these batteries. Nevertheless, the issue will have a growing profile as growing numbers of lithium-ion batteries reach the end of their usable life. & nbsp; & nbsp; The good news is that there are companies that are working on it. Li-ion batteries & nbsp; can be recycled & nbsp; at rates as high as lead-acid batteries, but the issue has simply not yet been viewed as one of critical importance. Alex Pisarev, the CEO of California-based lithium-ion battery supplier & nbsp; OneCharge & nbsp; responded to a query on the question of lithium-ion battery recycling & nbsp; & ldquo; Our batteries are highly recyclable & ndash; based on our Bill of Materials on average we have 83% of steel and copper, by weight. They are close to 100% recyclable. There are technologies being developed to recycle the rest, which is Li-ion cells themselves. Some companies already claim 50%, which takes OneCharge batteries to around 90% recycling rate. It is important to mention that we plan to repurpose the batteries after the end of their useful life in lift trucks. Around 80% of cells usually can still work in less demanding applications, such as home energy storage. There is a lot of potential here, we just have not accumulated enough old batteries, they just keep working & rdquo; Related Why BlackRock Is & lsquo; Going Green & rsquo; And while lithium itself isn & rsquo; t of great concern from a pollution angle, these batteries do contain metals like cobalt, nickel, and manganese. While these metals aren & rsquo; t as problematic as lead, they are considered & nbsp; toxic heavy metals. Further, these metals must be mined, and there can be pollution associated with this activity as there is with lead mining. In addition to the pollution potential, much of the criticisms surrounding the environmental impact of lithium-ion batteries have been in relation to & nbsp; child labor in cobalt mines & nbsp; in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I reached out again to OneCharge for comments specifically on the environmental and ethical issues around cobalt use in lithium-ion batteries. Tim Karimov, President of OneCharge, replied & ldquo; Our batteries are designed for optimal performance and safety required by the Material Handling Industry, and the perfect cell chemistry here is LiFePO4. These cells do not contain cobalt or other metals associated with unethical mining. They are just so much safer for workers and do not cause pollution This technology is truly sustainable. & rdquo; If the broader trend of lithium-ion batteries is to move away from chemistries containing cobalt & mdash; something & nbsp; both Tesla and Panasonic & nbsp; are working toward & mdash; then it would address one of the primary criticisms focused on growing lithium-ion battery usage. Conclusions & nbsp; Electric vehicle sales have exploded in recent years, but those batteries won & rsquo; t reach the end of life for a few years yet. Projections by industry experts are that China alone will produce half a million metric tons of used lithium-ion batteries through this year. By 2030, 11 million metric tons of Li-ion batteries & nbsp; are expected & nbsp; to reach the end of their service lives. Thus, Li-ion battery recycling is an issue that will take on much greater importance in coming years. & nbsp; Many of those batteries will be headed to landfills or to China under current trends. But lithium-ion recycling plants are coming online, like this & nbsp; recently-announced & nbsp; recycling plant by Swedish lithium-ion battery maker Northvolt. As Northvolt CEO Peter Carlsson explained & ldquo; There & rsquo; s a pretty significant export flow of used batteries to China, and that & rsquo; s stupid. It & rsquo; s important to keep these flows within Europe. & rdquo; By Robert Rapier
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In bid to attract more U.S. tourists, Japan touts attractions at New York travel show
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NEW YORK – Japanese travel agencies and local governments gathered at the New York Times Travel Show on Friday in the hope of drawing more American tourists to the country ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
However, the rapid spread of a new coronavirus believed to have originated from the central Chinese city of Wuhan is a major worry, with some expressing concern that the illness could discourage travelers to Asia.
Kanagawa Prefecture and its prefectural capital, Yokohama, was one of the exhibitors participating in the annual show for the first time.
The port city hopes to attract tourists before and during the Olympics as some of the sporting events such as soccer and baseball will take place there.
“ America is probably the next China, it’ s a huge market for Japan, ” said Toshikazu Yazawa, a representative of the Japan National Tourism Organization in charge of the city.
Yokohama will provide two locations for non-ticket holders to watch the Olympic competitions live.
Nagano Prefecture was another exhibitor to promote its region to U.S. tourists.
The prefecture, which hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics, is known for its ski resorts and macaques that bathe in their own hot spring bath.
“ Last year, we had 40,000 American tourists, ” Yu Yamagishi, JNTO director in charge of Nagano Prefecture, said. “ Most of them were visiting the snow monkeys and skiing. So we are promoting the winter season. ”
Yamagishi said the prefecture hopes to attract 2 million foreign tourists this year. To reach the target, Nagano is shifting its focus away from Asian consumers and toward North American and European tourists.
At the travel show, Tobu Railway Co. emphasized the attractiveness of two major sightseeing sites — Nikko, known for its nature and a Shinto shrine, and just two hours from central Tokyo, and Tokyo Skytree, the world’ s tallest broadcasting tower.
The JNTO says while that the Japanese government is taking measures against the spread of the coronavirus, such as scanning the temperature of passengers at airports, local governments and companies have not so far taken specific measures to ward off the virus.
According to JNTO, the total number of foreign visitors to Japan was around 31.88 million in 2019, up slightly from 31.19 million the previous year, while the number of U.S. tourists rose 13 percent to a record 1.72 million.
The three-day travel show is one of the biggest trade and consumer conventions in North America.
Last year, the number of participant companies and organizations reached a record 747 representing 176 countries.
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China Eastern Airlines: Coronavirus death toll rises to 41 as China scrambles to contain outbreak
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( Update 1, adds details)
Beijing, Jan 25 ( EFE).- At least 16 more people were confirmed dead on Saturday from a deadly new coronavirus, taking the death toll to 41 in China as the country grapples to contain the outbreak that has so far infected nearly 1,300 people.
The National Health Commission said 444 fresh cases were reported since Friday, raising the number to 1,287 of confirmed patients.
The health commission said that 237 patients were serious while 38 had been cured and discharged from hospitals.
Health authorities have carried out checkups on 15,197 people who have come into close contact with infected persons. Nearly 14,000 of them continue to be monitored for any symptom.
Outside China, five infected persons were reported in Thailand with two of the patients cured, three each in Taiwan, Singapore and France and two each in Japan ( one cured), South Korea, the United States, and Vietnam. One case has been reported in Nepal.
The symptoms of the new coronavirus, provisionally designated by the World Health Organization as 2019-nCoV, are similar to those of cold but may be accompanied by fever and fatigue, dry cough and dyspnea ( shortness of breath).
The WHO has so far decided not to declare an international health emergency due to strict measures carried out in China, which include complete suspension of transport in around a dozen cities in Hubei province and canceling Chinese New Year celebrations.
Traditional events at Lama Temple and Ditan Park in Beijing were canceled due to the risk of spreading the virus, authorities reported Friday, while the famous Forbidden City has also been closed indefinitely.
China has deployed around 600 personnel, including doctors and other health professions, to Wuhan to help fight the disease.
China Eastern airlines flight MU5000 landed in Wuhan at 1.26 am on Saturday carrying 136 medical professionals from 30 hospitals in Shanghai, official daily Global Times reported.
Another report in state news agency Xinhua said that the authorities had sent 450 military health professionals to Wuhan, including some who had experience of fighting the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, ( SARS) caused by a similar virus, and Ebola.
These 450 medical professionals are from different medical colleges of the army, navy and air force and arrived in Wuhan on Friday night in military planes.
The group includes experts in respiratory health, contagious diseases, infection control and intensive care, and would be deployed in Wuhan hospitals where the majority of the coronavirus patients are admitted.
Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, where the virus was first reported, has been on lockdown since Thursday to prevent further spread of the virus and the city's authorities have begun to build a `` special hospital '' with 1,000 beds for infected patients.
`` Construction of the special hospital with a capacity of 1,000 beds for patients with # nCoV2019 has begun in Wuhan, '' official China Daily said on Twitter, which is blocked in the country.
The hospital in Wuhan will be based on the model of a similar facility that was built in just seven days in Beijing to deal with SARS in 2003. EFE
© 2020 EFE News Services ( U.S.) Inc., source EFE Ingles
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business
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What it will take to stop the Wuhan coronavirus ( opinion)
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Laurie Garrett is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and policy analyst, and the author of
`` The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance. ''
The views expressed in this commentary belong to the author. View more
opinions
at CNN.
( CNN)
On this date 17 years ago, I was covering the severe acute respiratory syndrome ( SARS) virus for several months as it spread across Asia, eventually reaching 37 countries, sickening 8,098 people and killing 774 of them.
So, as I read the first reports of a cluster of animal-market related illnesses, with the first patient exhibiting symptoms of pneumonia as early as
December 12, 2019
, I had a chilling sense of déjà vu. By New Year's Eve, it was obvious something akin to SARS -- as it turns out, the Wuhan coronavirus is in the same family of viruses as SARS and MERS ( Middle East respiratory syndrome) -- was unfolding in China.
Laurie Garrett
The mysterious pneumonia virus that emerged from a live animal market in China's central city of Wuhan last month has now infected far too many people, over far too vast a geographic area, to be easily controlled.
The Wuhan coronavirus
-- part of a family of viruses that are common among animals and can cause fever as well as respiratory symptoms when transmitted to humans -- has been found in cities all over China, and travelers have since spread the virus to several countries, including Singapore, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan and South Korea as well as Hong Kong and Macau.
The
first American case
-- involving a man in his 30s who recently traveled to Wuhan -- was confirmed outside Seattle on January 21, before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Friday a second case in Chicago. As of Friday, at least 41 people have died from the illness.
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I warned that China appeared to be taking
more aggressive steps shutting down social media posts, arresting people accused of spreading `` rumors '' and capping the flow of information about the outbreak than it was halting the transmission of the virus. For more than a week, the reported number of cases barely changed after local authorities shut down the
Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market
, the putative source of the virus. And authorities insisted the cause was neither SARS, nor similar viruses like the flu, avian flu, or MERS.
They also repeatedly stated that there was no evidence of human-to-human spread of the disease ( which turned out to be false), leading the World Health Organization and outside world to believe that closing the live animal market effectively brought the outbreak to a halt.
As recently as January 18, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention
posted stern warnings
against paying heed to `` rumors '' and insisted there were no cases of the disease in hospitals outside of Wuhan, adding that the outbreak was `` preventable and controllable. ''
But we now know that was far from true.
Coronavirus death toll in China hits 41 as medical staff struggle to cope
Officially, there are more than 1,000 cases of the Wuhan coronavirus. Unofficially, however, the toll is likely to be far higher, and more than
20 Chinese
cities
have reported cases of the coronavirus.
Separate studies from London's Imperial College and Hong Kong University Medical School estimated that some 1,300 to 1,700 people were infected during the first week of January, when Chinese officials reported just a handful of cases and downplayed the epidemic's severity. This week, the
Imperial College team
estimated that there were a total of 4,000 cases ( with the possibility of up to 9,700 cases in the worst-case scenario) by January 18, when the official tally was still at
62 cases
.
Using a different statistical method, scientists at
Northeastern University
in Boston reckon that 5,900 were infected by January 23.
Despite the wide disparity in the figures, this new epidemic seems
poised to eclipse the scale
of the 2003 SARS epidemic, and is already well outside of the reach of simple control measures.
Hong Kong University virologist Guan Yi, who was part of the team that discovered the SARS virus, tells the
Washington Post
that the epidemic is so out of control now that `` a bigger outbreak is certain. '' He said that even with a conservative estimate, the outbreak could be 10 times bigger than the SARS epidemic -- with a reach of more than 80,000 cases.
Speaking on background, other SARS veterans tell me there may already be `` many thousands '' of infected individuals in China.
Because authorities initially downplayed the seriousness of the outbreak instead of implementing swift control measures, people have traveled to and from Wuhan -- a major transportation hub with a population of 11 million people -- and unwittingly carried the virus with them.
Chinese authorities have shut down flights, ferries, highways, and trains leaving Wuhan, as well as public transportation within the city. Twelve other cities in China have issued travel restrictions in an unprecedented move to contain the virus just days before the Lunar New Year on January 25, which usually ushers the largest human migration on earth, with hundreds of millions of people traveling to see relatives.
Following my January 8 claim that the Chinese government was
covering up
a significant epidemic,
pressure mounted
from United Nations agencies, Ministries of Health worldwide and the scientific community. Finally, Wuhan provincial communist party chief Jiang Chaoliang, and his counterparts in neighboring districts, came under veiled criticism from
President Xi Jinping
who ordered Party leaders to `` put people's safety and health as the top priority and take effective measures to curb the spread of the virus. ''
Snakes could be the source of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak
On January 20, China's National Health Commission designated the new disease a Class B infection, although it was
treating the virus as a Class A infection
-- meaning mandatory quarantines and community lockdowns may be used to stop its spread.
And the following day, the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission
posted on social media
that, `` Anyone who puts the face of politicians before the interests of the people will be the sinner of a millennium to the party and the people. '' The commentary also warned that `` anyone who deliberately delays and hides the reporting of cases out of his or her own self-interest will be nailed on the pillar of shame for eternity '' and stressed that transparency was the best defense against rumors and widespread fear.
Not surprisingly, reported numbers of cases from all over China
jumped dramatically
after Xi's speech and subsequent pressure from Beijing. This has confused matters considerably, making it impossible to tell how much of the soaring epidemic toll is due to a surge in actual new infections, versus release of case numbers that local authorities had been covering up.
Worse, despite calls for openness,
SARS hero
Dr. Zhong Nanshan
, who was celebrated for his 2003 efforts, gave a televised interview on January 20 in which he warned that 14 healthcare workers were infected in Wuhan, the risk to medical personnel is acute, and severity of threat will rise if the virus mutates. Zhong, who had initially made several appearances on Chinese television, has not been featured on broadcasts in recent days, with some
speculating that the government is now silencing him
.
But Zhong's warning represented sound science. As the leading Chinese
virology team
wrote, after comparing the genetics and proteins of the new virus and SARS, `` the Wuhan nCoV poses a significant public health risk for human transmission, '' because it -- like SARS -- has the ability to bind to a protein found on the surface of most human lung cells. `` People also need to be reminded that risk and dynamic of cross-species or human-to-human transmission of coronaviruses are also affected by many other factors, '' like the host's immune response, the speed with which the viruses can multiply inside human lungs, and the potential mutations that might make the virus more virulent or transmissible.
In 2003, a fresh food market continues to trade despite the threat of the SARS virus in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, China.
Regardless of how transparent Beijing may now become, what I witnessed tracking SARS across Hong Kong and China, and subsequent investigations of sites hit by the disease in Hanoi, Bangkok, Singapore, Toronto and Hong Kong augurs poorly for this new viral epidemic and China's ability to bring it to a rapid resolution.
While 17 years has brought significant improvements in virology, diagnostics development, international health regulations and the WHO, and we know more today about the nCoV2019 virus ( as the Wuhan coronavirus is awkwardly dubbed) than we did one month into the SARS epidemic, there is no magic wand that can wave this highly dispersed, airborne-spread, human-to-human transmitting microbe away.
After the initial coverup, Beijing is now executing the playbook that ultimately stopped SARS. The city of Wuhan is now on lockdown and fever checkpoints are operating in most major transit hubs across the country while Lunar New Year celebrations have been canceled. Instant contagious quarantine
1,000-bed facilities
are under construction, with one due to open next week outside Wuhan. One key step -- closing all live animal markets nationwide -- has not yet been implemented.
I discovered in 2003 that wildlife dealers and animal breeders sell their living creatures all over the country, so that an infected animal in one city's market may well have a counterpart from the same dealer, on sale in another market hundreds of miles away. It is not yet known what beast was the source of nCoV2019, though one study suggests, based on genetic analysis of the virus,
that it came from a snake
. The SARS virus was transmitted to restaurant workers who bought and slaughtered
live civets
-- raccoon-like animals in a Guangzhou live animal market, which I investigated before authorities shut it down.
Like the Guangzhou market, Wuhan's Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market sells a
vast range of animals
, including civets as well as other exotic wild animals. All live animal markets throughout China and neighboring Asian countries should be shut down immediately, and not reopen until the source of the nCoV2019 epidemic is identified. Until then, it should be assumed that any live animals sold in markets from Hanoi, Vietnam, to Ulan Bator, Mongolia, might be dangerous to hold, slaughter or consume.
To stop the SARS epidemic in 2003, governments, hospitals and public health authorities resorted to measures that mirrored infection control in the early 20th century, focusing on taking temperatures to find individuals with fevers, and then placing those people -- regardless of the causes of their febrile states -- in mandatory quarantine. Eventually, with the feverish souls separated from the rest of humanity, the virus stopped spreading. By June 2003 the Chinese government was able to
declare victory
over SARS, eight months after the virus first emerged.
This photo taken on January 22, 2020 shows medical staff members wearing protective suits at the Zhongnan hospital in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province.
Here is what it will take, then, to stop the Wuhan virus.
First, the flow of people who are infected has to stop and transportation across the entirety of China must be monitored or restricted. The Wuhan animal market from which nCoV2019 arose is located less than 0.5 miles from one of the city's train stations, where several high-speed rails stop. It must be assumed that people, and their live animals, walked that short distance earlier this month to take the trains -- possibly carrying the virus with them to cities across China.
A post from Wuhan Railway that has since been deleted said
300,000 people
traveled out of Wuhan by train on Wednesday. It is imperative that the
tough lockdown
measures unfolding this week presage nationwide travel restrictions.
During the SARS epidemic, a brave military physician leaked medical documents to
Time magazine
, providing proof that SARS patients were
secretly being treated
in People's Liberation Army facilities in Beijing. Once word was out, I watched as tens of thousands of Beijing residents climbed onto trains, fleeing the city -- and taking SARS to every corner of the country.
After the exodus from Beijing in 2003, authorities erected fever check stations in every air, bus and train terminal in China, and placed policed health stations along the nation's highways. Fever-check stations were so abundant that I was typically tested 10 to 12 times a day in Beijing, and every 10 to 20 miles while driving on major highways.
The Chinese government has started erecting a network of
fever stations
in
transit hubs
, and I expect this will ramp up considerably over the coming week. Social media posts already show several photos and videos of officials erecting
roadblocks, barricades,
and traffic diversions to police-manned fever stations and
similar measures
reminiscent of what I witnessed in 2003.
Currently, family members of known nCoV2019 patients are tested for infection and placed under surveillance. Chinese authorities are already tracking hundreds of close contacts of known patients, and this will escalate radically over coming days. Apartment complexes and hotels that are known to have housed a nCoV2019-infected person will also be scoured.
Medical staff wearing protective gear go about their duties in the Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital in Tai Po where seven hospital workers have gone down with flu-like symptoms on August 27, 2003.
There must also be a safe place to quarantine people who are running temperatures. In 2003 I watched in frank astonishment as teams of Chinese workers erected entire hospitals -- complete with air filters, special sewage systems and electricity -- in just days, province-by-province. A
similar effort
is
now underway in Wuhan
.
By far the most important measures to stop the Wuhan coronavirus will be those related to hospitals and how well medical teams can contain the virus. Both MERS and SARS spread like wildfire through unprepared medical facilities, regardless of the comparative wealth and sophistication of the hospitals. Most of the SARS cases in Hong Kong went to two hospitals: one had just a single healthcare worker infected, while the other suffered terrible losses in both health workers and patients who were being treated for other medical ailments.
The key difference? The teams in the better hospital had years of infection control training, which taught staff to work in teams and make sure that any contaminated protective gear was safely removed without contact with the skin, face, eyes or hands.
Over the last few days, many Chinese social media users have posted dramatic videos and photos of over-crowded hospital emergency room facilities, in which frantic patients and family members are crammed together and healthcare workers are hard-pressed to control the influx, as the infectious spread of the virus is surely occurring. In the SARS epidemic, hospitals eventually realized the need to set up fever check stations outside the facilities, screening would-be patients, and ushering febrile individuals into an entry separate from other hospital admissions.
In Toronto and Singapore, which have remarkably good healthcare systems and state-of-the-art facilities, hospital workers struggled mightily to stop spread of SARS, and healthcare workers who were infected died. In some of my discussions with physicians and nurses that went through the SARS nightmares, I have learned that the wealthier facilities were, perhaps, at greater risk because they had more equipment and procedures to apply to patients, including intubation and lavage, which was used to remove fluids from the lungs that built up in response to infection.
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When SARS hit Hanoi, patients were originally taken to the prestigious French Hospital, where modern interventions were used, but the virus readily spread, taking the lives of doctors and nurses. When patients were moved to the far less sophisticated Bach Mai Hospital, which lacked some of the more advanced equipment, windows were open due to a lack of air conditioning.
According to some of the doctors, this slowed the spread of the virus by
preventing it from adhering
to surfaces and people in the hospital.
China is likely to take a serious economic hit as a result of the nCoV2019 virus. The SARS epidemic cost the global economy $ 54 billion, according to a World Bank estimate, and the Wuhan coronavirus is likely to affect Chinese tourism and trade. Seventeen years after SARS, China -- now the second largest economy in the world -- is likely to experience a higher scale of costs and burdens to execute nationwide containment strategy. But Beijing has no choice. The virus is already everywhere.
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general
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Wuhan Rushing to Build New Coronavirus Hospital in Record Six Days
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A similar hospital was built in Beijing back in 2003 during the SARS virus in just seven days.
The Chinese city of Wuhan has been struggling to build a new hospital to treat coronavirus patients. Now, the city aims to build a hospital in just six days that, according to state media, will contain about 1,000 beds.
The new structure is being built to `` address the insufficiency of existing medical resources, '' the Associated Press noted. It has been reported that people seeking treatment have had to wait for hours in line.
`` It's basically a quarantined hospital where they send people with infectious diseases so it has the safety and protective gear in place, '' Joan Kaufman, lecturer in global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School, told the BBC.
Video has already surfaced of diggers at the hospital site. A similar hospital was set up in Beijing back in 2003 during the SARS virus and was successfully built in seven days. The Xiaotangshan Hospital was hailed at the time as a `` miracle in the history of medicine '' by the country's media.
About 4,000 people worked day and night to build the hospital that included an X-ray room, a CT room, an intensive-care unit, and a laboratory. The building allegedly broke the world record for the fastest construction of a hospital.
The new Wuhan hospital is set to be made of prefabricated buildings, just like the Beijing hospital. `` China has a record of getting things done fast even for monumental projects like this, '' Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, told BBC.
`` This authoritarian country relies on this top-down mobilization approach. They can overcome bureaucratic nature and financial constraints and are able to mobilize all of the resources. ''
Engineers from across the country will be brought in to complete the project on time.
`` The engineering work is what China is good at. They have records of building skyscrapers at speed. This is very hard for westerners to imagine. It can be done, '' Huang added.
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tech
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‘ I never thought we would get there’: Australia’ s year of Covid – from the first case to the first doughnut day
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As vaccines are rolled out globally, Australia finds itself in an enviable position, thanks to a critical early response
Last modified on Sun 17 Jan 2021 02.03 GMT
When Australia’ s first case of Covid-19 was confirmed in Victoria on 25 January, the virus didn’ t even have an official name. The case was a man from Wuhan, China, who flew to Melbourne from Guandong on 19 January. On 26 January, Australia Day, the federal health secretary Prof Brendan Murphy held a press conference, his comments revealing how little was known about the virus that was only reported in Wuhan in December 2019.
“ We don’ t know exactly how long symptoms take to show after a person has been infected, but there is an incubation period and some patients will have very mild symptoms, ” Murphy said. At the time, there was no hotel quarantine. International arrivals were just told to alert the airline, or a biosecurity officer, if they had symptoms.
The World Health Organization had given the virus that causes Covid-19 an official name just two weeks earlier, calling it “ severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ”, or Sars-CoV-2, because it is genetically linked to the coronavirus responsible for the Sars outbreak of 2003. While related, the two viruses are different, but how different was not known at the time.
One year on from Australia’ s first case, there have been almost 30,000 cases in Australia and just over 900 deaths. Vaccines are being rolled out globally, with vulnerable Australians to receive their first dose in February. Queensland and New South Wales are managing clusters sparked by hotel quarantine leaks, but Australia’ s position is enviable when compared with the almost 2 million deaths and more than 90 million cases globally, and the overflowing morgues, exhausted healthcare staff and prolonged and repeated lockdowns being navigated by other countries.
The first case of novel coronavirus, which will later be named Sars-CoV-2, is identified in Australia, in a traveller who flew from China to Melbourne.
Prime minister Scott Morrison announces foreign arrivals from mainland China will not be allowed entry into Australia, as part of measures to tackle the escalating crisis.
James Kwan is the first person in Australia to die after being diagnosed with Covid-19. The 78-year-old Perth man was a passenger on board the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship that was forced to quarantine in the Japanese port of Yokohama in February.
Australia reports its first community transmission of Covid-19 in a 53-year-old health worker diagnosed in New South Wales.
The World Health Organization declares a pandemic.
The Ruby Princess cruise ship is given permission to dock in Sydney and passengers disembark. Over the coming weeks, more than 900 virus cases and 28 deaths will be linked to the ship, including 20 deaths in Australia and eight in the US.
An international travel ban comes into force. Domestic travel is discouraged.
Widespread closure of businesses begins across the country, with only supermarkets and other essential services remaining open. Working from home begins, with only essential workers allowed to leave their home for work. People are told to stay at home to slow the spread of the virus. Australians are told these measures could last six months. Most schools are closed.
All returning international travellers are now required to undertake 14 days of quarantine in hotels managed by the states and territories. Previously, travellers were asked to self-isolate.
For the first time, Western Australia closes its border to the eastern states. The measure takes effect from 11.59pm.
The government’ s $ 130bn wage subsidy package, including jobkeeper, passes both houses of parliament. It follows childcare being made free by the government earlier in the month.
Throughout the month Australian cases continue to fall and modelling shows the curve is being flattened.
Morrison announces the national cabinet’ s three-stage ‘ roadmap’ to ease Covid-19 restrictions, with this to occur sooner than anticipated due to continuing low case numbers. Some states – Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania – indicate their own initial changes to restrictions.
Ten Victorian postcodes go back into lockdown from midnight and international flights coming into Melbourne are diverted elsewhere, as the state struggles to get on top of Covid-19 outbreaks and community transmission. It will later emerge the virus leaked into the community out of hotel quarantine.
The greater Melbourne area and Mitchell shire also return to lockdown after Victoria records 191 new cases of Covid-19 in 24 hours, the largest number of positive cases since the pandemic began. Premier Daniel Andrews says he knows “ there will be enormous amounts of damage that will be done because of this ”.
States and territories aside from Victoria start easing more restrictions, after a national cabinet meeting, but these restrictions will ease at different times depending on the jurisdiction.
From 11.59pm masks are made mandatory in Victoria. The fine for not wearing a face covering is $ 200.
Andrews declares a state of disaster in Victoria halfway through what is supposed to be a six-week lockdown. He implements a curfew for greater Melbourne and Mitchell shire residents, and people are not to travel outside of a 5km radius from their homes. Regional Victoria is also placed under lockdown restrictions.
As cases fall in Victoria the state government reveals a roadmap for easing lockdown restrictions. Face masks will remain compulsory.
From 11.59pm a number of restrictions begin easing across Victoria.
Victoria records the first day of zero new cases of community transmission since 9 June.
The Australian government terminates its agreement with Australian biotech company CSL to supply 51m doses of a Covid-19 vaccine being developed by the University of Queensland, after vaccine trial participants return false positive test results for HIV.
NSW records three cases of locally-acquired Covid-19, including an airport bus driver from south-west Sydney and two people in their 60s and 70s from the northern beaches.
Eight cases of community transmission of Covid-19 in Victoria prompt the state government to swiftly close the border with NSW and introduce new restrictions.
The federal government announces it will bring forward the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine in Australia to February, and aims to have four million people receive the first dose by March.
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announces a three-day lockdown of greater Brisbane after a hotel quarantine worker is infected with a concerning and more transmissible variant of Covid-19 known as the B117 variant. The federal government announces new testing requirements for travellers triggered by fears of the variant entering the Australian community.
Fears about a cluster of Covid-19 cases spreading within a Brisbane quarantine hotel grow, as the Queensland government considers using regional mining camps to house returned travellers.
Australia’ s relatively strong position comes down to decisions and discussions that happened early in the piece, including focusing on quickly learning as much as possible, says Doherty Institute director Prof Sharon Lewin, who is co-chair of the National Covid Health and Research Advisory Committee, which advises the chief medical officer.
“ In early February, we were heavily activated in Australia, and there was a lot happening on testing, on modelling, yet it felt as though the rest of the world wasn’ t doing much, ” Lewin says.
“ It was an extraordinary time, when many other countries didn’ t think this would be a big problem. It really wasn’ t until March that the gravity of this, I think, hit the rest of the world.
“ Of course there were some countries like South Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand and Singapore which were also doing what Australia was early on, but I can’ t emphasise enough what a big impact that very early awareness did for Australia. It meant we never got extensive virus seeding in the country, and that was not just because of the scientists and doctors, but also the politicians taking it seriously back then. ”
Lewin is world-renowned for her work on HIV, having worked to fight that virus alongside people such as US infectious diseases expert and White House adviser, Dr Anthony Fauci. Like many physicians, she has pivoted to also focus on Covid in the past year, reviewing evidence, advising government, and helping her institute focus on Covid-19 research.
Lewin had been overseas before Covid hit Australia, and arrived back to Melbourne the day before Australia closed its borders to China, on 1 February. “ It’ s been ‘ go, go, go’ since then, ” she said. “ It’ s been what I call survival mode, and I think all my colleagues have felt like that, they have been working nonstop as have others around the country. ”
By 2 March, the first case of community transmission was reported in Australia, in a 53-year-old health worker in NSW. Until that point, the 29 people with coronavirus in Australia had caught the virus by travelling to an infected country or through direct contact with a family member who had travelled. This case and the closure of some international borders, including with China and Iran, sparked panic buying around the country. A pandemic was declared. By 20 March, it was becoming clear daily life would be drastically changed.
Indoor gatherings of more than 100 people were banned. For people meeting in workplaces or other venues in numbers less than 100, a space of 4 sq metres would need to be kept around each person, the prime minister Scott Morrison announced. The national airline, Qantas, said two-thirds of its 30,000-strong workforce would be stood down without pay, and announced a halt to international flights. Australians overseas rushed home and many were left stranded as travel restrictions tightened.
Despite these swift measures, mistakes were made. Communication of restrictions by the federal government, initially, was poor. Travellers aboard the Ruby Princess cruise ship were found to have Covid-19 only once they had disembarked in Sydney on 19 March, and some of those passengers had flown interstate or overseas by the time the virus was detected. In the weeks that followed, more than 600 passengers tested positive, and 28 died. An inquiry found NSW health made multiple “ serious ”, “ inexplicable ” and “ basic ” errors in allowing passengers to disembark.
Infectious diseases physician at St Vincent’ s Hospital in Sydney, Prof Gregory Dore, treated patients linked to the Ruby Princess cruise ship outbreak, and patients linked to a backpacker hostel in Bondi. Dore says a moment that stands out for him during the past year of tackling the virus occurred in June.
Around that time, much of Australia was reopening, including NSW, which had managed to get on top of the cruise ship outbreak. The national restrictions in March had worked more swiftly and effectively than expected, and led to Morrison to announce: “ We’ ve got ta get out from under the doona at some time. ” But Dore says as that was happening, “ several patients were referred to me for assessment of ongoing post-Covid symptoms ”.
“ The story they told, of debilitating fatigue, problems breathing, and chest heaviness, despite having ‘ mild’ acute Covid-19 and being previously healthy, made it very clear that long Covid was real, ” he says. “ The focus had been on deaths and those admitted to hospital, but is was evident that a large epidemic would lead to enormous and ongoing burden of illness. ”
Meanwhile his health colleagues in the neighbouring state of Victoria were about to face a devastating lockdown and second wave of the virus that would seriously strain their stamina and overwhelm the aged care system. For most of May, the state was recording new cases in the single digits. By 13 June there were 10 new cases in 24 hours, and this jumped to 20 new cases in 24 hours by 16 June.
As other jurisdictions continued to report new cases in the single digits, or none at all, it became clear by the end of the month that something concerning was occurring in Victoria, with 76 new cases announced on 30 June and 10 Melbourne postcodes ordered back into lockdown. Public housing towers were swarmed by police and ordered into a harsh lockdown on 2 July, and the way it was carried out would later be investigated and condemned by human rights organisations. Metropolitan Melbourne, then the rest of the state, followed into a lockdown which would not be significantly lifted until November.
Victoria’ s chief health officer, Prof Brett Sutton, said even he doubted Victoria could get back down to zero cases of community transmission. But on 26 October, the state recorded its first “ zero day ” since 9 June.
“ I don’ t think at the time we were really convinced that we could achieve the incredible outcome of no community cases, no transmission, ” Sutton told Guardian Australia.
“ But we did. I also don’ t think any of us really understood just how precious the outcome has been and what it means for everyone. ”
Lewin, who worked closely with the government, agrees: “ I never thought we would get there. ”
“ It was very tense at times, everyone had a view on this outbreak both within the field and outside the field, there were tense times between the business community and the politicians, there were tense times between the Victorian government and the federal government. So what was achieved, I still think was absolutely extraordinary and a real highlight for me was the first day of zero, and then seeing that for 60 odd days in a row.
“ People shouldn’ t underestimate what a difference it is to be at zero, compared to having a dribbling amount of Covid. ”
The state would record more than 20,000 cases and 800 deaths before reaching zero, with many of those in aged care. Health and aged care workers who were exposed to Covid-19 were stood down or furloughed, with no one to fill the gaps. Aged care residents were evacuated from their homes and sent to hospitals instead. Families were left devastated. The federal aged care minister, Richard Colbeck, repeatedly refused to reveal where deaths were occurring.
“ There’ s been absolutely tragic loss of life in the last year, without question, ” Sutton says. But the emergence of new, highly transmissible variants was “ appearing to be absolutely disastrous for Europe, the Americas and really any country with ongoing transmission, ” he says, making the suppressing of the virus in Victoria an especially meaningful feat.
“ I reflect on a year with immense pride that Victorians looked over a cliff edge of the kind of catastrophic outcomes that are playing out in the northern hemisphere and achieved the incredible situation we have today, ” Sutton says. “ That took unbelievable perseverance, compassion and trust. I shouldn’ t be surprised that Victorians worked so hard together to get to this point, but I’ m so thankful they did. ”
Scientists now know more about how the virus spreads and the measures needed to contain it, and the second year of living with Covid in Australia will mark the rollout of vaccine programs.
It is a rapid and remarkable scientific achievement which has triggered new challenges and debate, with some calling for the vaccine to be rolled out sooner, for more vaccine candidates to be secured, and more doses of those already locked-in.
Health authorities are also fighting to ensure the new more transmissible B117 variant identified in the UK does not get into the community. Domestic and international border restrictions remain in place, and many Australians are still struggling to return home and wondering when they may be reunited with loved ones.
And even once the vaccine is rolled out, the prime minister warned in January, it would not be a “ silver bullet ” that would see travel and other aspects of life return to normal.
“ Once the vaccination starts, Covid-safe practices do not end, ” Morrison said. “ The vaccine both here in Australia and around the world will continue to be rolled out, but it will still be a fight over the course of 2021. There is still a lot still to be learned about these vaccines and how they impact transmissibility. ”
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As Coronavirus and Fear Spread to the U.S., Chinese-Americans Rush to Help
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Amy Lee-Ludovicy’ s children and their classmates were supposed to be on a chartered bus into New York City on Friday morning, destined for a visit to Chinatown ahead of the Lunar New Year celebrations.
But on the eve of their departure, Ms. Lee-Ludovicy, a native of Hong Kong, got some jarring news: The school district was canceling the trip, worried about the Wuhan coronavirus that has spread across Asia — though there have so far been only two documented cases in the United States.
She and her husband, Bruce, said the decision, in the midst of the outbreak, seemed to be rooted in a new and unfounded fear of Asians.
“ I’ m absolutely flabbergasted at this stupidity, ” Bruce Ludovicy said. “ My kids are half Asian and feel ostracized over this. ”
Dozens of people in 22 states are now being monitored with possible signs of the virus, with cases confirmed in Washington State and Illinois.
For people in the United States with close ties to China, the Wuhan outbreak has brought unexpected worry, disappointment and scrutiny. Some in the Chinese-American community have had their Lunar New Year holiday plans waylaid, as travel schedules for the coming week and beyond get interrupted.
Some are gearing up for the outbreak to get worse. Hardware stores and pharmacies around the United States are selling out of masks that could help prevent the spread of the disease. In the New York City neighborhood of Flushing, masks have been sold out for much of the week.
Chinese-Americans networking with their friends and family in China have scrambled to send aid. One woman in Los Angeles has amassed 20,000 masks to ship overseas.
Sean Shi, of Issaquah, Wash., said he shipped several boxes of masks to China in a friend’ s luggage, with hopes that the masks could reach friends in the Wuhan area as soon as possible. Later in the day, Mr. Shi was back at a local hardware store, buying another 46 masks for some of his former peers at Wuhan University.
“ We understand it’ s a tough situation over there — the panic, the shortage of equipment, ” Mr. Shi said. “ We just realized the situation is very serious — more serious than we thought. ”
Through messages on the WeChat messaging service, Chinese-Americans have a personal window into the fears and uncertainty spreading through the Wuhan region.
The virus, which emerged in December, has now spread to other countries. But the majority of the nearly 1,300 infections reported, and all 41 of the deaths from the illness, have been in China. Authorities shut down transportation out of Wuhan, hoping to contain the spread of the virus, and have since expanded the lockdown to other cities, covering a total population of about 35 million.
The Lunar New Year celebration often sends families traveling within China and around the globe. Mr. Shi said the illness had disrupted some of those plans, keeping families apart.
Long Wu, a 68-year-old retiree in Pasadena, Calif., said she had bought tickets to fly back to China in March. But she has now canceled her plans.
“ It’ s better to put your health first, ” Ms. Wu said. “ My whole family canceled their tickets. ”
Jack Huang, a 76-year-old businessman in Rowland Heights, Calif., said he was worried about how easily the virus could spread in the United States.
“ I am really hesitant on meeting clients coming in directly from China, especially hearing about the mass quarantines, ” Mr. Huang said.
In New York, Ms. Lee-Ludovicy said her children had been excited at the prospect of the field trip to Chinatown, planning to go with a group of other students who are studying Mandarin.
With the trip canceled, Ms. Lee-Ludovicy said, she and her family planned to drive to the celebrations on their own.
But she worried that her two children, a daughter in middle school and a son in high school, were facing discrimination in ways they had not before. And she wondered what other students were taking away from the experience.
“ Kids are not being educated, ” she said. “ They are being taught, ‘ Let’ s just stay away from them.’ ”
In Flushing, the streets and storefronts this week were lined with vendors selling Chinese wall hangings and red envelopes decorated with images celebrating the Year of the Rat. Hurrying through the crowds was a woman with a brown fur hat and a white paper face mask in search of masks for her relatives in Fujian Province.
She stopped at one drugstore after another, repeatedly asking, “ Do you carry face masks? ”
“ Everywhere I go they’ re sold out, ” said the woman, who identified herself only by her surname, Zheng. “ How could this be? ”
Ms. Zheng, 68, said she was worried that her family in Fuzhou, Fujian — though far from the epicenter of the outbreak — could be in danger.
At the fifth pharmacy she visited, Ms. Zheng finally found surgical masks for $ 2. She bought five.
Scenes like this unfolded across Chinese enclaves around New York. Some store managers said wholesalers were not able to keep up with demand.
Updated June 16, 2020
The steroid, dexamethasone, is the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients, according to scientists in Britain. The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth.
The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who don’ t typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the country’ s largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave.
So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “ very rare, ” but she later walked back that statement.
Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’ s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.
A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.
The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’ s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.
Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission.
States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’ t being told to stay at home, it’ s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.
Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.
If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. ( Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)
Taking one’ s temperature to look for signs of fever is not as easy as it sounds, as “ normal ” temperature numbers can vary, but generally, keep an eye out for a temperature of 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. If you don’ t have a thermometer ( they can be pricey these days), there are other ways to figure out if you have a fever, or are at risk of Covid-19 complications.
The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’ t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’ t replace hand washing and social distancing.
If you’ ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.
If you’ re sick and you think you’ ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’ s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’ re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’ t be able to get tested.
Daniel Xu, a pharmacist and manager at Starside Drugs in Flushing, said a customer came in on Monday and completely bought out his stock.
“ All of a sudden we were out, and then hundreds of people started coming in asking for face masks, ” Mr. Xu said. He said they restocked as much as they could before their distributor started rationing.
Mr. Xu is partnered with Jointown Pharmaceutical Group, based in Wuhan, and has been working to help colleagues in China secure sources of much-needed protective gear for medical caregivers there — surgical face masks, coveralls, eye shields and other medical coverings, including caps and shoe covers.
“ Now the problem is not the money, ” he said. “ Now we need to get the supplies. ”
On Thursday, he was in his basement office, juggling phone calls, social media and email to organize efforts from various donor groups, including the Association of Chinese American Physicians.
Mr. Xu had already secured free shipping through a Chinese airline, he said, and was working on an official channel with the Hubei Province Red Cross to accept and distribute donations of supplies. Struggling to find suppliers, he was brokering deals with factories and importers to secure supplies that had originally been bound for overseas superstores. But resources were still scarce.
“ Now China has to borrow from America, ” he joked.
On the West Coast, June Liao, the owner of a baby formula export company based in Los Angeles, had amassed 20,000 masks from various sources to donate to Wuhan via the Red Cross. She set up two growing WeChat groups that have collectively raised $ 48,000 in under 24 hours, she said.
In Washington State, Mr. Shi said he and a handful of others, working as part of a group called the United Chinese Americans of Washington, have established a team to coordinate help. He has ordered 100 masks online. But in the meantime, he has been buying from stores, reading the labels to ensure the masks offer what he deemed to be sufficient protection.
In his WeChat app, he called up a bulletin from officials in Wuhan describing what was needed. While he was not sure if private shipping to China would get through the quarantines, he was hopeful that aid groups would be able to bring in the supplies they are managing to gather.
“ In the long run, they will figure out how to supply and deliver to there, ” he said. In the meantime, he said, “ It’ s always good if we can send something to them. ”
Angela Chen contributed reporting.
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Coronavirus spread accelerating in China, says Xi Jinping
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China’ s president, Xi Jinping, has called an emergency government meeting, telling officials the country is facing a “ grave situation ” as the new coronavirus is “ accelerating its spread ”.
More than 50 million people are spending China’ s most important holiday under lockdown as the country expands its travel restrictions in an attempt to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.
Officials confirmed on Sunday that the death toll from the viral outbreak had reached 54 and that well in excess of 1,200 further people had been affected.
A doctor treating people infected with the virus was among those who died. Liang Wudong, 62, died on Saturday morning, state media said, and it was also reported by the Chinese Global Times website that another doctor who had been treating patients in Wuhan died of a heart attack later in the day.
In Beijing, five new cases have been confirmed, according to Chinese National Radio, including two patients who had not recently travelled to Hubei, the centre of the outbreak. In all previous cases in the capital, patients had reportedly visited the province.
It is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it has come from animals. The World Health Organization ( WHO) has declared it a pandemic.
According to the WHO, the most common symptoms of Covid-19 are fever, tiredness and a dry cough. Some patients may also have a runny nose, sore throat, nasal congestion and aches and pains or diarrhoea. Some people report losing their sense of taste and/or smell. About 80% of people who get Covid-19 experience a mild case – about as serious as a regular cold – and recover without needing any special treatment.
About one in six people, the WHO says, become seriously ill. The elderly and people with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, or chronic respiratory conditions, are at a greater risk of serious illness from Covid-19.
In the UK, the National health Service ( NHS) has identified the specific symptoms to look for as experiencing either:
As this is viral pneumonia, antibiotics are of no use. The antiviral drugs we have against flu will not work, and there is currently no vaccine. Recovery depends on the strength of the immune system.
Medical advice varies around the world - with many countries imposing travel bans and lockdowns to try and prevent the spread of the virus. In many place people are being told to stay at home rather than visit a doctor of hospital in person. Check with your local authorities.
In the UK, NHS advice is that anyone with symptoms should stay at home for at least 7 days. If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home.
China’ s national health commission confirmed human-to-human transmission in January. As of 6 April, more than 1.25m people have been infected in more than 180 countries, according to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
There have been over 69,500 deaths globally. Just over 3,200 of those deaths have occurred in mainland China. Italy has been worst affected, with over 15,800 fatalities, and there have been over 12,600 deaths in Spain. The US now has more confirmed cases than any other country - more than 335,000. Many of those who have died had underlying health conditions, which the coronavirus complicated.
More than 264,000 people are recorded as having recovered from the coronavirus.
The virus is now confirmed to have reached Australia and Malaysia, while France confirmed on Friday that three people there had the virus. Both France and the US plan to evacuate citizens trapped in Wuhan, the Hubei city where the outbreak began.
The Foreign Office advised late on Saturday against all travel to Hubei province because of the outbreak, adding: “ If you are in this area and able to leave, you should do so. ”
Hong Kong, which has confirmed five cases of the illness, declared the outbreak an emergency on Saturday, and said it would keep primary and secondary schools closed for two more weeks after the holiday.
A growing number of airports around the world have introduced screening to identify those affected, although the effectiveness of such measures has been questioned. An article published in the Lancet, based on a family that had recently visited Wuhan, the city at the centre of the outbreak, suggested it was possible to have the disease while not experiencing any symptoms.
Across China, the lunar new year holiday has been overshadowed by travel blocks imposed on at least 17 cities, and the cancellation of major festive events. In an effort to stop the disease from spreading further, part of the Great Wall was closed, and Beijing’ s temple fairs, a new year tradition, have been cancelled. Shanghai Disneyland also announced it would close indefinitely.
It is feared the lunar new year, when hundreds of millions of people go on holiday or to visit relatives, could fuel the spread of the virus across China and abroad.
So far, 29 provinces and cities in China have been affected, and further cases had been reported in South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Macao, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The US reported its second case.
In Wuhan, restrictions were tightened on Saturday, with officials banning most vehicles from the roads. Train stations, airports and railway stations had all been shut since the lockdown began on Thursday morning.
The city was facing shortages of beds, testing kits and other supplies, and 450 military medical staff arrived late on Friday to help treat patients, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
The ministry of commerce was overseeing an operation to supply more than 2m masks and other products from elsewhere in the country, Xinhua said.
Footage on social media, apparently taken inside the city’ s hospitals, appeared to show staff breaking down and long queues of residents waiting to be assessed. Patients told the Guardian that people had been turned away by hospitals and that their relatives had been unable to get a test to find out if they had the virus.
It was announced on Saturday that a second hospital was to be built to treat coronavirus patients. Work has already begun to build a 1,000-bed hospital in 10 days.
Wuhan’ s streets have been deserted for days, with residents mostly staying home. Many were following social media, where there was a constant stream of updates, videos and speculation, including misinformation.
“ Looking out of the window every day, I can see one or two cars and pedestrians on the street. The streets are relatively deserted, ” said Wuhan resident Mr Wang, who was speaking before the traffic ban was implemented. “ Now, at night, it is like a dead city. I look at the neighbourhood and there are very few lights. ”
Residents who left the city before transport blocks were introduced had faced hostility elsewhere in China, being blamed for potentially spreading the virus.
Wang said it was understandable that people felt that way, but added that Wuhan residents were “ the biggest victims of [ the ] bureaucracy ”.
“ Information was hidden from everyone. Most people believe that the official information is correct, so when the sudden outbreak is announced and the city is closed, they easily panic about the situation. ”
Xi Chen, a professor at the Yale school of public health, said: “ We know very little about the origin of this virus and we know very little about the speed of transmission and when it starts to transmit. ”
The virus comes from a large family of coronaviruses. This includes Sars as well as viruses that cause nothing worse than a cold.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Scientists race to find out how Wuhan victims became ill
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Scientists are urgently seeking data to resolve one critically important aspect of the coronavirus outbreak that has killed at least 54 people and infected well over 1,000 since emerging in Wuhan, China.
Researchers say they desperately need to find out whether most cases have been caused by repeated spillover of the virus from animals into humans, or whether most cases are now being triggered by secondary human-to-human transmission.
“ That would be the big epidemiological goal for everyone at the moment, ” Trevor Bedford, an evolutionary geneticist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, told the journal Nature.
If most cases detected so far were caused by direct infections from animals, then there is a prospect the new epidemic could peter out fairly quickly. But if new cases are now being triggered by human-to-human transmission, the chances that a major global epidemic is now under way will be raised dramatically. Chinese president Xi Jinping has already warned that the spread of the deadly new virus is “ accelerating ”.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some of which cause the common cold. Others have evolved into more severe illnesses, such as Sars and Mers, although so far the new virus does not appear to be nearly as deadly or contagious.
Analyses by scientists such as Bedford have so far revealed that genetic sequences of the various strains of 2019-nCoV – the previously unknown coronavirus that is causing the current outbreak – that have been isolated in patients are remarkably similar to each other. This lack of genetic diversity suggests the common ancestor of these different strains only emerged recently, possibly in November or December. However, research does not yet say whether the recent rapid expansion of the virus took place in humans or in an animal reservoir. “ We need to gain a better understanding what’ s going on in China, ” said Prof Jonathan Ball, of Nottingham University. “ In particular, how the virus is being spread, whether individuals with mild or no symptoms can transmit the virus, and, of course, where the virus came from in the first place. ”
Yesterday, England’ s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, also warned that there was a “ fair chance ” cases will emerge in Britain as the overall number reported around the world climbed to almost 1,400.
In a study published in the Lancet yesterday, researchers revealed details of analyses of the first 41 patients admitted to hospitals with confirmed cases of the infection. Two-thirds had been to a large seafood market that also sold wild animals for meat and is thought to be the place the virus jumped from an animal source to people.
The median age of the patients was 49. All had pneumonia, most had fever and a cough. Some had fatigue; rarer symptoms included headache and diarrhoea. Most had been healthy until they contracted the virus.
In another Lancet paper, scientists revealed the results of a study of five family members who had recently travelled to Wuhan and had contracted the virus.
Alarmingly, one child with the virus did not show any symptoms. Until then, health authorities had said that people with the virus all showed symptoms of fevers and coughs. However, an asymptomatic infection changes that picture dramatically. “ Because asymptomatic infection appears possible, controlling the epidemic will also rely on isolating patients, tracing and quarantining contacts as early as possible, educating the public on both food and personal hygiene, and ensuring healthcare workers comply with infection control, ” said research leader Dr Kwok-Yung Yuen of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital.
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Hong Kong leader declares citywide virus emergency over coronavirus
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Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Saturday declared a virus emergency in the city of 7.3 million, extending school cancellations until Feb. 17 and canceling all official visits to mainland China.
Lam announced a package of measures aimed at limiting the Asian financial hub's connections to mainland China. Flights and high speed train journeys between Hong Kong and the Chinese city of Wuhan will be halted, and annual official Lunar New Year celebrations for the city have been scrapped.
Hong Kong health authorities have confirmed five cases of the deadly coronavirus, all of which have been traced back to Wuhan, a city of 11 million where the virus was first detected. An additional 122 people in the Hong Kong are being treated for potentially having the disease, the health authorities said.
China has quarantined multiple cities in an effort to contain the disease's spread — encompassing a total population of some 35 million people. Major tourist spots including Shanghai Disney are closing until further notice, and Starbucks and McDonalds announced temporary closures of their chains in the province of Hubei, which houses Wuhan.
The flu-like coronavirus, first identified on Dec. 31, has killed at least 41 people in China and infected more than 1,300 worldwide. Fears over the disease's impact on the global economy sent stocks falling on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing down 170 points.
This map shows the latest spread of the coronoavirus.
The World Health Organization ( WHO) has so far declined to declare the disease a global health emergency, saying it needs more data. The virus is currently spreading through human-to-human contact and in medical settings, the organization said.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that tend to primarily affect animals, but can evolve and spread to humans. Symptoms for the strain currently moving around the globe include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, which can progress to pneumonia.
Australia confirmed its first four cases of the virus on Saturday and expects more, its health authorities said, as the country is a popular destination for Chinese tourists. The infected patients are three men who traveled to Australia from China — two who traveled from Wuhan to Sydney and one in Melbourne who had also been in Wuhan. All three, aged 53, 43 and 35, are reported to be in stable condition.
`` There are other cases being tested each day, many of them are negative, but I wouldn't be surprised if we had further confirmed cases, '' Australian chief medical officer Brendan Murphy told press on Saturday.
On Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the second U.S. case of coronavirus, a Chicago woman in her 60s who had traveled to Wuhan but is reported to be in stable condition at a hospital. There are currently 63 cases in the U.S. being monitored across 22 states.
`` CDC believes the immediate risk to the U.S. public is low at this time, but the situation continues to evolve rapidly, '' said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. She added that there are likely to be more cases in coming days and that `` we have our best people working on this problem. ''
While the majority of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths are in mainland China, the virus has also been identified in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Nepal, France, the U.S. and most recently Australia.
Chinese state media on Saturday announced the city of Wuhan will build a second hospital specifically designated to treat coronavirus patients, which staff say will be completed within six days.
Chinese health authorities are under strain as the volume of patients spilling into hospitals for treatment increases. A top health official in the Civil Affairs Department in Hubei made an appeal for more resources like masks and suits on Saturday.
`` We are steadily pushing forward the disease control and prevention... but right now we are facing an extremely severe public health crisis, '' the official, Yu Hinghai, told local press according to a translation by Reuters.
—CNBC's Berkeley Lovelace Jr. and Reuters contributed to this report.
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US to evacuate Wuhan consulate after coronavirus outbreak
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The State Department has established a task force to facilitate the evacuation of the U.S. consulate in the city of Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus continues to spread, according to NBC News.
The task force met several times on Saturday to work out the details of the departure and at one point chartered a Boeing 767 aircraft to leave Wuhan on Monday, Jan. 27, but later Saturday those plans collapsed.
The State Department continues to work with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to arrange a flight to the U.S. for Wuhan consulate employees, their family members and any other U.S. citizens who wish to leave the city.
Some U.S. citizens with Chinese spouses or children may chose to stay because their family members would not be able to board the flight according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
The initial chartered flight could accommodate around 240 people, and several dozen U.S. citizens in Wuhan have indicated that they want to depart on it.
That number is likely to rise. Nearly 1,400 people in mainland China have been diagnosed with the coronavirus and more than 40 people have died. A virus emergency has been declared in Hong Kong, extending school cancellations until February 17 and canceling all official visits to mainland China.
The Center for Disease Control says this respiratory illness is new.
Correction: The city of Wuhan is located in Hubei province. A previous version of this story misstated the province.
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Xi orders centralized response to coronavirus: 'It is our responsibility to prevent and control it '
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President Xi Jinping on Saturday warned that the spread of the coronavirus presents a `` grave situation, '' as officials from central China to Hong Kong struggle to stop the spread of the disease that has so far infected more than 1,400 people worldwide and killed 42.
`` Life is of paramount importance. When an epidemic breaks out, a command is issued. It is our responsibility to prevent and control it, '' Xi said at a meeting of the leaders of the Communist Party of China, according to state-run outlet Xinhua News Agency.The party meeting, chaired by Xi, set up a central committee to oversee work to contain the virus, according to Xinhua. Groups will be sent to Hubei province, the center of the outbreak, to work directly on the ground. Xi ordered all levels of government to `` put people's life and health as top priority, '' according to Xinhua.
China has already quarantined multiple cities, encompassing about 35 million people, to try to contain the spread of the virus.
Hong Kong has declared a citywide emergency, closing primary and secondary schools for several weeks and halting flights and trains between Hong Kong and the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the disease was first detected.
U.S. companies like Ford, General Motors and Fiat have started restricting employee travel to Wuhan, and French automaker PSA group said it plans to evacuate its employees and their families from the locked-down city. The State Department also plans to evacuate Wuhan consulate employees.
Cases have also been confirmed in Australia, Malaysia, France and the U.S. The World Health Organization has declined to declare the virus a global health emergency as of yet, but said the virus is spreading from human-to-human contact.
Most of the deaths have been in older patients, although a 36-year-old man died this week. Officials also said a 2-year-old girl has been infected.
Resources and experts will be located at designated hospitals, and supplies of materials to the Hubei province and Wuhan will be guaranteed, state television reported.
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Survivors, dignitaries to mark Auschwitz liberation 75 years on
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Elderly Holocaust survivors will gather in Auschwitz on Monday, some for the last time, to mark 75 years since Soviet troops liberated the death camp where Nazi Germany killed more than 1.1 million people, most of them Jews.
Bitter political feuds loom over the memorial ceremony at the site of the former camp in Oswiecim, southern Poland, that will be attended by royals, presidents and prime ministers from nearly 60 countries, but no top world leaders.
Israel held a high-profile Holocaust forum marking the liberation anniversary in Jerusalem on Thursday, seen as rivalling the event in Poland.
While senior figures such as US Vice President Mike Pence, French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin were in Jerusalem, none will come to Auschwitz.
Last month, Putin sparked outrage in the West after making the false claim that Poland had colluded with Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler and contributed to the outbreak of World War II.
In fact, the war erupted after Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invaded and carved up Poland in September 1939 under a secret clause of their Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
Poland's President Andrzej Duda, who has called out Putin for attempting to rewrite history, snubbed the forum in Jerusalem after he was denied the opportunity to speak there.
He will make an address on Monday in Auschwitz where survivors are to hold centre-stage at ceremonies honouring the six million European Jews killed in the Holocaust.
- Allies knew in 1942 -
For some, nightmarish memories of the camp are still vivid, more than seven decades on.
German soldiers `` only had to point one finger at you to send you to the gas chambers '', says Auschwitz survivor Bronislawa Horowitz-Karakulska, 88, a Polish-Jew who was imprisoned there as a 12-year-old with her mother.
`` Whoever looked weak, skinny, bony, was selected for death, '' said Horowitz-Karakulska, who survived after her mother bribed guards with a diamond she had smuggled into the camp.
`` It was full of German soldiers, barking dogs -- German shepherds -- commotion, fear, screams, Auschwitz was one big horror, '' she told Polish media.
While the world only learned the full extent of the horrors after the Soviet Red Army entered the camp on January 27, 1945, the Allies had detailed information about Nazi Germany's genocide against Jews much earlier.
In December 1942, Poland's then London-based government in exile forwarded a document, titled `` The Mass Extermination of Jews in German Occupied Poland '', to the Allies.
The document included detailed accounts of the unfolding Holocaust as witnessed by members of the Polish resistance, but drew disbelief and only muted reactions from the international community.
To inform the Allies, Polish resistance fighters Jan Karski and Witold Pilecki famously risked their lives in separate operations to infiltrate and then escape from Nazi death camps and ghettos in occupied Poland, including Auschwitz.
- 'Final Solution ' -
Regarded as exaggeration and Polish war propaganda, `` a lot of these reports were simply not believed '' by the Allies, renowned Oxford historian, Professor Norman Davies, told AFP.
Despite `` strong demands '' by the Polish and Jewish resistance for Britain or the US to bomb the railways leading to Auschwitz and other death camps, `` the military's attitude was: 'We 've got to concentrate on military targets, not on civilian things ', '' said Davies, an authority on Polish history.
`` One of the targets that the ( British) military did bomb was a synthetic fuel factory near Auschwitz '' in 1943-44, he added.
Although British warplanes flew over the death camp itself, incredibly, no orders were given to bomb it.
Professor Dariusz Stola, an expert on the history of Polish Jews, echoes this assessment.
`` Military leaders didn't like civilian politicians meddling in their business, '' Stola told AFP.
For Allied military leaders, bombing Auschwitz, or its supply lines `` was looking like a humanitarian operation and they didn't want it, '' said the former head of the Warsaw-based Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest of all Nazi Germany's death and concentration camps and the one where most people were killed. And it is the only one to have been preserved as it was when it was abandoned by the Germans fleeing the advancing Red Army.
Operated by the Nazis from 1940 until 1945, Auschwitz was part of a vast and brutal network of death and concentration camps across Europe set up as part of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's `` Final Solution '' of genocide against an estimated 10 million European Jews.
Once Europe's Jewish heartland, Poland saw 90 percent of its 3.3 million pre-war Jewish citizens killed under Nazi German occupation between 1939 and 1945.
Elderly Holocaust survivors will gather in Auschwitz on Monday, some for the last time, to mark 75 years since Soviet troops liberated the death camp where Nazi Germany killed more than 1.1 million people, most of them Jews.
Bitter political feuds loom over the memorial ceremony at the site of the former camp in Oswiecim, southern Poland, that will be attended by royals, presidents and prime ministers from nearly 60 countries, but no top world leaders.
Israel held a high-profile Holocaust forum marking the liberation anniversary in Jerusalem on Thursday, seen as rivalling the event in Poland.
While senior figures such as US Vice President Mike Pence, French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin were in Jerusalem, none will come to Auschwitz.
Last month, Putin sparked outrage in the West after making the false claim that Poland had colluded with Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler and contributed to the outbreak of World War II.
In fact, the war erupted after Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invaded and carved up Poland in September 1939 under a secret clause of their Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
Poland’ s President Andrzej Duda, who has called out Putin for attempting to rewrite history, snubbed the forum in Jerusalem after he was denied the opportunity to speak there.
He will make an address on Monday in Auschwitz where survivors are to hold centre-stage at ceremonies honouring the six million European Jews killed in the Holocaust.
– Allies knew in 1942 –
For some, nightmarish memories of the camp are still vivid, more than seven decades on.
German soldiers “ only had to point one finger at you to send you to the gas chambers ”, says Auschwitz survivor Bronislawa Horowitz-Karakulska, 88, a Polish-Jew who was imprisoned there as a 12-year-old with her mother.
“ Whoever looked weak, skinny, bony, was selected for death, ” said Horowitz-Karakulska, who survived after her mother bribed guards with a diamond she had smuggled into the camp.
“ It was full of German soldiers, barking dogs — German shepherds — commotion, fear, screams, Auschwitz was one big horror, ” she told Polish media.
While the world only learned the full extent of the horrors after the Soviet Red Army entered the camp on January 27, 1945, the Allies had detailed information about Nazi Germany’ s genocide against Jews much earlier.
In December 1942, Poland’ s then London-based government in exile forwarded a document, titled “ The Mass Extermination of Jews in German Occupied Poland ”, to the Allies.
The document included detailed accounts of the unfolding Holocaust as witnessed by members of the Polish resistance, but drew disbelief and only muted reactions from the international community.
To inform the Allies, Polish resistance fighters Jan Karski and Witold Pilecki famously risked their lives in separate operations to infiltrate and then escape from Nazi death camps and ghettos in occupied Poland, including Auschwitz.
– ‘ Final Solution’ –
Regarded as exaggeration and Polish war propaganda, “ a lot of these reports were simply not believed ” by the Allies, renowned Oxford historian, Professor Norman Davies, told AFP.
Despite “ strong demands ” by the Polish and Jewish resistance for Britain or the US to bomb the railways leading to Auschwitz and other death camps, “ the military’ s attitude was: ‘ We’ ve got to concentrate on military targets, not on civilian things’, ” said Davies, an authority on Polish history.
“ One of the targets that the ( British) military did bomb was a synthetic fuel factory near Auschwitz ” in 1943-44, he added.
Although British warplanes flew over the death camp itself, incredibly, no orders were given to bomb it.
Professor Dariusz Stola, an expert on the history of Polish Jews, echoes this assessment.
“ Military leaders didn’ t like civilian politicians meddling in their business, ” Stola told AFP.
For Allied military leaders, bombing Auschwitz, or its supply lines “ was looking like a humanitarian operation and they didn’ t want it, ” said the former head of the Warsaw-based Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest of all Nazi Germany’ s death and concentration camps and the one where most people were killed. And it is the only one to have been preserved as it was when it was abandoned by the Germans fleeing the advancing Red Army.
Operated by the Nazis from 1940 until 1945, Auschwitz was part of a vast and brutal network of death and concentration camps across Europe set up as part of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler’ s “ Final Solution ” of genocide against an estimated 10 million European Jews.
Once Europe’ s Jewish heartland, Poland saw 90 percent of its 3.3 million pre-war Jewish citizens killed under Nazi German occupation between 1939 and 1945.
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
Citigroup is prepared to fire employees at the end of the month who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 14 deadline.
The benefit of nostalgia? Positive memories activate the reward pathway in the brain, which is essentially a release of chemicals that make us feel...
Cyber Ninjas, the cybersecurity firm that led a controversial GOP audit of the 2020 election results in Arizona's county, has shut down.
It’ s not often you see an idea as useful as this with so many applications – Separating microplastics using sound waves.
COPYRIGHT © 1998 - 2021 DIGITAL JOURNAL INC. Digital Journal is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more about our external linking.
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general
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Biotech Firms Rush to Make New Coronavirus Vaccines
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The race is on to see who may produce the first 2019-nCoV vaccine.
The situation with the coronavirus is becoming increasingly alarming as the first doctor who was treating coronavirus patients succumbs to the virus. And while the source and epicenter of the disease, Wuhan city, struggles to build a dedicated hospital, good news might finally be on the horizon as biotech firms are rushing to announce they may have potential vaccines to the deadly virus called 2019-nCoV.
According to C & EN, Gaithersburg, Maryland–based Novavax revealed it would try to make a vaccine, seeing its stock rise 70% within a day of the announcement. Inovio Pharmaceuticals announced a $ 9 million grant from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations ( CEPI) for a potential vaccine.
San Francisco-based Vir Biotechnology said that it would test whether any of the monoclonal antibodies it already has could also work for 2019-nCoV. Moderna Therapeutics revealed a collaboration with the National Institutes of Health and funding from CEPI for a potential vaccine.
C & EN also reported that, in terms of diagnosis, the CDC has developed a real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction ( rRT-PCR) test that it plans to share with health officials in the U.S. and abroad in “ the coming days and weeks. ” Meanwhile, Salt Lake City-based Co-Diagnostics is announcing plans for its own PCR diagnostics.
It is suspected that 2019-nCoV emerged at a seafood and meat market in Wuhan. As of Saturday, the death toll from the virus has risen to 41 and there are more than 1,280 confirmed cases worldwide.
In China, 30 provinces have raised their public health alert to level 1, and more and more public gatherings are being banned. According to state television, Chinese president Xi Jinping warned of a “ grave situation ” at a special government meeting on Saturday, adding that the virus was “ accelerating its speed. ”
We don't really know whether the vaccine will work, but we're sincerely hoping that a cure is found soon.
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tech
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In Greece, children of the Holocaust speak out at last
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`` I celebrated my seventh birthday inside the camp of Bergen-Belsen with a piece of bread and sticks for candles, '' recalls 83-year-old Lola Angel, one of the few Greek Jews left to remember the horror of Nazi concentration camps.
`` I was just three when I had to hide, '' says Nina Camhi, who is 80. `` But I still remember the fear. ''
Approximately 83 percent of Greek Jews, nearly 59,000 people, were exterminated when the country was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1941-1944.
Most of them came from Thessaloniki, which until then had a prosperous Jewish community dating back to the 15th century, and was known as the Jerusalem of the Balkans.
Nina and Lola are among survivors who have not spoken until now. Because they were so young at the time, they felt it was not their place to speak. But 75 years after the end of World War II, they finally feel ready to pass on their stories to the next generation.
- ' I forgot nothing ' -
`` I was but a child but I forgot nothing, '' Lola told AFP.
`` The memories still haunt me, and the intense smells of the camp are ever present. ''
Lola's family fled to Athens from Thessaloniki in January 1941, a few months before the capital fell.
In April 1944, the little girl and her family were put on a train to an unknown destination.
`` We were packed atop each other and could hardly breathe. Many died en route, '' she said.
The intensification and coordination of the `` Final Solution '' was agreed at a landmark conference of government ministries and top-ranking Nazi and SS officials in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee on January 20, 1942.
The 15 participants at the Wannsee Conference agreed that 11 million Jews should be moved to death camps in an operation under the exclusive authority of the SS.
Jews from all over Europe were systematically deported from mid-1942 to six death camps -- Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor and Treblinka.
At Auschwitz -- which became the symbol of the Holocaust -- more than 1.1 million people were killed, primarily Jews, but also Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and Poles.
At Bergen-Belsen, however, the Nazis tried a different strategy, said Lola, speaking from her Athens apartment where the walls are covered with the pictures of survivors and the dead.
- Death by disease -
`` It was slow death by disease. After the Allies landed in Normandy, the Nazis began concentrating people there, hoping they would die of typhus. ''
Her father fell ill with the disease while Lola caught measles.
She said that childhood distractions kept her going.
`` I kept my doll until I returned to Greece, and my mother would put a bow in my hair every morning, '' she said.
Nina said that in order to evade the first convoys from Thessaloniki to Auschwitz in March 1943, she and her parents and brother fled the city.
A business partner of her father managed to smuggle them by fishing boat to the island of Skopelos.
But her mother's family died at Auschwitz.
`` My mother kept all their letters, up to the point they were deported. After the war, she shut herself up in painful silence, '' Nina said.
- History lessons -
The fate of Greek Jews is still not widely known in the country.
It was only in 2004 that teaching about the Shoah became compulsory in Greece and 10 years later a monument was erected at the site of the former Jewish cemetery which the Germans razed and where the city university now stands.
Just before Bergen-Belsen was liberated in April 1945, Lola was removed by train to north Germany, part of a last-ditch effort by the Nazis to exterminate camp survivors before the Allies arrived.
After days of travelling, the guards abandoned the train and fled. The exhausted and starving prisoners were found by American soldiers a few hours later.
Nina and her parents crossed most of Western Europe -- the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Italy -- before ending back in Greece in September 1945.
By that point, she had forgotten her Greek, and her family had lost everything.
`` We had to start from scratch, '' she said.
And returning to Thessaloniki was no easier, with the ghosts of Jewish families staring back from every corner.
`` Even today I have nightmares. And I rarely board trains, '' she said.
“ I celebrated my seventh birthday inside the camp of Bergen-Belsen with a piece of bread and sticks for candles, ” recalls 83-year-old Lola Angel, one of the few Greek Jews left to remember the horror of Nazi concentration camps.
“ I was just three when I had to hide, ” says Nina Camhi, who is 80. “ But I still remember the fear. ”
Approximately 83 percent of Greek Jews, nearly 59,000 people, were exterminated when the country was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1941-1944.
Most of them came from Thessaloniki, which until then had a prosperous Jewish community dating back to the 15th century, and was known as the Jerusalem of the Balkans.
Nina and Lola are among survivors who have not spoken until now. Because they were so young at the time, they felt it was not their place to speak. But 75 years after the end of World War II, they finally feel ready to pass on their stories to the next generation.
– ‘ I forgot nothing’ –
“ I was but a child but I forgot nothing, ” Lola told AFP.
“ The memories still haunt me, and the intense smells of the camp are ever present. ”
Lola’ s family fled to Athens from Thessaloniki in January 1941, a few months before the capital fell.
In April 1944, the little girl and her family were put on a train to an unknown destination.
“ We were packed atop each other and could hardly breathe. Many died en route, ” she said.
The intensification and coordination of the “ Final Solution ” was agreed at a landmark conference of government ministries and top-ranking Nazi and SS officials in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee on January 20, 1942.
The 15 participants at the Wannsee Conference agreed that 11 million Jews should be moved to death camps in an operation under the exclusive authority of the SS.
Jews from all over Europe were systematically deported from mid-1942 to six death camps — Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor and Treblinka.
At Auschwitz — which became the symbol of the Holocaust — more than 1.1 million people were killed, primarily Jews, but also Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and Poles.
At Bergen-Belsen, however, the Nazis tried a different strategy, said Lola, speaking from her Athens apartment where the walls are covered with the pictures of survivors and the dead.
– Death by disease –
“ It was slow death by disease. After the Allies landed in Normandy, the Nazis began concentrating people there, hoping they would die of typhus. ”
Her father fell ill with the disease while Lola caught measles.
She said that childhood distractions kept her going.
“ I kept my doll until I returned to Greece, and my mother would put a bow in my hair every morning, ” she said.
Nina said that in order to evade the first convoys from Thessaloniki to Auschwitz in March 1943, she and her parents and brother fled the city.
A business partner of her father managed to smuggle them by fishing boat to the island of Skopelos.
But her mother’ s family died at Auschwitz.
“ My mother kept all their letters, up to the point they were deported. After the war, she shut herself up in painful silence, ” Nina said.
– History lessons –
The fate of Greek Jews is still not widely known in the country.
It was only in 2004 that teaching about the Shoah became compulsory in Greece and 10 years later a monument was erected at the site of the former Jewish cemetery which the Germans razed and where the city university now stands.
Just before Bergen-Belsen was liberated in April 1945, Lola was removed by train to north Germany, part of a last-ditch effort by the Nazis to exterminate camp survivors before the Allies arrived.
After days of travelling, the guards abandoned the train and fled. The exhausted and starving prisoners were found by American soldiers a few hours later.
Nina and her parents crossed most of Western Europe — the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Italy — before ending back in Greece in September 1945.
By that point, she had forgotten her Greek, and her family had lost everything.
“ We had to start from scratch, ” she said.
And returning to Thessaloniki was no easier, with the ghosts of Jewish families staring back from every corner.
“ Even today I have nightmares. And I rarely board trains, ” she said.
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
Citigroup is prepared to fire employees at the end of the month who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 14 deadline.
The benefit of nostalgia? Positive memories activate the reward pathway in the brain, which is essentially a release of chemicals that make us feel...
Cyber Ninjas, the cybersecurity firm that led a controversial GOP audit of the 2020 election results in Arizona's county, has shut down.
It’ s not often you see an idea as useful as this with so many applications – Separating microplastics using sound waves.
COPYRIGHT © 1998 - 2021 DIGITAL JOURNAL INC. Digital Journal is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more about our external linking.
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general
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Coronavirus patients arrived in France without symptoms
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* Patients were in France days before symptoms showed
One patient arrived from Wuhan via the Netherlands
* Authorities say temperature screening at airports futile
* Panic buying of face masks at pharmacies in Paris ( Adds foreign ministry, health ministry, Peugeot statement)
By Geert De Clercq
PARIS, Jan 25 ( Reuters) - Two of the three Chinese nationals in France who have been diagnosed with the Wuhan coronavirus arrived without showing symptoms, doctors at a Paris hospital said on Saturday.
On Friday, France confirmed the first three cases of the virus in Europe, with two patients hospitalized in Paris and the other in Bordeaux. The health ministry said on Saturday that no new cases have been confirmed since then but several people were being monitored.
In China, 41 people have died from the virus and more than 1,400 people have been infected globally, including four in Australia and three in Malaysia.
The two patients in Paris are a Chinese couple who arrived in France on Jan. 18 but did not show symptoms until Jan. 19 and 23 respectively, officials said.
`` They showed no symptoms when they boarded their plane, '' Yazdan Yazdanpanah, head of infectious diseases at Paris hospital Bichat told reporters.
The third patient, in Bordeaux, a 48-year old Chinese man who works in the French wine industry, had taken a plane from Wuhan to the Netherlands and entered France from there, SOS Medecins medical service in Bordeaux said.
Health Minister Agnes Buzyn told reporters the man had entered France on Jan. 22, had first consulted a doctor about his symptoms on Jan. 23, and had been diagnosed with the virus on Jan 24.
The delayed appearance of symptoms and the entry via a third country underline the limits of screening passengers arriving from China in airports.
Airports in several countries are using scanners to take the temperature of passengers arriving from China but France so far is not doing this. Passengers arriving on flights from China told BFM TV that they had been subject to no controls whatsoever upon entering France.
In Paris, there was a rush to buy face masks, and several pharmacies said they were sold out.
`` It has been like this since this morning, some people are hysterical, '' said a pharmacist in Paris.
The French foreign ministry said on Saturday it was looking at options for French nationals to leave Wuhan, which has been in virtual lockdown since Thursday, with nearly all flights canceled and checkpoints blocking the main roads.
On Friday, it said it had planned to set up a bus service to help them leave.
French automotive group PSA, maker of the Peugeot and Citroen brands, said it will repatriate expat staff and their families - a total of 38 people - from the Wuhan area. ( Reporting by Geert De Clercq, Nicolas Delame, Dominique Vidalon and Ardee Napolitano in Paris and Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Writing by Geert De Clercq; Editing by David Evans, Giles Elgood and Hugh Lawson)
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business
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Where has coronavirus spread?
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China remains the centre of the outbreak of a deadly coronavirus, with cases and deaths heavily concentrated in Hubei province and its capital, Wuhan. Cases have been reported in other countries around the world as health authorities scramble to prevent a pandemic.
Authorities in China have placed at least 20 cities on lockdown as they battle to contain the spread. Travel restrictions have been imposed in cities across Hubei province where the outbreak originated. Wholesale closure of transport infrastructure has taken place across the region, affecting the movement of at least 36 million people. Infections have been confirmed in almost all of China’ s provinces, as well as the municipalities of Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Tianjin.
The outbreak is centred on the city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and home to more than 11 million people. Efforts have begun to build a 1,000-bed hospital in a matter of days to relieve pressure on existing Wuhan medical facilities that have been overwhelmed with patients. There have also been reports of empty supermarket shelves and barricades going up.
Wuhan’ s international airport serves 104 destinations including 29 outside China. There are three direct flights a week from Wuhan to Heathrow, where arrivals from the affected city will now enter through a separate area. Screening has started at the three US airports where Wuhan flights land. Checks are also in place at airports in the other east Asian countries that have confirmed the virus is present.
France has identified three cases. Authorities say two of the three infected people belong to the same family. One of the patients, a 48-year-old man, passed through Wuhan. He was in contact with about 10 people before he was taken into care.
In Australia, three patients in New South Wales and one in Victoria have been diagnosed with the virus.
Malaysia confirmed its first three cases on Saturday. All are Chinese nationals on holiday from Wuhan who arrived in the country from Singapore two days earlier.
Canada said it discovered its first case, a man is his 50s who recently flew from Wuhan to Guangzhou and then on to Toronto.
US health officials have announced three positive tests.
Japan’ s health authorities in Japan – a destination for many lunar new year holidaymakers – confirmed a second case on Friday.
Singapore has announced at least four cases: A 66-year-old man and his 37-year-old son, who arrived in Singapore on Monday from Wuhan, a 52-year-old Wuhan woman, who arrived in the city-state on Tuesday, and a 36-year-old man from Wuhan who sought treatment on 24 January and was immediately isolated.
Elsewhere, South Korea’ s government confirmed its third case, while two cases have been confirmed in Vietnam. Thailand’ s public health ministry has confirmed five cases. Taiwan has reported three cases and Macao two.
The Wuhan coronavirus is mainly spread through the respiratory tract. A seafood market selling wild animals in Wuhan is the suspected source of the virus. Scientists believe it probably jumped from an animal to a human and is now transmissible from one person to another, and could mutate further.
Comparisons have been drawn with the Sars outbreak in 2003, which was similarly caused by a coronavirus. China’ s handling of Sars was criticised because it played down the first cases. The virus spread to 37 countries, causing global panic, infecting almost 8,500 people and killing almost 1,000.
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general
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As Coronavirus Fears Intensify, Effectiveness of Quarantines Is Questioned
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WUHAN, China — A top Chinese health official warned on Sunday that the spread of the dangerous new coronavirus, already extraordinarily rapid, is accelerating further, deepening global fears about an illness that has sickened more than 2,700 people worldwide and killed at least 80 people in China.
The grim diagnosis came amid concerns that China’ s efforts to contain the spread of the disease, despite a lockdown of unprecedented scope affecting 56 million people, may not only have come too late but could even make the situation worse, including by exacerbating shortages of medical supplies.
Adding to the growing global alarm, people who are carrying the virus but not showing symptoms may still be able to infect others, according to the Chinese official, Ma Xiaowei, the director of China’ s National Health Commission. Such asymptomatic transmissions would make the disease much more difficult to control, as seemingly healthy people travel and interact with others.
“ The epidemic is now entering a more serious and complex period, ” Mr. Ma said during a Sunday news conference in Beijing. “ It looks like it will continue for some time, and the number of cases may increase. ”
China’ s attempts to curb the disease’ s spread — essentially cordoning off the major cities in the province of Hubei, including its capital, Wuhan, a city of 11 million people — are a “ public health experiment, the scale of which has not been done before, ” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University. “ Logistically, it’ s stunning, and it was done so quickly. ”
Whether the lockdowns will succeed in stemming the spread of the virus is a matter of debate by experts in public health and epidemiology. Some said the lockdowns would help, at least in theory.
“ Anything that is done that increases social distancing can help decrease the spread of the virus, ” said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “ If you do it right, it’ s not impossible it will have positive impact. ”
But doing it right at this scale has never been tried before anywhere in the world.
“ To put a ring around cities of this size and population is unprecedented, ” said Dr. Howard Markel, a professor of the history of medicine at the University of Michigan and author of the book “ Quarantine. ”
Maintaining the lockdown will pose tremendous challenges, starting with the provision of food, fuel and medical care to millions of people. “ It’ s enormously difficult to do effectively, and also difficult to assess the effectiveness, ” said Dr. Schaffner.
Other experts were skeptical that the travel restrictions would prove at all effective because they had probably come too late and the barriers would prove too permeable. Five million people had left Wuhan before travel out of the city was restricted, said the city’ s mayor, Zhou Xianwang. It was a stunning disclosure that intensified questions about the government’ s delayed response.
“ You can’ t board up a germ. A novel infection will spread, ” said Lawrence O. Gostin, a law professor at Georgetown University and director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law. “ It will get out; it always does. ”
In China, it was a weekend of grim new warnings about the little-understood virus and a rising tally of infections and deaths. The official number of confirmed infections across China jumped significantly within a span of 24 hours, building to 2,744 by Monday from around 1,975 the day before.
The virus has sickened tens of thousands of people in China and a number of other countries.
Among the most recent announced fatalities from the coronavirus was an 88-year-old man in Shanghai — the first death to be reported in the commercial hub, and one likely to fuel anxieties about the disease’ s spread.
New cases cropped up in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Orange County, Calif., bringing to five the number of confirmed cases in the United States. The virus had already been found in Thailand, France, Japan, South Korea, Australia and beyond.
Epidemiologists at Imperial College London estimated that each case infected an average of between 1.5 and 3.5 other people in the early stages of the crisis. For seasonal flu, it’ s about 1.3.
That number could drop as the authorities take more stringent measures to halt the spread. But if it holds up, the number of infected could rise sharply.
In Wuhan, the city at the center of the outbreak, the streets were eerily quiet as the authorities had ordered people not to drive, forcing some to walk to hospitals. Mr. Zhou, the mayor, said that health officials were likely to confirm an additional 1,000 cases of the illness in the city. He said that the estimate was based on the assumption that around half of the city’ s nearly 3,000 suspected cases of the coronavirus would eventually test positive.
China’ s top leader, Xi Jinping, has promised drastic measures to contain the virus.
In a signal of the gravity of the crisis, and its likely disruption to China’ s short-term growth, the government announced on Monday that the annual weeklong Lunar New Year Holiday would be extended. For now, at least, many workers will get another three days off, and go back to work on Feb. 3.
Even before that notice, Suzhou, a big manufacturing hub in eastern China, declared that factories there should not start back at work any earlier than Feb. 8.
The national government on Sunday also banned the wildlife trade until the epidemic passes. The outbreak had drawn fresh attention to China’ s animal markets, where the sale of exotic creatures has been linked to epidemiological risks.
In Hong Kong — which was badly hit by the SARS coronavirus in 2003, with nearly 300 deaths, more than any city in the world — worries about the spread of infectious diseases run deep. On Sunday, the government said it would bar residents of Hubei Province, which includes Wuhan, and people who had been to the province in the past 14 days from entering Hong Kong until further notice.
Six cases of the new coronavirus have been confirmed in the city, already hobbled by months of antigovernment protests.
Health officials in the United States, in what could turn out to be a positive development in stemming the disease, said there was no “ clear evidence ” that asymptomatic transmissions of the disease were happening.
“ We at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention don’ t have any clear evidence of patients’ being infectious before symptom onset, ” Dr. Nancy Messonnier of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases said at a news briefing on Sunday. “ We are actively investigating that possibility. ”
Some global health experts said China’ s focus, and resources, going forward should not be devoted to closing off cities.
Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, thought China’ s approach to the crisis could easily “ backfire, ” comparing it to the so-called cordons sanitaires that were imposed to seal off swaths of West Africa during the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic. Those cordons left people starving and spurred violent uprisings. Others routinely found ways to sneak around or through the boundaries.
“ It was a disaster, ” Dr. Osterholm said.
Dr. Tom Inglesby, an infectious diseases specialist and director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, also expressed concern.
“ If you continue to quarantine more and more places in China, you’ re going to start to really break normal societal interaction, normal movement of goods and people and medical supplies and food and medicine, ” Dr. Inglesby said. “ At a macro level, it seems to me that it’ s more likely to be harmful than helpful in controlling the epidemic. ”
Instead, Dr. Inglesby, Dr. Osterholm and other health experts suggested China should concentrate on traditional public health measures that have stopped other outbreaks, like identifying and monitoring contacts and making sure medical care is available to everyone.
Updated June 12, 2020
So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “ very rare, ” but she later walked back that statement.
Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’ s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.
A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.
The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’ s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.
Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission.
Exercise researchers and physicians have some blunt advice for those of us aiming to return to regular exercise now: Start slowly and then rev up your workouts, also slowly. American adults tended to be about 12 percent less active after the stay-at-home mandates began in March than they were in January. But there are steps you can take to ease your way back into regular exercise safely. First, “ start at no more than 50 percent of the exercise you were doing before Covid, ” says Dr. Monica Rho, the chief of musculoskeletal medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. Thread in some preparatory squats, too, she advises. “ When you haven’ t been exercising, you lose muscle mass. ” Expect some muscle twinges after these preliminary, post-lockdown sessions, especially a day or two later. But sudden or increasing pain during exercise is a clarion call to stop and return home.
States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’ t being told to stay at home, it’ s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.
Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.
If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. ( Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)
Taking one’ s temperature to look for signs of fever is not as easy as it sounds, as “ normal ” temperature numbers can vary, but generally, keep an eye out for a temperature of 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. If you don’ t have a thermometer ( they can be pricey these days), there are other ways to figure out if you have a fever, or are at risk of Covid-19 complications.
The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’ t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’ t replace hand washing and social distancing.
If you’ ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.
If you’ re sick and you think you’ ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’ s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’ re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’ t be able to get tested.
Even as the highest echelons of China’ s government mobilize to fight the illness, much of the task of preventing contagion still falls on local officials, who can be unsure of how to respond to crises and uneven about following through on policies.
On Sunday in Wuhan, for example, police officers were flummoxed by new restrictions on driving within the city limits.
First, the city authorities said that most cars should stay off the roads, and that a fleet of 6,000 taxis would be on call to deliver food and medicine. Then, the authorities said drivers would be notified by text message if they had to stay off the roads. Nobody seemed to receive the text messages on Sunday.
“ My understanding, ” one police officer said, “ is that you can drive in your district if you don’ t get a text message telling you that you can’ t. But you should check that with the transport authorities. ”
In the end, most drivers stayed off the streets. But as the day went on, more ventured out, and the police did not seem to do much about it.
For some residents, it was another exasperating fumble by Wuhan officials, who many believe have mishandled the epidemic.
Health experts said the government’ s ability to keep the trust of the public was a key element in any successful quarantine, and never easy to do.
Dr. Inglesby said that previous, much smaller scale lockdown efforts — including closing off the Amoy Gardens housing complex in Hong Kong during the SARS outbreak 17 years ago — show that residents may become fearful and lose confidence in the government.
“ You need people to willingly present themselves for diagnosis, ” he said. “ If they don’ t understand what the government’ s doing or they feel in some way their bond with the government has been broken, that’ s another key process that’ s being interrupted by the quarantine. ”
For now, in Wuhan, the restrictions seem to be mostly accepted with the same stoic fortitude that many residents showed over the past several days as the city imposed bans on outbound travel for all but a select few.
That mood could shift, however, if, for example, food prices rise.
“ Now is not the time for recriminations, ” said Li Xiandu, a retired business manager. “ The local government wasn’ t forthcoming with information and didn’ t take vigorous enough measures. But we need to get through this first, and then we can assign blame. ”
While the government has pledged to build at least two new hospitals with thousands of beds in Wuhan — and to do so in just a few days — the city’ s existing hospitals remain intensely crowded, a condition that does not bode well for stopping the disease.
“ If you wanted to create the perfect mixing vessel for a coronavirus, ” Dr. Osterholm said, “ you’ d create the emergency rooms in Wuhan right now. ”
Chris Buckley reported from Wuhan, China, Raymond Zhong from Shanghai, and Denise Grady and Roni Caryn Rabin from New York. Sheri Fink contributed reporting from New York, and Claire Fu and Wang Yiwei contributed research.
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Matildas ' Olympics qualifiers moved to Sydney because of coronavirus outbreak
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Sydney will host the Matildas’ Olympic qualifying group matches against China, Taiwan and Thailand after the Asian Football Confederation elected to move the games away from Nanjing due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
The group B games were originally moved from Wuhan – the source of the outbreak – to Nanjing but will now take place in Sydney in February after the Chinese Football Association withdrew as host. The AFC nominated Sydney as the replacement host after working with the Australian officials.
“ The safety of all players, officials and fans is of paramount importance to Football Federation Australia and the Asian Football Confederation, and we are confident we will host a successful tournament here in Sydney, ” Football Federation Australia chief executive Chris Nikou said in a statement.
“ I would also like to acknowledge the support of the Australian government in enabling FFA to host this event at short notice. ”
Match schedules, kick-off times and broadcast details of the games featuring Australia, China, Taiwan and Thailand are yet to be announced.
The winner of group B will play the runner-up of group A, with the runner-up to play group A’ s winner in home and away ties, with the two winners of the playoffs qualifying for the Olympics alongside hosts Japan.
Group A, being played in South Korea, has only three teams – South Korea, Myanmar and Vietnam – after North Korea pulled out in December.
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Coronavirus: 100,000 may already be infected, experts warn
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About 100,000 people could be infected with the new coronavirus around the world, experts have warned, as the UK government faced calls to reassure people that the NHS is ready to deal with any British cases within days.
Prof Neil Ferguson, a public health expert at Imperial College, said his “ best guess ” was that there were 100,000 affected by the virus even though there are only 2,000 confirmed cases so far, mostly in the city of Wuhan in China where the virus first appeared.
“ Sooner or later we will get a case, ” he said. “ There are very large numbers of Chinese tourists across Europe right now. Unless the Chinese manage to control this, and I’ m sceptical about whether that is possible, we will get cases here. ”
Although no one has yet tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, Labour called on the government to reassure the public that the NHS could cope with an outbreak when it is already struggling with the winter flu season.
Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, said: “ The NHS is currently under immense strain this winter with staff already working flat out and hospitals overcrowded. We need urgent reassurance from ministers they have a plan to ensure we have capacity in place to deal with coronavirus should we need to. ”
Priti Patel, the home secretary, insisted on Sunday that the government was taking “ all precautions ”, despite criticism it had been slow off the mark to find and give information to the thousands of people in Britain who had flown back from Wuhan in recent weeks.
Prof Martin Dove, a British academic, said no one from the UK government had tried to contact him regarding the coronavirus outbreak despite recently returning home from working in Wuhan.
Others have said the UK authorities have been difficult to contact with the British embassy in Beijing shut on Friday and over the weekend, as well as Monday and Tuesday for the lunar new year. A Foreign Office spokesman said there would be some staff working despite the official closure and pointed to its 24-hour emergency assistance number.
There was also no clarity on Sunday over whether the government would evacuate the estimated 200 Brits trapped in Wuhan, with the Foreign Office advising against all travel to Hubei province but providing scant information on how to leave the affected areas. This is in contrast to France, the US and Japan, who are putting in place logistics to get their citizens out.
Patel said the government was “ looking at all the options ”, which could include airlifting UK citizens out of the worst-affected area.
It is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it has come from animals. The World Health Organization ( WHO) has declared it a pandemic.
According to the WHO, the most common symptoms of Covid-19 are fever, tiredness and a dry cough. Some patients may also have a runny nose, sore throat, nasal congestion and aches and pains or diarrhoea. Some people report losing their sense of taste and/or smell. About 80% of people who get Covid-19 experience a mild case – about as serious as a regular cold – and recover without needing any special treatment.
About one in six people, the WHO says, become seriously ill. The elderly and people with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, or chronic respiratory conditions, are at a greater risk of serious illness from Covid-19.
In the UK, the National health Service ( NHS) has identified the specific symptoms to look for as experiencing either:
As this is viral pneumonia, antibiotics are of no use. The antiviral drugs we have against flu will not work, and there is currently no vaccine. Recovery depends on the strength of the immune system.
Medical advice varies around the world - with many countries imposing travel bans and lockdowns to try and prevent the spread of the virus. In many place people are being told to stay at home rather than visit a doctor of hospital in person. Check with your local authorities.
In the UK, NHS advice is that anyone with symptoms should stay at home for at least 7 days. If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home.
China’ s national health commission confirmed human-to-human transmission in January. As of 6 April, more than 1.25m people have been infected in more than 180 countries, according to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
There have been over 69,500 deaths globally. Just over 3,200 of those deaths have occurred in mainland China. Italy has been worst affected, with over 15,800 fatalities, and there have been over 12,600 deaths in Spain. The US now has more confirmed cases than any other country - more than 335,000. Many of those who have died had underlying health conditions, which the coronavirus complicated.
More than 264,000 people are recorded as having recovered from the coronavirus.
So far there are around 40 cases outside China, including three each in the United States and France. All 56 deaths have occurred in China, mostly in people who were older and had underlying health problems that made it hard to fight off the virus.
The Department of Health and Social Care said on Sunday that 52 people had been cleared after testing in the UK and the “ risk to the public remains low ”.
But in spite of the rigorous containment measures China has taken, its ban on flights and the UK checks on travellers from China at Heathrow, experts say it is only a matter of time until there is a case in the UK, given the ease with which the new coronavirus is now believed to pass from one person to another – possibly transmitted by people with mild or even no symptoms at all.
Ferguson, whose team have been modelling the disease for the World Health Organization, said they estimated the virus had a reproductive rate of 2.5-3, meaning that each person infected would potentially transmit it to up to three others.
“ My best guess now is perhaps 100,000 cases right now, ” he said, although it could be between 30,000 and 200,000. “ Almost certainly many tens of thousands of people are infected. ”
Most of the cases that have been exported to other countries from China have been mild, he said. That could mean mild cases of disease spread more easily than severe, life-threatening cases, which sounds like good news. But on the other hand, it means it is possible there will be a reservoir of mild disease in the country that goes unnoticed and can spread until it affects somebody vulnerable because of underlying poor health, who becomes seriously ill.
“ People looking for people with a travel history to China are not necessarily looking in their local population, ” he said.
There is a lot still unknown, he explained. “ We don’ t have reports as yet as to the extent to which children are becoming infected, probably because of the bias towards severe cases. ”
Unlike Sars, which made everyone who contracted the virus severely ill, the new virus appears to be able to slip under the radar, he said. Firstly, there are the many mild carriers, who will infect other people without necessarily being recognised. Secondly, there are reports from China of people who have infected others before they have experienced any symptoms.
Ferguson said it was possible this is not quite as it appears. It may be that the authorities have not actually identified the index case – the person who infected a group of people – making it look as though they picked up the virus from someone who had no symptoms.
But although only people with symptoms of illness spread Sars, scientists point to other diseases, such as influenza and some colds, that can be passed on by those who appear well. These viruses “ are carried into the air during normal breathing and talking by the infected person ”, said Prof Wendy Barclay of the department of infectious disease at Imperial College London.
“ It would not be too surprising if the new coronavirus also does this. If this does prove to be the case then controlling the spread does become more of a challenge, and measures like airport screening are unlikely to stem the virus effectively. ”
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China says coronavirus can spread before symptoms show -- calling into question US containment strategy
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`` This is a game changer, '' said Dr. William Schaffner, a longtime adviser to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It's much harder to contain a virus -- to track down a patient's contacts and quarantine them immediately -- if the patient was spreading the disease for days or weeks before they even realized they had it.
`` It means the infection is much more contagious than we originally thought, '' said Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. `` This is worse than we anticipated. ''
Ma didn't explain why he thinks the virus can be spread before someone has symptoms. If the Chinese health minister is right -- and there are those who doubt him -- that means the five confirmed cases in the United States might have been infectious while traveling from Wuhan to Arizona, California, Illinois and Washington state, even if they had no symptoms at the time.
On Sunday, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said the risk to the American public for contracting this virus continues to be low.
`` We at CDC don't have clear evidence that patients are infectious before symptom onset, but we are actively investigating that possibility, '' Messonnier said.
`` We need to be preparing as if this is a pandemic, but I continue to hope that it is not, '' she added.
The Wuhan coronavirus has killed more than 50 people in China and infected thousands there, and spread as far as the US, France and Canada.
'We're going to have to reevaluate our strategy '
US health officials believe the Wuhan virus has an incubation period of about two weeks, CDC officials said Friday during a media briefing.
`` Based on what we know now about this virus, our concern for transmission before symptoms develop is low, so that is reassuring, '' Dr. Jennifer Layden, an epidemiologist with the Illinois Department of Health, said at the Friday briefing.
The update on Sunday from the Chinese health minister should encourage health officials to change that thinking, some infectious disease experts told CNN.
`` Assuming that Ma is correct, we're going to have to re-evaluate our strategy, that's for sure, '' Schaffner said.
Dr. Paul Offit, another longtime CDC adviser, said given Ma's news, he thinks health officials should alert people on the flights that the three US patients took from Wuhan that they might have traveled with someone who was infectious.
`` I think the conservative thing to do would be to cast a wider net, '' he said.
NIH doctor wants US to inspect Chinese data
The United States ' top infectious disease doctor wants a team of CDC disease detectives to go to China and check on these crucial questions about how the Wuhan coronavirus is spreading.
But there's something stopping them: China first has to invite the CDC.
`` Up to now, to my knowledge, we have not been invited, '' Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the US National Institutes of Health, said Sunday.
NIH and CDC are separate divisions of the US Department of Health and Human Services.
The implications of Ma's statement that the coronavirus is transmissible before symptoms are so important `` that in my mind it's absolutely critical that we ourselves see the data, because what goes on over there has implications for what happens here, '' Fauci said.
He added that to his knowledge, the Chinese did not tell US health authorities that the virus could spread before someone is symptomatic, a crucial aspect of any disease investigation. He said he learned about it after reading a CNN reporter's email.
Fauci said that CDC disease detectives would need to see precisely how Chinese health authorities have gathered their data and how they came to their conclusion.
`` To my knowledge, we have not seen the precise minute, granular data and how they collected it, '' he said. `` We need to get to the real bottom line of how they collected their data and see if it's valid. ''
`` The Chinese have good people. I don't want to impugn their capabilities, '' Fauci added. `` But when it's something as important as this, our people who are trained epidemiologists need to go over their data and the best way to do that is go there and see how they're collecting it. ''
CDC's Messonnier said Sunday the CDC has staff in China, but the team is not directly involved in the Wuhan coronavirus response. The agency hopes to have `` additional engagement '' on the outbreak in China in the coming days, she said.
In a tweet on Sunday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, `` I am on my way to Beijing, [ China ] to meet with the Government & health experts supporting the # coronavirus response. My @ WHO colleagues & I would like to understand the latest developments & strengthen our partnership with [ China ] in providing further protection against the outbreak. ''
Are Chinese officials right?
In a fast-spreading, evolving outbreak like this one, information often changes.
Some experts are skeptical because of the lack of data from China.
`` I seriously doubt that the Chinese public officials have any data supporting this statement, '' said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. `` I know of no evidence in 17 years of working with coronaviruses -- SARS and MERS -- where anyone has been found to be infectious during their incubation period. ''
Severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome are both caused by coronaviruses. While each has killed hundreds of people worldwide, together they amounted to only a handful of cases and no deaths in the United States.
Offit, on the other hand, said it wouldn't surprise him if the Chinese health minister is right and the Wuhan coronavirus can be spread while people are asymptomatic. Measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox all spread that way, he said.
Despite that, he said he's optimistic that the US can control the outbreak before it gets out of hand, as it has in China.
That's because the spread of the outbreak doesn't just rely on the time period of contagiousness. It also relies on how easily the virus spreads. Some viruses, such as measles, spread easily even to people on the other side of a room. Other viruses spread only with much closer contact.
`` My gut says we're going to be able to contain this real quick -- we're going to be able to put a moat around this fire, '' said Offit, a pediatric infectious disease expert at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. `` I think this is going to be much more like SARS or MERS than the movie 'Contagion. ' ``
`` But then, '' the Philadelphia-based doctor said, `` I 'm an Eagles fan, so I tend to be optimistic about things. ''
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Cisco retools CCNA, CCNP and CCIE, adds DevNet Associate and Professional certifications
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Cisco announced upgrades to its certification and training program on Monday. The program now features Cisco Certified Network Associate ( CCNA), Cisco Certified Network Professional ( CCNP), and Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert ( CCIE) written exams, as well as brand new Cisco DevNet Associate Cisco DevNet Professional exams, according to a blog post.
SEE: The driving force behind IT salaries in Global Knowledge's report ( free PDF) ( TechRepublic)
Certifications are sweeping the IT enterprise, with 85% of professionals earning their most recent certification in the last 12 months, a Global Knowledge report found. These certifications not only help sharpen IT skills, but can earn these professionals more money and sought-after jobs.
`` Certifications have been a way to validate yourself to others, '' said Joe Clarke, distinguished services engineer at Cisco. `` It's a door opener; it says, ' I have achieved this level. ' ''
Candidates who have certifications on their resume are displaying that they have up-to-date skills and can demonstrate those skills, which is appealing for hiring managers, Clarke said.
As a major certification provider for the past 26 years, Cisco attempts to offer the most relevant certifications that reflect the evolving tech landscape. With networking significantly shifting over the past few years, the company said it decided it was time to reflect those changes in its certifications.
`` This huge trend around software-defined networking permeated its way into everything, '' Clarke said. `` We have a software-defined data centers, then ACI ( Application Centric Infrastructure), and then we had this whole push towards software-defined WAN, and now software-defined access layer networks.
`` It's not enough anymore just to do these incremental, evolutionary steps, '' Clarke noted. `` The fact that the network engineer has to be more software-aware and embrace more software. ''
The updated CCNA program helps prepare associate-level IT professionals for a successful career in networking by adding security, automation and programmability to the course. The certification also covers network fundamentals, network access, IP connectivity, and IP services.
Before the update, Cisco had 10 different CCNA tracks. This new CCNA certification presents a unified, single version of those 10 originals, while incorporating modern skills employers look for in networking engineers, Clarke said.
`` We started asking hiring managers, what is it you really expect from an associate-level professional? We found that they wanted someone who was a little broader in networking, someone who could be a little more malleable in different areas of the network, '' Clarke said.
`` The new, single CCNA focuses on routing and switching; it focuses on security, because security is so integral to networking; and, we wanted to start to introduce those fundamentals of programming and automation, because any network that's being at scale is going to get back candidate, '' Clarke added.
The CCNP is a more advanced version of a CCNA, geared toward more experienced network engineers, who want to bolster their skills and look ahead, Clarke said.
Within the Cisco courses, professionals at this level can choose between five tracks to focus on, including enterprise, collaboration, data center, security, or service provider.
`` The new Cisco NP has two exams. They used to have varying numbers of exams depending on the track, '' Clarke said. The first exam taps into the student's specialized track, and the other is a technology core foundation applied across all five tracks. ''
`` You don't need any prerequisites anymore, '' Clarke said. `` If I jumped in and I go from my, let's say, CCNP Enterprise, I 'll walk out of that with three certifications: Two specialists, one for the technology core and my concentration, and the CCNP. ''
The CCIE is the expert-level certification for network engineers, also offering the five specialty tracks included on NP.
The previous IE certification had a written component, but the new certification includes the same technology core offered for the NP to serve as the foundational exam, Clarke said.
`` However, whereas in NP I could take either the concentration or the core first, in IE, I must first pass the technology core in a given technology space and then I can go and sit for an eight-hour lab, '' Clarke said.
`` The new eight- hour lab consists of a three-hour low-level design component upfront, a situation or scenario-based design, and then five hours of implementation, operation, optimization, and troubleshooting, '' he added.
`` We wanted to thread software through every one of our certifications for the network engineer, '' Clarke said. `` It's critical that the network engineer now embrace software as a means of delivering reliable, likable, scalable network solutions. ''
The new DevNet Associate certification validates the emerging skills of software developers, DevOps engineers, automation specialists, and other software professionals.
The associate-level program requires one exam and focuses on understanding and using APIs, Cisco platforms and development, application development and security, and infrastructure and automation, Clarke said.
The DevNet Professional is the more advanced certification, helping developers master design and debugging with Cisco APIs and platforms.
`` The Professional [ certification ] structurally looks just like the network engineer [ certification ]: You have a core exam and a number of concentrations, '' Clarke said.
`` This person might very well be a team leader of software development; they have five or more years of experience designing and developing software, '' Clarke added.
All programs are currently available for enrollment, however, the CCIE lab exam centers are temporarily closed, in light of the coronavirus outbreak.
For more, check out 11 popular IT certifications and cross-certifications that pay the most on TechRepublic.
We deliver the top business tech news stories about the companies, the people, and the products revolutionizing the planet. Delivered Daily
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tech
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Davos 2020: Greta Thunberg vs Mnuchin; Coronavirus fears; Soros's $ 1bn university - Day Three as it happened
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Rolling coverage of the third day of the World Economic Forum in Davos
Graeme Wearden
Fri 24 Jan 2020 07.40 GMT First published on Thu 23 Jan 2020 07.31 GMT
7.40am GMT 07:40
Finally, here’ s our news story on George Soros’ s new initiative:
8.48pm GMT 20:48
The key points:
George Soros at # Davos: “ President trump is a conman and the ultimate narcissist who wants the world to revolve around him. His narcissism has approached a pathological level. His narcissism has become a malignant… https: //t.co/T3HEPK8hUz
George Soros just pledged a billion dollars - a major chunk of his fortune - to create a university network for the politically persecuted. The Open Society University Network ( OSUN). “ The most important & enduring project of my life & I’ d like to see it while I’ m still around ”
George Soros: “ Facebook basically only has one guiding principle: Maximise your profits, irrespective of what harm it will do to the world. ” “ Facebook will work to re-elect Trump and Trump will protect Facebook. ”
8.32pm GMT 20:32
George Soros is also stingingly critical of Facebook, saying the social network has not improved its behaviour.
He suggests it will now work to ensure Donald Trump is re-elected in November.
8.28pm GMT 20:28
George Soros has outlined plans for a new higher education network, to promote his vision of an open society against the likes of populist politicals.
The initiative is called “ The Open Society University Network ”, and is being endowed with $ 1bn from the billionaire philanthropist.
Soros tells his audience in Davos tonight that it will be an international platform for teaching and research, offering classes, and aiming to reach places in need of high quality education.
That could include refugees, the Roma people and other displaced people, he adds.
It sounds like a successor to his Central European University, which Soros founded in Hungary - it fled to Vienna after falling foul of prime minister Victor Orbán.
Soros says he will provide $ 1bn funding to get it going, but is calling on other philanthropists to help too.
Soros, who turns 90 in August, says that he considers OSUM to be the most important and enduring project of his life, adding:
I hope to see it implemented when I’ m still around.
7.55pm GMT 19:55
Soros is also concerned about President Xi, and his attempts to control Chinese society.
With the climate crisis a growing threat too, 2020 and next few years, may determine the fate of both Xi and Trump and the whole world, he adds.
7.51pm GMT 19:51
George Soros says there is now a torrent of protests from people around the world against closed societies.
The biggest is Hong Kong, he says, which “ may well destroy the city’ s economic prosperity. ”
7.49pm GMT 19:49
Onto economics and markets.... Soros warns that Trump has pumped up an already overheated economy through tax cuts.
That’ s why the markets have risen so high — high enough to guarantee Trump’ s re-election, Soros says, except there’ s still 10 months to go.
Plenty of time for things to change, in a revolutionary time
7.47pm GMT 19:47
George Soros now turns his guns on Donald Trump, saying that the US president’ s “ impetuous actions have heightened the risk of a conflict in thei Middle East ” ( he’ s thinking of the asssasination of Qasem Soleiman)
Then he really wades in:
Trump is a con man and the ultimate narcissist who wants the world to revolve around him.
When his dream of the presidency came true, his narcissism took on a pathalogical dimension, Soros continues.
And it’ s now become a malignant disease, because Trump has build a following who believe him.
7.42pm GMT 19:42
Soros then gives a searing assessment of the global situation.
The strongest powers - the U S, China and Russia - have all ended up in the hands of would-be or actual dictators.
And the battle against Brexit, which will be bad for the UK and the EU, ended in “ a crushing defeat ”, Soros adds.
He also criticises India’ s Modi for trying to create a Hindu state.
7.38pm GMT 19:38
Hello again. George Soros, the billionaire philanthropist is speaking at an event in Davos now.
He starts by warning that open societies ( Soros’ s big cause) is under threat, and Climate crisis is threatening our civilisation.
It is easier to influence events than understand what’ s going on, he warns.
This is leading to widespread unhappiness in the population, which populists have taken advantage of, he says.
4.54pm GMT 16:54
Here’ s a summary of the key points from another busy day here in Davos.
Greta Thunberg has hit back at criticism from US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, as the climate emergency continues to dominate the World Economic Forum.
Mnuchin claimed that Thunberg should go and study economics before pronouncing on fossil fuel. He also defended America’ s record on sustainability, hailing its private sector’ s work.
Thunberg pointed out that you don’ t need a college degree to see which way the ( hot, polluted) wind is blowing.
So either you tell us how to achieve this mitigation or explain to future generations and those already affected by the climate emergency why we should abandon our climate commitments. 2/3
Angela Merkel also hailed the contribution of young activists, as she warned that the cost of inaction would be hugely higher than the cost of action.
Leading experts in viruses and infection control have warned that the Wuhan coronavirus is a global issue, as they announced new partnerships to find a vaccine.
But with the virus spreading fast, experts are very concerned -- and want people to be meticulous about hand-washing and getting a flu vaccine to lower the burden on doctors.
Steven Mnuchin and Microsoft’ s Satya Nadella wouldn’ t say whether they might be caught up in the WhatsApp hacking scandal suffered by Jeff Bezos.
UK chancellor Sajid Javid tried to reassure businesses that Brexit won’ t lead to a bonfire of EU rules.
At a lunch with top UK corporate leaders, he pledged:
We won’ t diverge just for the sake of it ”
Updated at 4.54pm GMT
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In Coronavirus, a ‘ Battle’ That Could Humble China’ s Strongman
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BEIJING — It took thousands of infections and scores of deaths from a mysterious virus for China’ s authoritarian leader to publicly say what had become glaringly obvious to many in recent weeks: The country is facing a grave public health crisis.
After his declaration, the leader, Xi Jinping, put China on a virtual war footing to cope with the unfolding epidemic of the coronavirus. He convened an extraordinary session of the Communist Party’ s top political body, issuing orders for handling the crisis with the crisp, somber stoicism of a field marshal.
“ We’ re sure to be able to win in this battle, ” he proclaimed on Saturday before his six grim-faced colleagues on the party’ s Politburo Standing Committee.
Compared to the very low bar set by the Chinese leadership’ s secrecy and inaction during the SARS epidemic in 2002 and 2003, Mr. Xi has responded with speed and alacrity to the latest health emergency, a pneumonialike virus that at last official count has killed at least 80, sickened thousands in China and spread around the world.
But there are also signs that the government, especially at the regional level in Hubei Province, the source of the outbreak, was slow to recognize the danger and is continuing to mishandle the crisis. Some public health experts have asked whether the sweeping travel restrictions that have been imposed are leaving people without access to medical care, while many Chinese remain unconvinced the government is being completely forthcoming about the toll of the disease.
“ Substantively, the response this time is more or less the same, ” said Minxin Pei, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College in California. “ Local officials downplayed the outbreak at the initial, but crucial, stage of the outbreak. The media was muzzled. The public was kept in the dark. As a result, valuable time was lost. ”
The turnaround from complacency to nationwide mobilization typifies how China can respond to unexpected crisis like a lumbering giant, reluctant to stir, but then capable of shattering urgency. It represents both sides of the authoritarian political bargain under Mr. Xi.
A fear of upsetting the party’ s protocols and leaders’ desire for unruffled stability can deter even officials who want to do well by the public. Conversely, the government can operate with brutal efficiency when it wants.
It was only after a brief written statement under Mr. Xi’ s name on Jan. 20, when he was touring a military base and shopping exposition in Yunnan Province, that the vast Chinese state bureaucracy began to shudder into action.
Officials then quickly acknowledged the dangers of the coronavirus and ordered drastic measures to stop the spread — perhaps, experts said, belatedly — including the lockdown of much of the province where the epidemic emerged, penning in 56 million people. The government also ordered the construction of two hospitals in Wuhan to deal exclusively with patients afflicted with the coronavirus, which are expected to open within days, not months or years.
“ The thing about China is that they can mobilize agencies and resources faster than anybody else can, ” said Richard McGregor, a senior fellow at the Lowy Institute in Sydney and author of “ Xi Jinping: The Backlash. ” “ The other side is that they can conceal things. ”
“ In China there is no independent entity that can get on the front foot and disseminate information, ” he added.
From a localized medical mystery a few weeks ago, the coronavirus has erupted as one of the most complex and unpredictable tests for Mr. Xi since he came to power more than seven years ago. Over that time, he has by some measures established himself as the most formidable Chinese leader since Mao Zedong.
The epidemic and the effectiveness of the government’ s response remain subject to many unknowns, but the outbreak comes at a time when Mr. Xi has already been facing quiet whispers about his political acumen. In the past year, he has experienced repeated setbacks on some of the most vital issues on his agenda.
Protests against China’ s tightening grip continue to convulse Hong Kong. Rancor with Washington was only partly eased by a trade deal that some said required China to promise too many concessions. Two weeks ago, voters in Taiwan, the island democracy that Mr. Xi has made clear should join a greater China, resoundingly re-elected a president despised by Beijing.
Mr. Xi’ s sheer dominance, according to several experts and political insiders, may be contributing to his problems by hampering internal debate that could help avoid misjudgments. Beijing, for example, has underestimated the staying power of the protesters in Hong Kong and the public support behind them.
“ It’ s a paradox, ” said Rong Jian, an independent scholar of Chinese politics in Beijing. “ It’ s precisely because Xi is so powerful that policy problems often arise — nobody dares disagree, and problems are spotted too late. ”
While state and local officials have been criticized, the public health system has been credited with responding effectively, particularly compared to the response to the SARS crisis.
In that case, officials covered up the extent of the viral outbreak for months, almost certainly abetting its spread and exacerbating the death toll, which reached nearly 800.
This time, even as officials in Wuhan said nothing publicly, government scientists shared information with the World Health Organization on the last day of 2019, isolated the virus, and posted details about it on an international database 10 days later.
That allowed experts from around the world to quickly conclude that the new coronavirus, like the one from SARS, had very likely originated in bats and made the leap to humans through infection of another mammal in a market in Wuhan.
The Lancet, one of the leading medical journals, praised China’ s handling of the outbreak so far in an editorial.
“ The lessons from the SARS epidemic — where China was insufficiently prepared to implement infection control practices — have been successfully learned, ” it wrote. “ By most accounts, Chinese authorities are meeting international standards and isolating suspected cases and contacts, developing diagnostic and treatment procedures, and implementing public education campaigns. ”
The journal went on to emphasize that the ultimate success of the response would “ depend on maintaining trust between the authorities and the local population. ”
Mr. Xi’ s government, despite its call to arms, may have already undercut that trust.
On the local level in Wuhan, people have vented anger and frustration, which is percolating on social media despite censorship. In widely circulated, and then censored, comments, a senior journalist with The Hubei Daily, the province’ s main party newspaper, called for a change of leadership in Wuhan.
Updated May 20, 2020
Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.
Over 38 million people have filed for unemployment since March. One in five who were working in February reported losing a job or being furloughed in March or the beginning of April, data from a Federal Reserve survey released on May 14 showed, and that pain was highly concentrated among low earners. Fully 39 percent of former workers living in a household earning $ 40,000 or less lost work, compared with 13 percent in those making more than $ 100,000, a Fed official said.
If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. ( Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)
There is an uptick in people reporting symptoms of chilblains, which are painful red or purple lesions that typically appear in the winter on fingers or toes. The lesions are emerging as yet another symptom of infection with the new coronavirus. Chilblains are caused by inflammation in small blood vessels in reaction to cold or damp conditions, but they are usually common in the coldest winter months. Federal health officials do not include toe lesions in the list of coronavirus symptoms, but some dermatologists are pushing for a change, saying so-called Covid toe should be sufficient grounds for testing.
Yes, but make sure you keep six feet of distance between you and people who don’ t live in your home. Even if you just hang out in a park, rather than go for a jog or a walk, getting some fresh air, and hopefully sunshine, is a good idea.
Taking one’ s temperature to look for signs of fever is not as easy as it sounds, as “ normal ” temperature numbers can vary, but generally, keep an eye out for a temperature of 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. If you don’ t have a thermometer ( they can be pricey these days), there are other ways to figure out if you have a fever, or are at risk of Covid-19 complications.
The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’ t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’ t replace hand washing and social distancing.
If you’ ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.
If you’ re sick and you think you’ ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’ s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’ re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’ t be able to get tested.
Charity Navigator, which evaluates charities using a numbers-based system, has a running list of nonprofits working in communities affected by the outbreak. You can give blood through the American Red Cross, and World Central Kitchen has stepped in to distribute meals in major cities.
“ With this extraordinarily grim situation worsening and expanding by the day, those currently in office lack that commanding leadership, ” the journalist, Zhang Ouya, wrote on Sina.com Weibo, a popular Chinese social media service.
There is evidence, too, that the local authorities kept a lid on the crisis in the first days of January so as not to upset the cheerful tone for a provincial legislative session that is a highlight of the local political cycle.
“ This year will be a major landmark year, ” Wang Xiaodong, the provincial governor, told the legislative members. “ Let us unite even more closely around the party central leadership with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core. ”
Mr. Wang is now widely accused of underplaying the virus threat.
“ China is a much more decentralized place than it appears, ” said David Cowhig, a former American diplomat who served 10 years in China and monitored health and science issues.
“ Local officials have great discretion; China is a coalition of ‘ little’ Big Brothers, ” he said. “ Xi realizes this and is trying to re-centralize China. ”
Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations who studies China, said that the centralization of power since the SARS crisis did not appear to have strengthened expertise at the local level or the willingness of underequipped regional hospitals to report.
“ I think the central health authorities are trying to be more transparent, ” he said, “ but the local government remains loath to share disease related information in a timely and accurate manner. ”
Not all the blame can fall on the officials in Wuhan.
The central authorities still control the political and propaganda apparatus, which has sought to minimize the severity of the crisis. Before the standing committee’ s meeting on Saturday, Mr. Xi and other senior officials went about their business as if there were no crisis, appearing at a banquet on Thursday in the Great Hall of the People to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
When he did speak, Mr. Xi emphasized the need for preserving public stability.
The phrase alludes to the fear of popular unrest boiling over, which is, as ever, the party state’ s highest priority. It could become a reality if the epidemic, as predicted, inflicts sustained hardship on the economy and people’ s livelihood.
“ The truth is in a public-health emergency, it’ s not just the medical professionals who matter, ” Mr. McGregor said. “ It’ s the management of it in the government and in the public that matters, too. It’ s hard to argue that they’ ve done that well. ”
Steven Lee Myers reported from Beijing, and Chris Buckley from Wuhan, China. Claire Fu contributed research.
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business
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The Coronavirus: What Travelers Need to Know
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[ This article is part of the developing coronavirus coverage, and may be outdated. Go here for the latest on the coronavirus. ]
The death toll from a novel coronavirus has now reached 170 people, with most of the more than 7,700 cases reported in the central Chinese province of Hubei, the epicenter of the disease. At least 19 other countries have also reported cases, and the virus has been diagnosed in five people in the United States; all had recently returned from China.
Airlines are suspending flights to mainland China, and on Monday, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised avoiding all nonessential travel to China. On Thursday, the World Health Organization declared that the outbreak was a global health emergency and the United States set its advisory level on China at 4, its highest level, advising Americans not to travel to China.
Here’ s what travelers making their way to or from China can expect.
The outbreak of the deadly coronavirus is centered in Wuhan, a city of 11 million and the capital of Hubei Province in China. Wuhan is a major manufacturing center, but not known as a tourist destination.
Travelers to Wuhan are likely visiting friends and family, or are business travelers connected to that city’ s manufacturing industry. Most business travelers will have already returned home as the factories recently closed for the Lunar New Year — as is tradition. Last week, the Chinese authorities imposed a blanket travel ban on Wuhan and surrounding cities in Hubei Province, a population of 35 million people. No planes, trains or buses are going in and out.
All flights in and out of Wuhan have been suspended. Several airlines have canceled flights to other cities in China or announced reductions in their service.
This week, British Airways said it was canceling all flights to mainland China, the first major carrier to do so. On the heels of that announcement, Air Canada said it would suspend all flights to China until Feb. 29 and Lufthansa Group ( which includes Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian) said it would suspend all flights until Feb. 9 and would no longer accept bookings until the end of February. Those airlines are all offering full refunds.
United Airlines announced Thursday that it would suspend all but 12 daily flights to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong from its United States hubs ( Newark, Chicago, Washington and San Francisco). The suspensions start Feb. 2 and last through March 28. United also said it would offer full refunds for flights to Beijing and Shanghai where travel hadn’ t yet started, even for nonrefundable fares.
Delta Air Lines announced Wednesday that it was reducing the frequency of its flights to China to 21 from 42 per week.
The airlines are allowing passengers who were planning to travel to, from or through Beijing or Shanghai, and in some cases Chengdu, to rebook their itineraries without a change fee, though the policies differ and passengers are advised to contact their carrier.
Delta Air Lines said that no refunds would be issued and that rebooked travel must begin before May 31 to avoid change fees and the difference in fare; after that date, the change fee will be waived but passengers will be assessed any applicable difference in fare. Passengers may cancel their itineraries in exchange for a travel credit ( but with payment of any difference in fare and the applicable change fee).
American Airlines will permit travelers to delay their trips for up to one year from the original ticket date without change fees ( but with payment of any difference in fare). Refunds are offered only for flights to Wuhan. Emirates passengers may request a refund if they no longer wish to travel to Shanghai, Beijing or Guangzhou ( for travel up to Feb. 6) or change their travel dates ( for travel up to Feb. 29).
United will allow passengers to rebook without penalty ( but with payment of any difference in fare) for trips after March 31.
Cathay Pacific, the Hong Kong-based carrier, and Cathay Dragon, its regional subsidiary which operates in mainland China, are permitting passengers to rebook or reroute flights without charge to mainland China, so long as passengers travel on or before May 31. The airline has announced that it is reducing its number of flights to mainland China by up to half.
In a first since the SARS crisis in 2002 and 2003, Cathay Pacific is permitting its crew and staff to wear surgical masks at work, and has announced in-flight service changes such as eliminating hot towels, pillows, blankets and magazines. Likewise, American Airlines: “ While it is not medically recommended, American will allow flight attendants to wear masks on flights to and from Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong, ” said Curtis Blessing, an American spokesman, in a statement. The masks are ubiquitous across Asia, but not common in North America.
Dr. Paulo Alves, the global medical director at MedAire, a Phoenix provider of in-flight, virtual medical care to airlines and their passengers worldwide, said masks are meant to contain the droplets that someone emits when sneezing or coughing. Passengers are not being issued surgical masks by airlines.
Foreign and domestic airlines typically operate dozens of daily flights from the United States to China, primarily to Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai. China Southern operated direct flights between John F. Kennedy International Airport, San Francisco International and Wuhan. Before the travel lockdown, passengers could have connected in China to Wuhan through code-share partners such as Cathay Pacific, Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines.
The decision behind which American airports screen passengers is made by the C.D.C., which last week began scanning passengers for signs of infection at Kennedy, San Francisco International, Chicago’ s O’ Hare International Airport, Los Angeles International and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
At a news briefing in Washington on Tuesday, C.D.C. officials said they were expanding the number of entry ports that would screen passengers, to 20 from five. These include ports for both land and air.
Screenings will now take place at existing C.D.C. quarantine stations, most of which are at airports. These include the current five airports as well as other ports in Anchorage, Boston, Dallas, Detroit, El Paso, Honolulu, Houston, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Philadelphia, San Diego, Seattle and San Juan in Puerto Rico. Washington Dulles International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport will also have screening facilities.
In Asia and the United States, passengers are scanned with thermal devices to measure their temperature. Passengers with symptoms such as high fever may undergo additional screening, and even off-site monitoring at specialized facilities.
Updated June 22, 2020
A commentary published this month on the website of the British Journal of Sports Medicine points out that covering your face during exercise “ comes with issues of potential breathing restriction and discomfort ” and requires “ balancing benefits versus possible adverse events. ” Masks do alter exercise, says Cedric X. Bryant, the president and chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise, a nonprofit organization that funds exercise research and certifies fitness professionals. “ In my personal experience, ” he says, “ heart rates are higher at the same relative intensity when you wear a mask. ” Some people also could experience lightheadedness during familiar workouts while masked, says Len Kravitz, a professor of exercise science at the University of New Mexico.
The steroid, dexamethasone, is the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients, according to scientists in Britain. The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth.
The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who don’ t typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the country’ s largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave.
So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “ very rare, ” but she later walked back that statement.
Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’ s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.
A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.
The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’ s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.
States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’ t being told to stay at home, it’ s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.
Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.
If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. ( Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)
If you’ ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.
If you’ re sick and you think you’ ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’ s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’ re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’ t be able to get tested.
In a statement released Tuesday, the C.D.C. said that the Customs and Border Protection agency would identify all travelers from the affected areas and provide them with a printed health alert notice. The notice provides travelers with information on what to do if they experience coronavirus symptoms within 14 days after arriving in the United States. Immigration officials will refer ill travelers with symptoms specific to novel coronavirus and a connection to China to C.D.C. staff members at the airport for evaluation.
On Monday, the C.D.C. said that Americans should avoid all nonessential travel to China.
“ Chinese officials have closed transport within and out of Wuhan and other cities in Hubei Province, including buses, subways, trains and the international airport, ” it said in an updated notice. “ Additional restrictions and cancellations of events may occur. ”
“ There is limited access to adequate medical care in affected areas, ” it added.
The agency maintains a website that travelers can check to get the latest recommendations.
Some of the most popular tourist destinations, including the National Museum of China and the Forbidden City ( both in Beijing), were closed over the weekend.
The Badaling section of the Great Wall of China, a popular attraction about 40 miles outside of Beijing, was also closed, as were the Shanghai Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland Park ( the hotels at the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort remain open). No date has been announced for reopening any of these sites. In addition, multiday celebrations for the Lunar New Year have been canceled in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Wuhan, at the center of the outbreak, lies on the Yangtze River. The river is a popular multi-night cruise route that includes visits to the Three Gorges Dam, which is in Hubei Province. No official announcements on the status of these river cruises have been announced, so travelers who have booked cruises should contact their travel agencies.
Some cruise lines are rescheduling and canceling trips, while others are increasing screening procedures for travelers embarking at Chinese ports.
Costa Cruises, MSC, Royal Caribbean and Victoria Cruises canceled a combined 18 sailings to China, according to Cruise Critic, a cruise review website. Costa Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation, canceled four cruises scheduled to travel to China, and four of its ships are now docked in Chinese ports. Passengers can choose alternative sailing dates before the end of 2020 with a $ 50 onboard credit, or they can get a full refund.
Royal Caribbean canceled a Spectrum of the Seas cruise, scheduled to sail from Shanghai on Monday, as well as another departure on Friday. The Spectrum of the Seas is one of the largest cruise ships in the world. MSC canceled its Splendida ship from sailing on Tuesday. Both companies said passengers on the canceled sailings were eligible for refunds.
Holland America Line, which is owned by Carnival, changed the disembarkation port for its Feb. 1 sailing on the Westerdam ship, from Hong Kong to Yokohama.
Crystal, Norwegian, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Silversea added preboarding health requirements for passengers. Norwegian is using “ nontouch ” temperature screenings for passengers departing from Chinese ports and will not allow anyone with a temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher to board.
“ Those universal things like washing your hands are always recommended, ” Dr. Alves said. He also suggested passengers avoid touching their faces, practice coughing etiquette and not cough into the environment.
“ Keep some distance from people who are obviously sick and maintain good personal hygiene, ” he added.
The advice mirrors that given to travelers during cold and flu season. While seat backs and tray tables on long-haul aircraft like those flying to China from the United States are individually wiped down by ground crew between flights, passengers may wish to bring their own wipes for a second pass.
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business
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Davos 2020: Greta Thunberg blasts climate inaction; Lagarde fears Brexit cliff edge - live updates
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Climate activists protest at the World Economic Forum, as Lagarde, Georgieva and Mnuchin discuss the economic outlook
Graeme Wearden in Davos
Fri 24 Jan 2020 16.37 GMT First published on Fri 24 Jan 2020 08.31 GMT
4.37pm GMT 16:37
Instead of a summary, treat yourselves to Larry Elliott’ s roundup of what we learned at Davos, including a rather sweet anecdote about Sajid Javid at WEF.
Goodnight!
3.50pm GMT 15:50
Here’ s our news story on the clash between Christine Lagarde and Steven Mnuchin at the final WEF session:
2.07pm GMT 14:07
WEF is over! We’ re clearing out of Davos -- I’ ll try to post a round-up, or more news, if I can....
If not, thanks very much for reading our coverage from the World Economic Forum.
2.05pm GMT 14:05
There are some small signs of progress at least - even if things aren’ t moving as fast as needed.
At today’ s press conference Isabelle Axelsson said climate activists had been taken more seriously this year than before
“ I don’ t know how they evaluate what we say, hopefully they listen, but generally I do think they dismiss us because of our age. ”
Axelsson added that there is too much media attention on the climate strikers:
“ We need the focus to be on the science. ”
Noted! In that spirit, here’ s a new scientific study warning that the climate emergency will create a lot more weather disasters.
1.27pm GMT 13:27
Here are the five climate activists who spoke to reporters in Davos today about the climate emergency.
From left to right, we have Vanessa Nakate, Luisa Neubauer, Greta Thunberg, Isabelle Axelsson and Loukina Tille:
12.31pm GMT 12:31
Elsewhere in Davos, former US vice-president Al Gore has hit out at “ cheap, destructive, extractive, exploitive business models ”.
In a discussion about tackling plastic waste, Gore says that some firms as using “ destructive practices that take advantage of the global commons ”....
`` The price paid for a plastic bag or a plastic bottle does not reflect the true cost to society. `` @ AlGore explains why he thinks the `` economic system '' is broken # WEF20 # Davos pic.twitter.com/L7bdwMcEm5
12.07pm GMT 12:07
Here’ s a clip of Greta Thunberg criticising world and business leaders for their lack of action.... although she expected nothing less.
Updated at 12.07pm GMT
11.57am GMT 11:57
And here’ s a video clip of today’ s climate activists marching through Davos:
This is the Davos climate strike currently under way - @ GretaThunberg here now. pic.twitter.com/pn5KRgmVuD
11.54am GMT 11:54
The “ Fridays For Future ” protests are now taking place outside the World Economic Forum in Davos.
11.45am GMT 11:45
Reminder - if you missed the press conference with Greta Thunberg and fellow activists today you can watch a recording at the top of this blog.
11.42am GMT 11:42
IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva cautions that the measures needed to tackle the climate emergency means that some industries will be less profitable in the future.
Christine Lagarde says the key to mobilising action is to remember the old advertising maxim:
There are three things that make people move -- sex, fear and greed.
She’ s not going to address the first ( this is a family liveblog, Christine), but the other two can drive action.
Lagarde talks about need to price the cost of transitioning to a low carbon economy.
If we do that, and we have pressure -- voluntary or no so -voluntary - we can get companies to move faster, she says.
Mnuchin, though, disputes whether green measures can really be priced.
We don’ t know how to price the risk of climate change, so we’ re over-estimating the cost, he claims.
If you want to introduce a carbon tax, then “ go ahead ” adds the Treasury secretary, adding that a carbon tax is “ a tax on hard-working people ”.
. @ stevenmnuchin1 & @ Lagarde argue a bit, w/Steven saying we overestimate the costs of climate change & a carbon tax hurts “ hardworking people. ” # WEF2020 pic.twitter.com/TMvh2EVt9u
Updated at 11.53am GMT
11.29am GMT 11:29
The panel moves onto climate... and Steve Mnuchin says it is only one of several important issues.
He cites health ( topical, given the coronavirus crisis) and the Middle East -- Iran can’ t be allowed to get a nuclear weapon, he insists.
Mnuchin says Donald Trump does care about clean air and water. He left the Paris Agreement because he felt it wasn’ t fair.
There’ s way too many people in the developing world who do not have access to electricity.
As much as we want to talk about the environmental issues... we need to work very hard to create an environment for these people where they have better lives.
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general
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China's unprecedented quarantines could have wider consequences, experts say
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But historically a mass quarantine is an aggressive response that's far from perfect. In the past it has led to political, financial and social consequences.
The shutdown of Wuhan, a city of more than 11 million people where the virus originated, is `` utterly incredible, '' Howard Markel, professor and director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan, told CNN.
`` I 've never seen an entire city 11.4 million people cordoned off like that, '' Markel said. `` I thought I 'd seen everything. ''
Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University and director of the World Health Organization's Center on Global Health Law, said the move was `` unprecedented, '' and, he thought, `` very unwise. ''
`` Nothing on this scale has ever been tried, '' he told CNN. `` There's very little evidence of its effectiveness. And I think there's good reason to think that it could backfire, from a public health, social, human rights perspective. ''
No quarantine goes perfectly
Quarantines date back to Italy in the 1300s, as the bubonic plague ravaged Europe. In Venice, sailors and ships coming from infected ports were made to wait 40 days before docking in a practice called `` quaranta giorni, '' or `` 40 days. ''
People criticize quarantines because in practice a virus or bacteria `` invariably gets loose, '' Markel said, as do people. `` Every quarantine, people get out, '' he said. `` They just do, especially one of this magnitude. ''
Large-scale quarantines like the one in Wuhan are generally avoided nowadays, with the medical community more focused on providing treatment, medication and vaccines to prevent them entirely, according to Markel.
Quarantines `` can stay things or quell things for a while, '' he said, `` but they're not the best things to use long-term. ''
They can also lead to logistical issues. Just the word `` quarantine '' can cause panic or hysteria, Markel said. Anyone concerned about a common cold or sniffle will head for hospitals, straining already precious resources. Wuhan officials have already acknowledged local hospitals were struggling to accommodate people seeking medical attention.
There are also human rights implications when Wuhan and more than a dozen other Chinese cities are placed under lockdown, Gostin said. `` I don't think you can enforce a mass quarantine of 30 million people without violating human rights. ''
Gostin also questioned the effectiveness of the approach, pointing to smaller quarantines during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. `` It spurred public violence, there was... distrust of public health authorities, people didn't come in for treatment and it was thought that it actually set back the outbreak response considerably, '' he said.
There are broader financial and social consequences
But outside the realm of public health, quarantines can present broader societal problems. Perhaps most obvious is the economic impact.
Quarantines `` are often very economically and financially costly, '' said Alexandre White, an assistant professor of sociology and the history of medicine at Johns Hopkins University.
The flow of trade in and out of the quarantined zone is halted, and goods in the process of being shipped could go bad -- depending on how long it lasts.
`` As any quarantine extends, the economic and social hardships on the community under quarantine will expand, requiring the delivery of food and services and also hindering local economic activity, '' he said.
These economic impacts are a large part of why quarantines are seen as a `` less desirable course of action, '' White said.
Then there are the social consequences, White said, particularly for marginalized members of a community. Historically, he said, the aggressive control needed in a quarantine can link the disease to marginalized people and potentially fuel existing anxieties about race and class.
White pointed to an outbreak of bubonic plague in Cape Town in 1901 that led to a racially segregated quarantine camp, which he said was later used as a blueprint for racial segregation during apartheid.
Markel told CNN there was a `` long history of quarantine being misused as a social separator, rather than a public health one. ''
`` There's a risk of stigmatization, '' he said, `` that marginalized groups are rightly concerned about and fear. ''
Trust and cooperation are key
There's still a lot that's unknown about the coronavirus outbreak and how Chinese officials are responding to it.
But generally, the trust and cooperation of the public is the most important thing for officials to have in a public health crisis, said Gostin.
Without it, people won't come in for testing and won't share the names of people they 've been in contact with -- a vital part of the strategy to prevent the spread of disease.
`` People get fearful, they hunker down... You can't go to social clubs, you can't see friends. A lockdown of 30 million people -- that really upends their lives. ''
Gostin believes the best way to tackle a situation like the one in Wuhan is a `` surge of the public health response, '' he said. It should be easier for people to get to hospital and there should be mobile clinics that meet people at their homes to provide testing and treatment.
Governments implementing a quarantine should still want the public's cooperation, said Markel. The government should provide plenty of explanation and keep up constant communication
`` Getting the buy-in from the people you're protecting is essential, '' he said, `` and always better than ordering people to do stuff. ''
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US coronavirus: US citizen says she's angry and scared
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Teacher Diana Adama has been living in Wuhan city for three months of her 15 years in China. Wuhan is the ground zero for a new deadly strain of coronavirus -- with about 1,000 Americans living in the city.
More than 50 people are dead -- all in China -- as the Wuhan coronavirus continues to spread throughout Asia and the rest of the world. Nearly 2,000 cases have been confirmed in mainland China.
Chinese authorities have imposed indefinite restrictions on public transport and travel in Hubei province in an unprecedented effort to contain the spread of the virus.
Residents are feeling disconnected and cut off from the rest of the world, Adama said.
`` I woke up feeling quite desperate, sad, angry. Most of this is because of lack of information and lack of knowing what's going on, '' she said.
Despite her fears and perceived lack of information about Wuhan coronavirus, she does not plan to leave the city in an evacuation flight organized by the State Department.
`` Right now I can't leave; I won't leave. Because if I am a carrier, I 'm not going to endanger anybody else. And that's just erring on the side of caution, '' she said.
The State Department has ordered non-emergency personnel and their families to depart China's Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, due to the coronavirus. It's arranging a charter flight to evacuate American diplomats and citizens from Wuhan, a US official said.
Private US citizens will be transported `` on a reimbursable basis on a single flight '' leaving the Wuhan airport Tuesday and flying directly to San Francisco.
`` This capacity is extremely limited and if there is insufficient ability to transport everyone who expresses interest, priority will be given to individuals at greater risk from coronavirus, '' the State Department said in a statement.
The US consulate in Wuhan reached out to Americans registered with the consulate and offered them seats on a flight, the official said. The flight will have medical personnel aboard to treat anyone with the virus and make sure it is contained.
With people rushing to buy face masks to protect themselves from the coronavirus, China's central government has asked manufacturers to interrupt their Lunar New Year holiday to resume production.
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California Confirms Coronavirus Patient, Marking Third U.S. Case
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The United States has confirmed a third case of the novel coronavirus, after a traveler from China tested positive for the disease in Orange County, Calif.
The Orange County Health Care Agency, which received confirmation of the case in California from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a statement on Saturday that the person had been sent to the hospital and was in “ good condition. ”
The patient is a traveler from Wuhan, China, and “ there is no evidence that person-to-person transmission has occurred in Orange County, ” according to the agency. “ The current risk of local transmission remains low, ” the statement said.
As China struggles to contain the outbreak of the deadly pneumonialike virus, global authorities are grappling with a rising number of cases at their borders. Canada and Portugal both announced suspected cases this weekend.
In China, 1,975 people have been infected with the coronavirus since the outbreak began last year in Wuhan. The death toll in China has risen to 56.
World authorities are taking their own precautions to keep the virus from spreading. Taiwan said on Sunday that it would bar all visitors from China’ s Hubei Province to the self-governing island, where a few cases have been confirmed.
Updated June 16, 2020
The steroid, dexamethasone, is the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients, according to scientists in Britain. The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth.
The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who don’ t typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the country’ s largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave.
So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “ very rare, ” but she later walked back that statement.
Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’ s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.
A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.
The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’ s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.
Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission.
States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’ t being told to stay at home, it’ s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.
Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.
If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. ( Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)
Taking one’ s temperature to look for signs of fever is not as easy as it sounds, as “ normal ” temperature numbers can vary, but generally, keep an eye out for a temperature of 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. If you don’ t have a thermometer ( they can be pricey these days), there are other ways to figure out if you have a fever, or are at risk of Covid-19 complications.
The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’ t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’ t replace hand washing and social distancing.
If you’ ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.
If you’ re sick and you think you’ ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’ s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’ re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’ t be able to get tested.
The United States has limited passengers who have recently visited Wuhan to a handful of airports that have special screening processes in place. A number of people around the United States are being monitored for potential cases of the respiratory illness.
The person in California brings to three the number of confirmed case in the United States. The others are a woman in her 60s in Chicago and a man in his 30s in Washington State.
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The Observer view on the coronavirus outbreak
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The world’ s most populous country yesterday celebrated the lunar new year, usually a time of family reunion and joyful celebration. For many Chinese people who have moved away from their place of birth, it is the one time of year they get to visit their familiesThis year the coronavirus outbreak has profoundly muted the celebrations in China, with several cities in lockdown, the imposition of quarantine measures unprecedented in their scale, and many citizens anxious about their own health and that of their families.
The Chinese have borne the brunt of the outbreak so far: coronavirus is known to have killed more than 40 people, and infected another 1,300. But the first cases have already been recorded in the US, Australia, and – on Friday – in Europe.
Like Sars ( severe acute respiratory syndrome, also a coronavirus), bird flu and Ebola, this coronavirus is a zoonotic virus, transferred from animals to humans. In this case, scientists think it is likely to have come from bats or snakes in a live food market in the Chinese city of Wuhan. It is not yet known how infectious it is, and there are fears that it could yet lead to a global pandemic. Although its symptoms currently appear to be less severe than Sars, it may mutate.
China’ s response stands in stark contrast to the Sars outbreak in 2002-2003, and has won it international plaudits. In 2002, China tried to cover up the spread of Sars: newspapers were forbidden from reporting it, public health officials told citizens there was nothing to worry about, and little was done to stop the deadly virus spreading across China.
This time the authorities have been more open: they promptly informed the World Health Organization, shared the virus’ s genetic sequence with the rest of the world and imposed strict travel restrictions and quarantine conditions affecting more than 50 million people. There are, however, concerns that the unprecedented scale of this quarantine – only possible because of the authoritarianism of the Chinese government – could risk counterproductive levels of anxiety and panic. Outside China, the global response has also been reassuring in the main. There is no cure for this particular virus, but work is under way to develop a vaccine.
What this outbreak does reveal, however, is a global failure to take action to minimise the risk of zoonotic viruses jumping species from animals to humans. We are relatively fortunate that, so far, this virus is not as deadly as Sars or Ebola. But there is a very real risk of this happening again.
Eating or transporting and trading wildlife is associated with a heightened risk of these viruses transferring to humans. In some areas, abject poverty pushes people to consume bush meat; Ebola is thought to have originated in wild bats that were killed for food, and in China and other parts of south-east Asia, eating wildlife is considered to be a symbol of wealth and social status, and beneficial to human health. The risk here lies in “ wet markets ” where live and dead animals are in close proximity. The markets continue to exist because of consumer preference: some older people in China, who grew up without refrigerators, are more comfortable buying meat from animals that are freshly slaughtered.
But they provide ideal conditions for new and dangerous viruses to emerge. The Chinese authorities did try to clamp down in the immediate wake of the Sars outbreak, but many markets continue to flourish.
From the spread of zoonotic viruses to the growing threat of antibiotic resistance and the climate crisis, the most existential challenges we face are truly global. They make a mockery of outdated notions of national sovereignty; the idea that so long as we exert control within our tiny corner of the world, everything will be fine. Global challenges like these will test to destruction the ability of transnational institutions such as the WHO, the EU and the World Trade Organization to chivvy along global coordination. They serve as a grave warning to those who would bury their heads in isolationism.
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The WHO should sound the alarm on Wuhan coronavirus ( opinion)
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The virus, which is similar to the fatal severe respiratory syndrome ( SARS), first emerged in Wuhan, China, which has a population greater than New York City. More than 1,900 people have already been infected, and more than 55 people have died. To contain the virus during the Lunar New Year, which marks the largest annual human migration in the world, the Chinese government placed a lockdown on 12 cities, affecting about 35 million people. On Saturday, China said it would halt all outbound international tour groups starting Monday.
Although authorities in Wuhan initially cracked down on people accused of spreading `` rumors '' about the illness, the Chinese government has since taken rapid and strict measures to contain the virus. Their efforts are laudable but may not be sufficient given the movement of people who may have been infected in the weeks before the lockdown was ordered.
While Chinese officials have a responsibility to limit the spread of the outbreak, global health officials in Geneva need to take quick action. By declaring a global emergency, WHO would set in motion coordination efforts among various countries and encourage UN member states to institute strict surveillance measures. While some initial panic could result, WHO's leadership would jolt passive governments into action.
In making its decision not to declare a global public health emergency, WHO officials cited a limited number of cases abroad, and strong, preventative containment measures in China. `` While this outbreak is an emergency in China, it has not yet become a global health emergency, '' WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told me.
However, the number of overseas cases are growing rapidly. There are more than 35 cases in more than a dozen countries and territories outside mainland China, including two in the United States. On Friday, the first European cases were confirmed in France. As for the number of cases in China, some experts suggest the total could be far higher than what is currently being reported.
By WHO's own definition, an international public health emergency is `` an extraordinary event which is determined... to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease and to potentially require a coordinated international response. '' Given what we 've seen of the Wuhan coronavirus so far, the threshold for the declaration has surely been met.
In a public statement, the organization said, `` the Committee members agreed on the urgency of the situation and suggested that the Committee should be reconvened in a matter of days to examine the situation further. ''
In a 2018 report analyzing the responses to the earlier Ebola, Zika and H1N1 public health emergencies, public health researchers Steven Hoffman and Sarah Silverberg wrote, `` When the systems for recognizing and responding to disease outbreaks act too slowly, the result is unnecessary delay, greater disease spread, additional people affected, and more lives lost. ''
The WHO, a mainline UN agency which is heavily influenced by members states, has used the international public health emergency declaration sparingly, has come under fire for being too slow to act. We saw that when WHO finally declared Ebola a public health emergency of international concern in 2014, eight months after the outbreak first emerged. By that time, the outbreak had already spread to three countries, and the virus ultimately killed more than 11,000 people.
`` Ebola exposed WHO as unable to meet its responsibility for responding to such situations and alerting the global community, '' said an independent panel of experts in 2015 that included members from the Harvard Global Health Institute and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
The panel went further, suggesting the establishment of a new global health committee within the UN Security Council to declare outbreaks and international emergencies for more timely responses.
A perfect storm for authorities in Beijing?
Placing cities on lockdown, especially when tens of millions of Chinese people planned to travel and celebrate the Lunar New Year holidays, has already sparked panic and created a headache for the Chinese Communist Party. Long lines have been reported at local hospitals, tourist attractions like the Forbidden City in Beijing and Shanghai Disneyland have been closed, and large public gatherings are now forbidden around China. Public criticism of authorities has increased dramatically on social media, although many of the posts were later taken down.
What happens next in terms of public reaction may be of a magnitude not seen by Beijing authorities for some time. After all, far more minor events have sparked protests in China — including protests over a waste incineration plant near Wuhan last year in which riot police had to be deployed.
Let's be clear. The Wuhan coronavirus is spreading rapidly, including to other continents outside of Asia. There is no known vaccine. Tens of millions of people who live in China or recently traveled to the Hubei province are still on the move.
In the absence of a declaration of a global public health emergency, governments or regional bodies such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN) are free to coordinate action themselves.
Out of an abundance of caution, the UN should act immediately to raise the international alarm to prevent further infections and deaths. So far, cities like Vancouver, which has an international airport hosting numerous Chinese airlines, haven't instituted thermal screening for incoming passengers. In Toronto, Ontario's chief medical officer of health announced on Saturday the first `` presumptive '' case of the coronavirus in Canada.
While the declaration of a global public health emergency could stoke widespread fear and would by no means bring the outbreak under control, it will push countries around the world to take preventative action and encourage them to step up surveillance. If there is one thing that we have learned from previous outbreaks, viruses do not respect borders and thrive when there is a lack of urgent and coordinated human action. Time is of the essence.
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Women grab limelight at India's Republic Day pageantry
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Huge crowds gathered for India's Republic Day parade Sunday, with women taking centre-stage at the annual pomp-filled spectacle of military might featuring army tanks, horses and camels.
For the first time, the riders performing daredevil stunts on motorbikes to the delight of the crowds lining New Delhi's central Rajpath boulevard, were women.
Inspector Seema Nag saluted the gathered VIPs as she led her fellow bikers, one precariously perched at the top of a ladder wedged behind her vehicle's handlebars as others formed a human pyramid, drawing the loudest cheers from thousands of spectators.
And in front of the guest of honour, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, Captain Tania Shergill, a fourth-generation army officer, led an all-male Corps of Signals contingent.
Bolsonaro sat next to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- who wore a saffron turban -- and waved and clapped from behind a bullet-proof glass.
January 26 is the anniversary of India's adoption of its constitution in 1950.
The two-hour showcase of military might and cultural diversity included everything from battle tanks and state-of-the-art weaponry to traditional dancers.
Scaled-down models of the Rafale aircraft were paraded by the air force, following the South Asian nation's purchase of 36 jets from France in 2016 in a multi-billion-dollar deal.
The mounted camels of the Border Security Force put in an early showing, strutting down the avenue in brightly coloured caparisons.
Traditional dancers representing some of India's diverse regional cultures performed on elaborately decorated floats showcasing selected states.
The show culminated with a Su-30 MKI fighter jet roaring through the sky in a `` Vertical Charlie '' aerobatic manoeuvre.
- Pageantry and protests -
The parade was held against a backdrop of nationwide protests over a new citizenship law that critics say discriminates against minority Muslims, which make up 200 million people in India's 1.3 billion-strong population.
And as citizens celebrated in Delhi, in restive Indian Kashmir, all mobile phone services were suspended for several hours.
The cut came just a day after people in the Muslim majority area had internet services partially restored, after the central government cut access in August as it stripped the region of its semi-autonomous status.
And the northeastern state of Assam, where the protests first began, was rocked Sunday by four explosions which the police suspected were carried out by a separatist group. No-one was injured and nothing was damaged, police said.
Also on Sunday, hundreds of women blocked a Delhi highway to protest the Citizenship Amendment Act and a proposed National Register of Citizens.
The new law makes it easier for persecuted religious minorities from three neighbouring countries to obtain citizenship, but not if they are Muslim.
Protesters say the law is against the secular principles enshrined in the Indian constitution.
There were also protests against Bolsonaro's visit, with a small rally held in the western city of Mumbai Friday where demonstrators questioned his stand on climate change and sexist comments against a female politician.
On Saturday the two nationalist leaders signed a slew of deals, including for defence and oil and gas, and promised to strengthen bilateral ties.
Last year Brazil complained about India's subsidies for sugar exports to the World Trade Organisation, saying it would hurt free competition in the global market.
India is the largest cane sugar producer in the world followed by Brazil, according to the International Sugar Organisation.
Huge crowds gathered for India’ s Republic Day parade Sunday, with women taking centre-stage at the annual pomp-filled spectacle of military might featuring army tanks, horses and camels.
For the first time, the riders performing daredevil stunts on motorbikes to the delight of the crowds lining New Delhi’ s central Rajpath boulevard, were women.
Inspector Seema Nag saluted the gathered VIPs as she led her fellow bikers, one precariously perched at the top of a ladder wedged behind her vehicle’ s handlebars as others formed a human pyramid, drawing the loudest cheers from thousands of spectators.
And in front of the guest of honour, Brazil’ s President Jair Bolsonaro, Captain Tania Shergill, a fourth-generation army officer, led an all-male Corps of Signals contingent.
Bolsonaro sat next to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who wore a saffron turban — and waved and clapped from behind a bullet-proof glass.
January 26 is the anniversary of India’ s adoption of its constitution in 1950.
The two-hour showcase of military might and cultural diversity included everything from battle tanks and state-of-the-art weaponry to traditional dancers.
Scaled-down models of the Rafale aircraft were paraded by the air force, following the South Asian nation’ s purchase of 36 jets from France in 2016 in a multi-billion-dollar deal.
The mounted camels of the Border Security Force put in an early showing, strutting down the avenue in brightly coloured caparisons.
Traditional dancers representing some of India’ s diverse regional cultures performed on elaborately decorated floats showcasing selected states.
The show culminated with a Su-30 MKI fighter jet roaring through the sky in a “ Vertical Charlie ” aerobatic manoeuvre.
– Pageantry and protests –
The parade was held against a backdrop of nationwide protests over a new citizenship law that critics say discriminates against minority Muslims, which make up 200 million people in India’ s 1.3 billion-strong population.
And as citizens celebrated in Delhi, in restive Indian Kashmir, all mobile phone services were suspended for several hours.
The cut came just a day after people in the Muslim majority area had internet services partially restored, after the central government cut access in August as it stripped the region of its semi-autonomous status.
And the northeastern state of Assam, where the protests first began, was rocked Sunday by four explosions which the police suspected were carried out by a separatist group. No-one was injured and nothing was damaged, police said.
Also on Sunday, hundreds of women blocked a Delhi highway to protest the Citizenship Amendment Act and a proposed National Register of Citizens.
The new law makes it easier for persecuted religious minorities from three neighbouring countries to obtain citizenship, but not if they are Muslim.
Protesters say the law is against the secular principles enshrined in the Indian constitution.
There were also protests against Bolsonaro’ s visit, with a small rally held in the western city of Mumbai Friday where demonstrators questioned his stand on climate change and sexist comments against a female politician.
On Saturday the two nationalist leaders signed a slew of deals, including for defence and oil and gas, and promised to strengthen bilateral ties.
Last year Brazil complained about India’ s subsidies for sugar exports to the World Trade Organisation, saying it would hurt free competition in the global market.
India is the largest cane sugar producer in the world followed by Brazil, according to the International Sugar Organisation.
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
The Steppe mammoth was the first stage in the evolution of the steppe and tundra elephants and the ancestor of the woolly mammoth and...
Satellites have become invaluable as an added technology in man’ s quest to understand and expand the scope of global climate observation.
Dr. Anthony Fauci warned of a bleak winter ahead as the Covid-19 Omicron variant spurs a new wave of infections globally.
The EU's drug regulator will decide Monday whether to approve a Covid jab by Novavax, which uses a more conventional technology.
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Wuhan coronavirus: A fourth case is confirmed in the US
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The increase came as a top Chinese health official delivered some worrisome news about efforts to contain the fast-moving virus.
Several people have been infected with the Wuhan coronavirus in the US -- including a man in his 30s in Washington state; a Chicago woman in her 60s; a man in his 50s in Orange County, California, a patient in Los Angeles County; and a fifth in Arizona. All had recently traveled to Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.
Worried? Here's how to protect yourself
`` As with other respiratory illnesses, there are steps that everyone can take to reduce the risk of getting sick from circulating viruses, including coronavirus. This includes remaining home when ill, washing hands with soap and water frequently, and getting vaccinated against flu, '' said Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.
The Orange County victim is in isolation and in `` good condition '' at a local hospital, the county's Health Care Agency said in a statement. The Los Angeles County patient was being treated at a hospital as well, officials said.
State and federal officials are following up with anyone who may have had close contact with the person and is at risk of infection.
Chinese Health Minister delivers a 'game changer '
News of the latest American case comes as Chinese Health Minister Ma Xiaowei delivered the revelation that people can spread the virus before they have symptoms -- which a veteran US health adviser called a `` game changer '' -- but not in a good way.
It calls into question current US practices to contain the virus, longtime CDC adviser Dr. William Schaffner said.
`` When I heard this, I thought, 'Oh dear, this is worse than we anticipated. ' It means the infection is much more contagious than we originally thought, '' said Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
If Ma is correct -- and information about the virus is constantly evolving -- people can go two weeks without realizing they're sick, during which time they can spread the virus.
Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, questioned Ma's statement.
`` We at CDC don't have clear evidence that patients are infectious before symptom onset, '' Messonnier said, `` but we are actively investigating that possibility. ''
The risk for the American public contracting the virus continues to be low, Messonnier said. `` We need to be preparing as if this is a pandemic, '' she said, `` but I continue to hope that it is not. ''
At least 56 dead in China
In addition to Arizona and California, cases have been reported in Illinois and Washington state. The Illinois woman had not been sick while traveling from Wuhan to the US on January 13, said Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.
The CDC said it's taking aggressive measures to stop the spread of the virus in the United States, but while it considers it a serious public health threat, the immediate risk to Americans is low.
The stateside cases prompted Sen. Chuck Schumer to urge the US Department of Health and Human Services to declare an emergency to free up $ 85 million for the CDC.
The money is already appropriated and sitting in the Infectious Disease Rapid Response Reserve Fund, he said, and the CDC will have full discretion to use the money for epidemiological endeavors, screening, public awareness, staffing and educating local and state officials.
`` We want to make sure ( the CDC) can sustain this pace and have all the dollars they need should the outbreak get worse, '' the senator said. `` Use the key now and unlock the money. ''
At least 56 people have been killed by the coronavirus in China, and nearly 2,000 confirmed cases have been reported as the nation struggles to contain the outbreak.
Authorities have imposed indefinite restrictions on public transport and travel, with motor vehicles banned in Wuhan's city center starting Sunday to control the flow of people. Only vehicles with special permits, free shuttles and government vehicles will be allowed to move around.
Amid the lockdown, countries like the US and France have been trying to evacuate their citizens from the central Chinese city. Outside of China, more than 40 confirmed cases have been identified in about a dozen countries.
Coronaviruses are transmitted by animals and people, and the Wuhan strain has been linked to a market in the city that was selling seafood and live animals, including wild species. The Chinese government announced that it's banning all sales of wild animals
Beijing will deploy an additional 1,600 medical professionals to Wuhan to help the city cope with the growing number of coronavirus patients, health officials said.
Correction: This story has been updated to correctly attribute a quote to Dr. Allison Arwady.
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China says Wuhan virus, unlike SARS, infectious during incubation — Quartz
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The Chinese government warned today ( Jan. 26) the new coronavirus spreading through the country appears to be contagious as much as two weeks before symptoms appear. In a press briefing, the head of China’ s National Health Commission, Ma Xiaowei, said scientists’ understanding of the virus was still “ limited ” and the outbreak was likely to continue for “ some time, ” according to the South China Morning Post.
Most of the patients originally diagnosed with the virus were exposed at the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan, which also trades in wild animals believed to be the source of the infection. Genetic analysis suggests the new coronavirus originated in fruit bats, according to China’ s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. That gives it a common ancestor with the SARS ( severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus. The SARS outbreak in 2002-03 infected thousands and killed more than 740 people around the world. While people infected with SARs generally developed symptoms within a week of infection, Ma warned that people with the new coronavirus could be contagious for as many as 14 days before showing signs of infection.
Globally, around 2,000 cases, and 56 deaths, have been reported, the vast majority in China. While the virus now appears to be spreading efficiently between humans, health officials in the United States caution that casual contact with an infected person posted a “ minimal risk for developing infection. ”
Wuhan, a city in central China, is at the center of the outbreak. The local government described the new virus as “ preventable and controllable ” at the beginning of the outbreak, but the Chinese government has since quarantined the city of 11 million people, and banned travel from at least a dozen more, an unprecedented move. It is dispatching more than 2,300 medical professionals to battle the outbreak. But experts said China’ s quarantines would have been far more effective if they had acted earlier.
So far, the virus has spread to several provinces in China, with a few reported cases in China, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, and the US. The first case was detected as early as Dec. 1, about three weeks before the Wuhan government’ s announcement of a cluster of pneumonia-like infection on Dec 31. Of the 41 original patients with the virus, most recovered but six have died, according to an analysis by The Lancet. Among the original patients, a median of eight days passed between the onset of symptoms and respiratory distress ( dysponea). All patients developed pneumonia.
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tech
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One hundred Australian children stranded in Wuhan as coronavirus spreads
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About 100 schoolchildren are among the Australian citizens that are stranded in Wuhan, which has been placed into lockdown by the Chinese government to contain the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
As authorities brace for what is expected to be a fifth confirmed case in Australia on Monday, the health minister, Greg Hunt, said the government was working to repatriate Australian citizens who are now trapped in the Chinese megacity of 11 million people.
“ We know at this point that the Chinese authorities have closed the Wuhan city as well as other cities within Hubei province, ” Hunt told ABC Radio on Monday morning.
“ We are working to make sure that there is support for those Australians and we are also working on, as are other countries, trying to secure their ability to return to Australia. At this point in time, the foreign minister is working around the clock on that. ”
More than 50 people have died from this new coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan and causes pneumonia, while Hunt said on Monday morning there were 2,019 confirmed cases around the world.
Chinese authorities last week took the dramatic step of imposing a mass ban on travel outside of the city in a bid to stop the spread of the virus. It has since expanded the ban to 10 cities.
France and the United States are among nations that have announced plans to charter a plane to evacuate its citizens from Wuhan.
Asked if Australia would to the same, Hunt said the foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, was working with Chinese authorities “ on all options to secure of the Australians ”.
“ These are international discussions that many countries are having. ”
It comes as authorities in Australia are expected to confirm a fifth confirmed case of the coronavirus. Three people in New South Wales and one in Victoria have already been diagnosed with the virus, while the fifth person had preliminarily tested positive to the virus and would undergo further examination on Monday.
“ There are four confirmed cases and one ‘ highly probable’, ” Hunt told ABC Radio. “ That’ s subject to confirmation. We should receive the results from the second round of testing today. ”
Hunt said it was likely there would be more confirmed cases, but he would not be drawn on how many more people were likely to test positive for the virus.
“ The advice from the chief medical officer is we suspect there could well be other cases in Australia, ” he said.
The World Health Organisation is yet to declare to a public health emergency, but the virus has prompted massive disruption in China, where events have been cancelled during the lunar year festival.
The Asian Football Confederation has also moved games away from Nanjing, meaning Sydney will now host the Matildas’ Olympic qualifying group matches against China, Taiwan and Thailand.
In Sydney, three men aged 35, 43, and 53 are being treated in hospital but are listed as being stable.
Authorities have now spoken to all but two people who have been in close contact with the three men since they arrived from China.
In Victoria, a man in his 50s is being treated at Monash Medical Centre while four of his family members are being quarantined at home. A further 11 patients are now awaiting test results.
Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said authorities were attempting to contact four people who may have come into contact with the Victorian patient after sharing the same flight.
With Australian Associated Press
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general
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Canada identifies first case of coronavirus
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Canada on Saturday declared the first “ presumptive ” confirmed case of the deadly coronavirus in a resident who had returned from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak of the viral disease.
Ontario health officials told a news conference the patient is a male in his 50s, who arrived in Toronto on Jan. 22 and was hospitalized the next day after developing symptoms of respiratory illness.
Barbara Yaffe, Ontario’ s associate chief medical officer of health, told reporters that the man is being treated in a public hospital and is in a stable condition.
Ontario health officials are investigating the details of the man’ s contact with others since arriving in Toronto. Early indications are that he took private transportation home after arriving at Toronto airport and then paramedics brought him to the hospital, they added.
The health officials said it is a relatively small family situation, though they declined to give a number, and there is very little by way of contact. They said his family members have been put into self isolation.
Officials said the results from the provincial laboratory confirming the positive case arrived earlier on Saturday. Once the results from the local laboratory are confirmed by Canada’ s National Microbiology Laboratory, the case will be declared the country’ s first confirmed case of coronavirus.
Canada is on high alert to prevent the spread of coronavirus and avoid the repeat of SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, that killed 44 people in Canada, the only country outside Asia to report deaths from that virus in 2002-2003. Government health officials say Canada is better prepared this time.
The deadly coronavirus has infected more than 1,975 people and killed at least 56 in China. The virus has spread to several countries including the United States, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Australia and France.
Reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru and Denny Thomas in Toronto; Editing by Diane Craft and Sandra Maler
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business
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Death toll from coronavirus outbreak in China at 56: state media
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China has confirmed 1,975 cases of patients infected with the new coronavirus as of Jan. 25, while the death toll from the virus has risen to 56, state media CCTV reported on Sunday.
The virus originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei late last year and has spread to Chinese cities including Beijing and Shanghai, as well as the United States, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Australia, France and Canada.
Reporting by Yilei Sun, Samuel Shen and Vincent Lee; Editing by Sandra Maler
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business
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Priti Patel: UK taking 'all the precautions ' regarding coronavirus
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Priti Patel has suggested the government is looking at the option of airlifting UK citizens from the Chinese city of Wuhan that has been hit by the coronavirus.
When asked about reports that Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, was considering an evacuation of more than 200 Britons trapped in the city, the home secretary said the UK was “ looking at all the options ”.
She said there were still no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK, after tests on 31 people came back negative.
The Foreign Office has advised against all travel to Hubei province but not announced that it will evacuate Britons. This is in contrast to France and Japan, who are putting in place logistics to get their citizens out.
The UK government has been criticised for being slow off the mark to find and give information to the thousands of people in Britain who have flown back from Wuhan in recent weeks.
Prof Martin Dove, a British academic, said no one from the UK government had tried to contact him regarding the coronavirus outbreak despite him having recently returned home from working in Wuhan from 3-12 January.
However, Patel insisted the government was taking “ all the precautions and the right measures ” working with the World Health Organization and Public Health England.
She told Sky News’ s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme: “ There are many efforts being made and the Border Force provides information to Public Health England. They are contacting people and reaching out and providing screening and testing. That is in hand. ”
The home secretary said Public Health England had a hub at Heathrow airport as part of Britain’ s efforts to prevent the spread of the virus.
Later, Stephen Barclay, the Brexit secretary, told the BBC’ s Andrew Marr Show that the Foreign Office would continue to monitor whether to try to rescue Britons in Wuhan and would keep it under review.
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general
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Hong Kong bars Hubei residents from entering city as coronavirus fears intensify
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Hong Kong authorities on Sunday barred residents of China’ s Hubei province, the center of the coronavirus outbreak, from entering the city, in response to mounting pressure to enact preventative measures to contain the spreading epidemic.
The ban includes those who have been in the province in the past 14 days but excludes Hong Kong citizens.
Earlier a group of protesters set alight the lobby of a newly built residential building in Hong Kong that authorities planned to use as a quarantine facility for the coronavirus outbreak.
A Reuters witness saw several masked protesters, clad in black, rush into the public housing block in the Fanling district near to the border with China, and set alight a Molotov cocktail. Black smoke could be seen pouring out of the building to the sound of fire alarms. Windows were smashed.
Firefighters managed to extinguish the fire and the damage appeared to be confined to the lobby area. Hundreds of riot police also moved in, arresting at least one person.
As fears about the virus outbreak intensify, calls have grown for Hong Kong’ s government to close the financial hub’ s border with mainland China to minimize the risk of infection.
Earlier, hundreds of Hong Kong citizens had blocked roads leading to the building with bricks and other debris, to protest plans to convert the building into a quarantine zone as the number of confirmed cases in the city climbed to six.
“ We are dissatisfied with the government selecting this housing estate as a ( quarantine) separation village as it’ s very close to a residential area and a primary school, ” said a 28-year-old resident surnamed Tsang.
Hong Kong authorities had said they would convert “ Fai Ming Estate, an unoccupied public estate in Fanling, into temporary flats for quarantine and observation of close contact persons without symptoms if needed. ”
Following the protest, the government said it would “ cease the related preparation work in Fai Ming Estate. ”
Hong Kong has been convulsed with demonstrations over the last seven months centered on Hong Kong’ s relationship with mainland China: with some protesters railing against what they see as growing interference from Beijing. Beijing denies meddling and blames the West for stirring trouble in the former British colony.
Hong Kong authorities have so far refused to categorically block the flow of visitors from mainland China across several land border crossings. Direct train and flight connections to and from Wuhan have been suspended.
Health authorities in the afternoon said 107 people were under quarantine, and there were 77 suspected cases.
The ability of the new coronavirus to spread is strengthening and infections could continue to rise, China’ s National Health Commission said on Sunday, with nearly 2,000 people in China infected and 56 killed by the disease.
Additional reporting Tyrone Siu and Aleksander Solum in Hong Kong, Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Writing by James Pomfret; Editing by Toby Chopra and Louise Heavens
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business
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Xi says China faces 'grave situation ' as virus death toll hits 42
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President Xi Jinping said China was facing a “ grave situation ” as the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak jumped to 42, overshadowing Lunar New Year celebrations that began on Saturday.
China also announced further transport restrictions.
With more than 1,400 people infected worldwide, most of them in China, Hong Kong declared a virus emergency, scrapped celebrations and restricted links to mainland China.
Australia confirmed its first four cases and Canada its first on Saturday, after Malaysia confirmed four and France reported Europe’ s first cases on Friday, as health authorities around the world scrambled to prevent a pandemic.
The United States is arranging a charter flight on Sunday to bring its citizens and diplomats back from Wuhan, the central Chinese city at the epicenter of the outbreak, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In Hong Kong, with five confirmed cases, the city’ s leader Carrie Lam said flights and high speed rail trips between the city and Wuhan will be halted. Schools in Hong Kong that are currently on Lunar New Year holidays will remain closed until Feb. 17.
Xi held a politburo meeting on Saturday on measures to fight the “ accelerating ” outbreak, state television reported.
As of 8 p.m. local time ( 1200 GMT) on Saturday, the death toll in China had risen to 42, authorities reported. Some 1,372 people in China have been infected with the virus - traced to a seafood market in Wuhan that was illegally selling wildlife.
The virus has also been detected in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Nepal, and the United States.
In Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, officials appealed for masks and protective suits.
“ We are steadily pushing forward the disease control and prevention... But right now we are facing an extremely severe public health crisis, ” Hu Yinghai, deputy director-general of the Civil Affairs Department, told a news briefing.
The newly identified coronavirus has created alarm because there are still many unknowns surrounding it, such as how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between people. It can cause pneumonia, which has been deadly in some cases.
Ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing said it was halting inter-city services to and from Beijing from Sunday, while the capital will also stop running inter-province shuttle buses.
State broadcaster CCTV, citing an announcement from China’ s tourism industry association, said the country would halt all group tours, both at home and abroad, from Monday.
Wuhan said it would ban non-essential vehicles from its downtown starting Sunday, further paralyzing a city of 11 million that has been on virtual lockdown since Thursday, with nearly all flights canceled and checkpoints blocking the main roads leading out of town.
Authorities have since imposed transport restrictions on nearly all of Hubei province, which has a population of 59 million.
Australia confirmed its first four cases in two different cities on Saturday, and the country’ s chief health official said he expected more cases as Australia is a popular destination for Chinese tourists.
Canada on Saturday identified its first case in a Toronto resident who recently returned from Wuhan.
State-run China Global Television Network reported on Saturday that a doctor who had been treating patients in Wuhan, 62-year-old Liang Wudong, had died from the virus.
U.S. coffee chain Starbucks said it was closing all its Hubei outlets for the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, following a similar move by McDonald’ s in five Hubei cities.
Workers in white protective suits checked temperatures of passengers entering the subway at Beijing’ s central railway station on Saturday, while some train services in the eastern Yangtze River Delta region were suspended, the local railway operator said.
There are fears transmission could accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel during the holiday, although many have canceled their plans.
Airports around the world have stepped up screening of passengers from China, although some health officials and experts have questioned the effectiveness of such screenings.
In an illustration of how such efforts could miss cases, doctors at a Paris hospital said two of the three Chinese nationals in France who have been diagnosed with the virus had arrived in the country without showing any symptoms.
The World Health Organization this week stopped short of calling the outbreak a global health emergency.
A report by infectious disease specialists at Imperial College, London on Saturday said that despite this, the epidemic “ represents a clear and ongoing global health threat, ” adding: “ It is uncertain at the current time whether it is possible to contain the continuing epidemic within China. ”
While China has called for transparency in managing the crisis, after a cover-up of the 2002/2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS) spread, officials in Wuhan have been criticized for their handling of the current outbreak.
In rare public dissent, a senior journalist at a Hubei newspaper run by the ruling Communist Party wrote on Friday on the Twitter-like Weibo social media platform that there should be an “ immediate ” change of leadership in Wuhan. The post was later removed.
Hubei province, where authorities are rushing to build a 1,000-bed hospital in six days, announced on Saturday that there were 658 patients affected by the virus in treatment, 57 of whom were critically ill.
Shanghai Disneyland was closed from Saturday. Beijing’ s Lama Temple, where people make offerings for the New Year, has also closed, as have some other temples.
Britain advised against all travel to Hubei and told its citizens in the province to leave.
( GRAPHIC: The spread of a new coronavirus - here)
Reporting by Sophie Yu, Yilei Sun, Judy Hua, Roxanne Liu, Se Young Lee and Cate Cadell; Additional reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne, Yawen Chen in Beijing and Felix Tam in Hong Kong; Writing by Michael Perry and Frances Kerry; Editing by Sam Holmes, Giles Elgood, Hugh Lawson and Sandra Maler
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business
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Wuhan residents keep wary eye on each other during lockdown
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A handful of people wearing surgical masks and lugging bags of groceries were the only ones to be seen on the streets of Wuhan on Sunday. “ It felt like everyone was observing everybody, to make sure no one was sick, ” said Ashwini, who is Indian and moved to Wuhan last year, and who like most interviewees did not wish to give her full name.
Sellers who could not afford to stop working could be seen wearing two face masks to try to protect themselves, Ashwini said. In the few bigger supermarkets that were still open, customers were being screened for fever before they entered. “ This week was supposed to be the happy week, ” said Ashwini.
On the first day of the Chinese year of the rat, there were no signs of celebration. The coronavirus outbreak, which is concentrated in Wuhan, has killed 56 people and infected almost 2,000. The mayor of Wuhan said on Sunday evening that he expected another 1,000 or so new cases.
“ I have a cold right now and my family doesn’ t allow me to go out, ” said another Wuhan resident, who gave her name as Miss Huang. “ I’ m not calm at all right now, but at this time I can only keep telling myself to be confident. ”
The initial symptoms of coronavirus are typically similar to those of a cold or flu, which means it is hard for people to know if they are infected, especially given that the outbreak has coincided with flu season. An article in the Lancet journal suggested it is possible to have the virus and experience no symptoms, creating even more confusion for people affected and for health authorities.
Huang, like many others, was reluctant to go to hospital about her cold because she feared picking up the new virus. But images and videos shared on social media showed hospitals that were overwhelmed. One photo circulating at the weekend appeared to show a sign at an entrance to Wuhan Fourth hospital that read: “ Medical staff infected. All appointments cancelled. ”
Work has begun to build a 1,000-bed hospital in a matter of days on the outskirts of Wuhan, and 1,000 additional medical staff have been deployed to the city. On Saturday it was announced that a second new hospital was to be built to treat affected patients.
Some in Wuhan and elsewhere in China have volunteered to assist doctors and nurses. Richard Xie, a businessman in Beijing, said he had rushed to his home town to help organise shipments of medical materials from abroad. “ The main hospitals are now supplied after we brought in materials yesterday. The small and medium hospitals still have major needs, ” he said.
Public transport in Wuhan has been suspended and almost all private cars have been banned from the roads. Other areas have also announced sweeping travel bans, including the suspension of long-distance bus services in the eastern province of Shandong, home to 100 million people. Long-distance bus services have been suspended in Beijing and Shanghai.
Warren, from Dallas, who has been staying for several months in Wuhan and who also did not give a full name, said he believed the authorities were right to quarantine the city. “ The only thing we can know for certain is if we stop people from moving around and contacting each other then we can possibly stop the spread, ” he said.
Some epidemiologists have criticised the response to the outbreak, arguing that announcing restrictions hours before they could be properly implemented allowed people to scatter and hide. In the long term, strict restrictions also risk causing resentment and distrust of authorities and the health messages they deliver.
There are also fears for vulnerable groups including elderly people who rely on regular visits from relatives, and foreign students who may be less likely to have stocked up on food. “ The decision [ to ban traffic from the roads ] didn’ t take medical staff, existing patients [ or ] pregnant people who need public transportation into consideration, ” Huang said. Her friend had recently been bitten by a dog and was due to receive a third rabies vaccine but was still awaiting permission to get it.
The US, France and Japan are preparing to evacuate citizens from the city but Warren said he had decided against the idea, fearing he could pick up the virus at the airport and take it back to his mother. “ I don’ t feel safe doing that, ” he said.
Others, though, were desperate to leave, including one British citizen who questioned why the UK government was not acting more quickly.
Among residents who do not have the option of flying out of the city, there was growing anger at the local government for not sharing information more quickly.
“ They only said the epidemic was preventable and controllable. Middle-aged and elderly people would have felt that the official said that it’ s OK, so they don’ t need to wear masks or take any precautions, ” said Huang. It is mostly older people who have died in the outbreak. “ If the information is transparent, there won’ t be so many rumours, ” Huang added.
In Beijing on Sunday, officials said they still knew very little about the virus and the risks it poses. Residents cooped up at home in Wuhan were following updates on the news and social media, but no one knows how long the quarantine is going to last.
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general
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US confirms two more coronavirus cases, bringing total to five
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America’ s fourth and fifth cases of coronavirus were confirmed on Sunday after health officials in California and Arizona announced that they were each treating a patient infected with the deadly illness.
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said the patient is a “ returning traveller ” from Wuhan City – the epicentre of the outbreak in Hubei Province, China – who sought medical attention when they realised they were unwell.
Health officials said the infected person is being treated in hospital, but to protect patient privacy declined to name the hospital location.
The virus has so far infected over 2,000 people globally and killed 56 people in China. At least 20 Chinese cities have been placed on lockdown in a bid to prevent its spread and cities across Hubei province are under travel restrictions.
The LA case marked the first in Los Angeles county and the fourth case in the US. Another three had previously been reported in Orange county, California, Illinois and Washington state. Then later on Sunday the fifth known case in the US was confirmed in Arizona, though fewer details were immediately available.
Health officials in LA county said they are working to identify people who may have had close contact with the person – including friends, family members and health care professionals – so that they can be monitored for signs of illness.
Barbara Ferrer, Director of Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said they are “ well prepared ” to deal with cases and suspected cases.
“ We are working closely with our federal, state and local partners to provide healthcare providers and the public with accurate information about actions we are taking to reduce the spread of novel coronavirus and to care for those who are ill, ” she added.
“ As with other respiratory illnesses, there are steps that everyone can take to reduce the risk of getting sick from circulating viruses, including coronavirus. This includes remaining home when ill, washing hands with soap and water frequently, and getting vaccinated against flu. ”
She said they are daily learning more about the virus, how it is transmitted and incubation periods, but that the risk of transmission in the county “ remains low ”.
It comes after the US State Department said on Sunday that it plans to evacuate staff from its Wuhan consulate and will offer some US citizens flights out of the city. Some private US citizens will be allowed to board a “ single flight ” leaving the city on Tuesday for San Francisco.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organisation, said on Sunday that he was on his way to Beijing to meet with the Chinese government and health experts working on the response to the virus.
“ My WHO colleagues and I would like to understand the latest developments and strengthen our partnership with China in providing further protection against the outbreak, ” he wrote on Twitter.
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general
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Nikkei falls as coronavirus fears rise; most Asian markets remain closed for holiday
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Stocks fell in Japan on Monday amid fears of a new viral outbreak, as most Asian markets remained closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.
The Nikkei
NIK,
-3.47%
was last down 1.8%. Shares of Pacific Metals
5541,
-6.33%
and Fast Retailing
9983,
-5.00%
sank, along with SoftBank
9984,
-3.27%
and Toyota
7203,
-2.23%
.
Benchmark indexes in Hong Kong, mainland China, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Australia were closed for holidays.
Global traders have been worried about the effects of the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak in China, where
the death toll rose to at least 80 Sunday
, with more than 2,700 confirmed cases.
Preliminary data Sunday
showed the outbreak was already affecting China’ s economy, as travel plunged to restrictions.
The end of the Lunar New Year holiday, China’ s busiest travel season, was pushed back to Sunday from Thursday to “ reduce mass gatherings ” and “ block the spread of the epidemic, ” an official statement said, according to the Associated Press.
“ Risk profiles need to be adjusted as the Wuhan frenzy factor kicks in, and risk markets enter the fear zone, a highly pandemic place in its own right, ” wrote Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at AxiCorp, in a note.
“ The biggest threat to the global economy is not just because the disease spreads quickly across countries through networks related to global travel, ” Innes wrote. “ But also, because any economic shock to China’ s colossal industrial and consumption engines will spread rapidly to other countries through the increased trade and financial linkages associated with globalization. ”
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business
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Latest on the coronavirus spreading in China and beyond
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The coronavirus outbreak that began in the central Chinese city of Wuhan has killed 56 people in China and infected more than 2,000 globally, most of them in China.
The virus has caused alarm because it is still too early to know how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between people. And because it is new, humans have not been able to build any immunity to it.
Here is what we know so far:
* As of midnight in Beijing ( 1600 GMT) on Jan. 25, the death toll in China had risen to 56, authorities reported. Some 1,975 people in China had been infected.
* The virus’ transmission ability is getting stronger and infections could continue to rise, China’ s National Health Commission said.
* China has temporarily banned wildlife trade in markets, supermarkets, restaurants, and e-commerce platforms.
* The previously unknown coronavirus strain is believed to have emerged late last year from illegally traded wildlife at an animal market in Wuhan.
* Thailand has reported eight infection cases; Taiwan, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and the United States each have reported four; France and Japan three each; Vietnam and South Korea two apiece, and one each in Canada and Nepal.
* No reported fatalities outside China.
* The World Health Organisation ( WHO) said that while the outbreak was an emergency for China, it was not yet a global health emergency. The WHO director-general is on his way to Beijing to confer with Chinese officials and health experts.
* Symptoms include fever, cough and difficulty breathing.
* China says the virus is mutating and can be transmitted through human contact.
* Two separate scientific analyses of the epidemic say each person infected is passing the disease on to between two and three other people.
* Those most affected are older people and those with underlying health conditions.
* Three research teams have begun work on developing potential vaccines, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations said. Scientists hope to be testing the first possible vaccines in three months’ time.
* China is testing the HIV drug Aluvia as a treatment.
* China will extend the week-long Lunar New Year holiday by three days to Feb. 2 and schools will return from their break later than usual, state broadcaster CCTV said.
* Taiwan further tightens restrictions on visitors from China, suspending entry for many apart from business travellers and a few other exceptions.
* Hong Kong’ s popular amusement parks Disneyland and Ocean Park are closed from Jan. 26, state media CCTV reported.
* There are severe travel restrictions in Wuhan, a city of 11 million, with urban transport shut and outgoing flights suspended.
* Hong Kong will extend school holiday closures until Feb. 17. The city cancelled all official Lunar New Year celebrations and official visits to mainland China, and barred residents of China’ s Hubei province from entering the city.
* Airports around the world have stepped up screening.
* Some experts believe the virus is not as dangerous as the 2002-03 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS) that killed nearly 800 people, or the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome ( MERS), which has killed more than 700 people since 2012.
Compiled by Toby Chopra and Lisa Shumaker; Editing by Bernadette Baum
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business
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Coronavirus's ability to spread getting stronger, China suggests
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New and tougher restrictions on movement and the trade in wild animals are to be imposed in China to try to contain the pneumonia outbreak caused by a new coronavirus, the country’ s health commission minister has said, warning that the virus was showing greater potential to pass from one person to another, possibly before symptoms show.
“ The transmissibility shows signs of increasing, ” said Ma Xiaowei on Sunday, but he added that much was still unknown about the virus.
“ For this new coronavirus we have not identified the source of the infection and we are not clear about the risk of its mutation and how it spreads, ” he said. “ Since this is a new coronavirus there might be some changes in the coming days and weeks, and the danger it poses to people of different ages is also changing. ”
The possibility that, unlike Sars, people can pass on the virus before they appear to be ill is very alarming to public health experts. It would make the virus far harder to detect and make it much more difficult to quarantine cases.
On Sunday officials in China also announced the suspension of long-distance buses in the eastern province of Shandong, which has a population of 100 million people. Long-distance buses have also been banned from departing from or arriving at Beijing and Shanghai.
The developments came as:
The death toll from the outbreak rose to 56, while authorities said almost 2,000 had been infected.
The mayor of Wuhan said he expected another 1,000 new cases in the city, and revealed that 5 million residents had left the city before it went into lockdown, due both to the virus and the lunar new year festival.
The US, France and Japan said they were arranging evacuation flights for people trapped in Wuhan, which has been placed under quarantine.
The UK home secretary, Priti Patel, refused to confirm or deny reports that Britain was planning similar action. So far, 52 people across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have been tested for the virus. All have tested negative.
The US reported a third case, a man in California who had returned from Wuhan. Singapore and South Korea each confirmed a new case, while Thailand said it had identified three new cases.
The financial hub of Shanghai, which has extensive international air connections, on Sunday reported its first death: that of an 88-year-old man who already had health problems.
In Hong Kong, protesters torched a building the authorities had designated for quarantine of the families of anybody who becomes ill, demanding that the authorities block the border with mainland China to prevent transmission.
Authorities believe the new strain of coronavirus came from a seafood market in Wuhan, where wildlife was sold illegally. The city remains under a strict lockdown, while various travel restrictions have been imposed across at least 20 other cities, affecting tens of millions of people. China has temporarily banned all live animal markets.
On Sunday evening, Wang Xiaodong, the governor of Hubei province, where most cases have been concentrated, said the party central committee and the people of the whole country were worried. “ We felt very sad, very guilty, ” he said.
The disease has so far spread to more than 10 other countries, including France, the US and Australia.
There are concerns that screening efforts may not identify all people who carry the disease. An article published in the Lancet, based on a family who had recently visited Wuhan, suggested it was possible to have the virus while not experiencing any symptoms. It is not clear whether patients who are asymptomatic can also transmit the disease.
The incubation period for the virus could range from one day to two weeks, Ma said, but experts remained unclear about the risk of the virus mutating and said it was possible that the number of infections would continue to grow.
On Sunday, Beijing said the reopening of schools and universities after the new year holiday had been indefinitely suspended. Elsewhere, Hong Kong Disneyland announced on Sunday it had closed following the government’ s declaration of an emergency to combat the crisis.
Health teams are working urgently to determine the origin of the disease. It is from the same family of viruses as Sars, which was passed to humans from bats by masked palm civets, and Mers, which was carried from bats to humans by camels.
It is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it has come from animals. The World Health Organization ( WHO) has declared it a pandemic.
According to the WHO, the most common symptoms of Covid-19 are fever, tiredness and a dry cough. Some patients may also have a runny nose, sore throat, nasal congestion and aches and pains or diarrhoea. Some people report losing their sense of taste and/or smell. About 80% of people who get Covid-19 experience a mild case – about as serious as a regular cold – and recover without needing any special treatment.
About one in six people, the WHO says, become seriously ill. The elderly and people with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, or chronic respiratory conditions, are at a greater risk of serious illness from Covid-19.
In the UK, the National health Service ( NHS) has identified the specific symptoms to look for as experiencing either:
As this is viral pneumonia, antibiotics are of no use. The antiviral drugs we have against flu will not work, and there is currently no vaccine. Recovery depends on the strength of the immune system.
Medical advice varies around the world - with many countries imposing travel bans and lockdowns to try and prevent the spread of the virus. In many place people are being told to stay at home rather than visit a doctor of hospital in person. Check with your local authorities.
In the UK, NHS advice is that anyone with symptoms should stay at home for at least 7 days. If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home.
China’ s national health commission confirmed human-to-human transmission in January. As of 6 April, more than 1.25m people have been infected in more than 180 countries, according to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
There have been over 69,500 deaths globally. Just over 3,200 of those deaths have occurred in mainland China. Italy has been worst affected, with over 15,800 fatalities, and there have been over 12,600 deaths in Spain. The US now has more confirmed cases than any other country - more than 335,000. Many of those who have died had underlying health conditions, which the coronavirus complicated.
More than 264,000 people are recorded as having recovered from the coronavirus.
The new nationwide ban on the sale of wildlife will affect markets, restaurants and online shops. Health experts have long raised concerns about unhygienic and cramped conditions in some Chinese markets, where wild and often poached animals are packed together.
In Wuhan, where the outbreak began, the streets remained deserted on Sunday, with rules keeping most private cars off the roads. Relatives who would usually have spent the new year holiday together were forced to cancel plans and stay in their separate homes.
Some residents told the Guardian they were remaining calm and believed the quarantine measures were the only way to halt the virus. Others, however, expressed concern about how vulnerable people would be affected by the lockdown.
“ Each time the government issues different measures, it is a rough approach, and they are the ones who cause panic. I couldn’ t sleep at night when they announced to close the city and I was in shock, ” said Miss Huang, 22, from Wuhan, who added that the local government’ s failure to act quickly had created distrust.
The increase in reported deaths and illnesses does not necessarily mean the crisis is getting worse, but could reflect better monitoring. Those killed by the virus have mostly been middle-aged or elderly people, as well as people with underlying health conditions.
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general
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Op-Ed: 'Fake News ' spreading over coronavirus patents on social media
|
Hi, what are you looking for?
By
Published
The January 22 post on the Facebook page reads: “ So.. patent on this “ new ” Coronavirus expired on the 22nd, today.. We have a sudden outbreak. There’ s magically already a vaccine available.. And NOW fear-mongering spread by the media about quarantine. Ask yourselves this: What is in the vaccine that they want people to get so bad? ”
Also included in the post is a CNN headline that appears to contradict the Facebook user’ s post that reads: “ Vaccine for new Chinese coronavirus in the works, ” and a South China Morning Post headline that says: “ China grants emergency quarantine powers to stop spread of Wuhan virus, ” according to Politifact.com.
It should be noted that the post was flagged as part of Facebook’ s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed.
The truth about the coronavirus patents Yes, there have been patents created for viruses, including coronaviruses, that included one for avian infectious bronchitis virus, and another for SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome, a coronavirus.
A number of viruses have been patented, and are used for diagnostic tests and for vaccines against diseases. That is why gene sequencing is so important in identifying a disease and where it originates.
The SARS outbreak led to a global epidemic in 2003 that affected more than 8,000 people globally and killed more than 770. As this writer and other journalists have tried to explain to our readers, “ coronavirus ” is the name for a family of viruses that includes the common cold, but different coronaviruses can also be found in bats, camels, and other animals.
The virus gets its name from the crown-like spikes on its surface. There are a total of seven coronaviruses that can infect humans, the CDC says. Other well-known coronaviruses include SARS and MERS. The new coronavirus is officially called “ 2019-nCoV. ”
Social media users are actually sharing information pertaining to the separate patents for avian infectious bronchitis virus and SARS. In 2015, according to Justia, a legal information database, the Pirbright Institute filed for the patent related to the avian infectious bronchitis virus, which infects poultry.
The patent also covered the porcine delta-coronavirus, which infects pigs. Snopes.com is reporting that according to the Associated Press, “ Pirbright confirmed that the patent is not for the new virus and that the research institute in Surrey, England, does not currently work with human coronaviruses. ”
Dr. Erica Bickerton, who is the head of coronavirus research at Pirbright, said the patent identifies the mutations of the avian virus in the hopes of making a vaccine.
If people would just not go off half-cocked and use their brains and intelligence, they would read the facts about something instead of looking at a distorted headline and assuming the worst. The point I’ m trying to make is simple – Don’ t ever assume a sensationalized news story is real until you check the source.
I had a boss, years ago tell me why we must never assume anything. Mr. Harrington said, “ Karen, if you break down the letters in the word ” ASSUME, ” you will see that it will make an “ ASS of U and ME. ” I have never forgotten that bit of wisdom.
Karen Graham is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for environmental news. Karen's view of what is happening in our world is colored by her love of history and how the past influences events taking place today. Her belief in man's part in the care of the planet and our environment has led her to focus on the need for action in dealing with climate change. It was said by Geoffrey C. Ward, `` Journalism is merely history's first draft. '' Everyone who writes about what is happening today is indeed, writing a small part of our history.
Donald John Trump served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. — Photo: © Timothy A. Clary, AFPDonald Trump contributed to...
The United States marked the 80th anniversary of the Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Tuesday, Dec. 7.
As people begin to spend again consumer loyalty to online businesses is weakening.
Cybercrime ramps up between October and January and takes advantage of the millions of online transactions that happen during the holiday shopping season
COPYRIGHT © 1998 - 2021 DIGITAL JOURNAL INC. Digital Journal is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more about our external linking.
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general
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First Person with Wuhan Coronavirus in U.S. Being Treated by a Robot
|
The robot limits the exposure of medical staff to the virus.
We have seen robots do everything from parkour to helping with the elderly. Now, a nifty robot is being used in the U.S. to treat a patient infected with the Wuhan Coronavirus, CNN reports.
The patient is a man in his 30s that that checked in the emergency room because he believed he was experiencing symptoms from the Wuhan coronavirus. He was sadly diagnosed with the virus on Monday.
He had recently traveled to Wuhan and was worried about his symptoms. The doctors put him in isolation, and he has been reported to be in stable condition.
So, where does the robot come in? Well, its role is actually highly important, as it is meant to protect medical staff by limiting their exposure to the virus.
Equipped with a stethoscope, the robot takes the man's vitals and communicates them to doctors who are not in the room with the patient through a screen.
`` The nursing staff in the room move the robot around so we can see the patient in the screen, talk to him, '' told CNN Dr. George Diaz, chief of the infectious disease division at the Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington.
Despite being in a stable condition, the man has not been released yet. Medical professionals have ordered additional tests for the patient.
These tests are supposed to show whether the man is still contagious. In the meantime, Washington state health officials have been communicating with 43 people that are considered being `` close contacts '' of the patient.
`` Close contacts '' are defined as anyone who may have come within 3 to 6 feet of the infected patient. All such contacts will be contacted daily and actively monitored for signs of the virus.
What do you think of this nifty robot? Is it a useful option for medical staff to keep safe, or is it an impersonal way of treating a patient? Either way, the robot's role is very important as it lessens the risk of doctors being infected by the virus.
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By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
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tech
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Mortgage rates fall to lowest level in three months — but that’ s a double-edged sword for home buyers
|
Mortgage rates slid to the lowest level in three months this past week. But the persistent low-rate environment could have some repercussions for people looking to buy a home.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.6% during the week ending Jan. 23, down five basis points from the previous week, Freddie Mac
FMCC,
+3.61%
reported Thursday
.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage also fell five basis points to 3.04%, according to Freddie Mac. The 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage, meanwhile, dropped a 11 basis points to an average of 3.28%.
Mortgage rates are now at their lowest level since October. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now only stands one-quarter percentage point above its all-time low.
Mortgage rates roughly follow the direction of the 10-year Treasury note
TMUBMUSD10Y,
0.845%
,
the yield of which has worsened in recent days amid concerns regarding
the spread of the deadly coronavirus
that first emerged in China.
Don’ t miss:
This ‘ incredibly powerful’ home-insurance policy will make payouts even if your property isn’ t damaged
Low mortgage rates are a double-edged sword
Persistently low mortgage rates have both a positive and a negative influence on the housing market, according to
a recent report from First American Financial
,
FAF,
-0.18%
a title insurance company.
Home-buying power in December was 12.5% higher year over year largely due to a combination of low mortgage rates and an uptick in annual household income.
Read more:
Renting is more affordable than buying in almost 50% of these housing markets — and they tend to have one thing in common
But low rates also mean that people are staying in their homes longer. “ Falling mortgage rates can help incentivize homeowners to sell their home and purchase a different home, but persistently low mortgage rates can have the opposite effect, ” wrote First American chief economist Mark Fleming.
Because many existing homeowners either bought property when rates were low or took advantage of the recent dip in rates to refinance, they are now sitting comfortably with historically affordable mortgages. That could make them less likely to move because it’ s unlikely they’ d see much financial benefits in the form of a cheaper mortgage, meaning the choice to move will be driven by other factors such as higher income or an expanding family.
People stay in their homes longer has the effect of reducing the number of homes for sale at any given moment. In December, the supply of homes on the market dropped to the lowest level in 20 years,
according to a report from the National Association of Realtors
.
Economists have suggested that the tight housing inventory
could end up depressing housing market activity
in 2020.
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business
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U.S. stock futures fall more than 1 pct as coronavirus fears spread
|
- U.S. S & P500 e-mini futures fell more than 1% in Asian trade on Monday on mounting worries the new coronavirus outbreak could severely disrupt the Chinese economy, an engine of global growth.
China's cabinet said it would extend the week-long Lunar New Year holiday by three days to Feb. 2 and Hong Kong banned residents of China's Hubei province, where the new coronavirus outbreak was first reported, from entering the city.
( Reporting by Hideyuki Sano; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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business
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Demand Fears Are Driving Today’ s Oil Markets
|
Oil prices fell close to a three-month low on Friday, dragged down further by fears of weak demand. The proximate driver is the coronavirus in China, which is raising concerns about a hit to the economy and slower oil demand growth. & ldquo; One should be prepared for negative surprises when it comes to Chinese demand given that the government has now widened the coronavirus quarantine to ten cities in Hubei province with a total population of 30 million people, & rdquo; Commerzbank said in a note. & ldquo; The impact of this is all the greater because the restrictions are being imposed during the busiest travel season for the Chinese. & rdquo; The coronavirus could cut into demand by around 260,000 bpd and reduce oil prices by about $ 3 per barrel, according to a report from Goldman Sachs. However, in the days following the publication of that estimate, oil prices fell by even more than $ 3. & ldquo; The muted domestic demand, coupled with a marked rise in refinery capacities, is likely to cause Chinese exports of oil products to increase significantly further, & rdquo; Commerzbank added. & ldquo; Gasoline exports already grew by 27% year-on-year to 16.37 million tons in 2019, while diesel exports increased by 15% to 22 million tons. & rdquo; The investment bank added that oil demand was also & ldquo; subdued & rdquo; elsewhere in Asia, including in Japan and India. For instance, Japan & rsquo; s average imports in 2019 fell below 3 million barrels per day mb/d for the first time since the 1980s. Related Hydrogen Costs Could Be Set To Plunge By 50% The oil market is entering another slump, dashing the short-lived rally following the Phase 1 trade deal between the U.S. and China. The sour sentiment is all the more remarkable because Libya lost around 800,000 barrels per day in the last week, a huge slice of supply that went offline virtually overnight. And yet, crude prices continue to fall. & ldquo; Such is the bearish pressure that a raft of ongoing crude supply outages are not gaining much traction, & rdquo; JBC Energy wrote in a report. Iraq, Nigeria and Kazakhstan also saw some output go offline. JBC went on to note that concerns about demand are not just limited to China. & ldquo; Indeed we have mentioned a couple of times in recent reports the lack of price upside to diesel in Europe - the global middle distillate price setter - despite what appears to have been months of low domestic supply, & rdquo; JBC said. Global inventories are on the rise, a reflection of ample supply. & ldquo; Weekly stocks data at the global level has also started to show a pickup in both light and middle distillate stocks, with US inventories looking now at a much more ample seasonal level than over much of Q4. & rdquo; The renewed slide in prices once again puts pressure on OPEC, restarting a familiar storyline. Saudi Arabia & rsquo; s energy minister suggested that all options are on the table for the March meeting of OPEC, seemingly opening the door to deeper production cuts. Other press reports suggested that OPEC may extend the cuts through the end of the year. Related The & ldquo; Twin Threats & rdquo; Facing Big Oil The chronic surplus is dragging the energy sector down into the dumps. The share prices for an array of shale companies declined sharply hard last week. Mark Papa & rsquo; s Centennial Resource Development lost more than 20 percent on the week; SM Energy was down by 18 percent; Whiting Petroleum declined by 17 percent; and EOG Resources was off by 9 percent, just to name a few. But it was the Appalachian shale drillers that really went through the wringer. Range Resources and Antero Resources each plunged by roughly 26 percent, while EQT & ndash; the largest shale gas producer in the country & ndash; lost more than 23 percent. All in a single week. The slump could be temporary, especially since some of the downbeat sentiment can be attributed to the panic in China. & ldquo; Once there is evidence that the outbreak is contained and thus economic disruption subsiding, sentiment on oil should improve, bringing prices back up, & rdquo; Raymond James wrote in a note. & ldquo; For now, the oil market seems to be assuming that the situation will get worse before it gets better. & rdquo; By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com
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business
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How Reliable Are The Big 3 Oil Forecasters?
|
The oil market hinges and moves on forecasts. Whether it & rsquo; s an oil demand growth forecast or a production forecast, no forecast is more closely watched and scrutinized than that provided by one of the big three the IEA, EIA, and OPEC. The problem is, these forecasts often vary wildly from one another, meaning at least one of these forecasts will be wrong. & nbsp; Bloomberg & rsquo; s Julian Lee this week wrote in a column about the discrepancy between OPEC & rsquo; s oil demand estimates for 2020 and those of the EIA and the IEA, noting that while the oil producing cartel expected global oil inventories to keep declining this year, both the International Energy Agency and the EIA expected these to continue building. Motive Behind the Forecasts One might argue that there is some wishful thinking on the part of OPEC, which really wants its production cuts to work and shrink global inventories to put a firm floor under oil prices. Yet there is some wishful thinking on the part of the U.S. EIA, too, in light of the administration & rsquo; s energy dominance agenda. The EIA has had to revise downwards its oil production estimates before, when actual production data has turned out to be lower than earlier forecasts based on statistical modeling. & nbsp; It is a fact that U.S. production is growing, and OPEC acknowledges this grim reality. But it & rsquo; s possible that US production might not be growing as much as forecasts show. Related Iran Faces Threat Of Full Global Sanctions That leaves the International Energy Agency. Does it, too, have a vested interest in one supply and demand forecast over another Theoretically, it shouldn & rsquo; t. The authority seems to be increasingly busy with warning against continued inaction with regard to climate change to take sides in the oil supply and demand prediction game. Also, a lot of the time, its figures converge with the EIA & rsquo; s and/or OPEC & rsquo; s. Demand Growth and Supply For this year both OPEC and the IEA see oil demand growth at some 1.2 million bpd. The EIA is in the middle, forecasting global oil and other liquid hydrocarbons demand this year to grow by 1.3 million bpd. For non-OPEC supply, the IEA is actually less bullish than OPEC. It expects production outside the cartel to rise by some 2.1 million bpd, while OPEC itself sees this growth at 2.35 million bpd. The EIA has the highest non-OPEC supply growth forecast for this year, at 2.6 million bpd. The Inventory Headache The differences, according to Lee, however, are striking when it comes to the state of global oil inventories over the last three years, since the first production cut deal entered into effect at the beginning of 2017. According to self-congratulatory OPEC, world oil inventories since 2017 have fallen by 653 million barrels. According to the EIA and the IEA, on the other hand, there has been no decline in the amount of global oil inventories. All the OPEC cuts have done, their numbers suggest, is to curb the size of the inventory builds in each of the three years since the cuts were introduced. The EIA, in fact, has estimated that global oil inventories have risen by some 100 million barrels over the last three years. The IEA has an even higher number, at 142 million barrels. & nbsp; Related Why The Coronavirus Is A Real Threat To Oil Markets It appears the discrepancy comes from different methods of counting how much oil in storage there is in the world and the different things the IEA, the EIA, and OPEC actually count, according to Lee. Then there is the fact that not all oil inventories in the world are readily available for counting. Chinese oil in storage, for example, is notoriously secret as Beijing does not release public updates about it as the EIA does. So if there is no information about all the oil in the world, how much faith should one put in global inventory estimates, regardless of the authority making these estimates Not too much would be a reasonable answer. The state of global inventories, after all, is just one piece of the puzzle. Supply and demand growth forecasts, along with consumption and production trends, are much more important than inventories for gauging where oil prices will go next. These tend to change more often and all of them affect inventories. The level of inventories itself is the end result of supply, demand, production and consumption. & nbsp; For those wondering if there is enough oil in the world in case a serious outage occurs, the answer is yes, with all three authorities in agreement. In the OECD alone there is enough oil to meet 60.6 days of demand. According to Bloomberg & rsquo; s Lee, this is a much more sensible indicator of supply levels than the volume of oil inventories. It is certainly a more understandable one these are inventories in the context of global demand. So regardless of how successful the OPEC deal is in the end, the world has no shortage of oil for now. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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business
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The WHO should sound the alarm on Wuhan coronavirus ( opinion)
|
Michael Bociurkiw is a global affairs analyst and a former spokesman for both the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and UNICEF. He is also a former contractor for WHO. Follow him on Twitter
@ WorldAffairsPro
. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his; view more
opinions
on CNN.
( CNN)
As the Wuhan coronavirus continues to spread around the world, the World Health Organization's
decision to hold off
on declaring the outbreak `` a public health emergency of international concern '' is baffling.
Michael Bociurkiw
The virus, which is similar to the fatal severe respiratory syndrome ( SARS), first emerged in Wuhan, China, which has a population greater than New York City.
More than 1,900 people
have already been infected, and more than 55 people have died. To contain the virus during the Lunar New Year, which marks the largest annual human migration in the world, the Chinese government placed a lockdown on 12 cities, affecting about 35 million people. On Saturday, China said it would halt all outbound international
tour groups
starting Monday.
Although authorities in Wuhan initially cracked down on people accused of spreading `` rumors '' about the illness, the Chinese government has since taken rapid and strict measures to contain the virus. Their efforts are laudable but may not be sufficient given the movement of people who may have been infected in the weeks before the lockdown was ordered.
While Chinese officials have a responsibility to limit the spread of the outbreak, global health officials in Geneva need to take quick action. By declaring a global emergency, WHO would set in motion coordination efforts among various countries and encourage UN member states to institute strict surveillance measures. While some initial panic could result, WHO's leadership would jolt passive governments into action.
In making its decision not to declare a global public health emergency, WHO officials cited a
limited number of cases abroad
, and strong, preventative containment measures in China. `` While this outbreak is an emergency in China, it has not yet become a global health emergency, '' WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told me.
Read More
What it will take to stop the Wuhan coronavirus
However, the number of overseas cases are growing rapidly. There are
more than 35 cases
in more than a dozen countries and territories outside mainland China, including two in the United States. On Friday, the first European cases were confirmed in France. As for the number of cases in China, some experts suggest the total could be far higher than what is currently being reported.
By WHO's own definition, an international public health emergency is `` an extraordinary event which is determined... to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease and to potentially require a coordinated international response. '' Given what we 've seen of the Wuhan coronavirus so far, the threshold for the declaration has surely been met.
In a public statement, the organization
said
, `` the Committee members agreed on the urgency of the situation and suggested that the Committee should be reconvened in a matter of days to examine the situation further. ''
In a
2018 report
analyzing the responses to the earlier Ebola, Zika and H1N1 public health emergencies, public health researchers Steven Hoffman and Sarah Silverberg wrote, `` When the systems for recognizing and responding to disease outbreaks act too slowly, the result is unnecessary delay, greater disease spread, additional people affected, and more lives lost. ''
The WHO, a mainline UN agency which is heavily influenced by members states, has used the international public health emergency declaration sparingly, has come under fire for
being too slow to act
. We saw that when WHO finally declared Ebola a public health emergency of international concern in 2014, eight months after the outbreak first emerged. By that time, the outbreak had already spread to three countries, and the virus ultimately killed more than 11,000 people.
Wuhan coronavirus death toll rises to 54 as healthcare workers say medical supplies are running out
`` Ebola exposed WHO as unable to meet its responsibility for responding to such situations and alerting the global community, '' said an
independent panel of experts
in 2015 that included members from the Harvard Global Health Institute and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
The panel went further, suggesting the establishment of a new global health committee within the UN Security Council to declare outbreaks and international emergencies for more timely responses.
A perfect storm for authorities in Beijing?
Placing cities on lockdown, especially when tens of millions of Chinese people planned to travel and celebrate the Lunar New Year holidays, has already sparked panic and created a headache for the Chinese Communist Party. Long lines have been reported at local hospitals, tourist attractions like the Forbidden City in Beijing and Shanghai Disneyland have been closed, and large public gatherings are now forbidden around China. Public criticism of authorities has increased dramatically
on social media
, although many of the posts were later taken down.
What happens next in terms of public reaction may be of a magnitude not seen by Beijing authorities for some time. After all, far more minor events have sparked protests in China — including
protests over a waste incineration plant
near Wuhan last year in which riot police had to be deployed.
Get our free weekly newsletter
Sign up for CNN Opinion's new
newsletter
.
Join us on
Twitter
and
Facebook
Let's be clear. The Wuhan coronavirus is spreading rapidly, including to other continents outside of Asia. There is no known vaccine. Tens of millions of people who live in China or recently traveled to the Hubei province are still on the move.
In the absence of a declaration of a global public health emergency, governments or regional bodies such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN) are free to coordinate action themselves.
Out of an abundance of caution, the UN should act immediately to raise the international alarm to prevent further infections and deaths. So far, cities like Vancouver, which has an international airport hosting numerous Chinese airlines, haven't instituted thermal screening for incoming passengers. In Toronto, Ontario's chief medical officer of health announced on Saturday the
first `` presumptive '' case
of the coronavirus in Canada.
While the declaration of a global public health emergency could stoke widespread fear and would by no means bring the outbreak under control, it will push countries around the world to take preventative action and encourage them to step up surveillance. If there is one thing that we have learned from previous outbreaks, viruses do not respect borders and thrive when there is a lack of urgent and coordinated human action. Time is of the essence.
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general
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China says coronavirus can spread before symptoms show -- calling into question US containment strategy
|
China's health minister Ma Xiaowei made a startling statement Sunday about the Wuhan coronavirus: He said people can spread it before they become symptomatic.
`` This is a game changer, '' said Dr. William Schaffner, a longtime adviser to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It's much harder to contain a virus -- to track down a patient's contacts and quarantine them immediately -- if the patient was spreading the disease for days or weeks before they even realized they had it.
Third US case of coronavirus confirmed as China warns people can spread the virus before realizing they're ill
`` It means the infection is much more contagious than we originally thought, '' said Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. `` This is worse than we anticipated. ''
Ma didn't explain why he thinks the virus can be spread before someone has symptoms. If the Chinese health minister is right -- and there are those who doubt him -- that means the five confirmed cases in the United States might have been infectious while traveling from Wuhan to Arizona, California, Illinois and Washington state, even if they had no symptoms at the time.
Read More
On Sunday, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said the risk to the American public for contracting this virus continues to be low.
`` We at CDC don't have clear evidence that patients are infectious before symptom onset, but we are actively investigating that possibility, '' Messonnier said.
`` We need to be preparing as if this is a pandemic, but I continue to hope that it is not, '' she added.
The Wuhan coronavirus has killed more than 50 people in China and infected thousands there, and spread as far as the US, France and Canada.
'We're going to have to reevaluate our strategy '
US health officials believe the Wuhan virus has an incubation period of about two weeks, CDC officials said Friday during a media briefing.
American trapped at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak says she's angry and scared
`` Based on what we know now about this virus, our concern for transmission before symptoms develop is low, so that is reassuring, '' Dr. Jennifer Layden, an epidemiologist with the Illinois Department of Health, said at the Friday briefing.
The update on Sunday from the Chinese health minister should encourage health officials to change that thinking, some infectious disease experts told CNN.
`` Assuming that Ma is correct, we're going to have to re-evaluate our strategy, that's for sure, '' Schaffner said.
Dr. Paul Offit, another longtime CDC adviser, said given Ma's news, he thinks health officials should alert people on the flights that the three US patients took from Wuhan that they might have traveled with someone who was infectious.
`` I think the conservative thing to do would be to cast a wider net, '' he said.
NIH doctor wants US to inspect Chinese data
The United States ' top infectious disease doctor wants a team of CDC disease detectives to go to China and check on these crucial questions about how the Wuhan coronavirus is spreading.
But there's something stopping them: China first has to invite the CDC.
`` Up to now, to my knowledge, we have not been invited, '' Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the US National Institutes of Health, said Sunday.
NIH and CDC are separate divisions of the US Department of Health and Human Services.
The implications of Ma's statement that the coronavirus is transmissible before symptoms are so important `` that in my mind it's absolutely critical that we ourselves see the data, because what goes on over there has implications for what happens here, '' Fauci said.
A visual guide to the Wuhan coronavirus
He added that to his knowledge, the Chinese did not tell US health authorities that the virus could spread before someone is symptomatic, a crucial aspect of any disease investigation. He said he learned about it after reading a CNN reporter's email.
Fauci said that CDC disease detectives would need to see precisely how Chinese health authorities have gathered their data and how they came to their conclusion.
`` To my knowledge, we have not seen the precise minute, granular data and how they collected it, '' he said. `` We need to get to the real bottom line of how they collected their data and see if it's valid. ''
`` The Chinese have good people. I don't want to impugn their capabilities, '' Fauci added. `` But when it's something as important as this, our people who are trained epidemiologists need to go over their data and the best way to do that is go there and see how they're collecting it. ''
CDC's Messonnier said Sunday the CDC has staff in China, but the team is not directly involved in the Wuhan coronavirus response. The agency hopes to have `` additional engagement '' on the outbreak in China in the coming days, she said.
In a tweet on Sunday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, `` I am on my way to Beijing, [ China ] to meet with the Government & health experts supporting the # coronavirus response. My @ WHO colleagues & I would like to understand the latest developments & strengthen our partnership with [ China ] in providing further protection against the outbreak. ''
Are Chinese officials right?
In a fast-spreading, evolving outbreak like this one, information often changes.
Wuhan coronavirus death toll rises to 56 as healthcare workers say medical supplies are running out
Some experts are skeptical because of the lack of data from China.
`` I seriously doubt that the Chinese public officials have any data supporting this statement, '' said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. `` I know of no evidence in 17 years of working with coronaviruses -- SARS and MERS -- where anyone has been found to be infectious during their incubation period. ''
Severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome are both caused by coronaviruses. While each has killed hundreds of people worldwide, together they amounted to only a handful of cases and no deaths in the United States.
Offit, on the other hand, said it wouldn't surprise him if the Chinese health minister is right and the Wuhan coronavirus can be spread while people are asymptomatic. Measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox all spread that way, he said.
Despite that, he said he's optimistic that the US can control the outbreak before it gets out of hand, as it has in China.
That's because the spread of the outbreak doesn't just rely on the time period of contagiousness. It also relies on how easily the virus spreads. Some viruses, such as measles, spread easily even to people on the other side of a room. Other viruses spread only with much closer contact.
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`` My gut says we're going to be able to contain this real quick -- we're going to be able to put a moat around this fire, '' said Offit, a pediatric infectious disease expert at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. `` I think this is going to be much more like SARS or MERS than the movie 'Contagion. ' ``
`` But then, '' the Philadelphia-based doctor said, `` I 'm an Eagles fan, so I tend to be optimistic about things. ''
CNN's
Steven Jiang
contributed to this report.
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Wuhan coronavirus: A fourth case is confirmed in the US
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Another case of coronavirus has been confirmed, in Arizona, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Sunday, bringing the total to five cases in the United States.
The increase came as a top Chinese health official delivered some worrisome news about efforts
to contain the fast-moving virus.
Several people have been infected with the Wuhan coronavirus in the US -- including a man in his 30s in Washington state; a Chicago woman in her 60s; a man in his 50s in Orange County, California, a patient in Los Angeles County; and a fifth in Arizona. All had recently traveled to Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.
China's unprecedented quarantines could have wider consequences, experts say
Worried? Here's how to protect yourself
`` As with other respiratory illnesses, there are steps that everyone can take to reduce the risk of getting sick from circulating viruses, including coronavirus. This includes remaining home when ill, washing hands with soap and water frequently, and getting vaccinated against flu, '' said Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.
Read More
The Orange County victim is in isolation and in `` good condition '' at a local hospital, the county's Health Care Agency said in a statement. The Los Angeles County patient was being treated at a hospital as well, officials said.
State and federal officials are following up with anyone who may have had close contact with the person and is at risk of infection.
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02:45
Chinese Health Minister delivers a 'game changer '
News of the latest American case comes as Chinese Health Minister Ma Xiaowei delivered the revelation that people can spread the virus before they have symptoms -- which a veteran US health adviser called a `` game changer '' -- but not in a good way.
It calls into question current US practices to contain the virus, longtime CDC adviser Dr. William Schaffner said.
`` When I heard this, I thought, 'Oh dear, this is worse than we anticipated. ' It means the infection is much more contagious than we originally thought, '' said Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
If Ma is correct -- and information about the virus is constantly evolving -- people can go two weeks without realizing they're sick, during which time they can spread the virus.
Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, questioned Ma's statement.
`` We at CDC don't have clear evidence that patients are infectious before symptom onset, '' Messonnier said, `` but we are actively investigating that possibility. ''
The risk for the American public contracting the virus continues to be low, Messonnier said. `` We need to be preparing as if this is a pandemic, '' she said, `` but I continue to hope that it is not. ''
At least 56 dead in China
In addition to Arizona and California, cases have been
reported in Illinois and Washington state
. The Illinois woman had not been sick while traveling from Wuhan to the US on January 13, said Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.
The CDC said it's taking aggressive measures to stop the spread of the virus in the United States, but while it considers it a serious public health threat, the immediate risk to Americans is low.
The deadly new coronavirus has reached the US. Here's how to protect yourself
The stateside cases prompted Sen. Chuck Schumer to urge the US Department of Health and Human Services to declare an emergency to free up $ 85 million for the CDC.
The money is already appropriated and sitting in the Infectious Disease Rapid Response Reserve Fund, he said, and the CDC will have full discretion to use the money for epidemiological endeavors, screening, public awareness, staffing and educating local and state officials.
`` We want to make sure ( the CDC) can sustain this pace and have all the dollars they need should the outbreak get worse, '' the senator said. `` Use the key now and unlock the money. ''
At least
56 people have been killed
by the coronavirus in China, and nearly 2,000 confirmed cases have been reported as the nation struggles to contain the outbreak.
Authorities have imposed indefinite restrictions on public transport and travel, with motor vehicles banned in Wuhan's city center starting Sunday to control the flow of people. Only vehicles with special permits, free shuttles and government vehicles will be allowed to move around.
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Amid the lockdown, countries like the US and France have been trying to evacuate their citizens from the central Chinese city. Outside of China, more than 40 confirmed cases have been identified in about a dozen countries.
Coronaviruses are transmitted by animals and people, and the Wuhan strain has been linked to a market in the city that was selling seafood and live animals, including wild species. The Chinese government announced that it's banning all sales of wild animals
Beijing will deploy an additional 1,600 medical professionals to Wuhan to help the city cope with the growing number of coronavirus patients, health officials said.
Correction: This story has been updated to correctly attribute a quote to Dr. Allison Arwady.
CNN's Artemis Moshtaghian, Elizabeth Cohen and Alta Spells contributed to this report
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Canada's first coronavirus patient had symptoms on flight from China
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Canada's chief medical officer said on Sunday that an individual who was declared the country's first `` presumptive '' confirmed case of the novel coronavirus had developed symptoms on the plane while traveling from Wuhan in China to Toronto.
The province of Ontario health officials on Saturday said a man in his 50s developed a respiratory illness after arriving in Toronto on Jan. 22 from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak of the viral disease, and was being treated in a public hospital and in isolation.
Theresa Tam, Canada's chief health officer, told reporters in Ottawa that the patient had mild symptoms while on the flight, though he did not report his condition after landing at the Toronto airport.
The individual arrived via China Southern Airlines flight CZ311 from Guangzhou to Toronto. Tam said health officials are in the early process of contacting other travelers on that flight.
But Tam said other people on the flight or airport that were not close to the patient should not be overly concerned.
Canada's Health Minister Patty Hajdu told reporters that the National Microbiology Laboratory will take up to 24 hours to confirm the findings on the local laboratory. And once NML tests are confirmed positive, then Canada will announce its first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus.
Canada is on high alert to prevent the spread of coronavirus and avoid the repeat of SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, that killed 44 people in Canada, the only country outside Asia to report deaths from that virus in 2002-2003. Government health officials say Canada is better prepared this time.
China's National Health Commission said on Sunday the ability of the new coronavirus to spread is strengthening and infections could continue to rise, after more than 2,000 people were infected in China and 56 have died.
( Reporting by Denny Thomas and Denise Paglinawan in Toronto; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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business
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China names HIV drugs as part of treatment plan for Wuhan virus
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BEIJING – China is using AbbVie Inc.’ s HIV drugs as an ad-hoc treatment for pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus while the global search for a cure continues.
The Beijing branch of China’ s National Health Commission said that a combination of lopinavir and ritonavir, sold under the brand name Kaletra by AbbVie, is part of its latest treatment plan for patients infected by the virus, which has killed at least 56 people in China and sickened more than 2,000 worldwide.
The NHC said that while there is not yet any effective anti-viral drug, it recommends patients be given two lopinavir and ritonavir tablets twice a day and a dose of alpha-interpheron through nebulization twice daily.
Medical journal Lancet said on Friday that a clinical trial is under way using ritonavir and lopinavir to treat cases of the new coronavirus.
In the meantime, China’ s Center for Disease Control and Prevention will start developing a vaccine, according to the Global Times.
Wang Guangfa, a respiratory expert at Peking University First Hospital in Beijing who was infected by the virus after visiting Wuhan to inspect coronavirus patients, told China News Week earlier this week that his doctor recommended he take the HIV drugs to fight the new virus and they worked on him.
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tech
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How coronavirus is beginning to hit China's economy
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BEIJING — Preliminary data show the scale at which the coronavirus outbreak is affecting the Chinese economy.
At a special press conference on Sunday, Chinese officials indicated the disease will remain an issue for the near future.
The immediate impact was visible in a drop in the flow of passengers. In an effort to prevent the virus from spreading, the government has encouraged people to stay at home, cancelled major public events and restricted travel for tens of millions.
Overall travel on Saturday, the first day of the Lunar New Year, dropped 28.8% from a year ago, said Liu Xiaoming, vice minister of transport. Specifically, he noted declines of:
41.6% in civil air travel
41.5% in rail travel
25% for road transport.
On Sunday, China Railway Chengdu also announced it would halt several high-speed train routes — including some to Shanghai — for the next few days, into early February.
Chinese authorities have stressed the need for locals to wear face masks, and have even imposed fines in some places for those in public spaces who do not wear one. Other items, such as virus testing kits and protective suits, are also understocked.
`` We face a severe shortage of supplies given the demand, '' Wang Jiangping, vice minister of industry and information technology, said Sunday, according to an official translation of his Mandarin-language remarks.
Wang noted a particular shortage of protective suits and face masks, especially in Wuhan. For example, Wang said about 100,000 protective suits are needed a day, but daily production capacity is at best in the low tens of thousands.
In an effort to meet these medical supply needs, Wang said 40% of overall production capacity is now back online, despite the Lunar New Year holiday.
Authorities also said Sunday that to improve medical conditions, they are drawing on inventory from the surrounding area, and working to add more hospital beds and medical staff.
China's Ministry of Finance added in an online statement Sunday that various levels of finance ministries have issued 11.2 billion yuan ( $ 1.6 billion) in subsidies for medical care, equipment purchases and other efforts to control the epidemic.
But the latest developments indicate these disruptions to regular economic activity may just be the beginning of a longer-term situation.
Beijing city said Sunday that local schools, from kindergartens to universities, will postpone resumption of the school year until further notice, according to state media. Based on the original Lunar New Year holiday calendar, Chinese were set to return to work on Jan. 31.
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‘ Frustrating, but understandable’: runners react to Hong Kong Marathon cancellation due to coronavirus
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Reaction to the cancellation of the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon continues to pour in as the fallout hits home for approximately 70,000 racers who were planning on running on February 9.
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business
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Earnings could spark a significant sell-off, Art Hogan warns
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Long-time market bull Art Hogan is on pullback alert.
With the busiest period of earnings season kicking off this week, the National Securities chief market strategist warns conditions are ripe for a significant move lower.
`` Stocks are relatively priced for perfection, and you tend to have a bit of an overreaction to bad news or in-line news when that happens, '' he told CNBC's `` Trading Nation '' on Friday. `` My guess is if we're going to rationalize a market that's pretty stretched right here, it's going to happen right now. ''
Hogan sees fourth quarter results as the top risk to the record market rally — bigger than coronavirus fears and Mideast tensions.
`` We have about a third of the S & P 500 reporting. We're going to see the losers lose a whole lot more than we 've seen in a while, '' he said. `` The index itself could probably pull back 3% to 5%. ''
According to Hogan, the market's biggest winners will likely get hit the hardest.
`` There are five technology names that are driving a good chunk of the movement in the S & P. On the other side, you see the utilities index, '' he said. `` The index is trading at 25 times and it's throwing out a dividend that's less than 3%. Both of those numbers are historically stretched. This is an index that usually trades at 16 times and has about a 5% dividend. ''
But Hogan, whose S & P 500 year-end target is 3,450, contends it's no reason to turn bearish. He's looking at the next downturn as a key buying opportunity.
Hogan and his firm have taken steps to capitalize on a leg lower. Similar to Blackstone, increasing the cash has been a major strategy.
`` Our cash levels coming into the first quarter have been higher than they historically are, '' Hogan said.
The S & P 500 fell 30 points on Friday to close at 3,295. It's now 1.3% off its record high.
Disclaimer
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business
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Coronavirus death toll rises as China extends Lunar New Year holiday
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BEIJING — China on Monday expanded sweeping efforts to contain a viral disease by postponing the end of this week’ s Lunar New Year holiday to keep the public at home and avoid spreading infection as the death toll rose to 80.
Hong Kong announced it would bar entry to visitors from the mainland province at the center of the outbreak. Travel agencies were ordered to cancel group tours nationwide following a warning the virus’ s ability to spread was increasing.
Increasingly drastic anti-disease efforts began with the Jan. 22 suspension of plane, train and bus links to Wuhan, a city of 11 million people in central China where the virus was first detected last month. That lockdown has expanded to a total of 17 cities with more than 50 million people in the most far-reaching disease-control measures ever imposed.
The end of the Lunar New Year holiday, China’ s busiest travel season, was pushed back to Sunday from Thursday to “ reduce mass gatherings ” and “ block the spread of the epidemic, ” a Cabinet statement said.
Tens of millions of people were due to return to work after visiting their hometowns or tourist sites, which might raise the risk of spreading infection.
Schools will postpone reopening until further notice, the Cabinet said.
Also Monday, China’ s No. 2 leader, Premier Li Keqiang, visited Wuhan to “ guide epidemic prevention work, ” the Cabinet website said. Photos on the site showed Li, in a blue smock and green face mask, meeting hospital employees.
The U.S. Consulate in Wuhan, said it was arranging to evacuate its diplomats and some American citizens on Tuesday. The French government said it would fly its citizens in Wuhan to France and quarantine them there. Japan was preparing to fly its nationals out of Wuhan.
French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen, which has a factory in Wuhan, said it was moving foreign e
UG,
-1.11%
mployees and their families by bus to be quarantined in another city.
The National Health Commission said 2,744 cases were confirmed by midnight Sunday.
The youngest patient is a 9-month-old girl in Beijing. China also reported five cases in Hong Kong and two in Macao.
South Korea confirmed its fourth case Monday. Scattered cases also have been confirmed in Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, the U.S., Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, France, Canada and Australia.
The U.S. has confirmed cases in Washington state, Chicago, southern California and Arizona.
China’ s health minister, Ma Xiaowei, said the country was entering a “ crucial stage ” as “ it seems like the ability of the virus to spread is getting stronger. ”
President Xi Jinping has called the outbreak a grave situation and said the government was stepping up efforts to restrict travel and public gatherings while rushing medical staff and supplies to Wuhan.
The epidemic has revived memories of the 2002-03 SARS outbreak that originated in China and killed nearly 800 people.
Then, Chinese authorities were criticized for reacting slowly and failing to disclose information. The government has responded more aggressively to the latest outbreak.
The National Health Commission said anyone traveling from Wuhan is required to register with community health stations and quarantine themselves at home for 14 days — the virus’ maximum incubation period.
Hong Kong announced it would bar entry to travelers from Hubei, where Wuhan is located, starting Monday. Hong Kong residents returning from the area will be allowed to the territory but were told to quarantine themselves at home.
Two of Hong Kong’ s most popular tourist attractions, Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park, closed.
Also Sunday, Wuhan banned most vehicle use, including private cars, in downtown areas. The city will assign 6,000 taxis to neighborhoods to help people get around if they need to.
Wuhan is building two hospitals, one with 1,500 beds and another with 1,000, for the growing number of patients, with the first slated to be finished next week.
The National Health Commission said it is bringing in medical teams to help handle the outbreak. The Chinese military dispatched 450 medical staff, some with experience in past outbreaks, including SARS and Ebola.
The new virus is part of the coronavirus family that includes the common cold but also more severe illnesses like SARS and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.
The new virus causes cold- and flu-like symptoms, including cough and fever, and in more severe cases, shortness of breath and pneumonia.
The illness first surfaced last month and the virus is thought to have spread to people from wild animals sold at a food market in Wuhan.
Chinese authorities announced a temporary ban on the trade of wild animals Sunday and called on the public to refrain from eating wild animal meat.
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business
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It’ s a good time to be selling face masks in China — Quartz
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The new coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China has infected nearly 2,000 people worldwide ( mostly in China) and killed 56—numbers that look certain to increase. As the disease has spread throughout the country and abroad, numerous reports have noted that face masks are hard to get, for the public and healthcare workers alike.
In Hong Kong, where eight cases of the disease have been diagnosed to date, prices for face masks sold in pharmacies were up 30% on Jan. 24, according to the South China Morning Post. Online retailers have seen even more dramatic increases—on the popular site Taobao, the price of a 20-mask box jumped to 1,100 yuan ( $ 158) on Jan. 21, up from 178 yuan in November, the BBC reports. Now, some online platforms are limiting how much vendors can raise their prices. In Shanghai, where 40 people have been diagnosed with the virus, lines to get into the pharmacy stretched down the block.
“ This year we only want to have masks as New Year presents, ” one Beijing resident told the Wall Street Journal.
The frenzy for face masks has meant big business for companies that make those products. Take Alpha Pro Tech, a Canadian company “ in the business of protecting people, products and environments, ” according to its website. It also sells face masks in China.
Between Dec. 27 and Jan. 24, the price of its stock increased from US $ 3.51 to $ 6.00.
Between Dec. 30 and Jan. 24, 3M, the most popular face mask brand in China, added $ 1.4 billion in market value. Honeywell, the American conglomerate that also sells face masks in China, added $ 500 million in market value in the same timeframe.
Mask manufacturers such as 3M and Lanhine, which is not publicly traded, are reportedly paying factory workers much higher wages to work over the Lunar New Year holiday to meet demand.
Companies that sell rubber gloves and hand sanitizer ( including 3M) in China, as well as those rumored to be working on a vaccine for the virus, have also seen their stock prices rise.
Public health experts note that while face masks can help prevent the spread of disease if worn properly, the best thing anyone can do to avoid getting sick is to wash their hands.
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tech
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RSA: What it's like to attend a tech conference during the coronavirus epidemic
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As San Francisco declared a state of emergency and the federal government warned Americans that novel coronavirus ( COVID-19) will spread within the US, RSA 2020 still soldiered on at the Moscone Center.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed made an emergency declaration Tuesday to strengthen the city's response to the virus.
`` Although there are still zero confirmed cases in San Francisco residents, the global picture is changing rapidly, and we need to step-up preparedness, '' Breed said in a statement. `` We see the virus spreading in new parts of the world every day, and we are taking the necessary steps to protect San Franciscans from harm. ''
SEE: Coronavirus having major effect on tech industry beyond supply chain delays ( free PDF) ( TechRepublic)
The global death toll from the COVID-19 illness is over 2,700, and more than 80,000 cases have been diagnosed worldwide, on every continent except Antarctica.
Joan Pepin, chief security officer at Auth0, said that she gave her employees the option to go home today after hearing the news from the San Francisco mayor.
`` Conditions have changed since we got here and we will be having discussions at the corporate level starting today, '' she said, adding that there was some debate about the mayor's decision.
Auth0 builds identity management solutions for corporate customers and more than 60% of employees work remotely in 30 states and 40 countries.
SEE: Telecommuting policy ( TechRepublic Premium)
On the first day of the security event, organizers sent a message through the conference app, encouraging attendees to knock elbows instead of shake hands. Attendees seemed to be sticking with the traditional greeting, even after this warning. They were packed into standing-room-only sessions throughout the conference center, which was unexpected after AT & amp; T, Verizon and IBM bailed on the conference in the days before the event began on February 24, citing concerns about the coronavirus. RSA runs through February 28.
A security official with the conference said that he uses the alternative elbow bump greeting exclusively to avoid catching the seasonal flu or any other virus going around. He also said that there are always plenty of Purel hand sanitizer stations at RSA events, but that they don't usually need refilling. That was not the case at this year's event, as conference attendees and vendors were quickly using up the hand sanitizer as they focused on personal hygiene as much as security hygiene.
On Wednesday morning, new signs popped up with a list of tips: clean your hands with soap and water, don't touch your eyes, nose and mouth; if you feel ill, go to our First Aid Office. During the day, Moscone Center employees wiped down door handles frequently with sanitizers.
Michael Sentonas, the CTO of CrowdStrike, said that he had never heard of Purel before this trip to San Francisco from his home base of Sydney, Australia.
`` I tried to buy some when I got here, but it was sold out everywhere, '' he said, adding that the illness was not a factor in CrowdStrike's travel plans.
Casimir Wierzynski, senior director of the AI products group at Intel, and Liz Wu, artificial intelligence PR at Intel, said they didn't have any concerns about attending.
`` The only way I wouldn't be here is if Liz told me not to come, '' Wierzynski said.
Wu said that attendance at RSA does not violate any of Intel's current travel or event restrictions.
Millicom CISO John Masserini, and Matt Petrosky, vice president of customer experience at GreatHorn, both said the illness didn't affect their decisions to attend RSA 2020.
`` In fact, I am disappointed in the vendors who pulled out, '' Masserini said.
Dan Lowden, the chief marketing officer of White Ops, said that a few big vendors pulling out of the show didn't affect the majority of attendees.
`` The show floor is packed, I think people are realizing that they need to stay in the forefront of innovation, '' he said.
RSAC has not released attendance numbers for the conference yet, although the keynote meeting hall was full on Tuesday and there was a dull roar and lots of foot traffic on the show floor.
Many people said that their companies gave them the option to stay home, including Darren Thomas, a senior product manager at McAfee, and Carol Geyer, chief development officer at OASIS, a non-profit standards group focused on open source.
SEE: Managing remote workers: A business leader's guide ( free PDF) ( TechRepublic)
Russ Mohr from MobileIron said his biggest concern was that the conference would get cancelled. `` Verizon and AT & T are big partners of ours, so we were worried when they pulled out, '' he said
Most conference attendees based in the US said the low risk of contracting the virus was worth the benefit of attending. People based in Europe had a different risk calculation. David Garfield, CEO and co-founder of Garrison, said that his UK-based company has a daily update on the spread of the virus. `` We have many colleagues in Singapore and many of them are confined to their apartments, '' he said.
Overall, except for the abundance of hand sanitizer stations, the conference didn't feel much different than any other tech conference. There were plenty of people in attendance, there were only a few face masks spotted, and traveling through San Francisco International Airport was just as annoying as ever, but there were no obvious delays due to the coronavirus.
Strengthen your organization's IT security defenses by keeping abreast of the latest cybersecurity news, solutions, and best practices. Delivered Tuesdays and Thursdays
A storefront in San Francisco advertises N95 masks to protect from coronavirus exposure.
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tech
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China's Wuhan virus unfolds in new age of WeChat — Quartz
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When the SARS outbreak hit China in 2003, only 6% of the population had access to the internet. Seventeen years later, that number has increased tenfold: more than 61% of the Chinese population are now online, according to the latest government figures.
The daily lives of Chinese citizens today are shaped, to a large extent, by something that didn’ t even exist in 2003: WeChat. Launched in 2011, the all-encompassing app is, for many in China, the internet itself. It’ s where citizens read, chat, shop, socialize, and pay for everything from taxi rides to groceries. It’ s also a platform where the state surveils its people.
This is the backdrop against which China’ s coronavirus outbreak, which has sickened some 2,000 people ( link in Chinese) and killed nearly 60, is unfolding in 2020: hyper-connectivity and the rapid dissemination of information—and at the same time, heightened state surveillance. All of this affects how news of the current disease outbreak is shared and censored.
This year, as in the SARS era, Chinese officials appeared to downplay the seriousness of a deadly spreading virus until the facts became impossible to ignore. Chinese health authorities went in the space of a week from saying the outbreak was “ preventable and under control “ to freezing travel from more than a dozen cities—an unprecedented measure—and one that undoubtedly raised concerns that the situation was more serious than officials had earlier been letting on.
“ I can see the same pattern, ” said Rose Luqiu, an assistant journalism professor at Hong Kong Baptist University who covered SARS in 2003, when asked if she saw similarities in how the government handled the flow of information during the two outbreaks.
In the SARS crisis, despite the first case being discovered in November 2002, a “ virtual news blackout ” prevailed around the outbreak for months; when it did become public, the country admitted to having just a few cases. It wasn’ t until a feisty newspaper ( whose staff were later detained for their continued dogged reporting) broke the news and a whistleblower came forward that officials publicly acknowledged the extent of the SARS outbreak. At the time, microblog platform Weibo and messaging app WeChat were still years away, people could bypass the government and share news mainly by text message.
Now, the sheer amount of information shared every minute by internet users in China today means that it’ s impossible for the state to maintain a watertight seal on what’ s posted online.
“ The dynamics of WeChat groups in particular shape the discussion of this epidemic, ” said Hongmei Li, an associate professor of strategic communication at Miami University. “ WeChat groups are characterized by a mixture of official and nonofficial information, foreign and domestic news, and personal observations and experiences. This suggests that it is difficult for the Chinese government to control news. ”
Online, there has been a steady trickle of photos, videos, and witness accounts from overwhelmed hospitals that seem to undermine the state’ s narrative of having the situation firmly under control. Along with reports from medical personnel, some of these grassroots accounts may have played a role in authorities moving to build temporary hospitals in Wuhan. While some hashtags and posts are quickly scrubbed by censors, others—like the hashtag # Wuhan on lockdown # —are allowed to remain, showing the government’ s attempts to walk a delicate line between censorship and transparency.
“ With the two social media platforms, the worry now is not about not getting enough information, but is more about how to distinguish which piece of information is true, ” said Wilfred Wang, a lecturer in media at the University of Melbourne who researches Chinese social media. “ The way Beijing deals with the explosive amount of information is to adopt a ‘ one eye open one eye closed’ attitude toward criticisms that do not advocate collective actions or attack the central government directly. ”
Unusually, state-run papers like People’ s Daily posted about a shortage of face masks in Wuhan, which had mandated the use of the face coverings, while in an English-language report the state-run tabloid Global Times described a shortage of testing kits. The People’ s Daily post about the face mask was later deleted, the Washington Post reported.
The desire to limit information critical of Beijing can sweep up even general information shared between individuals—including outside China. Earlier this month, a timeline of developments in the coronavirus outbreak was being widely shared on WeChat but then began to be censored, according to users Quartz spoke to. Quartz on Jan. 22 tried and failed to send the image via a private chat between a user in the US and one in the UK. There was no notification to the sender that the picture had not been sent, which often happens when people try to send “ sensitive ” content on the app. However, the person in the UK never received the picture on her end. After rotating the photo, it went through.
The same day, social media platform Weibo blocked the posting of a photo of a front page of the People’ s Daily on Jan. 23, which had drawn attention for being devoted to coverage of Xi Jinping, and none of the virus. The image was blocked even though it was not accompanied by any additional commentary of the sort users shared on Twitter.
These acts of censorship chip away at the public’ s trust in the authorities—at the exact time when the state most needs it in dealing with a public health crisis. As one article in medical journal The Lancet put it, “ It is impossible to build trust while at the same time abusing it. ”
While Chinese citizens are more connected than ever before, they are aware that state’ s capacity for surveillance is also unprecedented.
“ Over the last 10 years, the government has developed a very sophisticated capacity to control information, ” said Luqiu, the journalism professor. She pointed to cybersecurity rules which took effect in 2017, as a powerful tool of control that the government did not have in their arsenal in 2003. The law tightened China’ s censorship regime, criminalizing any online posts that the Communist party deems damaging to “ national honor, ” “ disturbing economic or social order ” or contributing to the “ overthrow of the socialist system. ”
The effort to control the online discussion began as soon, or even before, the first pneumonia cases been made public, when police in Wuhan said on Jan. 1 they had arrested eight local people ( link in Chinese) for “ spreading rumors about pneumonia ” —without any clarity about the kind of information they were sharing. The Wuhan government, in its announcement, urged people “ not to create rumors, believe rumors, or spread rumors, and to build a harmonious and clear cyberspace. ”
Zhang Xinnian, a Chinese lawyer, critiqued the local government move in a post that was viewed more than five million times before it got deleted. “ The government now thinks citizens who exchange information that they can not necessarily verify are the same as those who intentionally spread rumors, this view is very chilling, ” he wrote, noting that the incident underscored the weakness inherent in China’ s political system.
Aware of the surveillance, Chinese people have developed coded ways to speak about taboo topics. On one of the more liberal corners of China’ s internet, some users vented their anger at the authorities on the review page for the TV show Chernobyl—and also shared show references on other social media platforms to compare China’ s attitude to that of the Communist Soviet Union when the nuclear disaster unfolded in 1986. Access to that page is now restricted to registered users.
Still, China seems to have gotten more media savvy over the years, too. In 2003, Zhong Nanshan, the epidemiologist helped expose the scale of the SARS outbreak, didn’ t give his first interview until April ( link in Chinese) —months after the first case of SARS was discovered in November 2002. This time, however, he spoke with state broadcaster CCTV within three weeks of of the Wuhan government reporting a cluster of pneumonia cases to the World Health Organization. Allowing such a central figure as Zhong to take an interview, said Luqiu, is a strategic way for the government to both “ raise awareness and lower panic. ”
Some health experts and officials—including Germany’ s health minister—note that China has been far more transparent this time than in 2003. On WeChat, there is even a whistleblower feature for users to notify the government of officials’ negligence and malpractice during the outbreak—though the state’ s reputation of persecuting whistleblowers could make many users wary of making a report.
Still, the public in China may also be less critical of the government than observers outside China may think, given the inherently fluid nature of a virus outbreak and worries about misinformation among a citizenry that has become more nationalistic over the years.
In recent days, as the death toll climbed, China’ s actions to contain the virus have intensified, as have communications from officials regarding the seriousness of the situation. China’ s National Health Commission deputy director Li Bin vowed last week that the government would “ disclose information on the outbreak based on facts ” in a timely manner. On Saturday ( Jan. 26), Chinese leader Xi Jinping said the outbreak was of “ grave concern ” and ordered a centralized response to tackle the epidemic.
And Chinese citizens in various provinces have set up a volunteer-run crowdsourced information and fact-checking portal ( link in Chinese) to share updates and debunk false claims. The site ends with a quote from Lu Xun, arguably the most famous Chinese writer of the modern era: “ If there is no torch after all, then you are the only light. ”
The age of connectivity has certainly empowered Chinese citizens to shine some light into an opaque system, making it much harder for the state to impose the kind of information blackout that prevailed during SARS. Whether the government will embrace the need for extreme transparency, or eventually snuff out even that little bit of light, is another question.
Tony Lin and Tripti Lahiri contributed reporting.
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tech
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Coronavirus: WHO chief to meet Chinese officials in Beijing
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Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization's director general, is traveling to Beijing, China, to meet with government and health officials on the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.
The WHO has so far declined to declare the dangerous respiratory disease a global health emergency, despite the spread of the infection from China to at least 10 other countries and the increasing death toll.
The virus has infected 2,116 people and killed 56. Cases have been identified in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Nepal, France, Australia, the U.S. and Canada.
`` I am on my way to Beijing, [ China ] to meet with the Government & health experts supporting the [ coronavirus ] response. My [ WHO ] colleagues & I would like to understand the latest developments & strengthen our partnership with [ China ] in providing further protection against the outbreak, '' Ghebreyesus wrote in a Twitter post Sunday.
`` We are working 24/7 to support [ China ] & its people during this difficult time & remain in close contact with affected countries, with our regional & country offices deeply involved. [ WHO ] is updating all countries on the situation & providing specific guidance on what to do to respond, '' he wrote.
The mayor of Wuhan said on Sunday that there could be about 1,000 more confirmed cases of the virus in the city. About 5 million people left Wuhan before travel was restricted, and nine million people are currently living there.
The head of China's National Health Commission, Ma Xiaowei, said on Sunday that infected people without symptoms could still spread the disease to others. The virus's incubation period, which is contagious, is roughly 10 to 14 days, he said.
`` The epidemic has entered a more serious and complex period, '' he said, adding that the rate of the epidemic is accelerating and will continue to do so.
The WHO said it needs more data before declaring the virus, which is spreading through human-to-human contact, a global health emergency. `` Make no mistake: This is an emergency in China, '' Ghebreyesus said on Thursday. `` But it has not yet become a global health emergency. It may yet become one. ''
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business
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The coronavirus joins tough list of 2020 tests for China's global leadership
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Davos, Switzerland – `` Has China Won? ''
Kishore Mahbubeni, the Singaporean author and intellectual, greets me warmly in a conference lounge here and hands me a card promoting the March release of his new book, bearing that provocative question as its title.
The cover blurb announces that he will explain `` how, while America became arrogant and distracted, a three-thousand-year-old civilization is well on the way to becoming the number one power in the world. ''
The year ahead is likely to provide the most profound trial yet for that thesis and for the durability of China's rise.
Several new shocks and challenges, ranging from a potential pandemic to slowing growth, will test the resilience of China's authoritarian leadership and the state-run capitalist system that has provided the country four decades of record growth.
It thus also could mark a significant year for the emerging, generational clash, not of civilizations as Samuel Huntington had argued, but rather of economic and political systems, between democratic and authoritarian capitalism.
The latest blow to China has been the spread of coronavirus from Wuhan, whose geographic centrality and 11-million population make it a Chicago-like crossroads for China and to the world. Add the fact that the outbreak coincided with Chinese New Year travels and celebrations, and you have a nightmare plot that's still unfolding.
The virus, which has already claimed 42 lives with confirmed cases now in 8 countries and 3 continents, will test how much China has advanced in its capability to respond since the 2003 SARS outbreak through its investments in medical science and health infrastructure. Also, can it deliver on its commitment to greater international transparency and cooperation during such a crisis?
At the same time, China faces several other daunting challenges.
Its society is aging and its economic growth was already slowing to 6% -- its lowest level in 30 years – before the expected hit by virus response of a percentage point or more. The Phase One trade agreement with the United States will do little to change that, and indeed the bite of still-existing tariffs will continue impacting $ 112 billion of goods.
January elections in Taiwan and continued demonstrations in Hong Kong have underscored the stubborn fact that educated and prosperous Chinese societies, even if not yet those in the People's Republic, will continue to demand more freedoms and resist Beijing's long arm. ( That said, the closing of Hong Kong schools over the coronavirus provides a government reprieve).
Meanwhile, richly detailed news reports on China's repression of its Uighur minority have highlighted the limits of state censorship – while also demonstrating China's increased use of facial recognition and artificial intelligence technology to track and control potential dissent.
And at the same time, Asian, European and particularly American support and sympathy for China's rise over the past four decades has turned to greater wariness and suspicion. That includes greater international scrutiny, perceived debt traps, and other abuses in China's Belt and Road development program.
Despite all that, the consensus among delegates in Davos with whom I discussed China's challenges was that none of them would throw China off its trajectory of becoming the world's number one power – economically, politically, technologically, and eventually also militarily.
The arguments behind that are that President Xi Jinping has consolidated power over a remarkably capable technocracy, that technological advance has given him greater ability to identify problems and control dissent, that for most Chinese life has been steadily improving and, finally, that the attractions of U.S. and other Western democracies have grown less compelling.
So, the debate here over China's emergence as the world's leading power tends to revolve more around pace, process, impact and, of course, U.S. response.
Given the magnitude of the issue, however, there was surprisingly little discussion in Davos on how an increasingly Chinese-influenced global system might differ from – or perhaps even up-end – the post-World War II rules-based order of institutions and principles that spawned the World Economic Forum's creation 50 years ago.
`` To a degree still difficult for outsiders to absorb, China is preparing to shape the twenty-first century much as the United States shaped the twentieth, '' wrote Evan Osnos in a New Yorker opus this month. `` Its government is deciding which features of the global status quo to preserve and which to reject, not only in business, culture and politics but also in such basic values as human rights, free speech and privacy. ''
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo put it more bluntly on a recent visit to Europe. `` China wants to be the dominant economic and military power of the world, '' he said, `` spreading its authoritarian model for society and its corrupt practices worldwide. ''
One only must reflect on the dramatic changes of the first 50 years of the World Economic Forum to recognize the potential for a similarly dramatic shift in the next half century.
When mostly European and Americans gathered for the first annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in 1971, China was still ruled by Chairman Mao Tse Tung as a largely irrelevant global actor with but 2% of global GDP despite 22% of world population. China's GDP has grown by 14,028% since then to $ 14.1 trillion in 2019 from $ 99.8 billion in 1971. It now has 16.4% of global GDP, compared to 23.9% of the United States. According to a PwC study, China would have 20% of global GDP by 2050, making it clearly number one, compared to just 12% for the United States, which would fall to the number three position behind India.
A half century ago, the U.S. and Europe together accounted for 65% of global GDP and the international institutions they had created together – the United Nations, the European Community, NATO, the IMF, the World Bank and others – were young and brimming with ambition.
Though the Soviet Union posed a security threat and an ideological challenge, its communist, state-controlled economic system never produced enough growth or innovation and thus lacked China's attractiveness as a model.
An Africa businessman in Davos, who asked to remain anonymous, expects China's influence on his continent, which he believes has already surpassed that of the United States, to expand even more dramatically in the decade ahead behind what Chinese officials have told him will be $ 1 trillion in new investments.
`` The turn toward China will be hard to stop, '' he says.
Frederick Kempe is a best-selling author, prize-winning journalist and president & CEO of the Atlantic Council, one of the United States ' most influential think tanks on global affairs. He worked at The Wall Street Journal for more than 25 years as a foreign correspondent, assistant managing editor and as the longest-serving editor of the paper's European edition. His latest book – `` Berlin 1961: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth '' – was a New York Times best-seller and has been published in more than a dozen languages. Follow him on Twitter @ FredKempe and subscribe here to Inflection Points, his look each Saturday at the past week's top stories and trends.
For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @ CNBCopinion on Twitter.
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business
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Hong Kong protesters torch planned virus quarantine building
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HONG KONG – A group of protesters set alight on Sunday the lobby of a newly built residential building in Hong Kong that authorities planned to use as a quarantine facility, as public fears in the financial hub about the coronavirus outbreak intensified.
A Reuters witness saw several masked protesters, clad in black, rush into the public housing block in Hong Kong’ s Fanling district near to the border with China, and set alight a Molotov cocktail before running out. Black smoke could be seen pouring out of the building to the sound of fire alarms. Windows were smashed.
Earlier in the afternoon, hundreds of regular Hong Kong citizens had blocked roads leading to the building with bricks and other debris, as anger grew toward government plans to convert the building into a quarantine zone as the number of confirmed cases in the city climbed to six on Sunday.
“ We are dissatisfied with the government selecting this housing estate as a ( quarantine) separation village as it’ s very close to a residential area and a primary school, ” said a 28-year-old resident surnamed Tsang.
Public calls have also grown for the Hong Kong government to block the financial hub’ s border with mainland China to further minimize the risk of infection.
Earlier on Sunday, Hong Kong authorities said they would convert “ Fai Ming Estate, an unoccupied public estate in Fanling, into temporary flats for quarantine and observation of close contact persons without symptoms if needed. ”
Health authorities in the afternoon said 107 people were now under quarantine, and there were 77 suspected cases.
The ability of the new coronavirus to spread is strengthening and infections could continue to rise, China’ s National Health Commission said on Sunday, with nearly 2,000 people in China infected and 56 killed by the disease.
A handful of cases have been reported outside China, including in Thailand, Australia, the United States and France, with health authorities around the world racing to prevent a pandemic.
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tech
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5 million left Wuhan before lockdown, 1,000 new coronavirus cases expected in city
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About 5 million residents left Wuhan before the lockdown because of the deadly coronavirus epidemic and the Spring Festival holiday, mayor Zhou Xianwang revealed on Sunday, as health officials warned the virus’ ability to spread was getting stronger.
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business
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Stock Market Drops as Coronavirus Concerns Spreads
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AFP via Getty Images
6:08 a.m.
The
continued spread of the coronavirus
is rocking stock markets globally, potentially setting the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
and other U.S. indexes up for big losses on Monday.
Dow futures have declined 467 points, or 1.6%, while
S & P 500
futures have fallen 1.6%.
Nasdaq Composite
futures have dropped 2%. In Asia, China’ s
Shanghai Composite
has slumped 2.8%, while Japan’ s
Nikkei 225
is off 2%
The
coronavirus outbreak in China
, which now reports more than 2,700 infections and at least 80 deaths, continues to spread, even as China continues to take steps to limit it. Hong Kong has banned the entrance of people who have traveled to Hubei province, where the illness originated.
Even more worrisome than the market drop, the 10-year Treasury yield has broken firmly lower, and now sits at 1.634%. The lower the 10-year yield drops, the harder it gets to believe that a reacceleration in U.S. economic growth is just around the corner. “ The quarantining of cities and lost lives alone are scary prospects, but considering China’ s place in the global supply chain, there should be business repercussions, ” JonesTrading’ s Michael O’ Rourke wrote in a Sunday note.
The question now is
how big the market repercussions will be
.
Write to
Ben Levisohn at
Ben.Levisohn @ barrons.com
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business
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Paris Live, Monday 9 March, 2020
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We also take a look at how the coronavirus is affecting the organisation of the local elections in France, due to take place on the next two Sundays. From proxy voting, to catering for throwaway pens and hand sanitizers, or reducing the size of political rallies, the authorities have held off cancelling the polls outright, saying it would compromise democratic process.
A look at the press reveals that France has moved up to third place in the international arms sales ranking, behind the United States and Russia. The details were part of a report published by the independent Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
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general
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Coronavirus Casts a Pall Over Chinese New Year
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The Week Ahead
This week, everyone will be talking about the coronavirus outbreak in China, LVMH's fourth-quarter results and the latest beauty brand to expand in the UK. Get your BoF Professional Cheat Sheet.
The Week Ahead
This week, everyone will be talking about the coronavirus outbreak in China, LVMH's fourth-quarter results and the latest beauty brand to expand in the UK. Get your BoF Professional Cheat Sheet.
THE CHEAT SHEETFashion's Growing Investment In Chinese New YearGucci Chinese New Year 2020 Campaign | Source: CourtesyChinese New Year, on Jan. 25, marked the start of a week-long holiday in China, with hundreds of millions of people taking to the roads, rails and skies Brands such as Alexander Wang, Uniqlo and Gucci have released Lunar New Year merchandise, with the number of themed items up 45 percent over last year, according to Edited A new coronavirus is spreading fast; tens of millions of Chinese citizens in the worst-affected region are restricted from traveling Fashion brands increasingly go all-out for the Lunar New Year, counting on big spending both in China and the West over the holiday, which started on Jan. 25 but extends through this week in China. The Year of the Rat provides a bigger-than-usual opportunity, allowing for easy Mickey Mouse tie-ins that conveniently appeal both to Chinese tourists and Western audiences. Gucci is partnering with Chinese influencers and celebrities to promote bags featuring the world's most famous rodent. Uniqlo and many, many other more-affordable brands have mouse and rat-themed capsule collections of their own. The question now is whether that spending will materialise. The rapidly spreading coronavirus, which had infected hundreds, has cast a pall over the upcoming holiday. China's government has placed travel restrictions on cities at the centre of the outbreak, limiting mobility for up to 35 million people. Many others may choose to avoid public places, including shopping malls and luxury boutiques. The Bottom Line: It's early days, but the outbreak is already drawing comparisons to SARS, which resulted in the death of hundreds in 2003. That virus’ economic impact was short-lived, though at the time China didn't play as big a role in the global economy, and certainly wasn't the principal driver of growth for fashion and beauty brands that it is today. LVMH's Quarterly Mic DropLouis Vuitton Men's Autumn/Winter 2020 | Source: INDIGITAL.TVLVMH releases its fourth quarter and full-year 2019 results on Jan. 28 LVMH agreed to acquire Tiffany & Co. in November for $ 16.2 billion Expect updates on Hong Kong, where Louis Vuitton is closing a store amid slumping sales LVMH's acquisition of Tiffany has reignited M & A rumours, whether it’ s a potential Kering-Moncler tie-up or guessing which conglomerate might snap up Prada ( assuming the company is even for sale), or wild speculation about a potential mega-merger between Chanel and an equally large rival. Expect none of that talk when LVMH updates investors with its fourth-quarter results on Tuesday; the company is so big, and its success so consistent, that it rarely needs to acknowledge the competition these days. Instead, look for clues about its plans for Tiffany. Many assume LVMH will apply its historic strengths in marketing and in-store experience to the US brand, which could use help on both fronts. The Bottom Line: LVMH’ s eternal optimism about its sales in Asia will be tested by the coronavirus and continued turmoil in Hong Kong. Louis Vuitton was one of the first global brands to close a Hong Kong store since protests began last year, effectively an admission that the city's retail sales are unlikely to bounce back anytime soon. Beauty Brands Still Depend on IRL SalesA Fenty Beauty display at Boots ' new Covent Garden beauty flagship | Source: CourtesyHuda Beauty will be sold via Boots ' website and some stores starting this week, a significant expansion in the UK The brand, founded by Huda Kattan in 2011, recorded $ 400 million in sales in 2018 and is sold at Sephoras worldwide. However, the chain does not operate in the UK Boots, which has 2,500 UK locations, has recently upgraded its beauty aisles and attracted hot brands like Fenty Beauty is one of the few categories where maintaining a robust brick-and-mortar presence is still a top priority. For Huda Beauty, that role has been fulfilled by Sephora, where the brand is a strong seller from Dallas to Dubai. But in UK, one of the few major markets where the LVMH-owned beauty retailer doesn’ t operate, customers must make the trek to Selfridges to test out the New Nude eyeshadow palette or liquid matte lipstick. Enter Boots, with 2,500 locations across the UK, which in that country plays Sephora’ s role as a make-or-break stockist for beauty brands. Though drugstores have a downmarket image in the US, Boots has worked to normalise the idea of shopping for prestige brands a few aisles over from the cold medicine. By upgrading its beauty aisle and signing on Fenty and Huda, Boots is protecting its share of the £20 billion ( $ 26 billion) UK beauty market from fast-growing mini-chains like SpaceNK, as well as Harrods and other department stores looking to supersize their beauty sales.The Bottom Line: American readers can see the difference between how US and UK drugstores approach beauty by comparing the Instagram feeds for Boots and Walgreens. Though owned by the same company, the UK chain's feed is indistinguishable from Sephora's or Ulta's, while the US retailer is as likely to tout Halloween candy or Christmas ornaments as lipstick or eyeshadow.SUNDAY READINGProfessional Exclusives You May Have Missed: Three strategies for brands entering the rental market. Why Disney merch is suddenly big in China. Inside the closet of the future. How to unify a global brand. Fashion's growth-focused business model is not sustainable. What's the solution? Can Richemont fight off LVMH? The Week Ahead wants to hear from you! Send tips, suggestions, complaints and compliments to brian.baskin @ businessoffashion.com. Was this BoF Professional email forwarded to you? Join BoF Professional to get access to the exclusive insight and analysis that keeps you ahead of the competition. Subscribe to BoF Professional here.
Fashion's Growing Investment In Chinese New Year
Gucci Chinese New Year 2020 Campaign | Source: Courtesy
Fashion brands increasingly go all-out for the Lunar New Year, counting on big spending both in China and the West over the holiday, which started on Jan. 25 but extends through this week in China. The Year of the Rat provides a bigger-than-usual opportunity, allowing for easy Mickey Mouse tie-ins that conveniently appeal both to Chinese tourists and Western audiences. Gucci is partnering with Chinese influencers and celebrities to promote bags featuring the world's most famous rodent. Uniqlo and many, many other more-affordable brands have mouse and rat-themed capsule collections of their own.
The question now is whether that spending will materialise. The rapidly spreading coronavirus, which had infected hundreds, has cast a pall over the upcoming holiday. China's government has placed travel restrictions on cities at the centre of the outbreak, limiting mobility for up to 35 million people. Many others may choose to avoid public places, including shopping malls and luxury boutiques.
The Bottom Line: It's early days, but the outbreak is already drawing comparisons to SARS, which resulted in the death of hundreds in 2003. That virus’ economic impact was short-lived, though at the time China didn't play as big a role in the global economy, and certainly wasn't the principal driver of growth for fashion and beauty brands that it is today.
LVMH's Quarterly Mic Drop
Louis Vuitton Men's Autumn/Winter 2020 | Source: INDIGITAL.TV
LVMH's acquisition of Tiffany has reignited M & A rumours, whether it’ s a potential Kering-Moncler tie-up or guessing which conglomerate might snap up Prada ( assuming the company is even for sale), or wild speculation about a potential mega-merger between Chanel and an equally large rival. Expect none of that talk when LVMH updates investors with its fourth-quarter results on Tuesday; the company is so big, and its success so consistent, that it rarely needs to acknowledge the competition these days. Instead, look for clues about its plans for Tiffany. Many assume LVMH will apply its historic strengths in marketing and in-store experience to the US brand, which could use help on both fronts.
The Bottom Line: LVMH’ s eternal optimism about its sales in Asia will be tested by the coronavirus and continued turmoil in Hong Kong. Louis Vuitton was one of the first global brands to close a Hong Kong store since protests began last year, effectively an admission that the city's retail sales are unlikely to bounce back anytime soon.
Beauty Brands Still Depend on IRL Sales
A Fenty Beauty display at Boots ' new Covent Garden beauty flagship | Source: Courtesy
Beauty is one of the few categories where maintaining a robust brick-and-mortar presence is still a top priority. For Huda Beauty, that role has been fulfilled by Sephora, where the brand is a strong seller from Dallas to Dubai. But in UK, one of the few major markets where the LVMH-owned beauty retailer doesn’ t operate, customers must make the trek to Selfridges to test out the New Nude eyeshadow palette or liquid matte lipstick. Enter Boots, with 2,500 locations across the UK, which in that country plays Sephora’ s role as a make-or-break stockist for beauty brands. Though drugstores have a downmarket image in the US, Boots has worked to normalise the idea of shopping for prestige brands a few aisles over from the cold medicine. By upgrading its beauty aisle and signing on Fenty and Huda, Boots is protecting its share of the £20 billion ( $ 26 billion) UK beauty market from fast-growing mini-chains like SpaceNK, as well as Harrods and other department stores looking to supersize their beauty sales.
The Bottom Line: American readers can see the difference between how US and UK drugstores approach beauty by comparing the Instagram feeds for Boots and Walgreens. Though owned by the same company, the UK chain's feed is indistinguishable from Sephora's or Ulta's, while the US retailer is as likely to tout Halloween candy or Christmas ornaments as lipstick or eyeshadow.
SUNDAY READING
Professional Exclusives You May Have Missed:
The Week Ahead wants to hear from you! Send tips, suggestions, complaints and compliments to brian.baskin @ businessoffashion.com.
Was this BoF Professional email forwarded to you? Join BoF Professional to get access to the exclusive insight and analysis that keeps you ahead of the competition. Subscribe to BoF Professional here.
Unpacking Tiffany’ s Contentious New Ad Campaign
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business
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Chinese coronavirus infection rate makes it hard to control, studies say
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LONDON – Each person infected with a new strain of coronavirus is passing the disease on to between two and three other people on average at current transmission rates, according to two separate scientific analyses of the epidemic.
Whether the outbreak will continue to spread at this rate depends on the effectiveness of control measures, the scientists who conducted the studies said. But to be able to contain the epidemic and turn the tide of infections, control measures would have to halt transmission in at least 60 percent of cases.
The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak jumped to at least 56 on Sunday, with some 2,000 people infected worldwide — the vast majority in China.
“ It is unclear at the current time whether this outbreak can be contained within China, ” said Neil Ferguson, an infectious disease specialist at Imperial College London who co-led one of the studies.
Ferguson’ s team suggest as many as 4,000 people in Wuhan were already infected by Jan. 18 and that on average each case was infecting two or three others.
A second study by researchers at Britain’ s Lancaster University also calculated the contagion rate at 2.5 new people on average being infected by each person already infected.
“ Should the epidemic continue unabated in Wuhan, we predict ( it) will be substantially larger by Feb. 4, ” the scientists wrote.
They estimated that the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak began in December, will alone have around 190,000 cases of infection by Feb. 4., and that “ infection will be established in other Chinese cities, and importations to other countries will be more frequent. ”
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tech
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Coronavirus contagious even in incubation stage, China’ s health authority says
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China’ s National Health Commission ( NHC) said on Sunday that the new
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business
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Fifth US case of coronavirus confirmed in Arizona: CDC
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The fifth U.S. case of coronavirus was confirmed on Sunday in Maricopa County, Arizona, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the health agency said during a call with reporters.
The announcement came after health officials in California announced that two cases had been confirmed earlier in the day in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
All five cases involve individuals who were described as recent travelers from Wuhan, China — the epicenter of the disease's outbreak and where the majority of cases have been reported. The CDC said that all five patients remain hospitalized. There are about 100 patients who the CDC is investigating for possibly having the virus, the agency said.
On Monday, Chinese health authorities said there were 2,744 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the virus, with 461 in critical condition, according to a state media report. The report also said 80 people have died.
According to the CDC's guidance, people who have `` casual contact with a case '' — for instance, those in the same grocery store or movie theater — `` are at minimal risk of developing infection. ''
The CDC said it was currently monitoring individuals who may have come into close contact with the patients with the virus.
Authorities in Orange County, which borders Los Angeles County to the south, said in a statement earlier in the day that the Orange County patient is in isolation in a hospital and is in `` good condition. ''
Authorities in Los Angeles did not disclose how the Los Angeles patient was faring but said the person was `` currently receiving appropriate care. ''
Los Angeles officials said they were working to identify individuals who may have come into contact with the Los Angeles patient but that here was `` no immediate threat to the general public. ''
Orange County health officials said they will be monitoring any close contacts, but that there is `` no evidence that person-to-person transmission has occurred in Orange County. ''
This map shows the latest spread of the coronavirus
`` The current risk of local transmission remains low, '' the Orange County health officials said, echoing the CDC's prior statements that the U.S. public is not at high risk of transmission. But it said the situation `` continues to evolve rapidly. ''
The first two U.S. cases of the virus were a Washington state man in his 30s and later, an Illinois woman in her 60s. Both had traveled to Wuhan, and are currently reported to be in a stable condition at area hospitals.
The U.S. embassy in Beijing on Sunday issued a notice saying the American consulate in Wuhan will evacuate its staff and some private citizens on a charter flight Tuesday to San Francisco, though seat numbers will be limited. The embassy said priority will be given to those `` at greater risk '' from the virus, which can progress to pneumonia and is a greater threat to the elderly and people already suffering from respiratory problems.
Chinese authorities have restricted travel for 17 cities in its central Hubei province, where Wuhan is located. It is an area encompassing more than 50 million people. Wuhan itself — where the virus first appeared, reportedly in a seafood market also selling wildlife including snakes and marmots — has a population of 11 million.
Hubei on Sunday shut down inter-city and inter-province buses in an effort to curb the outbreak.
On Saturday, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam declared a virus emergency in the city of 7.3 million, halting all official trips to mainland China, extending school cancellations and scrapping official plans for the Lunar New Year, China's busiest travel week.
Australia confirmed its first four cases of the virus on Saturday and expects more, its health authorities said, as the country is a popular destination for Chinese tourists. While the majority of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths are in mainland China, the virus has also been identified in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Nepal, France, Australia and the U.S.
Fears over the disease's impact on the global economy sent stocks falling on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing down 170 points.
The World Health Organization ( WHO) has so far declined to declare the disease a global health emergency, and said it needs more data. The virus is currently spreading through human-to-human contact and in medical settings, the organization said.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that tend to primarily affect animals, but can evolve and spread to humans. Symptoms for the strain currently moving around the globe include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, and it can progress to pneumonia. Little is currently known about this new strain of coronavirus, and the medical community has yet to develop a cure for it.
The coronavirus family also includes the SARS virus ( severe acute respiratory syndrome), which infected more than 8,000 people and killed 775, mostly in China, during its nine-month outbreak which ended in 2003.
Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Friday that coronavirus was likely more contagious, but less severe, than SARS.
`` But the question is, has it achieved sort of that golden point where it's contagious enough to spread rapidly but still severe enough to cause a lot of harm? '' he said during an interview on `` Squawk Box. ''
`` We don't know that yet, '' he said.
— Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling for the name of Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam.
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business
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Palestinians threaten to quit Oslo Accords over Trump peace plan
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Hi, what are you looking for?
By
Published
Palestinian officials threatened Sunday to withdraw from key provisions of the Oslo Accords, which define relations with Israel, if US President Donald Trump announces his Middle East peace plan next week.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told AFP that the Palestine Liberation Organisation reserved the right `` to withdraw from the interim agreement '' if Trump unveils his plan.
The Trump initiative will turn Israel's `` temporary occupation ( of Palestinian territory) into a permanent occupation '', Erekat said.
The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement, signed in Washington in 1995, sought to put into practice the first Oslo peace deal agreed two years earlier.
Sometimes called Oslo II, the interim agreement set out the scope of Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank and Gaza.
The interim pact was only supposed to last five years while a permanent agreement was finalised but it has tacitly been rolled over for more than two decades.
Erekat's comment came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was headed to Washington, where Trump was expected to release the plan before Tuesday.
The Palestinian leadership was not invited and has already rejected Trump's initiative amid tense relations with the US president over his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's undivided capital.
The Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state and believe Trump's plan buries the two-state solution that has been for decades the cornerstone of international Middle East diplomacy.
World powers have long agreed that Jerusalem's fate should be settled through negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
`` Trump's plan is the plot of the century to liquidate the Palestinian cause, '' the Palestinian foreign ministry said in a statement sent to AFP on Sunday.
Palestinian officials threatened Sunday to withdraw from key provisions of the Oslo Accords, which define relations with Israel, if US President Donald Trump announces his Middle East peace plan next week.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told AFP that the Palestine Liberation Organisation reserved the right “ to withdraw from the interim agreement ” if Trump unveils his plan.
The Trump initiative will turn Israel’ s “ temporary occupation ( of Palestinian territory) into a permanent occupation ”, Erekat said.
The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement, signed in Washington in 1995, sought to put into practice the first Oslo peace deal agreed two years earlier.
Sometimes called Oslo II, the interim agreement set out the scope of Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank and Gaza.
The interim pact was only supposed to last five years while a permanent agreement was finalised but it has tacitly been rolled over for more than two decades.
Erekat’ s comment came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was headed to Washington, where Trump was expected to release the plan before Tuesday.
The Palestinian leadership was not invited and has already rejected Trump’ s initiative amid tense relations with the US president over his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’ s undivided capital.
The Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state and believe Trump’ s plan buries the two-state solution that has been for decades the cornerstone of international Middle East diplomacy.
World powers have long agreed that Jerusalem’ s fate should be settled through negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
“ Trump’ s plan is the plot of the century to liquidate the Palestinian cause, ” the Palestinian foreign ministry said in a statement sent to AFP on Sunday.
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
There’ s only one person who can make the decisions about Russia’ s existence.
Car chases starring action heroes like Tom Cruise are often filmed using a device previously known as the 'Russian Arm ' but henceforth called the...
Hundreds of thousands of Irish and international visitors were to celebrate St Patrick’ s Day in Ireland on Thursday after a two-year pause.
A resident undergoes a coronavirus test in Shenzhen - Copyright AFP STRChina’ s southern tech powerhouse Shenzhen has partially eased lockdown measures, after President Xi...
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China orders public holiday extended to curb epidemic
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Chinese authorities have ordered the extension of a public holiday in an effort to contain an epidemic that has killed 56 people and infected nearly 2,000 worldwide, state-run media reported.
A working group chaired by Premier Li Keqiang to tackle the outbreak decided on Sunday `` to reduce population flows '' by extending the Spring Festival holiday which had been scheduled to end on January 30, state news agency Xinhua said.
It was not immediately clear how long the extension is.
The group also ordered changes to `` the starting dates of schools '' and `` people to work from home by working online. ''
`` The meeting stressed that the country is at a crucial time in the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak, urging Party committees and governments at all levels to take more 'decisive, powerful and orderly, scientific and well-planned ' measures to effective curb the spread, '' Xinhua reported.
In a bid to slow the spread of the respiratory virus, the government had previously locked down hard-hit Hubei, a province in central China that is at the outbreak's epicentre, in an unprecedented operation affecting tens of millions of people.
The previously unknown virus has caused global concern because of its similarity to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS) pathogen, which killed hundreds across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.
Originating in Hubei's capital of Wuhan, the virus has spread throughout China and across the world -- with cases confirmed in around a dozen countries including as far away as the United States.
Several countries were making arrangements to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan, where an eery calm pervades as new restrictions prohibit most road traffic in the metropolis of 11 million.
Chinese authorities have ordered the extension of a public holiday in an effort to contain an epidemic that has killed 56 people and infected nearly 2,000 worldwide, state-run media reported.
A working group chaired by Premier Li Keqiang to tackle the outbreak decided on Sunday “ to reduce population flows ” by extending the Spring Festival holiday which had been scheduled to end on January 30, state news agency Xinhua said.
It was not immediately clear how long the extension is.
The group also ordered changes to “ the starting dates of schools ” and “ people to work from home by working online. ”
“ The meeting stressed that the country is at a crucial time in the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak, urging Party committees and governments at all levels to take more ‘ decisive, powerful and orderly, scientific and well-planned’ measures to effective curb the spread, ” Xinhua reported.
In a bid to slow the spread of the respiratory virus, the government had previously locked down hard-hit Hubei, a province in central China that is at the outbreak’ s epicentre, in an unprecedented operation affecting tens of millions of people.
The previously unknown virus has caused global concern because of its similarity to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS) pathogen, which killed hundreds across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.
Originating in Hubei’ s capital of Wuhan, the virus has spread throughout China and across the world — with cases confirmed in around a dozen countries including as far away as the United States.
Several countries were making arrangements to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan, where an eery calm pervades as new restrictions prohibit most road traffic in the metropolis of 11 million.
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
As the omicron surge pummels a pandemic-weary nation, the first antiviral pills for Covid19 promise desperately needed protection.
Omicron, first detected by South Africa and reported to the WHO on November 24, has a large number of mutations - Copyright AFP Chandan...
Hypersonic missiles could be the crystal meth of future conflicts.
The Chinese city of Xi'an, where 13 million residents are currently confined to their homes, announced tightened restrictions on Sunday.
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Residents fear aftershocks more than cold after Turkey quake
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A dozen people bundled up in colourful blankets crouched around a makeshift fire in eastern Turkey. It is an icy night in Elazig and Esra Kasapoglu shivers but she says `` it's out of the question to return home. ''
Several residents in Elazig, the province that was struck by a powerful 6.7 magnitude earthquake Friday evening, preferred to spend another night outside, despite temperatures reaching minus 10 degrees celsius ( 14 Fahrenheit).
An aftershock with a 5.1 magnitude on Saturday night heightened residents ' fears, with thousands rushing into the streets, shouting `` earthquake, earthquake! ''
There have been more than 500 aftershocks with magnitudes ranging between 1.0 an 5.1, according to the Turkish government's disaster and emergency management agency ( AFAD), following Friday's quake which killed 31.
`` Our building is old and there are small cracks. God knows if it will survive in the event of another earthquake. We 'll stay here all night, '' Kasapoglu says.
`` Our psychology has taken a hit. Earlier, my son ran out of the house shouting when a jacket fell off the coat rack.
`` When I am at home, I watch the chandelier every minute to see if it does not swing, '' she adds.
Further away, leaning against a wall opposite the building where they live, Abdi Guney and his family wait.
`` Every time it shakes, you get scared. We're forced to rush outside. Earlier, I was doing my ablutions before prayer and suddenly the building started shaking, '' Guney says.
`` We were forced to go outside. Like last night, we were already here, '' he adds, while his neighbours bring him and his family something to eat.
According to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, over 15,000 people are being accommodated in gymnasiums and in schools, while more than 5,000 tents have been set up in the city to house residents.
But `` the gyms are full and there are no more tents, '' Guney laments. `` So we have to wait here. ''
- 'Fate ' -
Across Elazig city, home to around 350,000 people, owners of restaurants, hotels and even wedding salons opened their doors to accommodate anyone who wants to spend the night there. Now is the time for solidarity.
But many prefer to leave Elazig.
Fatih, a hunched man with a thick moustache, puts his daughter in the backseat of his car while his wife hurriedly throws bags in the trunk.
Where are they going? `` To the village, '' he says, pointing to somewhere in the distance. `` My parents live there, it will be better there. ''
Between those who prefer to sleep outside and those who decide to leave, few lights come on after dark. Some districts take on the appearance of a ghost town.
Murat, a 40-year-old restaurant owner, is the only resident in his five-storey building who opted to stay.
`` One can't run away from fate, '' he says, putting out a cigarette on the floor.
Among the residents who prefer to try nonetheless, some were especially well-prepared.
Drawing a lesson from earthquakes that regularly strike the Elazig region, Ismail Karacan and his wife built a prefabricated building five years ago in the middle of an orchard they own on the outskirts of the city.
Such a building has light walls and roof which means that individuals inside would not be seriously hurt if it collapsed.
`` I think we 'll stay there at least a week, '' he says.
A dozen people bundled up in colourful blankets crouched around a makeshift fire in eastern Turkey. It is an icy night in Elazig and Esra Kasapoglu shivers but she says “ it’ s out of the question to return home. ”
Several residents in Elazig, the province that was struck by a powerful 6.7 magnitude earthquake Friday evening, preferred to spend another night outside, despite temperatures reaching minus 10 degrees celsius ( 14 Fahrenheit).
An aftershock with a 5.1 magnitude on Saturday night heightened residents’ fears, with thousands rushing into the streets, shouting “ earthquake, earthquake! ”
There have been more than 500 aftershocks with magnitudes ranging between 1.0 an 5.1, according to the Turkish government’ s disaster and emergency management agency ( AFAD), following Friday’ s quake which killed 31.
“ Our building is old and there are small cracks. God knows if it will survive in the event of another earthquake. We’ ll stay here all night, ” Kasapoglu says.
“ Our psychology has taken a hit. Earlier, my son ran out of the house shouting when a jacket fell off the coat rack.
“ When I am at home, I watch the chandelier every minute to see if it does not swing, ” she adds.
Further away, leaning against a wall opposite the building where they live, Abdi Guney and his family wait.
“ Every time it shakes, you get scared. We’ re forced to rush outside. Earlier, I was doing my ablutions before prayer and suddenly the building started shaking, ” Guney says.
“ We were forced to go outside. Like last night, we were already here, ” he adds, while his neighbours bring him and his family something to eat.
According to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, over 15,000 people are being accommodated in gymnasiums and in schools, while more than 5,000 tents have been set up in the city to house residents.
But “ the gyms are full and there are no more tents, ” Guney laments. “ So we have to wait here. ”
– ‘ Fate’ –
Across Elazig city, home to around 350,000 people, owners of restaurants, hotels and even wedding salons opened their doors to accommodate anyone who wants to spend the night there. Now is the time for solidarity.
But many prefer to leave Elazig.
Fatih, a hunched man with a thick moustache, puts his daughter in the backseat of his car while his wife hurriedly throws bags in the trunk.
Where are they going? “ To the village, ” he says, pointing to somewhere in the distance. “ My parents live there, it will be better there. ”
Between those who prefer to sleep outside and those who decide to leave, few lights come on after dark. Some districts take on the appearance of a ghost town.
Murat, a 40-year-old restaurant owner, is the only resident in his five-storey building who opted to stay.
“ One can’ t run away from fate, ” he says, putting out a cigarette on the floor.
Among the residents who prefer to try nonetheless, some were especially well-prepared.
Drawing a lesson from earthquakes that regularly strike the Elazig region, Ismail Karacan and his wife built a prefabricated building five years ago in the middle of an orchard they own on the outskirts of the city.
Such a building has light walls and roof which means that individuals inside would not be seriously hurt if it collapsed.
“ I think we’ ll stay there at least a week, ” he says.
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
New York's weaknesses in the face of climate change, the city is erecting a $ 1.45-billion system of walls and floodgates.
Kroger, the country’ s biggest traditional grocery chain, is ending some benefits for unvaccinated workers.
Australia will push ahead with plans to ease Covid restrictions before Christmas.
Nearly 10 years after Imad al-Hisso fled the civil war in Syria, he remains trapped in Gaza, a place he calls `` a prison. ''
COPYRIGHT © 1998 - 2021 DIGITAL JOURNAL INC. Digital Journal is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more about our external linking.
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Taliban annoyed at US added demands prior to peace talks
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The Taliban have accused Trump of wasting time.
Trump continues to add further requirements to restart peace talks
Last October Trump cancelled talks that had reached the point of agreement in principle. He cancelled the talks he claimed because the Taliban had carried out a raid in which a US soldier was killed. However, there was no ceasefire in force so both sides had been continuing the battle no doubt with the hope of gaining leverage in the negotiations.
Initially, Trump demanded the addition of a ceasefire to any peace deal even though negotiators warned this could be a hard sell. However the Taliban did agree to that. Now he has gone further and added that there must be a reduction of violence even before the talks begin that would end with the ceasefire.
Preliminary talks bogged down defining “ reduction in violence ” A recent AP article reports: “ In their late Thursday commentary, the Taliban accused Washington of “ wasting time ” and said the talks with Khalilzad had become bogged down over a definition of “ reduction of violence. ” The tone was surprisingly harsh following earlier optimistic tweets from Taliban political spokesman Sohail Shaheen who hinted the insurgents and Khalilzad were close to an understanding. ”
The Taliban has apparently agreed to a reduction in violence but what exactly this entails has not been outlined if it is even agreed upon. Amnesty International weighed in on the issue saying the matter was absurd with both sides guilty of attacks that harmed civilians. They said it was absurd to pretend that there was some acceptable level of violence that should exist before talks begin. Since the talks will also negotiate a ceasefire the best way to reduce the level of violence would be to hurry and reach an agreement.
Negotiations with the Afghan government
As well as an agreement between the Taliban and the US, there also needs to be negotiations between the Taliban and Afghans. The Taliban will not negotiate directly with the Afghan government because they regard it as a puppet of the US but will negotiate with Afghans who are part of the government but not in their official capacity.
However, the Kabul government has yet to agree as to who will be on their negotiating team: “ The Afghan president’ s spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi, said that Ghani has a small team ready to negotiate but bickering has marred efforts to cobble together a team that anyone other than Ghani loyalists can agree upon. Ghani’ s political opponents say they have been consulted but that their suggestions have been ignored. ”
The Taliban control or predominate in roughly half of Afghanistan. They continue almost daily attacks that target both US and Afghan forces. US forces often provide air support for Afghan forces sometimes causing civilian casualties. Roadside bombs planted by the Taliban also often kill civilians.
The Omicron variant that causes COVID-19 likely acquired at least one of its mutations by picking up genetic material from another virus.
Hundreds of environmentalist demonstrators gathered on South African beaches to protest against oil and gas exploration by Shell.
The world's biggest weapons manufacturers largely avoided the economic downturn caused by Covid-19 and recorded a growth in profits.
This week’ s releases include revisiting a horror legend; a slasher version of a classic tale; a body switch movie from the vault and more.
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China's unprecedented quarantines could have wider consequences, experts say
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With Chinese authorities warning
the coronavirus outbreak
is accelerating, placing millions of people in more than a dozen Chinese cities under intense travel restrictions might seem like a good idea.
China says coronavirus can spread before symptoms show -- calling into question US containment strategy
But historically a mass quarantine is an aggressive response that's far from perfect. In the past it has led to political, financial and social consequences.
The shutdown of Wuhan, a city of more than 11 million people where the virus originated, is `` utterly incredible, '' Howard Markel, professor and director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan, told CNN.
`` I 've never seen an entire city 11.4 million people cordoned off like that, '' Markel said. `` I thought I 'd seen everything. ''
Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University and director of the World Health Organization's Center on Global Health Law, said the move was `` unprecedented, '' and, he thought, `` very unwise. ''
Read More
`` Nothing on this scale has ever been tried, '' he told CNN. `` There's very little evidence of its effectiveness. And I think there's good reason to think that it could backfire, from a public health, social, human rights perspective. ''
No quarantine goes perfectly
Quarantines date back to Italy in the 1300s
, as the bubonic plague ravaged Europe. In Venice, sailors and ships coming from infected ports were made to wait 40 days before docking in a practice called `` quaranta giorni, '' or `` 40 days. ''
People criticize quarantines because in practice a virus or bacteria `` invariably gets loose, '' Markel said, as do people. `` Every quarantine, people get out, '' he said. `` They just do, especially one of this magnitude. ''
Large-scale quarantines like the one in Wuhan are generally avoided nowadays, with the medical community more focused on providing treatment, medication and vaccines to prevent them entirely, according to Markel.
The deadly new coronavirus has reached the US. Here's how to protect yourself
Quarantines `` can stay things or quell things for a while, '' he said, `` but they're not the best things to use long-term. ''
They can also lead to logistical issues. Just the word `` quarantine '' can cause panic or hysteria, Markel said. Anyone concerned about a common cold or sniffle will head for hospitals, straining already precious resources. Wuhan officials have
already acknowledged
local hospitals were struggling to accommodate people seeking medical attention.
There are also human rights implications when Wuhan and more than a dozen other Chinese cities are placed under lockdown, Gostin said. `` I don't think you can enforce a mass quarantine of 30 million people without violating human rights. ''
Gostin also questioned the effectiveness of the approach, pointing to smaller quarantines during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. `` It spurred public violence, there was... distrust of public health authorities, people didn't come in for treatment and it was thought that it actually set back the outbreak response considerably, '' he said.
There are broader financial and social consequences
But outside the realm of public health, quarantines can present broader societal problems. Perhaps most obvious is the economic impact.
Quarantines `` are often very economically and financially costly, '' said Alexandre White, an assistant professor of sociology and the history of medicine at Johns Hopkins University.
The flow of trade in and out of the quarantined zone is halted, and goods in the process of being shipped could go bad -- depending on how long it lasts.
`` As any quarantine extends, the economic and social hardships on the community under quarantine will expand, requiring the delivery of food and services and also hindering local economic activity, '' he said.
These economic impacts are a large part of why quarantines are seen as a `` less desirable course of action, '' White said.
Residents wear masks to buy vegetables in the market on January 23, 2020, in Wuhan, Hubei, China.
Then there are the social consequences, White said, particularly for marginalized members of a community. Historically, he said, the aggressive control needed in a quarantine can link the disease to marginalized people and potentially fuel existing anxieties about race and class.
White pointed to an outbreak of bubonic plague in Cape Town in 1901 that led to a racially segregated quarantine camp, which he said was later used as a blueprint for racial segregation during apartheid.
Markel told CNN there was a `` long history of quarantine being misused as a social separator, rather than a public health one. ''
`` There's a risk of stigmatization, '' he said, `` that marginalized groups are rightly concerned about and fear. ''
Trust and cooperation are key
There's still a lot that's unknown about the coronavirus outbreak and how Chinese officials are responding to it.
But generally, the trust and cooperation of the public is the most important thing for officials to have in a public health crisis, said Gostin.
Without it, people won't come in for testing and won't share the names of people they 've been in contact with -- a vital part of the strategy to prevent the spread of disease.
American trapped at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak says she's angry and scared
`` People get fearful, they hunker down... You can't go to social clubs, you can't see friends. A lockdown of 30 million people -- that really upends their lives. ''
Gostin believes the best way to tackle a situation like the one in Wuhan is a `` surge of the public health response, '' he said. It should be easier for people to get to hospital and there should be mobile clinics that meet people at their homes to provide testing and treatment.
Governments implementing a quarantine should still want the public's cooperation, said Markel. The government should provide plenty of explanation and keep up constant communication
`` Getting the buy-in from the people you're protecting is essential, '' he said, `` and always better than ordering people to do stuff. ''
CNN's Amanda Sealy and Elizabeth Cohen contributed to this report.
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Coronavirus update: Airports ramp up screening for infected passengers
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Airports in Malaysia, Canada, Thailand and Uganda have implemented different measures for screening passengers who may be infected with the deadly coronavirus.
Visit our Covid-19 microsite for the latest coronavirus news, analysis and updates
Follow the latest updates of the outbreak on our timeline.
Airports in Malaysia, Canada, Thailand and Uganda have implemented different measures for screening passengers who may be infected with the deadly coronavirus.
The new virus that appeared in Wuhan, China, in December, has so far killed 81 people and infected around 3,000 others.
Related
Last week, airports in India, the UK, Russia, Hong Kong and China adopted preventive safety measures.
Airport operator Malaysia Airports has teamed up with the country’ s Ministry of Health ( MOH) to carry out screening of passengers at all airports in the country.
The operator has started thermal screening for all passengers and flight crew who are arriving from China.
In addition, medical bays have been created to quarantine passengers who may show symptoms of the virus infection. Airport staff have been advised to use the masks and hand sanitiser provided at the airports.
The arrival gates for Chinese flights have been reallocated closer to the medical bay to ensure quicker action against the spread of the virus.
Ontario Government in Canada has also equipped Toronto Pearson International Airport with ‘ enhanced screening and detection measures’.
The government will include questions regarding travel to China at the border kiosks, which will help the authorities to take the necessary action.
Passengers who have travelled to China and do not have any symptoms of the disease will be given fact sheets in English, French and Chinese to inform them about the action to be taken if they start exhibiting symptoms.
Thailand airports have also implemented thermal screening for Chinese travellers to the country. Eight people in the country have contracted the virus and are under quarantine while 20 are under observation.
Flights from Chiang Mai Airport to Wuhan have been suspended till 4 February.
Screening measures have also started at Entebbe International Airport in Uganda.
Los Angeles International Airport in the US has set up bi-polar indoor air quality technology to limit the spread of the disease in the airport.
The technology consumes and attacks the poor air, replacing it with clean air.
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Wuhan coronavirus: Chinese people channel anger through Chernobyl — Quartz
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One of the most popular TV shows of 2019, HBOs’ s Chernobyl, is striking a chord in disease-stricken China.
A core theme of the show—which was based on the nuclear explosion that happened in 1986 in northern Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union—was the ineptitude of the communist government in handling the disaster, particularly in the way that it tried to suppress information about the disaster.
Some people in China, are drawing parallels with how Soviet authorities managed the nuclear disaster to how the Chinese government is handling the current coronavirus outbreak. For example, Chinese authorities only reported on Jan. 20 that the disease had spread to cities outside of Wuhan in Hubei province, where the outbreak has been traced to. However, days before China reported its first cases outside the central Chinese city, Thailand and Japan both reported infections, prompting some Chinese to joke at the time that the virus was “ patriotic ” as it only seemed to infect foreigners. Some people were also detained last month for spreading rumors after they posted about the virus on social media.
Wuhan mayor Zhou Xianwang admitted in an interview ( link in Chinese) today on TV that the disclosure of information about the virus outbreak wasn’ t timely, but said that people need to understand that the reason for that was because he needed authorization in order to reveal relevant information in the time of an epidemic.
Some 2,700 people have contracted the illness and 80 people have been killed at the latest count. Cases have also been confirmed in Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and the United States. More than a dozen Chinese cities have been put on lockdown, while outbound tour groups have been banned by the Chinese government.
“ Wuhan and Chernobyl, how similar are they! And how sad this is! ” wrote one ( link in Chinese) user on book and film review website Douban, seen as one of the country’ s few remaining corners for liberal thought.
The page for Chernobyl ( link in Chinese) on Douban—where the show is rated 9.6 out of 10 by over 200,000 users—is now under restricted access on the site, allowing only registered users to view and comment on it. Previously it was accessible to anyone.
“ I hope Chinese people can learn something from the show. The things that can protect us are not nuclear weapons, aircraft carriers, or things that can land on the moon. Things that protect us are free flow of information and news, and judicial independence, ” said another ( link in Chinese) person in a discussion group about the show.
Even on heavily censored Weibo, China’ s Twitter-like social network, people are channeling their frustrations through Chernobyl references. “ Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later that debt gets paid, ” wrote one user ( link in Chinese), citing a quote from the show. “ The spread of the coronavirus has fully resembled the unfolding of the Chernobyl incident, but with the Wuhan government making even more effort [ than the Soviet Union ] to suppress information… some officials will eventually pay a heavy price for withholding the truth for so long, let’ s wait and see, ” wrote another ( link in Chinese).
The references made to Chernobyl represent the latest round of online backlash against the Chinese government’ s handling of the virus. Though open dissent against the government is rare in China, many of the comments that are able to live online are those that target only local officials in Wuhan and Hubei province, suggesting that the authorities are deliberately leaving open a channel for people to voice their discontent at a time of mounting anger. As part of that strategy to manage discontent, the government has also set up a whistleblower feature online for people to notify the government of officials’ negligence and malpractice during the outbreak.
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tech
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AI Notified Outbreak of Wuhan Virus in December Even Before WHO
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The death toll from the Wuhan coronavirus now stands at 80, with almost 2,800 cases confirmed across China. According to a CNN report, the virus can be spread before any symptoms appear, meaning carriers may not realize they are infected before they transmit the virus to others. Across China, 15 cities with a combined population of over 57 million people — more than the entire population of South Korea — have been placed under full or partial lockdown.
Moreover, reportedly, Wuhan itself has been effectively quarantined, with all routes in and out of the city closed or highly regulated. The government announced it is sending an additional 1,200 health workers — along with 135 People’ s Liberation Army medical personnel — to help the city’ s stretched, hospital staff.
Amid this to have early warnings of viruses like Wuhan will be a better chance to contain the contagion.
As noted by Quartz, one problem, though, is that governments are sometimes reticent to share information. Such was the case in 2002 and 2003 when Chinese authorities were accused of covering up the SARS epidemic that eventually claimed over 740 lives around the world.
With the current outbreak, involving a coronavirus that originated in Wuhan and has so far taken over 40 lives, the Chinese government is being more transparent, as Germany’ s health minister noted to Bloomberg recently on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
However, with the advancement of technology, the world now has better information tools at its disposal than it did 17 years ago. A Toronto-based startup, Bluedot provides an AI-driven health monitoring platform that analyzes billions of data points. Launched in 2014, the venture alerted its clients to the outbreak of the Wuhan virus on December 31, well ahead of notifications from the World Health Organization and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As informed by the company, it uses big data analytics to track and anticipate the spread of the world’ s most dangerous infectious diseases. Moreover, in August 2019 it announced an investment round that brought its total funding to about US $ 10 million.
Bluedot leverages natural-language processing and machine-learning techniques to sift through global news reports, airline data, and reports of animal disease outbreaks, as described by Wired. Epidemiologists look over the automated results, and if everything checks out, the company sends alerts to its clients in the public and private sectors.
BlueDot tries to track and move information faster than the disease can travel. It correctly predicted where outside mainland China the Wuhan virus would land—Bangkok, Seoul, Taipei, Tokyo—after its initial appearance, noted Quartz.
Kamran Khan, Founder of Bluedot told the Canadian Press, “ On one hand, the world is rapidly changing, where diseases are emerging and spreading faster. On the other hand, we happen to have growing access to data we can use…to generate insights and spread them faster than the diseases spread themselves. ”
Moreover, since the Wuhan virus was first identified in December, Chinese and international scientists have been studying it intensely, tracking its origin and working on a vaccine to fight it.
As noted by CNN, officials from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) told that they had successfully isolated the virus in environmental samples taken from a seafood and wildlife market in Wuhan believed to be the source of the outbreak.
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tech
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China coronavirus: demand for face masks surges amid short supply in Hong Kong as government denies accusation it stockpiled safety gear for internal use
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The demand for masks has continued to surge in Hong Kong as three more cases of the Wuhan coronavirus were confirmed, causing prices of the safety gear to soar and forcing the government to deny accusations it had stockpiled them for internal use.
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business
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Maintaining data security as hospitals partner with Big Tech ( Includes interview)
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News that hospitals are turning to technology partners is typified by a report in The Wall Street Journal. This is with news that several hospitals have granted Microsoft Corp., International Business Machines Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. permission to access identifiable patient information.
This forms part of a new deal to subject millions of health records to big data analysis. According to the newspaper, this move represents the latest examples of hospitals’ increased influence in the new data economy.
Divers for the adoption of big data analytics in the healthcare market include an increased demand for analytics solution to aid population health management, plus a shift in preference from a pay-for-service model to a value-based care model.
In the U.S., hospitals can collect and share patient data as long as they follow federal law. The new partnerships have the potential to yield information and products valuable to patients. As an example, Microsoft working with Providence hospitals in order to develop oncology algorithms. The algorithms will be used to create medical notes, embedded within patient records.
The risks with the digital transformation of healthcare include the fact that health information can be exposed in data breaches. Furthermore, data can also be made available during medical malpractice lawsuits, workers’ compensation lawsuits or custody disputes.
Sudhakar Ramakrishna, CEO of Secure Access provider, Pulse Secure, tells Digital Journal that securing across all endpoints in this new environment is critical to maintaining security:
According to Ramakrishna: ” The healthcare industry and its health data ecosystem is expanding. Whereas patient data was once primarily controlled by the primary care and hospital systems, it now collected, shared and analyzed through more complex network of devices, applications and resources co-hosted by hospitals, their suppliers, and now tech companies. ”
Why is needed, Ramakrishna says is new technology. He states: “ To manage distributed health data risks, the industry must advance secure access management capabilities to mitigate threats and sensitive information leakage. ”
With a view as to the way technology is changing, Ramakrishna adds: “ This becomes especially important as mobile devices, IoT-enabled devices, health systems and data pools are increasingly targeted by cybercriminal. ”
Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news. Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.
The hunt for answers - like whether the Omicron variant will trigger new waves of infection.
Crime is raging across the country, from violent attacks to brazen shoplifting to mob “ smash and grab ” attacks.
The Omicron variant that causes COVID-19 likely acquired at least one of its mutations by picking up genetic material from another virus.
At its core, Zero Trust is all about authenticating and authorizing access policies that have been designed to provide the least privilege, for the...
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general
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Saudi Arabia, UAE caution oil market against gloom over China virus
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Saudi Arabia, the world’ s top oil exporter, urged caution on Monday against “ gloomy expectations ” regarding the possible impact of the spread of the coronavirus on the global economy and oil demand.
The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in China rose to 81 with more than 2,700 infected, while health authorities around the world stepped up screening of passengers from China.
Crude prices fell about 3% on the day as the rising number of cases and China’ s city lockdowns and extension of its Lunar New Year holiday deepened concerns over oil demand. [ O/R ]
But Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the impact being seen on oil and other markets was “ primarily driven by psychological factors and extremely negative expectations adopted by some market participants despite its very limited impact on global oil demand.
“ Such extreme pessimism occurred back in 2003 during the SARS outbreak, though it did not cause a significant reduction in oil demand, ” the minister said in a statement.
Fellow Gulf OPEC oil producer United Arab Emirates echoed the Saudi minister’ s comments.
“ It is important that we do not exaggerate projections related to future decreases in oil demand due to events in China, ” UAE Minister of Energy Suhail al-Mazrouei said.
“ OPEC and OPEC+ member countries will discuss market conditions ( in March) and, if required, all options to ensure continued market balance, ” he said.
The Saudi minister also said OPEC and its allies could respond to any impact on the oil market, adding he was confident China and international authorities could contain the virus.
Algeria’ s Energy Minister and current President of OPEC Mohamed Arkab, also referring to the outbreak, said that “ the impact on the outlook for global oil demand would... be small ”.
Brent crude futures were down around 2.8% at $ 59.01 by 1402 GMT having earlier dropped to $ 58.50. U.S. crude was down by 2.6% at $ 52.77, having earlier eased to $ 52.13. Both hit their lowest levels since October.
Prince Abdulaziz said he was confident the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries ( OPEC) and other producers, a group known as OPEC+, “ have the capability and flexibility needed to respond to any developments. ”
Oman’ s oil minister told Reuters on Monday he fully supported Saudi Arabia’ s readiness to react to any impact the virus has on the market.
OPEC+, which includes Russia, has been reducing oil supply to support prices and has agreed to hold back 1.7 million barrels per day ( bpd) of output until the end of March.
Prince Abdulaziz said all options were open when OPEC+ meets in Vienna in March.
An OPEC source said there were preliminary discussions within OPEC+ for an extension of current oil supply cuts beyond March, and a possible deeper cut was also an option if there was a need, and if the China virus spread impacted oil demand.
Reporting by Maha El Dahan and Rania El Gamal in Dubai; Additional reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar in London; Editing by Jason Neely and David Holmes
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business
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U.S. stock rally faces major test as China virus spreads
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So far, the selling has been measured, with most investors confident the U.S. economy remains in good shape and the Federal Reserve stands ready to provide stimulus if the situation deteriorates.
Still, worries have grown that months of placid trading may have left stocks primed for an upsurge in volatility.
`` Markets hate uncertainty, and the coronavirus is the ultimate uncertainty, '' said Alec Young, managing director of global markets research, FTSE Russell, New York. `` With the markets overbought to begin with, this is now a sell first, ask questions later situation. ''
On Monday, the benchmark S & P 500 stock index broke a streak of 71 days without a 1% move, the third such longest stretch since 1995. The index registered its biggest one-day percentage drop since October on news that the death toll from the virus grew in China while more cases were reported abroad.
Past runs of quiet trading in U.S. stocks have tended to culminate in periods of turbulence: for instance, an unusually calm period from September 2017 to January 2018 preceded a sharp sell-off in February 2018, fueled by an implosion of bets volatility would stay low.
For an interactive graphic on S & P 500 moves, click here: http: //fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/GLOBAL-MARKETS-DASHBOARD/010050DG0V9/index.html
The Cboe Volatility Index touched a three-month high on Monday and ended the session 3.67 points higher at 18.23, after having traded near its lowest levels over the past year earlier this month.
`` Positioning in the equity markets... had gotten a little bit out of hand. That creates a lot of kindling for a fire in risk asset prices, '' said Guy LeBas, chief fixed income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott.
There have been few tests of the bull market's most recent leg higher, which before Monday's losses has seen the S & P hit numerous fresh highs after the preliminary U.S.-China trade deal was announced in mid-December.
Growing confidence in the rally's durability had pushed investors to increase their exposure to equities: Allocations to global stocks stood at their highest level in 17 months, while cash levels shrank to a seven-year low, a Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey of fund managers showed last week.
Until last week, options also reflected muted concerns about a sharp pullback.
Persistent low volatility would usually prompt greater demand for puts, which offer downside protection, in comparison to calls, used to participate in further upside, said Stacey Gilbert, portfolio manager for derivatives at Glenmede Investment Management in Philadelphia. But skew, a measure of interest in puts versus calls, for the S & P 500 rose only modestly in relation to the plunge in volatility.
Investors may take comfort from the market's reaction to the 2003 SARS ( Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak, when the S & P rallied more than 10% from the start of the outbreak to the announcement of its containment.
Graphic: SARS timeline Image https: //graphics.reuters.com/USA-STOCKS/0100B59736G/sars-timeline.png
A few investors have gone against the grain in recent weeks, buying insurance against a jump in volatility while prices for most such bets have been relatively discounted. At least one investor bought 225,000 calls earlier this month that would require the VIX to hit 22 by late February in order to be redeemed. The index traded as high as 19.02 on Monday.
`` People are nervous because the market has been going up for such a long time and done so well recently, '' said David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds. `` I think this coronavirus may be more of an excuse than a rational estimate of its effects. ''
By April Joyner
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business
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Stocks slide to two-week low on China virus fears, safe havens gain
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China's yuan slid to a 2020 low and commodity-linked currencies such as the Australian dollar fell on mounting concern about the coronavirus. The yen was the main beneficiary, though its move higher was limited.
Crude prices dropped below $ 60 a barrel for the first time in nearly three months, while gold prices surged 1% to nearly a three-week high before paring gains.
Benchmark U.S. Treasury yields fell to lows last seen in early October while the yield on 10-year German bunds, the euro zone benchmark, fell to the lowest in almost two months.
Key indexes for British, French and German equity markets slid more than 2%, as did pan-European markets. Stocks on Wall Street fell more than 1%.
Major markets in Asia, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Australia, were closed on Monday.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe <.MIWD00000PUS > shed 1.62% to a three-week low, while its emerging market index lost 1.59%.
The broad FTSEurofirst 300 index in Europe <.FTEU3 > closed down 2.26 percent at 1,619.00, while the pan-European STOXX 600 index fell by the same amount.
More than 97% of stocks in the STOXX 600 fell, with many tumbling from record highs. The rout wiped about 180 billion euros ( $ 198.3 billion) of market capitalization from the index.
U.S. stocks fell a bit less. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 453.93 points, or 1.57%, to 28,535.8. The S & P 500 lost 51.84 points, or 1.57%, to 3,243.63 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 175.60 points, or 1.89%, to 9,139.31.
The Nasdaq had its biggest one-day decline since Aug. 23 while for the Dow it was the biggest since Oct. 2, closing lower for a fifth straight day in its longest losing streak since a five-day decline ending last August. The S & P 500 also posted its biggest daily drop since Oct. 2.
Wall Street was overdue for a correction, said David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds in New York.
`` We have a slow and steady economy, a giddy and fast market and eventually those two things have to meet in the middle somewhere, '' he said.
The benchmark S & P 500 rose more than 12% from the end of September to an all-time high last week.
`` The market was due for a fall and coronavirus is a perfect case of an unknown unknown. An increase in uncertainty causes the market to fall but the real question here does it affect the global economy? '' he said.
Kelly said he did not expect the outbreak to significantly change global economic growth or corporate earnings.
Still, the potential for the virus to spread exponentially was cause for concern, said Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Whether the virus scales to epidemic proportions `` remains to be seen, but certainly that's not priced into markets, '' he said.
China extended its Lunar New Year holiday and the Shanghai stock exchange said it will reopen Feb. 3. More big businesses in China shut down and told staff to work from home as the death toll rose to 81.
The Nikkei share average <.N225 > in Tokyo slumped 2.03%, its biggest percentage fall since August, with tourism shares hard hit.
Infections could continue to rise, China's National Health Commission said on Sunday. The total number of confirmed cases in China rose to 2,835.
Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist at SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York said investors are scared that the virus could lead to an economic slowdown but at the moment the market has overreacted.
`` The market has been waiting for some sort of sell-off to develop after a roughly 30% year and for a reason for it to happen, '' Pavlik said.
Oil prices fell about 2% after earlier sliding more than 3%.
Brent crude slid $ 1.37 a barrel to settle down at $ 59.32, its lowest since late October and the biggest intra-day fall since Jan. 8. U.S. crude fell $ 1.05 to settle at $ 53.14 a barrel.
U.S. Treasury prices advanced, pushing their yield lower.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes rose 23/32 in price to yield 1.6012%.
The benchmark 10-year Bund yield fell 5 bps to -0.414%.
Yields on tax-exempt municipal slid to all-time lows. The new 10-year MMD AAA GO yield of 1.18% slid below the previous record low of 1.21% set last August.
In the currency market, the dollar index rose 0.08%, with the euro down 0.05% to $ 1.1018.
The yen strengthened 0.36% versus the greenback at 108.89 per dollar.
U.S. gold futures settled 0.3% higher at $ 1,577.4 an ounce, as spot gold climbed to $ 1,586.43 earlier in the session, the highest level since Jan. 8. [ GOL ]
By Herbert Lash
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business
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