13,000 Missing Flights in China is fabulous news for the planet and our soaring carbon footprint.
13
The press has been focused on the ineptitudes of foreign governments in responding to this pandemic, and is ignoring the tremendous mistakes of the CDC thus far.
Hawaii is the most blatant case in point. There was a known case of coronavirus on the islands. The CDC maintains there is nothing to worry about, as there are no other cases of coronavirus on the islands. However, the CDC only acknowledges cases that test positive by their test kits. Hawaii has no virus test kits, so no ability to test for the virus. The CDC's reasoning that if there are no positive tests, there is no virus, even when they CAN'T test-- this sounds like a definition of insanity. They are burying their heads in the sand and utterly failing to contain this while we have (had?) the chance.
21
Unfortunately for Americans we have the worst possible POTUS and republican majority in the Senate in charge.
It's time to stop the nightmare.
11
My thoughts, if things ever got bad here and I was in doubt, I would simply self-isolate. You do not need a test to self-isolate. Order food and have it delivered. Have the food left at your front door. The majority of those infected can ride this out without severe symptoms. Call 911 if you develop severe symptoms.
5
No one has any idea how many cases there really are and confirmed cases are probably less than half of the actual cases. Trying to contain it just disrupts more than really needs to be disrupted especially given that there is likely no way to really stop the spread. I doubt the virus is that much more deadly than a typical influenza.
I wonder, given the greed and ignorance of Americans whether the fear is economic or that people will die, or if people think they will be the ones who die. I suspect anything our government does, especially now, is really about fear that a few serfs will die before every last drop of profit is squeezed out of them. For the people I think they fear their own deaths, which I think is typical of religious people who have an obsession with their own mortality. So much so that they need to believe in imaginary beings in the sky in order to sleep at night.
I suspect that hardly anyone fears for the deaths of others, it's not a very American or Christian thing to do.
2
There are currently over 7-1/2 billion humans on Earth. We can easily lose a billion or two. Those with natural immunity will go on and those without will either die or just feel sick for a month or two. That's how nature works. Meanwhile, we humans keep designing better weapons of mass destruction with which to slaughter other humans, not to forget the gun slaughter in the streets, businesses and homes of the United States. I don't sweat the virus, it's not nearly as deadly as my fellow humans.
9
Well now, it's taken awhile, but it seems Mother Nature may have finally found a way to get rid of the plague that has been destroying not only themselves and all the other life on the planet but even the planet itself. Now she actually has a chance to get to the ripe old age of 4 billion that was intended for her.
3
There's a lack of information about a possible COVID-19 vaccine or assurance that the HIV and flu drugs that saved some victims are really being given to the sick. Some people are angry at WHO and Dr. Fauci of NIH for missteps and a long wait for a vaccine. On the web, I saw that 1)Chinese researchers published the genome of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, on January 11. 2)US researchers then identified genes coding for the virus's ''spike," or infection, protein, mapping the location of each of its atoms in space and sharing the coordinates. Today news from a writer here, PG of Sydney, that researchers at the University of Queensland have used those 2 pieces of information and their own "molecular clamp" idea to create a vaccine going into production now. Hope springs.
1
As Richard Feynman often said, "you can't fool mother nature." Whether it's minute, mutating viruses that hop to humans in filthy food markets, or calving and melting ice sheets and the dispassionate rise of water, or the subtle changes that can affect weather patterns and halt rain, humanity and its unsupportable billions are in for a time of reckoning.
8
Just out of curiosity, how many cases and how many deaths from ‘garden variety’ flu and pneumonia over the past 30 days?
And a related question: how many deaths in the United States from gunfire during that same period? I believe the average is now about 3,000 per month.
Not to minimize the potential of a coronavirus epidemic, but we do have a tendency to overweight and overreact to peculiar risks— like a guy with plastic explosives in his sneakers — while taking far greater risks in stride as we become inured to them as ‘just the normal noises.’
3
I am amazed that stocks have held up as much as they have. Especially carnival corporation. Nobody wants to be the first to sell, and nobody wants to be the last...
9
If a population of potentially infected people is quarantined for two weeks, what happens if one or more of them starts showing symptoms? Does the quarantine start over? We are told that the quarantined people stay in their rooms and do not socialize, but aren't they all breathing the same recirculated air? Since it isn't absolutely certain how the virus spreads, is every precaution taken to separate them?
What can ordinary people do to protect themselves? Should they stay at home and avoid crowded places when they have to go out? People who work have to go to jobs. Could there be mandatory requirements that anyone displaying flu-like symptoms must report their condition to a doctor, with the doctor being required to test them for the coronavirus?
Obviously, containing the virus is going to be extremely difficult and we are going to have to rely on the cooperation of everyone to avoid a pandemic.
5
When two people in the same family are in critical condition and one is 38 and the spouse is probably close in age that is serious. That means this virus doesn’t just kill 2 percent. It also implies this virus is highly contagious. We all have been in the same house with someone with a cold and not gotten a cold.....
19
@Wise12 This makes no sense. Based on your analysis, how do you arrive at "this virus doesn't just kill 2 percent." Please explain.
2
Perhaps if enough economic pain is inflicted upon China by this latest epidemic, its government will finally shut down “wet markets” once and for all.
5
I’m telling you if this virus reaches New York, the global economy will go into a recession. Why haven’t they found a vaccine yet?
3
Because it takes time to develop a vaccine for a previously unknown virus, and then the vaccine has to be tested -- unless you want to inject millions of people with an untested vaccine, and take the chance that it might harm more people than the coronavirus would.
This is not some science fiction movie where brave scientists go into their lab and work overnight to emerge with a cure. This is reality. It just doesn't happen that fast. In fact, they've made incredible progress in a short period of time, but it's going to take more time.
The question you should be asking is: why hasn't the government funded research for anti-viral drugs and new antibiotics? Large pharmaceutical companies aren't doing this research, because they don't think they will profit enough from the drugs that they might develop. This is something government could and should do, but they haven't.
42
@Mac
Mac see above. It's happening.
2
@Vernon
They may have developed one. It's starting animal trials today.
It only took 4 weeks for the University of Queensland to fabricate cells that are expected to attack and kill the virus
https://www.smh.com.au/national/australian-coronavirus-vaccine-goes-into-test-production-20200221-p5436l.html
6
Only in China is the fatality rate so high. Why? Check their air quality and the pulmonary health of its citizens.
4
@Otis Opse
Watched a video of a Chinese woman who claimed that she and her family would not have access to a hospital if they got sick. She was talking a tremendous risk by speaking out but so angry at the government that she did it anyway.
We have no idea how or who is actually being treated there.
5
The disaster of pangolins and other wildlife being abducted, sold in public marketplaces and murdered. Nature out of balance so far that it starts to kill humans in return. A lesson to be learned Fewer airline flights happening? Less pollution. What is the benefit to nature of this crisis? Does anyone care?
10
@Murray Bolesta Nature is not sentient. That may make you feel better about this or worse but only humans feel concern about these things. Nature does what it does.
5
I guess that traditional Chinese medicine isn't as effective as hoped. Let's see, will China try Western (science-based) medicine or will they shoot the remaining rhinos and harness that rhino horn cure? I think we all know the answer to that one.
9
In light of the news coming out in South Korea on the spread of the Wuhan virus, it would most likely be appropriate to begin preparations for removing non-essential US military personnel, and their families, from the Peninsula. And in regard to the Seventh Fleet, the US Navy should consider reduction of deployment times at sea. Obviously, ports-of-call visits are going to be severely reduced in number.
7
From everything I’m seeing out of China and from what everyone is saying I the US... economy and stocks first... human life “so what” oh wait... this is how it’s always been.
The only industry that will do well... US hospitals - are going to make a killing off this virus once it spreads. I also wouldn’t be surprised, like in China, our hospitals will the the place that most people get infects as well.
If our government cared they would start setting up financial and medical aid for Americans who end up contracting this virus now.
3
Ignatz,
Besides being inhumane, the premise of your argument is false, what starts in China does not stay in China; we are all connected by a 24 hours flight path.
4
It's fascinating when so much of the conversation revolves around the impact Corona has on the "global market" i.e. flights, car production, stocks, etc. Perhaps this is Mother Nature's effort to remind our species that our current ways of operating and the synthetic value we place on certain things as barometers of stability and progress are misguided. I understand my hypocrisy, as I love to travel as much as anyone and can make many steps towards reducing my environmental footprint but it is food for thought!! Maybe this is the global wake up call that we all collectively need as we live on ONE singular planet. Global hysteria from Corona...a microscopic virus despite multiple wars, terrorist threats, refugees being cast aside, genocide, etc that have been a part of our realities for decades. It's kind of ridiculous.
3
@Adrienne Nature is not sentient. It's not revenge - it's just life. Trouble is humans think they are "more special" and exempt from the game.
12
With all those flight cancellations, closed factories and streets empty of cars the Chinese people are probably experiencing the cleanest air they've seen in decades.
15
Time to cue up Elia Kazan’s “Panic in the Streets.”
2
My friend lives in Padova Italy... two cases there reported today
7
Any cases reported in Mexico yet?
I thought those "brown caravans" were a National Emergency?
If this virus land here, Trump will have a real emergency on his hands that all his moronic tweets bluster and gibberish braying will not control....
Too bad we wasted all that money on the imaginary threats from caravans. Turns out that the problem is coming from wealthy countries who travel by sleek jet and luxury cruise ship....not bare footed people who will walk a thousand miles in the hot sun to get here.
Hmmmmm... Hot Sun. Too bad Trump got so much wall built....the Mexicans, if they're smart , will tell us to stay on OUR side of the wall when millions realize sunshine is the cure and Mexico has tons of it, and Mexico says:
"You wanted a wall? You got a wall. You reap what you sow."
They'll have armed guards facing the US wall to stop the stampede of gringos coming south.
On thier nightly news version of FAUX will be endless reports of white, infected, "caravans" heading towards Mexico...they will implement a "travel ban"...
And sunshine is FREE!!!! What a slap in the face that will be to Trump.
Karma is a bust.
10
@Ignatz
Yep the barefoot people have never ever shown in Texas and California with TB, whooping cough, etc. Just ask health workers near the borders.
1
Remember the Republican hysteria concerning Ebola and how they criticized Obama's response to the 2014-15 outbreak in Africa?
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/07/opinion/granderson-ebola-obama/index.html
Now we have a Republican president and a potential Coronavirus pandemic and the Republican response is largely..... silence.
Concluded long ago that all Republican and right wing outrage is just manufactured political Kabuki. They can go from 0 to 11 in a heartbeat and it all signifies absolutely nothing, just political gamesmanship. Meanwhile our country is facing real dangers on multiple fronts. Expect more games.
19
Probably a good time to make sure your affairs are in order before it's too late...
2
@Ignatz - This should be true for anyone any day of the week.
5
A current B.B.C. story, "Ukraine protesters attack buses carrying China evacuees" [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51581805] reminds me how thin the veneer of what we call rational civilization really is. How far down the road of an epidemic, whose threat -- real, imagined, and invented -- is amplified hugely by the internet, might we go before we return to the time when witches, Jews, and others were murdered, because they were thought to cause the plague and other diseases?
22
Don't worry folks....the brightest best most intelligent people ever hired in the Oval Office are on it...
Ivanka, Jared, Larry Kudlow, Melania...they are all down at Mara Lago right now, heads bent downover champagne cocktails, murmuring seriously, about how to debunk this "fake science" that these crazy researchers are trying to scare us with.
"First it's global warming, now it's a virus!!!" Jared says, looking at himself in a gold gilded mirror to make sure his hair is all in place.
In walks Don Jr, a little flushed from his 5th shower today, a mask in his pocket where a hanky used to be....
"Just spoke to Hannity and he assures me this will all blow over..in the next major Hurricane.... "
It's all Fake News people..the media is in on it. Ivanka says "no worries....I'm working on it day and night!!!"
"Don't worry!" Larry K. assures us from the sunny lawn of the White House...."Your 401K will be fine!!! Too bad you won't be around to spend it!!!!!"
Donald Trump is hiding in the executive washroom, ladling Clorox over his body with a 5 gallon bucket......Gonna do a number on that Fake Tan!!!
What's this? He has a black Sharpie and is drawing a thick black boundary on a map of China..
"The virus won't go past this line, believe me!!! Everyone is telling me that just drawing a wall on the map will comfort people! See here..it won't go past this right here...." His tiny index finger points to some vague area in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
"Call FOX news!!!"
39
I listen to financial news every single day. It's still unclear how the virus will affect the market. No one is predicting a recession, and this has been the case for a while.
3
As one positive side effect of this sad development, people will learn - by being forced to learn - that a lot of personal meetings resulting in a lot of travel are not actually needed. Where physical production facilities are not required, online tools will help people collaborate, for instance by holding online video conferences, online teaching, online advice of all kinds etc. This may at the end be good for the environment. Not so good for the airline industry and car-makers, though.
26
@Tommy S You are being optimistic. People will not learn. Once the panic subsides, they'll go right back to what they were doing and most will not recall this happened - until the next time. Rinse and repeat.
6
@Tommy S - If Bill Gates STILL has not learned that he can sit at home in Xanadu 2.0 and use this incredible thing called Skype to speak to crowds all across the planet, I doubt the masses will catch on.
2
"We need a vaccine against misinformation," said Dr. Mike Ryan, head of WHO's health emergencies program, at a WHO briefing on the virus earlier this month.
16
@Larry Chan I don't trust anything the WHO says. They are too political and PC. Just a couple of weeks ago, they were advising against travel restrictions and quarantines. Can you imagine how bad things would be if countries had taken their advice? At least we have a chance.
12
Early days but......
Australian coronavirus vaccine goes into test production
https://www.smh.com.au/national/australian-coronavirus-vaccine-goes-into-test-production-20200221-p5436l.html
9
Worth reading: The Next Pandemic by Ali Khan and William Patrick.
2
I would like to see an official, consistent announcement from the CDC distributed to all news and media outlets telling people in the US what they are supposed to do if they develop a cough or fever. At this point, those of us who live in big cities have no idea whatsoever if we have come into contact with someone who has recently traveled to China or not.
44
Nor do we have any idea if we have been near someone who was recently at a bar owned by someone whose child is friends with someone who a month ago had a conversation with a colleague recently returned from China.
5
@Clarice - I live in a big city and coronavirus has already been here (first case). If I meet someone that I think has just returned from China, I say "你好?"
4
In canada province of B.C. , where I live, people were worried about the 8,o00 people flying in from China on a daily basis and the government telling those coming in to isolate if they feel unwell. Some of those returning people from China into canada don’t mind to send there kids to school the next day, don’t isolate after arrival and the school board announced they are powerless to prevent it. The ironic thing is that yesterday’s latest confirmed case is someone just in from Iran who can no contact with Chinese people. We have19 cases in B.C. now. The health ministers was “surprised” by this fact and not sure what to do about it. Looks like we are here for a long epidemic until a vaccine comes. My friends working in virology in China tell me 3 of the drugs being tested work well and that China is racing to make a vaccine. Lucky thing for the world is China can do human trials without red tape and fast track medications or vaccines as well as produce them super fast in good quality. The meds are available here, but one might need to fly to China for the vaccine as I imagine getting it approved in North America will take years. So, to all those over 50 men with weak immune system, like myself, hope to see everyone after this test has passed.
13
Why are we *only* testing people who know someone who tests *positive* for Coronavirus in the United States? What if someone doesn’t want to share their positive status? Even if people are getting sick after attending a party at which some the attendees were from Wuhan, these people are being refused access to the Coronavirus test. Insanity! And yet, London is giving citizens a number to call.... and the doctor comes to their home to test them for Coronavirus, free of charge.
20
After reading this story, and the comments, I have concluded that it is time to freak out. It's increasingly likely that the epidemic will sweep the U.S. Now might be a good time to make sure your pantry has plenty of canned goods in case you have to hunker down for awhile--like the people in Wuhan are doing now.
26
@JoeBftsplk
Hang in there. Heard a report that the testing has become more sensitive so any uptick could be attributed to this.
2
@JoeBftsplk - Canned goods? I'll get cancer from the BPA's. I would be better off with the coronavirus.
1
The US government continues to put the entire country at risk to avoid inconveniencing a small number of international vacationers.
It is irresponsible and defies reason. People who chose to go on expensive vacations should not be able to put 320,000,000 citizens, and 20,000,000 illegal immigrants, at risk so they don't feel 'bored' or inconvenienced.
23
@Willt26 I would hazard a guess that those "international vacationers" might have the resources to travel to a country that offers first world medical care if they are infected or suspect they might be.
For weeks I have been afraid of 3 weak links with big Chinese connections: Pakistan , Indonesia and Venezuela . Iran ? Perhaps via Pakistan ? I know nothing and this is not my field , but I think it will become a pandemic with a little higher deaths rate than seasonal flu . I just don’t see how you can trace 100 ,000 peoples and who they met with. And you can’t just quarantine a country . You couldn’t in the 1918 and you can’t now .
8
There were satellite photos of apparent massive body burnings near Wuhan on the Web a week ago. Yet the liberal media seem totally uninterested in trying to see just what the Chinese government may have been doing for months.
Have all our sources of info been bought off by the hope for a tiny slice of China's action? At least Politico admits its partnership with Beijing.
10
@L osservatore:
What do you mean "the liberal media seem totally uninterested"?
The NYT -- and CNN, and the Washington Post, and Time, and the Guardian, etc. etc. etc. -- have been reporting on this avidly and relentlessly. If you haven't been keeping up, don't blame the media.
16
@L osservatore
CNN
2/10/2020
Coronavirus Death Smog: Is China Burning Thousands of Infected Bodies?
https://www.ccn.com/coronavirus-death-smog-is-china-burning-thousands-of-infected-bodies/
Next time look before posting online.
8
@L osservatore I saw those photos as well. They do seem to indicate that China doesn't have a handle on the epidemic in Hubei at all. However, it would be irresponsible of the media to report on apparent massive cremation without some solid verification. Fake photos and vids exist after all.
ps at this point, it's hard to believe that Cambodia, Pakistan, North Korea have no cases. They're probably just not testing for COVID-19.
7
Another reason to loathe these massive cruise ships. First they pollute the environment and crowd too many tourist into places like Venice, etc. Now this!!
27
China has 1.4 BILLION people.
Why are we panicking over 2000 deaths?
It's like having 3 mil in your retirement account and having a fit when you drop a penny down the sewer.
How many flu deaths in the US this year or last?
Why does EVERYTHING have to be blown way out of proportion?
A means to control the population, who may be getting wiser by the minute to all the lies we're being told every day.
8
@Ignatz It's nice when everyone's honest....but that's not the case. The numbers aren't accurate - keeping the general (world) population from panic is the goal. Sadly, most people are happy to believe. This is coming to everyone - better to be aware that caught by surprise when the truth comes out.
7
The flu has been in the wild longer. This virus is still three months old. Give it a year.
3
All the signs are in place for a global economic downturn triggered by the Coronavirus pandemic. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/15/opinion/china-economy-coronavirus.html
Meanwhile the Stock Market is near record highs. It’s time to sell the Market short.
The crash may not happen this month, but it will come soon.
Such a crash will have major political implications. The high Stock Market seems to be Trump’s primary indicator of economic success.
10
@AKJersey
Predictions of a stock market crash have been bouncing around since Trump was elected. I suspect people are secretly hoping for it. Sad.
5
Airflights out of affected countries IS the Problem.
6
We have more cases here because we let people come home. Sometimes the good of the many must prevail. Funny how our president wants to keep out brown people but not infect.
8
The world is on the brink of Spanish Flu II.....102 years after the original. This is a seriously nasty virus, and I am not a conspiracy theorist, but, do believe that we don't see the spread and efforts to stop it a realistic light. When this hits Africa and undeveloped Asia we're going to see death tolls that go into the hundreds of thousands if not millions. I'm not sure what, other than hand-washing, the average person can do. But, I do know I'm not flying, cruising, concerting, movie-going, live-sporting, casino-ing, or attending any other venues with a big crowds until this passes. I wonder if this will be like the typical flu and go dormant in Summer?
14
Isn't this headline (with respect to Americans) somewhat misleading?
Yes, the number of cases here have increased but only because we are adding those who are returning from the quarantines cruise ship.
From what I am reading, I am not seeing that the virus itself is spreading in the U.S.
Unless I am reading this incorrectly?
7
Asians are no position to complain about discrimination as a result of corona virus. Korea, China, Japan, Iran have absolute 0.00000000 diversity and openly discriminate against outsiders. Andrew Yang never had the guts to address Asian discrimination against nonAsians. The right to run that he was affirmed would never be afforded you in his native China. Why open and tolerant America sponsors racism by trading with such countries is ironic.
5
at one point China has to be taken to account for its disgusting treatment of animals, the eating habits of its population, its crazy and totally ineffective medicines killing off scores of endangered animals, the dirt and pollution it is blowing into the air thereby causing a large part of global warming, the dismal treatment of people who want to speak their mind and above all the diseases it continously spews over the planet from the yearly influenca to SARS and now Covid19!
23
almost all reports focus on the unfortunate human toll and economic loss. but the biggest gain is in significant reduction of carbon emission and therefore a gain for the environment. would be interested to see if there is any evaluation in air quality improvement or a change in weather.
3
presumably the vast grey areas on the world map showing the extent & numbers of infections are grey not because they are free of the virus, but because reliable statistics are not available in those areas?
6
My 9-year-old grandson, who is in treatment for leukemia, recently returned to school after 18 months of near isolation due to his compromised immune system. I'm scared of what he might encounter at school, during a spring break and, even more, after his classmates return from the break and travels to all sorts of places. What do we do? Quarantine him for life or roll the dice? As I understand it, one child or adult returning to school with a "cold" could potentially end his life.
18
Handwashing
avoiding crowds in tight places
don't go to work sick with a cough
common sense things
awareness of surroundings & anyone with a cough
Did I say handwashing?
22
@JJ - - - How many dead bodies are being picked up every day in Wuhan and other cities? Have you seen the videos?
I'm stunned that people believe the government that continues to deny anyone was gunned down in Tienamen Square all those years ago.
If the numbers of news cases are really improving, their air travel should be picking back up already. But it isn't.
8
After flying in and out of China all week, it appears air traffic is slowly increasing.
2
China must exercise better control over it's rich citizens. Maybe prison sentences for citizens who break the laws and eat exotic wildlife, and LONG prison sentences for public officials who accept bribes to look the other way. Other countries have this problem (like the US where congressmen have obviously been legally paid off to decrease taxes for the rich) but for China, it is a matter of not unleashing dangerous viruses on the world. The alternative is to wall China off from the rest of the world. Figure it out China. We were willing to look the other way as your rich made the Rhino extinct using powdered Rhino horns as aphrodisiacs, but the virus thing is a deal breaker. Literally.
13
Likely source of infection in Iran are the Chinese workers in the city of Qom. Photos show a lack of protective gear on medical workers.
And the polling numbers for the national election in Iran look unusually low. Political boycott or an abundance of caution on the part of the populace?
13
My spouse and I are canceling a Baltic cruise for this June because:
1. Most cruise lines reserve the right to alter or curtail the schedule and itinerary without refunds; and cancel-for-any reason insurance will be about half the cost of the cruise.
2. We are both over 70 and thus at higher risk of becoming seriously ill or even dying from COVID-19 if we contract it.
3. In the best of times cruise ships are floating Petri dishes that easily spread noroviruses; note the current COVID-19 transmissions on the Diamond Princess and Holland America Westerdam.
4. While the ports on our cruise are in countries that currently have fewer than 25 or so cases, it is possible that the coronavirus could become a pandemic affecting thousands in many countries, including those on our itinerary. Our nightmare scenario is that we or other passengers contract the disease aboard or in port. Do we want to be treated or quarantined on the ship or in Latvia or Estonia or Russia or Finland or Denmark? No way.
For us the medical/financial risks are just too great, so for the rest of 2020 we are planning to limit our travel to US destinations we can reach easily by car or short flights. As months go by we will evaluate the coronavirus situation and see how cruise lines and foreign countries are coping. There’s always next year.
My comments are not medical advice, which readers should seek from their physicians. For travel advice, talk to your travel agent, carrier and insurance agent.
30
John Hopkins has a dashboard that lists where all the cases have been reported.
76,798 cases
2,250 deaths
18,870 people recovered
14
This is the most important issue worldwide presently- not that a disaster is looming, but the virus is affecting people, travel, supply chains all over the world.
And how many questions were asked about this flu during the debate in Nevada? I believe the answer is 00000000. No, we childishly obsessed about NDA's, cursing, name forgetting, and how many houses the old men had. And we wonder why our politicians and media are so disrespected? If one of these politicians takes the time to discuss this issue critically and rationally, he/she may a very large appreciative audience.
25
@boji3
I am a non-partisan and so do not pretend to give campaign advice to either party.
But if I were a Democrat candidate for the nomination, I would quit with all the free stuff give-a-way talk (anyway, nobody can top the ridiculous promises of Sanders and Warren), and I would quit talk of climate change (no matter how severely we reduce our emissions, the climate change battle is lost and futile since China emits so much that it alone will cause climate change).
Instead, I would focus entirely on criticism of inadequate efforts by Trump to stop the importation of this virus into the US. If the virus rages here, it could actually put me in the White House. But tt is a risky strategy on 2 counts. First, open borders to disease are left wing dogma and political correctness. Second, if the virus does not become widespread, then the strategy obviously will fail.
But what is the alternative for Democrats? Putting up a far left loonie will produce an easy Trump re-election. And it appears that Democrats will not allow Bloomberg and are not enthused by Biden.
3
Arrived in Auckland, New Zealand last night and was very impressed with the thoroughness of their health screening at immigration. There was a big electronic sign about keeping COVID-19 out of NZ. Except for people arriving on flights from Australia, the USA, or Singapore, everyone was routed to a special immigration line where their passports were checked page by page to see if they had stamps from China. This level of health screening is not happening in my home state that receives vast numbers of tourists from Asia every single day of the week.
30
@Norgeiron...Spoken this morning with a resident of Nelson, on New Zealand’s South Island. He said the Kiwi economy is feeling the impacts of the virus, as Chinese tourism is non existent (no flights from China). Workers in the travel industry in Queenstown have been affected. He also mentioned a significant amount of lumber is exported from NZ to China (visible in many of the ports). The demand for shipments has recently diminished to the point that loggers and drivers are being laid off (perhaps temporarily, but still having an impact). This is just one county’s economy feeling the pinch, but perhaps just the “tip of the iceberg.”
4
The Chinese Communist Party runs a totalitarian government whose announcements are for party purposes, not to convey the truth. The purpose at the moment is to restart the Chinese economy. Thus, it is highly likely that they are lying about the progress of the epidemic. I suspect that it is far worse than they admit.
16
@JoeBftsplk
Announcements in the U.S. under Trump are also for the purpose of supporting the Party Line, often at the expense of hiding the truth.
This can cost us dearly when the threat is real.
4
This is scary. Iranian authorities said that Coronavirus they beleive is now in every big city of Iran. It can spread like wild fire to middle east and expect Iran to be non-transparent with numbers.
15
I feel like we are slow walking into a crisis with the occupants of the clown car in charge. I have zero confidence in anyone in or associated with the Trump administration and the Republican Party.
39
Look communist countries, Iran, South Korea democracy, all struggling with this.
We were early and proactive shutting down flights.
Think this transcends politics
2
@Chris What do you think the government should do? Close all borders? Are there any alternatives that would allow the country to continue to function?
1
@Jon Um...have you read about the infected Americans that Mike Pompeo allowed to share a flight with other Americans from an infected cruise ship back to the US? According to the Times, there are now 34 US cases.
2
Bloomberg is playing the epidemic down because of his billions invested there! He also maintains that China isn't run by a dictator! Pause.
5
It appears likely that this virus will get out of control within the US. Trump delayed for at least 7 days the imposition of the travel ban on people who had been to China (and quarantine of returning Americans). Many other countries have refused to impose travel bans resulting in spread now to other countries. Trump has failed to expand the travel ban to close the border to ALL non-US citizens wherever they come from (and quarantine of ALL returning Americans wherever they come from).
So, the virus is likely going to rage here soon. But there is now a situation existent that could become a major health threat in the US that encompasses much more than just the threat posed by this virus. For the past 20 years, through both Democrat and Republican administrations, the politicians of both parties have allowed selfish pharmaceutical companies to rely upon China production of a large portion of our medicines. Even medicines manufactured outside China were allowed to become dependent upon China production of key ingredients of those medicines. That China production is now in severe jeopardy because of the virus raging in China. Americans could soon be facing lack of availability of many medications to treat many medical problems.
24
The elephant in the room is that we now have an emergent virus that spreads easily through human contact and contact with surfaces. Although this coronavirus appears to be much less lethal than SARS or MERS, future mutations could be deadly.
The U.S. should be preparing for the next pandemic. Instead, we are scaling down and letting a science-phobic unstable President dictate policy. This is a recipe for disaster.
294
@Pam G You do realize Trump is a germaphobe right? That's why were the first country to ban flights from China. We also have the best of the best at the DHS and I have confidence in them. He's the president I would want in a situation like this. Not afraid to take extreme measures and face the backlash of political correctness.
25
@Skeptical he may be a germophobe, but he also called for a decrease to the CDC’s budget after the emergence of this virus. In addition, he has been shrugging off the extent of the problem at every opportunity, saying China is handling it and that it can’t spread in warmer spring weather.
104
@Pam G Mutations of the virus in a novel-virus epidemic invariable reduce virulence rather than increasing it, because the less lethal strains are less likely to kill the victim before they can spread. Consequently each epidemic plateaus within a few months and then disappears.
11
As a retired RN, I have been very concerned here in Florida that people, particularly those with limited income or non-residents, will avoid hospitals until they are truly in respiratory crisis. We have one of the highest levels of "surprise billing" from hospitals in the country, and I've been a victim of this myself. Our surprise bills can be many thousands of dollars, just for walking into an ER for evaluation. Most prudent people not on Medicare or Medicaid try to avoid hospitals here, unless they are very wealthy. But that means if Covid-19 gains a foothold in this state, and I remind you all this is the start of Spring Break, and we are a tourist economy, it may be well entrenched before it is formally acknowledged. Scary scenario.
50
I agree with you. I am from Europe and used to universal healthcare so I am scared of people avoiding to go get check due to deductible not yet met...as we know people makes calculations when it comes to healthcare!
In Europe you never never never (3 times) to worry about medical bills! Taxes are at work so you go get check without thinking about money first...This is really worrisome to have this deadly virus here more than anywhere in the world due to learned behavior. If I go see a doctor this is going to cost money ! By the way I am self employed and pay 25K (still have 3k déductible and 10k out of pocket) to get coverage for family. I bet this is will not cost me this in additional tax if we are cover under universal healthcare.
8
I'm curious what effect the travel & industry shutdowns will have on CO2 emissions and short term weather effects.
Is the cold snap we are having an effect of 800 million people suddenly hunkering down?
3
@Chuck Jones I think the effect of the shutdowns would have a beneficial effect on the climate. It won't reverse anything, but slow to the damage resulting from our population.
1
Increased Covid-19 infections are being reported in Beijing, Japan, US, South Korea, Iran and Italy. Modern day Typhoid Mary type Covid-19 super-spreaders are also being found.
We are also dealing with the flu, which is considered to be worse than typical.
Now throw in the fact that China has been less than upfront with information, details, including not cooperating with expert groups like our own CDC.
I am of the opinion that when historians look back, they will say: "Too Little, Too Late!"
25
And still no cases in Indonesia? Yeah right.. there must be hundreds if not more.
The cases in Iran were people who had no contact with Chinese citizens. They reportedly contracted it from Pakistani pilgrims (the Iranian city of Qom, where the first cases were reported, has a few important shrines). This seems to indicate the virus travels silently through some countries, like Pakistan but likely others too, probably those countries that have the dangerous mix of poor healthcare infrastructure and misguided nationalism.
19
Pakistan, Indonesia and Venezuela are the obvious weak links . Large Chinese population in Venezuela yet no cases ? Wonder why when the health system is in crisis.
Yes, it is true that the coronavirus may yet be contained. But what if it is not, and the number of people infected continues to grow? Should we prepare for such a development? As a concerned physician I would say yes. One would argue that the preparation, in any country where there are a significant number of infections, should include the rapid construction of dedicated medical facilities, including hospitals, that are specifically designed to handle patients with this kind of highly contagious infection. There are no such hospitals now, where each and every patient room and intensive care room is an isolation room. Since 1918, we have had no such need. We do now.
Without such additional facilities, the present hospital system will be sorely challenged to properly care for an expanding number of critically ill patients, whose infections are highly communicable.
The required hospitals need not be fancy; but they need to be ready, just in case.
One further point. In the U.S., no matter your political persuasion, one argues that the funds, should come from those planned for “the wall,” because the imminent threat from the coronavirus far exceeds any present threat that might exist from illegal immigration. The “wall” can be built later. Let’s address the clear and present danger we now face. Isn't such a dedicated hospital system now an essential part of our national defense?
55
@B. Prepared Hospital buildings will be of limited use if we can't equip them properly. From what I read --and I'm no expert--it appears that each patient needs a respirator, and where are we going to get them? Isn't most medical equipment manufactured in and imported from...China?
8
@B. Prepared Given the costs of testing, keeping people in quarantine and hospitalization of infected ones, it would be good to have the wall to help exclude people in order to reduce costs.
@B. Prepared
I’ve just made a mental note to start carrying a box of eco-friendly disposable food service gloves in my bag...
Gloves would come in mighty handy when pumping gas, opening doors, or pushing the grocery cart around. It’s not always possible to wash hands in public, and who knows if hand sanitizers actually work.
Amazon.com or restaurant supply?
3
At my medical providers, I have always thought one of the primary vectors of disease transmission are the pens and touch screens you have to use to sign away your rights.
I don't know if such are used in any of these instances but, if so, they need to be sterilized between each use or, preferably, done away with.
46
@Steve Fankuchen
Great point!
I would also like to add that I've never seen a Doctor clean their stethoscope or even wash their hands for 20 seconds!
Nor have I've seen a nurse clean the sphygmomanometer or wash their hands for 20 seconds.
10
Yes you are right, people can cough or sneeze into their hands and then touch the screen and/or the pen. If everyone would cough or sneeze into their elbow or a tissue (or wear a mask) it could prevent some transmission of infection through the touchscreens (and handrails, door handles and so forth). That’s why we are told to wash our hands often and not to touch your eyes, nose or mouth to prevent transmission.
5
@Steve Fankuchen use a tissue to avoid contact with the door knobs, use your own pen and carry a small pack of antibacterial wipes to clean unavoidable items like touchscreens. I'd use exam gloves (boxes available at drugstores and Costco) in higher risk areas.
5
It's spread to the Middle East. It's spread to South Korea. If it's there it most certainly is in North Korea. North Korea certainly isn't going to be forthcoming about how many cases they've found or how widespread it is.
President Trump has downplayed it by proclaiming that as soon as the weather turns warm, it will "miraculously" go away.
China has admitted that 500 prisoners have it. You can't get more "quarantined" than being in prison. And we don't have a clue if it's in any of those muslim "re-education" camps.
19
Jails in China often have 20 prisoners sharing a room. They then can sometimes mix with other people in other cells and since the cell rooms are bars not actually rooms all the time it’s easy to spread. They don’t get out easy so the virus will circulate in the prison until they have all had it. Thailand prisons are usually 50 people stuffed in a small room, just enough space to lie down so one can imagine it will spread to everyone quickly. It seems likely that if prisons get the virus they will just let it run through the entire prison as not much else they can do or want to do. We’ve already heard the powers that be saying people should accept it’s a global problem that won’t go away until everyone has had the vaccine. Wealthy countries can afford to give everyone but the poor not so much. Kind of like a culling of the human stock.
6
There is absolutely no reason to fear that this virus is going to spread globally. The truth of the matter is that this virus already has spread globally, and nothing we do now is going to stop it.
When you read about reports of confirmed cases in various countries, please remember that most infected people have mild symptoms, and will not seek medical attention. This will inevitably lead to most infected people not being detected, and continuing to spread the infection in their communities. That is what is happening right now. Give it another month or two, and we will see a worldwide surge in hospital admissions for pneumonia and other severe respiratory diseases. Testing will reveal Covid-19 in cases without any travel history or other obvious source of infection.
The only thing that can stop the widespread dissemination of a new, highly contagious virus that is spread by droplet or airborne route is travel bans along with strict quarantines. Screening at airports, which is all that is being done in most countries, is useless because it cannot detect cases in the incubation period.
Meanwhile, the geniuses at WHO still do not recommend any restrictions on travel. That entire incompetent lot needs to be sent on a one way trip to Wuhan, since they are so keen on promoting travel.
65
Yesterday, our local health department reported that an individual returning from China to our locale tested positive and was advised to ‘self-isolate’ along with a ‘close associate’ who was exhibiting early symptoms.
These people went to the ER, where they were supposedly ‘treated’ before being sent home. Zero information has been provided to our small community as to when these people returned from China, nor whom they’ve potentially exposed...on the return flight, at local grocery stores, shops, classrooms, and at the hospital.
The ongoing recklessness in response to this virus is absolutely breathtaking. Hence, a pandemic.
54
I’ve read similar stories in US; I have to wonder if it’s because the medics & authorities realize containment is no longer possible so new plan is mitigation.
16
@Susanna
At least they told us, right?
We take reasonable precautions. If otherwise compromised, we take more precautions. Probably not time to break out the masks, yet. Hope for the best.
But if we see each other in Safeway, we’ll skip that California hug, ok?
3
@Susanna
Most small community hospitals do not have a Level 4 isolation area (BSL-4) that would be required.
Look at it this way, the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess in Japan has a shared ventilation system, similar to what is found in small community hospitals. So the very last thing you would want to do is isolate people in a hospital - which already has sick and vulnerable people - and expose everyone to a new, novel, contagious virus!
If what you wrote is true, then my gut reaction is that the local authorities acted in a reasonable manner that was wise and prudent.
Keep in mind that very few hospitals can actually diagnose Covid-19. The tests have to be sent off to a facility that was given the diagnostic tools - which the CDC has only recently done!
The other issue is "Patient Rights" and "Patient Privacy Rules, Regulations and Laws" so I would remind people that local health officials must act in accordance with established laws!
If a serious 'Pandemic' occurs, it would be because too little, too late was the cause and that our "It's all about me" society chose to ignore a lot of things!
13
The Coronavirus blame game is alive and thriving. (sigh) The cat is well out of the bag folks and no matter how much hand wringing and outrage, the virus won't suddenly stop spreading the more we whine. Planes are still flying, ships are still sailing, and people are still congregating in public. It's what humans do unless forced not to and even then, not so much.
The world is too interconnected and, let's face it, we'd see similar outrage and blame if we were all suddenly told we had to stay home and not go to work, school, church, or get on a plane.
It serves no purpose to pontificate about how this country did or did not do X or why the WHO or CDC should be blamed. Be calm, take sensible measures, and wash your hands.
29
It's maddening, looking back on it, when China argued the US was being punitive for banning travel, contrary to recommendations from WHO but it turns out you can't trust China to properly contain or even diagnose the disease. The government of China is an embarrassment to the chinese people.
9
@zack:
Do you honestly think the U.S. would have done or will do any better??
Not only do we have a science-denying lunatic at the head of our government, who has gutted the government’s pandemic response chain of command, but we have an entire nation of gun-toting yahoos who won't take kindly to being told they have to self-quarantine, nor to not being able to buy whatever they want whenever they want it.
14
I am comforted with the fact that Trump has cut the CDC budget by $750 million in 2019 and will cut it even more in 2020 to make the US much safer if the virus spreads in the US. Also Trump would enact additional tax cuts to the mega wealthy to take on the virus head on. It is also great that the US has the best health care in the world for the wealthy - that will keep us all safe - not like that socialist Medicare for All that would allow actual health care for all.
187
@steve Give it time, that money could be restored as a result of this.
4
I still remember the day when I purchased 80 masks that can, purportedly, filter out 95% of the dangerous particulates (smog, virus, etc) out there. That was on 1/18. Two days later, I received my masks. In two days, however, the shortage of masks has become as epidemic as the coronavirus. It's been a month since then, and I am still clinging onto that box of masks I got in January, reusing the ones I've used so as to make them last as long as possible; I do not know when I can purchase more masks, nor do I know when this plague would end.
Living day to day alongside the state-wise mendacity may not be that different from living with freedom if you are not interested in the non-materialistic side of life. In richer sections, even if the traffic of the entire city is shut down, you can still get your Wagyu steak through grocery delivery apps. For many, it's nothing more than a prolonged holiday. Living in my city (and perhaps in my social stratum), I can see how for many this is but a nuisance, a disruption to their otherwise "normal" life. At the same time, people are dying and starving in Wuhan. People with chronic or terminal conditions there cannot obtain medical attention and cannot leave town. Experts espouse the propriety of state's reaction to the virus, praising it as timely. "Sensitive" videos and tweets are deleted as soon as they are posted. We are witnessing, ladies and gentlemen, how this government is inflicting yet another humanitarian crisis.
261
@M C Please be safe, and thank you for your first hand report.
59
@M C Thanks for sharing. It's really interesting to hear from someone in China directly. My brother's friend and colleague's mother is in Wuhan-- she does not have the virus but is quarantined in her home, living off of rice and beans she has at home. That really concerns me. As much as I am worried about the spread of the virus, no one should die of starvation during this scary time. It certainly reveals the authoritarianism that the Chinese government has tried-- and been pretty successful-- to hide through certain small cultural and economic 'gives' in recent decades.
29
@M C Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts. I wish you well. Proper application of science is the answer and cruelty is not.
20
My husband and I plan to travel to and from our home in Florida, with a side trip to British Columbia, and we are worried, especially since one of us has COPD. It has been determined that this virus could be airborne. I know that it is inconvenient, but we are willing to be disrupted even more than we normally are when we are traveling by air. It is time for the CDC to get moving and check everyone and anyone who gets onto a plane from wherever they are coming from or going to; this is serious virus and potentially deadly. If it is a matter of checking temperatures, or spotting something that is obvious, then so be it. We will do our part by washing our hands often, and sanitizing all that we can on board once we do enter or waiting to do so. There is not a mask to be had in all of Bay Ridge in Sunset Park, in Brooklyn, and from what I've heard, they might not be effective anyway. Prevention and attention to details could continue to help in stemming the spread of what could become a Pandemic. We need to work together.
11
There is no way to test genetically for coronavirus each and every person who come and goes from an airport, obviously...
12
Practical problem, here in the USA. Case example (true): man goes to pick up girlfriend from flight at JFK airport, she’s flown a lot to China (Hong Kong, Beijing, but not Hubei province). She’s told just prior to the quarantine measures being enforced that she should simply self-isolate at home. He develops a cough and cold within a week of picking her up from the airport .....and as a police officer he goes to work thinking it’s nothing just a cold, doesn’t see a doctor. He also picks up his ten year old daughter from school and she develops a “cold.” Mother takes the child to pediatrician who tells her that no primary or pediatricians in the USA have a test for coronavirus and to bring the child back to the doctor if she develops a fever. $35 copay for the flu test (negative) and office visit. Doctor explains that only a trip to a hospital ($150 co pay, which has the Coronavirus test) would result in the child being tested for Coronavirus. Child returns to school, with a fellow student who is in remission for cancer, and the father shrugs off his cold and returns to working as a police officer. True story because I’m the kid’s mom!!! That’s how a pandemic spreads, folks!
306
@Temp attorney
I was literally just thinking about how our expensive health care system (those copays add up) will prevent people from even seeking treatment if they get sick. There is no way that the containment efforts that China has put in could ever happen in the US. It seems the only hope is to try to maintain one's immune system, and yes very worrying for the elderly, sick, and other immunocompromised people.
51
@Clarice absolutely! But I forgot to add in my post... when I called the doctor (pediatrician) the receptionist told me on the phone that they actually had the Coronavirus test at the office. When I got there the doctor said no we don’t. Me and my daughter came in wearing masks and even after I explained about the trip to Beijing and Hong Kong by the father’s girlfriend, at no time did they put masks on including when taking the swab sample for flu. This country is completely unprepared. And this is a doctor’s office in Staten Island, New York. We are a half hour ride to Manhattan.
125
@Temp attorney
If I were you, I think I would find a way to take the test, even if it meant a ride into Manhattan. You might be on the cutting edge of establishing the "new normal" in US cities. Where are tests being given in NYC? No doubt at Bellevue.
13
America is handling this like a bunch of bumbling idiots. Anthony Faucci needs to resign. He is talking nothing but nonsense. I used to respect him but not anymore. Out of one orifice he state quarantines don't work (when referring to china). But then Americans are brought home infected to what? A quarantine here. I thought they didn't work!
Local epidemiologists are sitting in their offices telling front line doctors here in the United States to treat everyone like the flu. The reality is that providers in China are dying from treating Covid-19. Easy for them to make that decision when their lives aren't on the line. They sit in their ivory towers making a bundle, at no risk.
China is not a 3rd world country, their high alarm should be taken with a great deal of respect. I remember when I was involved in early HIV care here in America. We changed the definition of the disease frequently as we learned more. This is a normal process when investigating a new dangerous disease. Chinese medical doctors are going thru the same process.
That we are recklessly returning known infectagons is not only dangerous, its arrogant.
38
Of course all of this sickness is great news because, as Wilbur Ross said three weeks ago, "it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America."
16
Is it true that Trumputin tried to cut this and last year's CDC budget? Will we have enough beds to treat the severe cases if this thing goes pandemic here? Will the Red states be worst hit?
9
@Hector Yes it is. Not only did he request cuts to the CDC budget this year, but he requested the cuts after the Chinese announcement of the novel coronavirus should have shown him the need for the CDC. He doesn't care. Cut every budget, except the wall, farm, and oil subsidies, which should be increased so much as to cost more than all the cuts.
17
Give Iran some credit - it is the only relatively poor country to acknowledge cases - perhaps because the economic fallout will be negligible because it’s already under sanctions.
Are we really going to believe advanced countries like Singapore and S Korea have many case while poor countries with large populations like Indonesia an Pakistan have no cases?
17
I believe the CDC, although experts, are hampered by economic and political considerations. Stricter quarantine and travel bans are needed before it is too late. The mortality rate appears 25 times that of the flu and appears two to three times more infectious at a minimum. You don't have to be an epidemiologist to imagine the potential for an awful outbreak in this nation and others. People should understand that antibiotics don't touch viruses. People seem fascinated by the recent impeachment which accomplished zero and debates which seem endless but the corona virus is not getting the attention it needs. I don't believe this is rumor mongering. I'm just saying don't fiddle while Rome burns.
91
@alan brown. It doesn't help that the current administration has cut the CDC's budget year over year. So, plenty of fiddling while Rome burns already.
30
@alan brown
Maybe the rich folks in the US should ask to pay more taxes to fund the CDC. They are ruining their own country with their greed.
17
The CDC estimates there have been 16,000 - 41,000 influenza deaths from 10/01/19 - 02/15/20 so far.
As in any situation, don't panic. It helps no one.
- Wash your hands frequently
- Use bleach wipes - according to NCBI bleach is the strongest and most effective disinfectant
- Don't shake hands
8
And as the NYT has reported. Cov-19 is 20x more deadly than Influenza. Panic, no, but don’t make the argument that flu is a bigger threat.
4
I do believe more drastic measures to curtail world travel for several weeks is now indicated. I don't think it's too much to expect every citizen everywhere to sacrifice a few weeks for the sake of the world. It now appears the COVID-19 is a super fast spreading disease and may even be carried by migrating birds as well as the air in passenger and air freight planes. Transit quarentine measures are not working.
24
With majority people asymptomatic, focusing only on incubation period may not make much sense. The assumption is that if someone is infected, the person will show symptoms within the incubation period, so if not, they are free. But the virus does not disappear after "incubation" period, and asymptomatic people will continue to have the virus inside.
16
It is a virus. It does not know or care or have a country boundaries. It will become a virus like flu and human really needs to learn and deal with it like any other diseases.
9
Unless it mutates........
1
Most scary about this new virus is that American health officials have so-far been vague about the method of its transmission. Is it spread through human to human contact—by inhalation of airborne particles or skin to skin? Or is the virus transmitted through other means—like shared air supply or food? Wearing masks seems to have little affect on slowing the contagion—nor, it seems does wearing full hospital protection. One day news reports seem hopeful, the next not. Does this virus fall in the same category as SARS and Ebola—or is it something even more aggressive? I wish I had more confidence that our government was telling the truth about future risk—but a president who redraws a NOAA weather map to prove a point is certainly capable of interfering with critical public health data generated by the CDC or NHO.
19
WHO is completely useless... This is its moment and it is not stepping up... How should it discipline or lean on countries who are ignoring the virus? How should it coordinate the world's response? How should it provide testing ability to poor countries with little health infrastructure? Who else but WHO can accomplish this and how can it corral the world's rich countries to fight this battle for the poor countries... for all of our sakes.
16
A convenient way to learn about the issues raised here is to view “Pandemic” on Netflix.
8
San Antonio has two more infected people this afternoon, from the Yokohama group.
20
WHO should take the blame as it countries to remain open to China.
4
@Lion
WHO has no control over whether countries remain open to China.
12
Where is the CDC?
Faulty test kits and poor communication to citizens about pandemic preparation. Slashed budgets, bickering over costs.
Every day that passes without strong leadership and transparent communication by CDC officials increases anxiety.
39
@berman
The huge number of increases are from people repatriated from China, they are in quarantine in military bases the second they reached the US. These infected people are not running freely in the community.
6
CDC funding has been gutted, it’s just not up to the task.
8
@Earthling
Who said infected are “running freely in the community”?
The animated graphic showing “before” and “after” air traffic is an excellent reporting technique.
Perhaps your reporters could do another showing the “before” and “after” manufacturing in China. I’m sure it would make a stunning graphic message.
At the same time as we are gearing up to fight this epidemic, we will likely to facing a recession and its consequences for the world economy.
Another graphic might relate to the economy. Simply showing, via arrows and bubbles, the multiplicity of aspects to this virus and the interactions of them which may be ahead of us.
Thank you again for these daily updates and the fine reporting!
29
So Iran refused to acknowledged the infections early on in order to avoid offending China. It stopped flights to China relatively late. This shows how much power China now has in the region.
The Iranian regime rather its own people suffer than offend China. Meanwhile, the same regime paints the US flag on the entrance to public toilets. This further confirms what I've been saying for years: the US sanctions against Iran accomplish little to weaken the regime, but they do increase the suffering of the Iranian people, and enhance China's and Russia's influence and presence in Iran.
15
@Neil I recently heard the saying "if the free world doesn't change China, China will change the free world."
While Iran is hardly the "free world," the saying sure seems to apply to governments and corporations around the globe.
5
I keep thinking of Bush's notorious praise for the head of FEMA during Hurricane Katrina ("great job Brownie") as Katrina victims lived in squalor in a stadium if they were "lucky," or drowned if they were unlucky. I keep thinking, we are all Katrina victims now. We are now all in this together. And our leadership doesn't seem to be much more competent than that exhibited during Katrina.
36
@Clarice:
We don't have "leadership." We have a science-denying buffoon at the top, surrounded by legions of sycophants.
The emperor is indeed wearing no clothes. And while he prances around naked, he minimizes the danger of this virus:
"Trump grew concerned that any stronger action by his administration would hurt the economy. Has told advisers he doesnt want to further spook markets. he’s worried that any large-scale coronavirus outbreak could hurt his reelection bid."
Lena Sun
Health reporter for The Washington Post
https://twitter.com/bylenasun/status/1229234433007529985
24
The US has cases, too. If we plan to cut off states from each other here from trade and travel, what? As we add that more realistic panic to the global rush to economic chaos and mutual fear. After all, the affected states are a heck of a lot closer than China or Iraq.
5
@jb Yes, but infected persons are in quarantine and/or isolated treatment centers; it does not appear that the virus is currently endemic in the communities at large, and what's more, 29 persons infected is vastly different from tens of thousands. To shut down travel in this country is unnecessary and would stoke mass panic.
6
@Emily
There’s at least one infected person, and another person who had close contact with that person, now in home quarantine in our small rural county.
That person arrived on a small commercial flight connection out of a hub connecting to China. That small flight would have been full.
While not in panic mode, I have my doubts this virus will be effectively contained.
18
The handling of the Diamond Princess passengers is hardly going to help this situation. The ship was an incubator for the disease and the Japanese authorities let passengers leave after their so-called quarantine. Japan should have demanded that every country with citizens on the ship repatriate their own, or pay to have them properly quarantined in Japan, well away from the incubator ship.
I can’t believe the WHO didn’t step in to insist on proper quarantining before passengers and crew walked around streets, malls; airports.
27
The main strategy in dealing with this coronavirus outbreak is undoubtedly to slow down the spread of the disease until it hopefully slows down on its own in the northern hemisphere as summer approaches and to allow the most time possible to develop treatment strategies like vaccines and testing existing anti-viral drugs.
That said, the question that begs answers is how governments will react to economic distress. The U.S. stock markets still appear unphased by this disease but how long will that last as negative economic and political worries keep mounting?
5
@AGoldstein...with respect, I don't see much of a correlation between of potentially tens of thousands of people DYING and our 'sacred' economies and markets. Is that really where human focus should be? No ones going to die because things end up costing more, their 401 take a hit, or even losing their job. Perspective, please...
8
Isn't this virus making the argument for universal healthcare more effectively than Bernie or Warren could do in a debate? Viruses can be quite "eloquent" in making their arguments.
46
The lack of testing, and testing capacity, here in the US is deeply alarming and frankly a scandal. The number of cases is both a function of actual prevalence and the testing being done (and what criteria there are for tests). South Korea has done 13,000 tests - that's why it's finding so many cases. The CDC has only disclosed 500 tests in the whole US - unbelievable considering how much larger we are, and how many more travelers from the original source regions arrived here in the December-January timeframe. The testing criteria in the US are unbelievably limiting considering what we're seeing in countries with FAR fewer travelers from China in the December-January period. Community spread in the US is almost certainly here.
This is an emergency, and is certainly a pandemic at this point. We need to get very serious about this and move fast. The distributed /regional nature of health care in the US will make this a challenge but there's absolutely no excuse for the lack of coordination and delays we are seeing now. It's not clear anyone is actually in charge and moving with the urgency that's needed.
71
@jackal Vancouver International Airport has been open to all from mainland China,
Hong Kong. Not all of them take self quarantine of 14 days when home. I have no idea if the world act fast to contain this Wuhan Coronavirus, which has been confirmed by Russia government, an so called allies of the CCP, is from re engineering.
6
@jackal:
Yes, the U.S. is utterly unprepared. I totally agree. So do healthcare experts and scientists, who've been writing about this with increasing urgency over the past week. I've tried posting some of the most reputable ones, such as Laurie Garrett, but my comments don't always get published. I think the NYT moderators are overwhelmed.
(On the other hand, conspiracy-theory comments do somehow get posted, which I'll never understand.)
5
It's at times like this that it should be become glaringly apparent to most recalcitrant of Small Government Thinkers where strong government regulations keep us safe...a government that puts academics and professionals in leadership roles instead of corporate CEOs.
105
So true. All the voters that want “less regulations and oversight” and “government out of our lives” will turn to the government, government funded hospitals, etc. for care and complain if the care isn’t “good enough”. If citizens don’t fund agencies and support experienced and knowledgeable leaders because they are against “big government” who will then take care of them?
23
Production is slowly back in motion. And the Coronavirus situation is seemingly improving and under control. Those are good signs.
However, the Chinese government still cannot find and identify the "first" patient of this Coronavirus disease, making it difficult to find the source and path of this fast spreading virus. Local officials mis-managed the virus in the first place caused this headache for the medical researchers and Chinese CDC.
On the other hand, this crisis also provides ample opportunities for frontier and new research that cooperation between China and many prominent institutions around the world are ongoing. New medicine are in various testing stages. It will help pharmaceutical industry to better handle unexpected virus attack in the future.
19
@Usok
Perhaps, the bigger question is that they might not want to trace the first patient, who incidentally might also be the first source of this virus. I think there is more to this story, things that China does not want others finding out.
34
This whole debacle underscores the massive mismanagement of a centralized and censured academic healthcare system in China and any increased “opportunity” for Chinese national researchers to work with Western academics is just another opportunity for Sino-based data theft and infringement on intellectual property.
3
@Usok :
The virus is being found in more different locations around the world. It's now in the Mid-East. Its been found in 500 Chinese prisoners. What's more of a "quarantine" than a prison? South Korea now has found it. You know darn well if it's in South Korea, North Korea has it too. And they certainly aren't going to publicize it or reveal how widespread it is there. I don't really know what makes you think things are improving.
23
Even 2 months into this and we seem to have more questions than answers.
Why have there been so few children infected?
How did it spread to Iran?
Why do the majority of people infected suffer no symptoms?
Are they contagious when they have no symptoms
Why did Dr. Li die when 90 percent of the fatalities are senior citizens with underlying medical conditions?
How could a country as modern and forward thinking as Japan make so many mistakes with the Diamond Princess?
2 months is a very long time, where are the answers?
160
> Why do the majority of people infected suffer no symptoms?
I don't believe that's true. Where was that reported?
11
@SE Yes about 80% of victims may have few or no symptoms other than a mild"cold"
10
@Lonnie From what I’ve read, those infected with the common cold virus are contagious before they show symptoms. The corona virus may be the same.
17
What is the safe time period for continuous use of a face mask? After how many hours or days it becomes ineffective and may be risky? Also, what percent of breath generally bypasses the mask specially if somebody is coughing?
To what extent common masks can prevent the movement of viruses. For comparison, only the most expensive high-end HVAC filters can block viruses. Rest of them are only good for visible particle matter.
2
@DM 2ish hours with surgical masks. 8 hours with N95 masks. Though surgical masks do not protect the wearer from others, only the other way around. N95 does a better job at both, but if equipped with a breathing valve, also only protects the wearer.
4
@DM The cheaper masks are mostly only effective in preventing larger droplets from being dispersed from an infected person wearing it and to a lesser extent stopping droplets from a very nearby infected person if a healthy person is wearing it. They won't stop individual virus particles obviously, that would take a high quality respirator.
4
@DM
FFP3 disposable particulate masks are the most effective and nearly impossible to buy any longer in the US.
2
It is clear, as the virus spreads, that countries are overly cautious, or even delusional, at admitting that the virus has entered their borders.
If Iran has 3 fatalities and 18 verified cases (17%), they simply haven't identified all the cases of infection. Experts point out that it is premature to assign a number to the fatality rate this early in the spread of the epidemic. Nevertheless, with a best guess of around 2.5% for worldwide fatality rate, there should be at least 40 infected people in Iran. That is a small number, but it means the Iranians don't know who the other infected people are. If they aren't putting superhuman efforts into tracking those infections down and quarantine them, the numbers will skyrocket.
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I think the situation in Iran is already beyond containment. News reports of air passengers from Iran bringing the virus to Beirut & Canada imply the virus has spread very rapidly, and perhaps, without detection.
12
Forget global warming. Incurable pandemic is by far the greatest threat to human species. This one could be it.
9
@CJT
It’s not “incurable” if people have recovered. It may be difficult to treat, but that’s not the same as incurable.
A vaccine is expected within 18 months and that should mitigate future infections.
But now we need an “all hands on deck” response to try and prevent infections, trace contacts of those infected and prevent further spread of the virus, insofar as all these are possible.
I’d also say we may need a worldwide pooling of funds to assist poor nations or those with poor health care infrastructure.
11
incurable and possible recovery are not mutually exclusive and a vaccine is not a cure.
2
@CJT They might be related. As livable land becomes less available due to global warming and sea level rises, what do you think the frequency of human/wildlife encounters will be? I can only imagine more problems.
1
And NOBODY is mentioning North Korea, which has a huge trade of goods and personnel with China. Is it not just a LITTLE suspicious that North Korea has not reported one single case? They're hiding something. Or many, many somethings.
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@BA Latin America hasn't reported any cases nor has central Africa even though there are lots of advisors from China in both places.
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@scvblwxq Yes, but it's WARM there - much less spread in warm climates.
2
@BA Quite a few authoritarian countries of southeast asia are all hiding cases.
6
"Iran acknowledged 18 cases in three cities, with four fatalities, and a surge in cases in South Korea was linked to a secretive church."
Frightening, Is this disease a pandemic? The COVID-19 epidemic in China has not yet met world health officials’ designation of a global pandemic that spreads far and wide throughout the world. While it has spread to more than two dozen countries, international health officials say there’s very little transmission on local levels outside of China right now.
That is not true anymore, the COVID-19 epidemic has spread to more than 25 countries or more including Iran. Iranian authorities toady acknowledged that they have18 cases in three cities, with four deaths.
This deadly virus is proving to be far more contagious than the seasonal flu and more contagious than the SARS. and the mortality rate is much higher than the seasonal flu
( mortality rate ofCOVID 19 is about 2%, seasonal flu less than 1%).
COVID 19 is becoming a deadly pandemic. CDC has confirmed only 15 cases in the USA as of now but things can change and it is only question of time this virus can spread across the US and overwhelm our emergency rooms and hospitals
10
Economics is ruling the day. Nations fear the broad economic impact to their national relation to the world.
3
Economics always rule the day, no matter what type of government.
5
Hmmm, money vs lives, which is more important?
1
The infectivity of this may preclude attempts at containment. It has clearly jumped international borders and there might not be a point in further isolation of China. I think we have to brace for a true pandemic. We're all going to be exposed to it eventually.
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@John
I think the one valid argument for continued containment at this point is to buy a bit of extra time in order to refine treatment modalities. The reports out of China must be taken with a huge grain of salt as they are apparently more concerned with maintenance of social order and economic output than the lives of their citizens.
Further, the natural history of this disease, as ascertained from natural experiments such as the Diamond Princess, indicates a long latency, high transmissibility and many asymptomatic carriers. This is not a pandemic that can be contained, only managed around the margins.
Americans should start preparations now. Within a month or two I believe we will see large clusters in major urban areas and severe economic impacts.
3
China manages its economy on the cheap for the benefit of the wealthy at the expense of its population with the most significant disparity of income and wealth in the world.
On the ongoing pandemic of Coronavirus, as will as the previous pandemics of SARS, etc., all of which originated in China, China’s unregulated livestock industry is a cesspool of dangerous viruses and bacteria. There are many reports of the outbreak of dangerous virus among animals, most recently pigs, in China which forces the culling of large herds of animals. This is why the West has a prohibition for the import of any animals, fowl, etc. from China. The science of the transfer of virus from animals to humans has been proved. There will be more pandemics originating from China as long as China’s livestock industry is unregulated.
I was listening to a epidemiologist on Canada’s CBC radio (a sister organization to the PBS) last week and he indicated that if the coronavirus reaches Africa or large developing countries in south Asia (India, Pakistan, etc.) or in the west Pacific (Indonesia, Philippines) then it can emerge and spread to be a global disaster … he added that this is because these countries do not have the infrastructure to deal with or control coronavirus.
There is the risk that if this scenario happens, then the coronavirus may have the impact of the 1918 influenza that killed more people than who died during WWI.
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@Gerry O'Brien The developing countries don't have the facilities to detect the virus. It may already be spreading in those countries. There are lots of advisors from China working in those areas.
8
CBC is not a sister organization to PBS, just saying.
8
@Gerry O'Brien
Quote: "China manages its economy on the cheap for the benefit of the wealthy at the expense of its population"
Sounds like the U.S.
2
The Trump administration cut CDC funding and research development funding for viruses too but his wall is being built because we all know viruses won’t penetrate his gorgeous wall.
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It's comical to watch humans explain how they think they know how to control a situation like this. As far as I'm concerned, we've seen enough to classify this situation as "out of control". The chips are going to fall where they may. Countries can try to hide reality. China can use whatever fuzzy math it wants to count cases. The WHO can be involved or not be involved. It doesn't matter. A lot of chips are going to fall before this is over with. Mother Nature wins every time.
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@Joe B The Basic rule of thumb for those in the know about lying communist govts, whatever bad numbers they put out, multiply it by 100. Good numbers, like growth, banking or debt to assets ratio, divide it. East germany downplayed the number who escaped across the border. Soviet Union downplayed the radiation effects. As long as lying is incentivized by unelected govts, the truth will always be censored.
4
This is a very contagious virus to have infected so many people. Unfortunately China made the epidemic much worse by minimizing its severity when it was first discovered. They put politics before people.
The WHO or some other international agency has to design protocols for how countries should deal with an outbreak. The world needs to be proactive, not reactive, if we’re to contain viruses and prevent more epidemics and pandemics.
The world needs strong, smart, forward-looking leadership. Where will it come from?
8
@Eric China is probably one of the few countries that could quarantine millions of people and still feed them to try to stop the infections.
3
Mortality rate should be calculated (Number Died)/(Number Recovered) = 20% and not (Number Died)/(Number Infected) = 2%, because we really don't know how many infected are going to die. The SARS and Ebola mortality rates were calculated after the epidemic was over.
16
It seems to me that evacuations, even with a quarantine period built in, are pretty effective-- in bringing the disease around the world, not in preventing its spread. Is there something I'm missing here? I'm also concerned that quarantine is not evenly applied. As far as I know, travelers are still able to connect from China through other countries to the US, arrive without any look at their travel history, and can decide for themselves whether they wish to respect self-quarantine rules. Seems like a recipe for disaster.
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@Emily It's hard to envision that any given measure will have a 100% success rate. With a highly contagious disease, it seems what is plausible is to slow down its spread. To seal this disease off would require that global travel and commerce cease.
7
@Emily
You're right.
We went and rescued a plane's worth of people from Wuhan when this started, they got quarantined in Alaska, then again when they got to San Francisco, and they all got a clean bill of health and went home.
Days later one of these folk walks into a San Diego hospital with full blown virus.
I imagine the tests either failed, or the incubation period is so long so as to lay hidden to tests and quarantines.
11
@Emily I hope the custom's agents are looking through passports to see where they've been. I know that some countries don't stamp so it's not possible to track everyone.
I'm certain there are MANY people who live in underdeveloped countries with horrible health care systems and the possibility of a coronavirus epidemic who are now scrambling to get enough money to fly to the U.S. or other first world countries. Can you blame them?
2
Covid-19 has exposed a problem we have: We live in a highly connected world in which a contagion can easily spread, yet we have no uniform way of dealing with it. Some countries ban flights from China, some don't; some countries repatriate their citizens from China, some don't; the different ways the two cruise ships in Japan and Cambodia were handled was rather striking; the policies for quarantine and isolation vary widely between countries; and poor countries are not likely to be well equipped to deal with an outbreak at all.
And the real irony here is this lack of a consistent approach to dealing with Covid-19 may likely repeat itself within the US. Our CDC only has power at the borders of the states and the nation; within each state it is up to state officials how to deal with the virus. We are again likely to see a hodge-podge of quarantine, isolation, and hospitalization policies.
If China, with its tight central control, is struggling to contain the epidemic internally, what chance does the rest of the world, with its chaotic policies, have to prevent a pandemic?
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@Scott Werden
The W.H.O, which has fallen behind the curve in previous outbreaks of migratory, communicable diseases (SARS, Ebola) is proving itself to be nothing but a collection of inept bureaucrats.
13
@Scott Werden
You are right. We are one world, but we are not acting like it. We are still acting like a collection of individual nations. Viruses know nothing of national boundaries.
12
@Scott Werden First of all, the State Dept didn't follow the CDC recommendations regarding flying infected people with uninfected people ( if they actually were uninfected) from the cruise ship back to the US together on same plane. The article stated that the State Department "won". If we have a government that doesn't follow CDC guidelines then we're pretty screwed.
3
"Chinese officials in the province hardest hit by the coronavirus acknowledged for the first time on Friday that their methods of confirming and reporting infection numbers had sown confusion and mistrust."
Just last week China reported 13,332 additional cases due to a change in how authorities are counting them. Besides lab-confirmed tests, authorities also added CT scan diagnosed infections.
"Over the past week, the authorities in the province of Hubei, home to the city at the epicenter of the outbreak, Wuhan, have revised their case tallies three times because of shifting definitions "
What is going on here? What is the role of the World Health Organization in reporting this epidemic? WHO has the mandate to lead and coordinate global surveillance In addition, WHO ensures international coordination of epidemic response, particularly for diseases of international public health importance or when countries lack the capacity to respond to an epidemic themselves.
Either China does not have the capacity or deliberately hiding the true number of cases, the WHO should step in.
11
@Padman
The W.H.O, which has fallen behind the curve in previous outbreaks of migratory, communicable diseases (SARS, Ebola) is proving itself to be nothing but a collection of inept bureaucrats.
10
A mortality rate of 2% for this virus compared to 0.2% for the Flu. Twenty times higher. Huh! So much for 'just the run of the mill fue like illness' often said earlier during this event.
Right?
21
@DAWGPOUND HAR It's probably much lower, there is no way to know the true number of people infected with the virus in China who never even knew they had the disease, because most people have no symptoms at all. What happens with all the people taken off the Diamond Princess will give us a much clearer understanding of the virus. There is a secrecy baked into all the news coming out of China.
3
@Lonnie
Quote: "most people have no symptoms at all."
You don't know that. Even the CDC doesn't know that.
8
@Lonnie – "most people have no symptoms at all"
What is the evidence for this?
4
Too late. Pakistan for one did not close borders with China and refused to acknowledge or report cases, saying they had no ability to do so. People from their crowded cities travel throughout the Middle East on work crews every single week, returning home for family visits. The virus is probably loose everywhere there now. You can't close off the entire world. Prepare for a wave of cases coming across Europe and North America.
86
We need to be thinking about the next virus, not the last one. Most annual flu epidemics start in China as well, where traditional agriculture and food marketing keeps humans in close proximity to multiple species of live animals, leading to mutations as viruses jump from one species to another. China has the ability to change quickly. Agriculture and food handling must be brought up to international standards.
Ironically vast imports of American pork were leading to a rapid decline in traditional agriculture until Trump's trade war. With a billion people cut off from pork, domestic small-farm production skyrockete and crowding of animals intensified, increasing the risk of viral mutation.
10
Xi and his party are focused on maintaining the image of China. Even USA cannot match the resilience of Chinese Stock Market. Despite several weeks of deserted streets in major cities, the stock indexes are doing just fine - most likely thanks to the very deep pockets of the party.
The question is how much of the similar efforts are going into arranging the chess board so that the reported number of new cases and deaths do not dent the image of the party's response to and the control over this virus.
8
@DM "the stock indexes are doing just fine" - because the Chinese government is pumping Chinese tax dollars into the Chinese stock markets.
5
S. Korea is in close proximity to China and there is a lot of people to people exchange and trade between the 2 countries. Remember flying a short hop from Seoul to Dalian some 5 years ago. Crowded public places and secretive churches will be breeding grounds for the COVID-19 Corona. It seems there are more modes of transmission and spread of the highly contagious nano sized COVID-19. If possibilities of fecal oral transmission are suspected, cold foods like kim chi of various kinds and foods eaten cold could become a source of COVID transmission. Back to the basics proper masks, gowns, proper hand washing along with eating well cooked foods and boiled liquid foods for a while may become a measure to prevent spread. Back to disposable chop sticks or thoroughly washed utensils and bottled water. All possible thoughtful precautions will be productive. Avoiding crowded places for now will be helpful in containing the virus. Keep space between every individual who is not a family member. Show affection and respect in traditional Asian way with a bow from a distance. Panic will be unproductive.
China remains the epicenter and it will not be surprising that 100,000 infections will have occurred and up to 3000 deaths are possible before the end of March. A vaccine is on the horizon but will there be a rapid manufacture to supply all those taking care of patients and those exposed or most likely to be exposed? Wonder who is coordinating the battle against Corona virus COVID-19?
24
@Girish Kotwal Boil your water. Humans don't need it to come in a precious bottle.
This is going full blown; it doesn't take any kind of expert to see that attempts at containment are futile. I think your numbers fall well short of what we will see come 5 weeks from now.
6
@Girish Kotwal
... 100,000 infections will have occurred and up to 3000 deaths are possible before the end of March.
We are already at over 76,000 and 2,100. Did you mean to say "end of February"?
6
@Jantzen from Jantzen. Attempts at containment are not futile. do you have any other novel way that may work better? My estimates are based on several factors what are your estimates or are you just going to arm chair attacks on estimates of others?
1
It is now clear that asymptomatic individuals spread the virus. The most recent publication in the New England Journal of Medicine showed high viral loads even in individuals who have no symptoms. Therefore quarantine based on travel to any countries at risk is warranted - there is no point in checking temperatures at airports.
132
@SridharC
Unfortunately, the "countries at risk" keep growing daily. If your recommendation were to be implemented, all international travel would have to be banned.
7
@Cordelia believe it or not the NIH director is admitting that it has worked - however the limiting travel is for a limited time - it maybe two to three cycles - 6 weeks more perhaps.
If an Iranian traveler to Canada has the virus then there is a good chance that thousands have been infected in Iran.
138
@Peter and everyone who was on the plane with them is at risk.
33
@Peter and that there more deaths than have been reported, possibly because lack of testing.
8
@Peter
The evidence doesn't support you. Steve Walsh, the British 'superspreader' infected a dozen or more people in a French alpine ski resort - yet France remains relatively free pf Covid-19.
5
Years from now, I wonder if we will see a correlation between countries with less freedom and faster spread of Covid. Transparency and free flow of information seems key to stopping a pandemic.
30
But free flow of information also unfortunately means free flow of MISinformation. How do you think measles came back? From the free spread of fake news that vaccines are dangerous and cause autism.
15
Your article’s title is ambiguous about the direction of infection, but it sounds like the new infection in Canada was from Iran. How on earth did the disease get to Iran? Is it now raging unnoticed in places off our radar like Pakistan? Or Central Asia?
The news is bleak. My thoughts are with everyone on the front lines of this nightmare.
74
@Julian WHO had a live broadcast today, the news really isn't that bleak. Relax.
@Julian
Laurie Garrett is a highly reputable, straightforward, no-nonsense scientist. She isn't an alarmist. And she agrees with you that the news is bleak. She's also disturbed by what she sees as the WHO's lackadaisical attitude. She links to the CDC's chart of the spread of Covid-19. You can watch how fast the numbers are rising:
"Let's be clear about this moment in #COVID19 : It's not about China anymore. It's about the world. Clusters will pop up all over & governments will fight the fires w/the tools + politics at hand. Some will put out their fires quickly. But some won't. We're in uncharted territory"
https://twitter.com/Laurie_Garrett/status/1230890473268576256
17
@Lonnie WHO doesn't seem to know what it's doing and doesn't have a handle on this.
2
And they have universal health care.
7
At least they have healthcare. just wait until it gets to America and starts infecting people with no insurance. You're going to pay for it whether you like it or not.
183
@northlander What are you implying?
Looking at the top photo of the group in South Korea in full hazmat protective gear disinfecting the church, I noticed that one of the fellows in the middle isn't wearing his goggles....rendering the rest of his protective gear pretty much useless. It is not following basic safety protocols like wearing goggles in situations like the one depicted, that will see this virus continue to spread.
37
@LisaB Although the virus remains viable for a short period, virtually all spread has been person-to-person. Spread by environmental contamination has not been demonstrated. Although there is nothing wrong with being careful it's unlikely that the environmental decontamination actually affects spread.
@Dan Woodard MD
Quote, with link to article quoting Chinese reserchers:
"Like I said, days ago. What is really making #COVID19 so much harder to control than #SARS is its ready transmission via oral/fecal/fomite routes. A mask won't help you there. Only vigorous hand-washing, strict 1-person towel use, & self-preparation of all food can cut this route."
3:35 PM · Feb 21, 2020
https://twitter.com/Laurie_Garrett/status/1230954241512157189
1
‘China’s secrecy has made the crisis much worse’. We don’t get reliable facts from China’s government. We get glimpses of what might be true.
Last week, Wu Yuanbin, director at the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, wrote in an official press release, that “China should enhance its management of viruses and bio agents at all labs and research institutes. The competent authorities also emphasized the need to strengthen the management of laboratories, especially viruses, to ensure biosecurity.”
In April 2004 the SARS virus escaped a BSL3 lab in Beijing at least three times. That led to doubts about the safety of Chinese virus labs. China had been correctly accused of secrecy and mendacity in the 2002 SARS outbreak, leading to more deaths. The new 2004 outbreak of SARS in Beijing was the fault of a series of flaws at the CDC's National Institute of Virology. World scientists wanted details about these new 2004 SARS infections and how the virus escaped the lab. More secrecy.
2020 - Why hasn’t China allowed independent investigators to access the Wuhan Institute of Virology BSL4 labs? Investigators could then rule out or implicate the lab as being the source. The lab handled strains of the coronaviruses. One could have escaped and infected patient zero. More secrecy.
BSL4 labs are highly complex. American CDC labs have also had compliance and safety issues documented by our government and press. Commonly, lab incidents are unreported or hidden.
48
@Charlie Brown Thank you for this, for you raise important questions about the origin of this new corona-virus.
But, does it really matter whether this new corona-virus is nature's doing, or is human manufactured? Scientists throughout the world will all need to find a cure.
I suppose knowing the truth is important because if scientists work off of a false premise, then thousands of man-hours is wasted looking down blind allies.
To be fair to the CCP, the U.S.A. keeps secrets too, but just because our leadership is like the CCP is not a reason to keep a secret, or even to be weaponizing viruses in the lab.
As a general rule, I support full transparency in all matters involving human and ecological health and well-being.
4
As long as china refuses to work with the international community they are to blame for this whole fiasco. The world should use the virus as an opportunity to condemn china and reduce their influence in the region. If china is truly not responsible for the outbreak, then why are they not accepting help from the outside? They are obviously hiding something, the question is if it's just their own incompetence or if there is some validity to some of the conspiracy theories that are popping up everywhere. Fact is as the virus spreads to other free nations, the nature of the virus may be better understood. This understanding however, depending on the nature of the virus may come at the cost of additional lives. I would expect the governments of the other countries to hold china directly responsible for those deaths if they could have been prevented by working together with international community instead of shrouding themselves in secrecy.
34
@Julian
The World Health Organisation - truly, the 'international community' of healthcare has had fifty people in China for nearly two weeks. Two of the WHO team are Americans.
Do you mean 'China refuses to work with America's CDC'? Do you blame them?
3
The assumption that coronavirus has a 14 day incubation period may need to be revisited.
130
@Jack They have found outliers at 24 days, well beyond the 14 days.
12
The deaths among young, previously healthy health-care providers is especially concerning, as health-care providers take extra precautions against getting and spreading infection.
135
These health care workers have likely been in states of high stress and exhaustion for weeks. Not to blame victims at all - it is just part of the tragedy that young highly trained fighters on the extremely dangerous front lines of treating the sick in this crisis so sadly paid with their lives.
Until reading this I did not realize that women who pursue virology may have a slight genetic protection in their work due to strong immune response. (Tough work for anyone, however, and who knows what autoimmune responses covid 19 may provoke.)
15
@Svrwmrs How do you know they've been instructed in or are following the correct procedures for donning and doffing protective gear? Are you CERTAIN that they changed masks then the mask got moist (which renders it ineffective)? You don't know any of this and it is not a simple task to put on or, more important, REMOVE protective clothing and gear so that you don't self-contaminate. Errors happen. Do you think about who pushed an elevator button before you? Probably not. How about using your credit card in a store where you have to type in a PIN or sign using a tethered stylus? It's a gamble, everywhere.
15
@Svrwmrs As in this country, intensive care units tend to have younger physicians providing the most high risk care. They will remain the highest at risk. This was the experience with MERS in Middle East and SARS in the Far East. It will be no different with Covid 19.
1
See the protective gear and the gloved hands on the tablet screen? As an RN, I worry about technology devices and spread of infection. Where does the tablet go next, and how is it appropriately disinfected? Is there an effective protocol? Even if stays in the individual patient unit, pay attention to phones, screens and keyboards. These devices are everywhere and gloved and ungloved hands touch them, washed and unwashed hands touch them.
233
Include remotes, patient trays and wheelchairs
42
@Nancy T. And don't forget elevator buttons, cell phones. And much, much more.
31
@Nancy T. And what about money? What about the exchange of cash and credit cards?
8