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posted by martyb on Tuesday February 18 2020, @03:06AM   Printer-friendly
from the nasty-little-buggers dept.

This story is a roundup of several virus stories that were submitted over the past few days. This is a changing story, so some of what is posted below may have changed since the time of their originally being published.

What's in a name? One significant change is what the names are for everything. There is the question of what to call the actual virus and then what to call it when someone is infected.

Virus: The virus by itself is now officially referred to as SARS-CoV-2 (Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2). It was formerly known as 2019-nCoV (2019 novel coronavirus).

Disease: Those who have been infected by this virus are said to have a disease. The name of the disease is coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which is also known as 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease.

More details are available on Wikipedia.

The six submitted stories are presented below.

NIH Official Says Coronavirus 'on the Verge' of Becoming Global Pandemic Unless Containment Improves

NIH official says coronavirus 'on the verge' of becoming global pandemic unless containment becomes 'more successful':

Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CBS's "Face The Nation" that multiple person-to-person transmissions need to occur in multiple countries in order to reach the pandemic threshold.

[...] "Technically speaking, the [World Health Organization] wouldn't be calling this a global pandemic. But it certainly is on the verge of that happening reasonably soon unless containment is more successful than it is right now," he said.

Coronavirus Selections

To Tame Coronavirus, Mao-Style Social Control Blankets China:

Residential lockdowns of varying strictness — from checkpoints at building entrances to hard limits on going outdoors — now cover at least 760 million people in China, or more than half the country's population, according to a New York Times analysis of government announcements in provinces and major cities. Many of these people live far from the city of Wuhan, where the virus was first reported and which the government sealed off last month.

44 Americans on the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship Diagnosed with Coronavirus:

Another 70 cases of the coronavirus infection have been confirmed aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, currently quarantined in Japan, according to Japanese health officials.

This brings the total number of cases aboard the vessel as of Sunday to 355, the largest confirmed cluster outside mainland China. People with confirmed infections have been taken to hospitals in Japan.

Tokyo Olympics Organizers Says There is no 'Plan B' for 2020 Summer Games Amid Coronavirus Fears:

Tokyo Olympic organizers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said there is no 'Plan B' for the upcoming summer games despite growing fears that the coronavirus could impact the event, which are set to begin in July, the Associated Press reported.

Speaking at a press conference Friday, the organizers took 11 questions, all of which were related to the virus, athletes and fans coming in from China, and the continuation of the planned events.

"Certainly the advice we've received externally from the WHO [World Health Organization] is that there's no case for any contingency plans or canceling the games or moving the games," IOC inspection team head John Coates said during the news conference, CBS Sports reported.

Coates also claimed he is "100% confident" that the Olympic games will continue as scheduled.

The White House Doesn't Trust China's Coronavirus Numbers - Here's why:

The White House said this week it does "not have high confidence in the information coming out of China" regarding the count of coronavirus cases, a senior administration official told CNBC. Meanwhile, China has reportedly been reluctant to accept help from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and has reportedly suppressed information about the outbreak from scientists that it deems alarming.

U.S. officials' mistrust of China goes as far back as the 1950s, when national authorities set unrealistic production quotas that led local officials to inflate data. Mishaps with the 2003 outbreak of SARS, which sickened 8,098 people and killed about 800 over nine months, and discrepancies in reporting of economic data over the past two decades has only hardened the U.S. government's belief that China cannot be trusted, experts say. White House advisor Peter Navarro has even called China a "disease incubator."

See also: ACE2 Expression in Kidney and Testis May Cause Kidney and Testis Damage After 2019-nCoV Infection
The possible origins of 2019-nCoV coronavirus (scrubbed or hoax preprint on ResearchGate)

China Washes Money in Bid to Stop Conovirus COVID-19

When the going gets tough the tough get washing. In a bid to stop the Coronavirus (COVID-19) China has taken to washing money using ultraviolet light or very high temperatures. This is intended to "secure the public's safety and health when using cash". This effort may not be required due to China's rising reliance on electronic payments.

Americans Trapped on Cruise Ship with Coronavirus get to go Home

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Approximately 400 Americans may finally get to go home after being trapped aboard a cruise ship in Japan with the largest outbreak of coronavirus outside of China.

Everyone aboard the Diamond Princess has been under quarantine on the ship in Yokohama, Japan (south of Tokyo), since February 3. At the start of the quarantine, there were 2,666 guests and 1,045 crew on board the ship. Since then, 285 cases of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) have been identified, according to the latest figures reported by the World Health Organization.

The outbreak of COVID-19 aboard the Diamond Princess is currently the largest of any cluster outside of China. Singapore is the country with the next largest cluster, reporting 72 cases.

According to the CDC, the itinerary for the extracted Americans will go as follows: buses will move the travelers from the ship to chartered planes. Travelers will be screened for symptoms of COVID-19 prior to boarding the aircraft to prevent any symptomatic travelers from leaving Japan. They will continue to be monitored for symptoms during flight and again upon arrival in the US. They will first arrive at Travis Air Force Base in California, which is already being used as a federal quarantine site for repatriated travelers. Some travelers will then be taken onward to another federal quarantine site, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas. The repatriated cruise-ship goers will be housed separately from others already in quarantine at both bases.

[...] During the quarantine, which was scheduled to last until February 19, passengers have largely been confined to their cabins. Some have reported problems with the delivery of food and supplies, such as diapers.

[...] The embassy noted that if any passengers "choose not to return on this charter flight, you will be unable to return to the United States for a period of time. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will make a final determination on this matter."

-- submitted from IRC

High-Tech Shortages Loom as Coronavirus Shutdowns Hit Manufacturers

There are now more than 45,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus dubbed COVID-19 by the World Health Organization, and the disease has caused at least 1,115 deaths. The impact of the virus is now reaching way beyond public health: China is at the heart of global manufacturing, and as supply chains suffer, panic is beginning to set in.

In many provinces across China the government has urged hundreds of millions of workers to stay home to help reduce the spread of the virus. As a result, many factories have stayed closed since the Lunar New Year holiday in late January, halting the production of products and parts destined for countries around the world, including Australia.

Apple is one of the most high-profile companies affected, with its manufacturing partner Foxconn hitting a lengthy production delay, but they are far from alone.

The sectors hit hardest appear to be high-tech electronics, pharmaceuticals and the automotive industry.

Globalised supply chains and just-in-time manufacturing mean many seemingly unrelated products are vulnerable to pauses in the flow of goods from China.

It only takes one small missing part to bring entire supply chains to a standstill. If a tyre manufacturer in the United States doesn't receive valves from a supplier in China, a car plant in Germany won't receive any tyres, and therefore can't ship finished cars to its customers.

[...] For many industries the next few months will bring high levels of uncertainty, with disruptions certain to continue, before recovery programs can start to gain traction.

This is obviously a worry for many organizations, but could also be a period of new opportunity for others, as the world comes to terms with this latest global health crisis. Supply chains that are agile enough to react quicker than their competitors," or those with more robust risk management plans, might find themselves gaining greater market share as a result of this crisis.

Apple Warns Coronavirus Will Hurt iPhones Supplies

Apple warns coronavirus will hurt iPhones supplies:

Apple has warned that disruption in China from the coronavirus will mean revenues falling short of forecasts.

The tech giant said production and sales were affected, and that "worldwide iPhone supply will be temporarily constrained".

[...] "We do not expect to meet the revenue guidance we provided for the March quarter," the company said in a statement, adding that it was "experiencing a slower return to normal conditions" than expected.

With most stores in China either closed or operating at reduced hours, sales of Apple products would be lower, the company said.

Apple said that "while our iPhone manufacturing partner sites are located outside the Hubei province - and while all of these facilities have reopened - they are ramping up more slowly than we had anticipated.

"All of our stores in China and many of our partner stores have been closed," it added. "Additionally, stores that are open have been operating at reduced hours and with very low customer traffic. We are gradually reopening our retail stores and will continue to do so as steadily and safely as we can."

Previously:
MWC Barcelona 2020: "Mobile World Congress" or "Most Won't Come"?
Coronavirus Roundup
Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Roundup
2019-nCoV Coronavirus Story Roundup
Coronavirus Declared a Global Health Emergency by World Health Organization
In The Pipeline: Coronavirus
China Battles Coronavirus Outbreak: All the Latest Updates
Coronavirus: Millions Quarantined in Wuhan City
China Confirms Human-To-Human Transmission of New Coronavirus; CDC Confirms First US Case
China Reports 3rd Death, Nearly 140 New Cases of Coronavirus

Original Submission #1Original Submission #2Original Submission #3Original Submission #4Original Submission #5Original Submission #6

Related Stories

China Reports 3rd Death, Nearly 140 New Cases of Coronavirus 5 comments

China reports 3rd death, nearly 140 new cases of coronavirus:

China reported on Monday its third death from a mysterious new virus and nearly 140 fresh cases as the disease spread to other parts of the country, including Beijing, raising concerns about more infections as millions begin trips for the Lunar New Year.

Medical experts are still struggling to understand the new strain of coronavirus but its connection with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome has caused alarm. SARS originated in southern China in 2002 before spreading to Hong Kong and elsewhere in the world infecting thousands and leaving more than 800 people dead.

Coronaviruses usually cause mild to moderate upper-respiratory tract illnesses, such as the common cold, but can also affect the lower-respiratory tract, causing pneumonia or bronchitis.

[...] In Wuhan, the city in central China where the new strain first emerged, 136 new cases were found over the weekend the local health commission said, without giving details about the person who died.

[...] A total of 201 people have now been diagnosed with the virus in China. In Wuhan, 170 people are still being treated in hospital, including nine in critical condition, the city health commission said.

Wuhan is a city of 11 million inhabitants that serves as a major transport hub, including during the annual Lunar New Year holiday when hundreds of millions of Chinese people travel across the country to visit family.


Original Submission

China Confirms Human-To-Human Transmission of New Coronavirus; CDC Confirms First US Case 42 comments

China confirms human-to-human transmission of new coronavirus:

Human-to-human transmission of a new coronavirus strain has been confirmed in China, fueling fears of a major outbreak of the SARS-like virus as millions travel for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Zhong Nanshan, head of the National Health Commission, said on Monday patients may have contracted the new virus without having visited the central city of Wuhan where it was discovered before spreading across China and reaching three other Asian nations.

"Currently, it can be said it is affirmative that there is the phenomenon of human-to-human transmission," he said in an interview with China's CCTV state broadcaster.

Zhong said two people in Guangdong province in southern China caught the disease from family members who had visited Wuhan.

He added that 14 medical personnel helping with coronavirus patients have also been infected.

Human-to-human transmission could make the virus spread more quickly and widely.

CDC Confirms First US Case of New Coronavirus

Public health officials have confirmed the first U.S. case of a mysterious coronavirus that has already killed at least six people and sickened hundreds of others in China, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.

A male traveler from China has been diagnosed in Snohomish County, Washington State with the Wuhan coronavirus, according to the CDC.

Officials said the sick male, in his 30s, is “very healthy.” He is currently being isolated at a medical center in the state “out of caution” and “poses little risk” to the public, they said. The CDC said the male reached out to local health authorities on Jan. 15 once he started experiencing pneumonia-like symptoms.

Previously:
China Reports 3rd Death, Nearly 140 New Cases of Coronavirus

Original Submission

Coronavirus: Millions Quarantined in Wuhan City 36 comments

Chinese Authorities Begin Quarantine Of Wuhan City As Coronavirus Cases Multiply:

Wuhan's public health authorities say they are in a "state of war" as they quarantine the Chinese city in an attempt to halt the spread of a never-before-seen strain of coronavirus. "Strictly implement emergency response requirements, enter into a state of war and implement wartime measures to resolutely curb the spread of this epidemic," urged a committee of Wuhan's top officials. "Homes must be segregated, neighbors must be watched."

Later Thursday, health officials from the World Health Organization decided not to declare the outbreak an international health emergency. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that after two days of meetings in Geneva with the organization's Emergency Committee, the group was divided. "Make no mistake. This is an emergency in China, but it has not yet become a global health emergency," Tedros said. "It may yet become one." The WHO is not recommending any international restrictions on trade or travel, but does recommend exit screenings at airports.

Beginning at 10 a.m. local time (9 p.m. Wednesday ET), authorities in Wuhan, about 500 miles west of Shanghai, started sealing off public transportation, including its metro system, airport, train station and long-haul bus hubs. Livestreamed videos from the city show soldiers wearing face masks barricading the entrances to the city's train station Thursday morning to prevent passengers from entering and leaving the city.

Wuhan, China, is scrambling to build a hospital in just 6 days to treat coronavirus patients as its health system gets overwhelmed:

China Battles Coronavirus Outbreak: All the Latest Updates 84 comments

China Battles Coronavirus Outbreak: All the Latest Updates:

The virus thought to have originated in a Wuhan food market continues to spread as China steps up containment efforts.

[...] China is extending the Lunar New Year holiday for three days and enforcing strict containment measures in an attempt to curb the spread of a new coronavirus that has killed 80 people and infected at more than 2,700, most of them in the central province of Hubei where the virus first emerged.

The holiday season was due to end on Friday but will now be extended until February 2.

More than 56 million people in almost 20 cities, including the Hubei capital of Wuhan, have been affected by travel restrictions, introduced amid fears the transmission rate will balloon as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel during the Lunar New Year celebrations.

[...] Health authorities around the world are taking action to prevent a pandemic as more countries report cases. Confirmed cases have so far been announced in several Asiancountries, Europe and North America.

[...] The World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged the respiratory illness, which has been traced to the city of Wuhan, is an emergency in China but the organisation said on Thursday it was too early to declare the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

Previously:


Original Submission

In The Pipeline: Coronavirus 45 comments

https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2020/01/27/coronavirus

As the world knows, we face an emerging virus threat in the Wuhan coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak. The problem is, right now there are several important things that we don't know about the situation. The mortality rate, the ease of human-human transmission, the rate of mutation of the virus (and how many strains we might be dealing with – all of these need more clarity. Unfortunately, we've already gone past the MERS outbreak in severity (which until now was the most recent new coronavirus to make the jump into humans). If we're fortunate, though, we'll still have something that will be worrisome, but not as bad as (say) the usual flu numbers (many people don't realize that influenza kills tens of thousands of people in the US each year). The worst case, though, is something like 1918, and we really, really don't need that.

[Ed note: The linked story is by Derek Lowe who writes a "commentary on drug discovery and the pharma industry". He is perhaps best known for his "Things I Won't Work With" blog entries which are as hilarious as they are... eye opening. I have found him to be a no-nonsense writer who "tells things as they are", holding no punches. The whole story is worth reading as he clearly explains what a coronavirus is, about the current one that reportedly originated in Wuhan, China, what could be done about it, how long that would likely take, and what can be done for those who have already been infected. --martyb]

Previous Stories Referencing Derek Lowe:

Original Submission

Coronavirus Declared a Global Health Emergency by World Health Organization 84 comments

Coronavirus declared global health emergency by WHO

The new coronavirus has been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization, as the outbreak continues to spread outside China.

"The main reason for this declaration is not what is happening in China but what is happening in other countries," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The concern is that it could spread to countries with weaker health systems.

1st Person-To-Person Spread Of Coronavirus Has Occurred In U.S., CDC Says

Coronavirus: US reports first person-to-person transmission

Chicago health officials have reported the first US case of human-to-human transmission of the deadly coronavirus.

The new patient is the spouse of a Chicago woman who carried the infection back from Wuhan, China, the US Centers for Disease Control said on Thursday.

The discovery marks the second report of the virus in Illinois and the sixth confirmed case in the US.

This paper provides early estimates of 2019-nCoV epidemiological parameters: Novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV: early estimation of epidemiological parameters and epidemic predictions (open, DOI: 10.1101/2020.01.23.20018549) (DX)

Used model does not offer much grounds for optimism.

Previously:


Original Submission #1Original Submission #2Original Submission #3

2019-nCoV Coronavirus Story Roundup 75 comments

Multiple Soylentils have submitted stories regarding the 2019-nCoV coronavirus which is believed to have originated in the city of Wuhan, China in December 2019. Rather than have a smattering of stories appear on the site, they have been gathered here in one story. Read on if you are interested; otherwise another story will be along presently.

Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Roundup 62 comments

Editor's Comment: The figures and statistics regarding the novel coronavirus outbreak are changing daily and there are differences between reports from different sources. The latest figures, which we believe to be from a reputable source and which are being regularly updated, can be found at the worldometers. If you have a favourite site for updated information please leave a link in the comments.

Chinese Whistleblower Doctor Dies Due to Coronavirus

Li Wenliang: Coronavirus kills Chinese whistleblower doctor

A Chinese doctor who tried to issue the first warning about the deadly coronavirus outbreak has died, the hospital treating him has said. Li Wenliang contracted the virus while working at Wuhan Central Hospital. He had sent out a warning to fellow medics on 30 December but police told him to stop "making false comments".

There had been contradictory reports about his death, but the People's Daily now says he died at 02:58 on Friday (18:58 GMT Thursday).

The virus has killed 636 people and infected 31,161 in mainland China, the National Health Commission's latest figures show. The death toll includes 73 new deaths reported on Thursday.

An AC writes:

Wuhan hospital announces death of whistleblower doctor after confusion in state media

This story has been updated to reflect the latest statement from Wuhan Central Hospital, after confusion in state media reports.

Li died of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan in the early hours of Friday morning (local time).

"Our hospital's ophthalmologist Li Wenliang was unfortunately infected with coronavirus during his work in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic," the latest hospital statement read.

"He died at 2:58 am on Feb 7 after attempts to resuscitate were unsuccessful."

Earlier on Thursday night, several state media outlets had reported Li's death, following which Chinese social media erupted in profound grief and anger.

Coronavirus Roundup 24 comments

Coronavirus Roundup

Both c0lo and takyon write in with today's coronavirus collection of stories:

Why are children 'missing' from coronavirus outbreak cases?

So far, it seems that youth protects against the worst effects of 2019-nCoV.

The outbreak of a new coronavirus in China has killed more than 900 people, but one group has escaped with minimal damage: children.

Youth can certainly contract the virus. Among the infected are at least two newborns, according to Chinese health officials. But few children are among those sick enough to be diagnosed with the coronavirus, according to an article published Feb. 5 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. According to the data analyzed in that article — and numbers are changing quickly as the outbreak evolves — the median age of patients skews older, between 49 and 56 years old.

It's not entirely clear why children seem to be escaping the worst effects of the virus, dubbed 2019-nCoV. But a similar pattern holds for many infectious diseases, from the familiar, such as chickenpox and measles, to the newly emerged, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), doctors say.

MWC Barcelona 2020: "Mobile World Congress" or "Most Won't Come"? 35 comments

Each year, the GSMA (GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) Association) holds three MWC (Mobile World Congress) events. The next is MWC Barcelona and is scheduled for 24-27 February 2020 in Barcelona, Spain. The next event scheduled for this year is MWC Shanghai 2020, scheduled for 30 June - 2 July 2020 in Shanghai, China. And rounding out 2020 is the last event, MWC Los Angeles, California on 28-30 October 2020.

Since 2011, MWC Barcelona has been known as the GSMA Mobile World Capital. It is the oldest and largest of the MWC series, so some of the largest mobile product announcements occur at this event. The 2018 event attracted attendees around the world. Approximately half of the attendees hold senior positions in their firms. In other words, in the mobile market, MWC Barcelona is a "Really Big Deal."

That was all history. The recent outbreak of the 2019-nCoV Coronovirus has made quite a stir worldwide. Major players in the mobile arena are concerned about sending their representatives to a venue with approximately 100,000 attendees drawn from all around the world.

Major companies in the mobile space have recently announced plans to either skip MWC Barcelona entirely or, in some cases, make presentations remotely. These include: including Intel, TCL, Sony, Amazon, Samsung, Nvidia, Ericsson Vivo, and MediaTek among many others.

[...] It will be "interesting" to see what the follow-on effects will be from the reduced attendance. The June MWC is scheduled for Shanghai (a major city in China - the country that is the apparent source of the 2019-nCov coronoavirus and imposing major quarantines trying to stem its spread). Thus, unless 2019-nCoV is brought under control in record time, things do not look good for those who were diverted from Barcelona to look forward to making up the difference 4 months later. That leaves waiting for MWC LA at the end of October, or making more one-on-one connections to work out buying and selling decisions.

[Editors' Note: The World Health Organisation has formally renamed the virus to COVID-19]

CoronaVirus (SARS-CoV-2) Roundup 2020-03-12 93 comments

Even though it has only been a short while since our last round-up there are 22 separate stories merged into this round-up. Many report duplicate news but, nevertheless, we have tried to distill the important elements of each submission.

Firstly, there is some confusion regarding the actual names that are reported for the virus, the disease that it causes, and names frequently seen in media reporting. From https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-020-0695-z:

The present outbreak of a coronavirus-associated acute respiratory disease called coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is the third documented spillover of an animal coronavirus to humans in only two decades that has resulted in a major epidemic. The Coronaviridae Study Group (CSG) of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, which is responsible for developing the classification of viruses and taxon nomenclature of the family Coronaviridae, has assessed the placement of the human pathogen, tentatively named 2019-nCoV, within the Coronaviridae. Based on phylogeny, taxonomy and established practice, the CSG recognizes this virus as forming a sister clade to the prototype human and bat severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses (SARS-CoVs) of the species Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus, and designates it as SARS-CoV-2.

In order to facilitate communication, the CSG proposes to use the following naming convention for individual isolates: SARS-CoV-2/host/location/isolate/date. While the full spectrum of clinical manifestations associated with SARS-CoV-2 infections in humans remains to be determined, the independent zoonotic transmission of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 highlights the need for studying viruses at the species level to complement research focused on individual pathogenic viruses of immediate significance. This will improve our understanding of virus–host interactions in an ever-changing environment and enhance our preparedness for future outbreaks.

There is much more information at the link provided.

Secondly, as this is a fusion of stories received over the last week or so take all quoted figures of casualties as possibly out-of-date. At the time of merging these stories (12 Mar 20) there have been 127,863 confirmed cases world-wide resulting in 4,717 deaths. 68,309 people have already recovered with the remainder either in self-imposed or advisory isolation, in basic hospital care and a relatively small number in critical care. The pandemic has affected 116 countries/regions. Source: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6 - a graphical display produced by Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

Many countries have taken emergency measures to restrict travel or large gatherings of people. As this is a very fluid situation we suggest you refer to the media of any specific country in which you have an interest. President Trump has banned transatlantic air travel from countries in mainland Europe to the USA from Friday 2020-03-13 at 23:59 (no timezone stated) for a period initially of 30 days, and air travel within Europe is also significantly disrupted.

SoylentNews Community -- How has SAR-CoV-2 (Coronavirus) / COVID-19 Affected You? 325 comments

A lot has already happened this year. SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2) which can cause COVID-19 (COronaVIrus Disease 2019) has been making headlines shortly after it was first reported. The first cases were reported to WHO (World Health Organization) on 2019-12-31. The virus spread. It began as an epidemic in China . The world watched apprehensively. Reports surfaced of cases in other countries and the the apprehension grew. For many folk, it turned to fear when it was upgraded to a pandemic: WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 11 March 2020: "We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic."

We have seen increasing efforts to stem the spread of the disease. Efforts have run the gamut. Closing of borders. Cancellation of sporting events. Conferences cancelled. Churches and other places of worship also closed. Schools closed. Panic buying of household goods and supplies. Supply chain disruptions affecting manufacturers. Restaurant, bars, and other such establishments closed. Work-from-home policies established and enacted.

The changes have been many, widespread, and continuing.

Reading about all the ways that "other people" have been affected is one thing. It seems different, somehow, when it hits closer to home and affects us directly. With many of our usual social activities curtailed or cancelled, it is easy to begin isolating and lose perspective. SoylentNews arose from a troubled period (the SlashCott) and a community has formed from that challenging period.

How have you been affected? Have you been infected? Had a family member or friend who was? Helped neighbors who are struggling? Hunkering down and isolating? (In a basement is optional.) Are you suddenly working from home and finding it challenging to manage your time? Still working on site, but now have a faster commute due to all the other people staying home? Catching up on watching TV shows? Reading more SoylentNews? How has your life changed?

From a somewhat different perspective, how have others helped you to cope... and how have you been able to help others? One of the potential impacts of social distancing is isolation and depression. I count myself fortunate, indeed, to have served this site for over 6 years and for all the people I have gotten to know, here. For those who may not be aware, SoylentNews has its own IRC (Internet Relay Chat) server. Feel free to drop in to #Soylent and just say "Hi!"

Social distancing is permanent when you're dead. So, practice good hygiene and stay safe.

Previously (oldest first):
China Battles Coronavirus Outbreak: All the Latest Updates
2019-nCoV Coronavirus Story Roundup
Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Roundup
Coronavirus Roundup
Coronavirus Roundup (Feb. 17)
Roundup of Stories about the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus and COVID-19 Disease
COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 - CoronaVirus) Roundup
CoronaVirus (SARS-CoV-2) Roundup 2020-03-12
Working from Home: Lessons Learned Over 20 Years


Original Submission

2020-03-25 Coronavirus (COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2) Story Roundup 85 comments

This story presents a roundup of a selection of our COVID-19, SARS-Cov-2, coronavirus story submissions. Some stories have been omitted because they were a duplicate, outdated, superseded, and sometimes just as a matter of keeping the size of these roundups managable. etc. (Before thinning, this story contained over 16,500 words (excluding HTML markup) and that excluded what is contained in this introduction.

If you are not interested in this coverage, then please ignore this story; another story will appear presently. Otherwise, please see the rest of the story below the fold:

2020-03-30 Coronavirus (COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2) Story Roundup 108 comments

This story is a merge of 30 story submissions. Given that it was well over 17,000 words of original source material (excluding HTML markup!), a great deal of pruning was performed to get it to a manageable size. I strongly encourage folks to read the linked articles for more information.

For latest statistics, and finer granularity, see https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/.

As of 20200330_151936 UTC, it reported these world-wide totals:

  • Coronavirus Cases: 743,081
  • Deaths: 35,347
  • Recovered: 157,046
  • Active Cases:
    • 550,688 (Currently Infected Patients)
    • 522,206 (95%) in Mild Condition
    • 28,482 (5%) Serious or Critical
  • Closed Cases:
    • 192,393 Cases which had an outcome
    • 157,046 (82%) Recovered / Discharged
    • 35,347 (18%) Deaths

Stories appear below the fold.

2020-06-15 Roundup of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV2, Coronavirus) Stories 153 comments

World-wide data as of: 20200615_140637 UTC:

total_count 8,028,325
closed_count 4,584,407
closed_deaths_count 436,277
closed_deaths_percent (10%)
closed_recovered_count 4,148,130
closed_recovered_percent (90%)
active_count 3,443,918
active_mild_count 3,389,380
active_mild_percent (98%)
active_serious_count 54,538
active_serious_percent (2%)
total_deaths 436,277

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(1)
  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by takyon on Tuesday February 18 2020, @03:10AM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday February 18 2020, @03:10AM (#959409) Journal

    Coronavirus cancels F1 and Formula E races, could make EU miss CO2 target [arstechnica.com]

    No batteries? There's also the CO2 effects of running the incinerators 24/7.

    A battery shortage is just what the tech industry consumer coronazombie doesn't need. Along with other factory shutdowns, it might be a good excuse to double the prices of phones and laptops. And Nintendo Switch [wccftech.com].

    Chinese activist detained after calling Xi Jinping 'clueless' on coronavirus crisis [theguardian.com]

    This is not the only person to get black bagged lately, just a more prominent one. Some people are calling for revolution. Unfortunately, quarantine "wartime conditions" allow China to easily get very up close and personal with would-be activists. And if they die, the government can just incinerate the bodies and blame the virus.

    14 passengers on US charter flights evacuating the Diamond Princess have tested positive for coronavirus [cnn.com]

    Before the announcement about the infected flight passengers, some Americans aboard the Diamond Princess said they didn't want to take a chance being evacuated for fear they would be subject to possible infection.

    Sacramento resident Matthew Smith told CNN affiliate KOVR that he would rather deal with issues in Japan than be evacuated and quarantined in the United States.

    "We decided we would just face whatever consequences here rather than exposing ourselves to that situation," Smith told the affiliate."It kind of didn't make any sense if the us was fearful that these were infected people which is why they're going to quarantine them for another 2 weeks to have thrown them all together"

    Smith's wife Katherine Codekas was met with some surprise when she told authorities that she and her husband weren't going to go with the other American evacuees, KOVR reported.

    "They came back around again and I said no we're not going and they very sincerely wished us luck but there was a little look of surprise on their face," Codekas explained to the affiliate.

    "You know, it's not like we're the last helicopter off the roof top in Ho Chi Mihn City," she told KOVR. "We're on a boat and we're watching people go away and people just make different choices about how they want to confront the virus."

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
  • (Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Tuesday February 18 2020, @03:24AM (5 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday February 18 2020, @03:24AM (#959411) Journal

    https://web.archive.org/web/20200214144447/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339070128_The_possible_origins_of_2019-nCoV_coronavirus [archive.org]

    https://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.21799.29601 [doi.org]

    That DOI link wasn't active before, but now it goes to a page that says "This content has been removed by the author
    Sorry, the content associated with this DOI is no longer available on ResearchGate."

    The paper was purportedly submitted by Botao Xiao, a researcher from the South China University of Technology.

    A direct speculation was that SARS-CoV or its derivative might leak from the laboratory. In summary, somebody was entangled with the evolution of 2019-nCoV coronavirus. In addition to origins of natural recombination and intermediate host, the killer coronavirus probably originated from a laboratory in Wuhan. Safety level may need to be reinforced in high risk biohazardous laboratories. Regulations may be taken to relocate these laboratories far away from city center and other densely populated places.

    [...] This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11772133, 11372116).

    So if it was removed by the author and it's not a prank paper, you could imagine someone was displeased with that conclusion.

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
  • (Score: 1, Troll) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday February 18 2020, @03:32AM (27 children)

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Tuesday February 18 2020, @03:32AM (#959414) Homepage Journal

    Given the rates of contagion and mortality reported so far, the flu is a hell of a lot scarier and it's so boring that plenty of folks don't even bother with a flu shot. This is nothing but fearmongering clickbait.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday February 18 2020, @03:35AM (21 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday February 18 2020, @03:35AM (#959417) Journal

      It's just a flu, bro!

      Get coughed on.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday February 18 2020, @03:43AM (20 children)

        by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Tuesday February 18 2020, @03:43AM (#959421) Homepage Journal

        I wasn't talking about this story, I was talking about the whole global scare campaign. I've ripped farts that were more worrisome.

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @03:58AM (4 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @03:58AM (#959425)

          95% of vitamin C comes from China. Get as much as possible now, use a polarizer to test each batch for purity: https://www.facebook.com/hkust/videos/606119420178477/?type=2&theater [facebook.com]

        • (Score: 4, Interesting) by takyon on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:20AM (12 children)

          by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:20AM (#959431) Journal

          https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/15/heres-why-the-white-house-doesnt-trust-chinas-coronavirus-numbers.html [cnbc.com]

          China is definitely under-reporting infections and deaths. People appear to be spreading it during a long incubation period. Death rate can't be accurately nailed down until people start dropping dead outside of China because China's numbers can't be trusted. Even if it's just a 2% death rate, it looks like it's going to spread nicely before a vaccine is produced. Companies are already starting to lose money because of this, which would not be their first choice. The World Health Organization has bent over backwards to praise China's response and "transparency", which is not a surprise since they get a nice pile of funding from China. Here's a bonus [freedomhouse.org] from 2018 I just found. WHO is nudging social media sites to censor "misinformation" while promoting its own [voanews.com]. Mainstream media outlets are watering down their coronavirus coverage, not participating in a scare campaign. They could easily amp the fearmongering up to 11 if they wanted to.

          It was only a matter of time before a pandemic was assisted by ubiquitous air travel. Compare the situation today to the 1968 flu pandemic, for example.

          --
          [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:24AM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:24AM (#959435)

            It is unlikely a useful vaccine will be produced. The attempts at a SARS vaccine made animals have extreme reactions when they were infected with similar viruses later: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3335060/ [nih.gov]

            One theory is China tested a SARS vaccine in Wuhan, then this virus got loose which is why things are so bad there.

            • (Score: 4, Interesting) by hendrikboom on Wednesday February 19 2020, @02:12AM

              by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday February 19 2020, @02:12AM (#959746) Homepage Journal

              Development of the most promising candidate for a old SARS vaccine stopped the epidemic was successfully stopped, and there was no longer funding nor opportunity to test it.

              So that's the reason there was no developed SARS vaccine for the previous SARS viruses.

              But they learned a *lot* about corona viruses then, and a researcher in the Winnipeg virus research lab says that what they learned then is enormously helpful in dealing with the present virus. But they do say it can take about a year to develop a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. They'll have candidates sooner, but they have to be tested...

              The researcher I heard interviewed says that collaboration on this research is international, and that the Chinese researchers have been extremely cooperative. (Apparently they'd really like to have a vaccine there in China!)

              They say that the greatest obstacle to international collaboration is time zones. Thy just can't really get everyone together for discussion and planning because too many of the workers are asleep at any time of day or night.

              -- hendrik

          • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:25AM (8 children)

            by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:25AM (#959436) Homepage Journal

            The problem with that line of thinking is that cases that have made it outside of China and the near complete lack of it spreading in any of the cases that made it out. This looks a whole lot more like a bioweapon, either intentionally or unintentionally released, that has very low human to human infection potential.

            --
            My rights don't end where your fear begins.
            • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:37AM (3 children)

              by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:37AM (#959438)

              This looks a whole lot more like a bioweapon, either intentionally or unintentionally released, that has very low human to human infection potential.

              Your nutter conspiracy theory has a gaping flaw if that is the case: it's not much of a bioweapon if there is very low human to human infection potential. If you are going to spread disinformation, next time at least pay attention to what you have written.

              • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday February 18 2020, @01:15PM (2 children)

                by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Tuesday February 18 2020, @01:15PM (#959505) Homepage Journal

                Yeah, I could see how that could confuse you if you refuse to turn you brain on. Who said it was being communicated human to human in China?

                --
                My rights don't end where your fear begins.
                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:35PM (1 child)

                  by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:35PM (#959571)

                  Look, I know that it is asking rather a lot for you to read and process what others are writing. But is it really asking so much for you to read and process what you have written? Go back, reread the conversation so far. After that you may (optionally) comment further. This is your last clue.

                  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:59PM

                    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:59PM (#959584)

                    He views Trump as a role model, nuff said.

            • (Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:39AM (3 children)

              by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:39AM (#959439) Journal

              The public has only been aware of coronavirus since January. It can incubate for weeks before symptoms appear. It's just going to take a while for it to spread in places like the U.S. and for the clusters of cases to be recognized.

              As for the infection potential, you can just look at that cruise ship. It's getting the job done.

              --
              [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 19 2020, @07:50PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 19 2020, @07:50PM (#959978)

            what makes me nervous is if it's spreading in china with them taking the measures they are taking how is it going to spread in the US where the gov can't do shit. If the gov tries to stop people form doing what they (think they) need to do, here people are well armed to resist.

            If i'm being paranoid i would even have the idea that it would be the perfect way for a authoritarian regime to use a bioweapon. unleash it on their own people, use every measure to get through it, then watch as other countries fall apart when it gets to them. Who could accuse china of doing it on purpose when they had such a hard time of it? typical chinese. very sneaky. :)

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @12:15PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @12:15PM (#959499)

          it's time to lay off the beans asparagus and ghost chilli combo my friend

    • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @03:45AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @03:45AM (#959423)

      Exactly. China has incinerators running 24/7 every flu season. /s

    • (Score: 5, Funny) by RamiK on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:32AM (2 children)

      by RamiK (1813) on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:32AM (#959437)

      You're boarding a flight to China. What's more likely to kill you if...
      1. You're in good health but the Chinese authorities mistook you for Falun Gong / Uighur.
      2. You're in good health but the American authorities mistook you for South American / Muslim.
      3. The plane was manufactured by Boeing.
      4. You were prescribed pain meds by an American physician before the flight.
      5. The bottled water is from a fracking state and may or may not carry a Danger: Combustible label.
      6. Someone on flight caught a virus.
      7. There's a live ammunition training exercise involving a F35 a few miles away from the flight path.
      8. An anti-aircraft armed Russian / Iranian vessel is below the flight path.
      9. UFOs been spotted by the navy next to the flight path.
      10. You forget to take your vitamin C.

      There, balanced fearmongering the way the news intended.

      --
      compiling...
    • (Score: 3, Informative) by https on Tuesday February 18 2020, @03:46PM

      by https (5248) on Tuesday February 18 2020, @03:46PM (#959548) Journal

      Mortality rates from the flu [cdc.gov] are between one and two tenths of one percent. COVID is at least two percent and it seems reasonable to assume from revelations so far that China is fudging the numbers to make things appear better than the reality on the ground. If it ever approaches the same reach as the flu in the USA, americans (like yourself) will be looking at many hundreds of thousands dead instead of a few tens of thousands, and maybe even a million.

      Plus, incubation/infection factors should be giving everyone nightmares. Weeks, asymptomatic.

      The Mighty Buzzard (18), do you ever get the urge to just shut up and listen instead of beaking off like that? You should maybe listen to that once in a while. $LC_DEITY knows I'm not the boss of you, but I am wiser.

      --
      Offended and laughing about it.
  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by HiThere on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:00AM (5 children)

    by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:00AM (#959426) Journal

    That's barely a question anymore. Quarantine would need to be for 6 weeks (as far as we know) and asympotmatic transmission happens, so everyone who was possibly exposed would need to be quarantines separately for 6 weeks. This isn't going to happen.

    AFAICT, the current purpose of the quarantines, etc., is to slow down transmission until the vaccine can be developed and produced. It's probably good enough for that. But with the incubation period ranging from 1 day to 6 weeks, and transmission possible without symptoms being present it's not going to manage containment.

    --
    Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:04AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:04AM (#959428)

      Quar-antine = 40 days by definition.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:40AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:40AM (#959441)

        You err. That is a Quadratitine.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:47AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:47AM (#959445)

      AFAICT, the current purpose of the quarantines, etc., is to slow down transmission until the vaccine can be developed and produced.

      Not true. And you would know this if you had bothered to do just a little reading. SARS and MERS were both contained in spite of there being no vaccine and only supportive patient care to offer. The purpose of the quarantine is to slow and arrest the spread of the disease; it is much easier to treat a few dozen or even a few hundred cases than it is to treat several million.

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by HiThere on Wednesday February 19 2020, @04:08AM

        by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday February 19 2020, @04:08AM (#959785) Journal

        In neither SARS nor MERS was there asymptomatic transmission. That makes a huge difference.

        There are test kits, but they have had a very high failure rate.

        --
        Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @02:21PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @02:21PM (#959520)

      This vaccine is going to be an IQ test. Who is going to be dumb enough to take a vaccine that was rushed to market, when similar vaccines are known for sensitizing animals to coronaviruses so that their own immune systems kill them when exposed to a virus?

      Ikanread, thats who.

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:39AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:39AM (#959440)

    First, I was so scared. It was American Carnage! Mostly, there was a Black man in the White House. But then Trump, ImPOTUS John, as we on the "inside" call him, stepped up to make me even more scared of rapists and murderers and some good people pouring over our borders where there was NOT EVEN A WALL! So I was more ass-cared. Then it was Those Chinese, laughing at us as they made money making i-stuff that we all need and depend on. Soybean farmers are screwed now, what with the trade war, and prices for everything have gone up, but thank goodness the Golden Pompador scared me about that. And then I was scared of the Ukraine, trying to throw American Elections in the dumpster, for the Trumpster! And now, a Globalist Liberal Conspiracy Epidemic, which Tom Cotton either has, or his congenital conspiracy disorder is kicking in to make him say scary stuff. I was walking down a street just yesterday, with jmichaelhudson, and there was this Chinese looking person, might have been Bulgarian, or Buttonese, or Pad Thai, I don't know, but we were plenty scared! Now I hear that MS13 is running the Corona Light virus in cases of Mexican beer through the Ukraine and selling it on the Black market to Cruise Ships that have Americans on them! I don't know how we are going to survive this!!!!

    Panic now, avoid the rush later. And not so easy to do with a high fever and bleeding from your eyes.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @05:21PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @05:21PM (#959597)

      Everytime someone coughs a coronavirus earns its lime.

      • (Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 19 2020, @09:07AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 19 2020, @09:07AM (#959829)

        I just pooped myself a little, to keep up with my MAGA brethern. One in the spirit, one in the fear, one in the stench. Trump Akbar!!!!

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Mykl on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:41AM (1 child)

    by Mykl (1112) on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:41AM (#959442)

    Indonesia is refusing to admit that they even have any cases [nytimes.com]. With their population density and proximity to China, they are probably already beyond any chance of containment.

    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @06:17AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @06:17AM (#959451)

      And the Japanese authority thinks it will die out when the monsoon season comes. Don't give a fuck. Cruise ship? Fuck off, not their problem. Despite half the passengers being Japanese.

      It's the kamakaze spirit. Chicom, Japan, both one-party state, striking similarity.

  • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:53AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:53AM (#959446)

    * must be sung with spanish accent with all the singers wearing coronavirus plushe style costumes

    Corona coronavirus (trump riff) x2
    corono, coronovirus, is this the work of Osiris?

    Corona coronavirus (trump riff) x2
    corona, coronavirus, it still hasn't killed Miley Cirus.

    Chronos the chronovirus (trump riff) x2
    chronos the chronosvirus yes yes we all going to die yes.

    * long note trumpet ending then everyone falls over dead *

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @06:44AM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @06:44AM (#959457)

    FUCK WHITE PEOPLE.

    ,,,,,,,,,mmmmmmmmmmm,,,,,,,,,,,

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @06:59AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @06:59AM (#959462)

      Blond or brunette? Or perhaps redheads?

      Be bit more specific.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @07:45AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @07:45AM (#959469)

        he means Barry.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @12:18PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @12:18PM (#959500)

          he means michael jackson

    • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @07:22AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @07:22AM (#959466)

      Off to the coof camp with you.

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @12:20PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @12:20PM (#959501)
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Tuesday February 18 2020, @12:49PM (4 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday February 18 2020, @12:49PM (#959504) Journal

      Getting the entire 2020 Summer Olympics cancelled (starts in July) would make this strain truly memorable.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @02:09PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @02:09PM (#959515)

        i think 2021 also has a summer ... also one more year removed from fukushima won't hurt.

      • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:11PM

        by Freeman (732) on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:11PM (#959558) Journal

        That it would. I'm a casual Olympic observer, but my wife is still into watching it.

        --
        Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
      • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday February 18 2020, @07:25PM (1 child)

        by DeathMonkey (1380) on Tuesday February 18 2020, @07:25PM (#959634) Journal

        Hmmm....possibly millions of people dying VS cancelling the Olympics.

        Whelp, it's a tough call!

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @08:29PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @08:29PM (#959652)

    So far mortality % seems taboo. But I have not seen any serious information about why. If calculations can only be done X days after last case, or after Y days since discovery, or after Z number of patients, or some other condition, why not say so? There must be some moment in which the numbers can be run.

    At first glance, the formula looks simple: A / (A + B) (and by 100 if you want %), where A is dead people and B is cured people. We can hope that as time passes better treatement will develop, so the ratio will go down. Ill and contagious people, C, will go into A or B sooner or later, and reports of infected should be taken as C + A + B. Or do I miss something?

    As of 18th [wikipedia.org] the numbers are 1875 deaths, 12712 recoveries, 12.8%. Three days ago, 15th [wikipedia.org], 1527 deaths and 8422 recoveries, 15.3%. Six days ago, 12th [wikipedia.org], 1357 vs 5127, 20.9%. Maybe do this for all the days, and see when it stabilizes? It would be a start.

    I know about China stats being considered fuzzy, WHO trying to be "polite" towards them (the West let them play "weak, poor and dumb" until they are not anymore but we don't seem to wake up, see the postal rates controversy of last years), the economic impact of halting things, the doubts about if 14 (21?) days are enough quarantine, but at some point numbers have to appear. Not doing so adds to the scare they want to avoid. And better if measures derived from information fall on the cautious side than "braking too late". We should learn from things like Y2K bug, "nothing serious happened... because lot of work was done to make sure it was that way", better be praised for "time waster" than for "inept that caused lot of damage".

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday February 19 2020, @01:07AM (4 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday February 19 2020, @01:07AM (#959729) Journal

      https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/02/18/wuhan-china-coronavirus-hospital-director-dies-covid/4792597002/ [usatoday.com]

      The director of a Chinese hospital at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak became one of its victims Tuesday despite "all-out" efforts to save his life, Chinese health officials said.

      The death came the same day Chinese officials released data indicating the new virus could be 20 times more lethal than the flu.

      Liu Zhiming, president of Wuhan Wuchang Hospital in Hubei province, died of coronavirus-related pneumonia, China Daily reported. The hospital, one of the seven designated for the epidemic in Wuhan, treated thousands of people a day.

      Liu, 51, was a leading figure in neurosurgery, the newspaper said. The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said Liu made “important contributions in the work of fighting and controlling” the virus, known as COVID-19.

      I was just going to present this guy's death to poke at the idea of it killing only 2%. 1 in 50 and it kills your hospital's director/president? I did not expect to see the bolded line.

      Also, China gives money to the World Health Organization. I trust the CDC over WHO.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Wednesday February 19 2020, @01:41AM (3 children)

        by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Wednesday February 19 2020, @01:41AM (#959737) Journal
        I'd expect it. Hospitals are full of the sick and dying. And there's a huge shortage of protective equipment. And one study showed that for surgeons, even double masking wasn't good enough.
        --
        SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
        • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday February 19 2020, @01:53AM (2 children)

          by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday February 19 2020, @01:53AM (#959742) Journal

          Infect everyone in the hospital (not all at the same time, hopefully). If mortality rate is 2-3% as was claimed early on, that's not so bad for those individuals. You are also likely to have your condition discovered earlier so treatment can begin sooner.

          The real mortality rate is clearly closer to 20%, if not higher. Hospital directors beware.

          --
          [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
          • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday February 19 2020, @03:31AM (1 child)

            by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday February 19 2020, @03:31AM (#959774) Journal

            Clarification: I don't mean deliberately infect, just that even if you assume everyone in the hospital will get infected, 2-3% mortality rate is preferable to what the coronavirus actually appears to be doing.

            --
            [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
            • (Score: 1, Troll) by aristarchus on Wednesday February 19 2020, @09:11AM

              by aristarchus (2645) on Wednesday February 19 2020, @09:11AM (#959830) Journal

              Why is it that hypochondriacs like takyon take so much interest in medicine, when they are so sure that it will avail them naught? Just admit it, takyon, a 2% mortality rate means that the world is domed, that the earth is not flat, the China will still have more people than the US, and that socialism is medicine is still the way to go. Just say it, takyon. You will feel better, even if you have a 100+ fever, and Corona leaching about the precipices of your caput.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @10:14PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @10:14PM (#959683)
(1)