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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:
- Coronavirus: Millions Quarantined in Wuhan City
- China Reports 3rd Death, Nearly 140 New Cases of Coronavirus
- China Confirms Human-To-Human Transmission of New Coronavirus; CDC Confirms First US Case
(Score: 3, Informative) by MostCynical on Monday January 27 2020, @10:42AM (3 children)
up to 100,000 infected [theguardian.com] with confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission.
No one knows how severe it is, yet.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Monday January 27 2020, @04:49PM (2 children)
Actually, the claim of an upper limit is a bit forced. It's not that easy to detect, and there are indications that one is contagious before symptoms appear.
OTOH, it may well be a high estimate, because so far it doesn't appear to be very contagious. Apparently close contact is required to transmit the disease.
At this point I think ALL estimates of how dangerous it is should be doubted. It may be trivial. It may be horrendous. But apparently most people live through it without treatment and without permanent damage, so it's not critical...except, or course, on an individual level. Sort of like traffic accidents, only with a lot fewer people killed.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Monday January 27 2020, @06:27PM (1 child)
That's kind of the point, though, the uncertainty IS the risk.
We know it's dangerous, but not how dangerous.
We know it's contagious, but not how contagious.
And we know it's a pandemic* already, but not how serious of one.
With that many unknowns, extreme caution is advised.
*pandemic just means it has spread to multiple continents.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Tuesday January 28 2020, @05:38PM
More recent information makes things look more serious:
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2020/01/even-more-draconian-quarantines-are-needed-to-stop-coronavirus-2019-ncov.html [nextbigfuture.com]
It's not a primary source, but it seems like a reasonable one.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.