Novel Coronavirus – China

[Summer Sun]

Switzerland has reported its first coronavirus death 

[Summer Sun]

1 minute ago, nick sussex said:

I thought it was going to be played behind closed doors . 

Following an emergency meeting they've decided to cancel it.

[Azazel]

2 of my friends are flying to Italy next week (assuming all flights aren't grounded by then) - assuming they make it home again, I'm willing to bet neither of them self-isolate.

This kind of behaviour is so reckless IMO.

[Snipper]

4 minutes ago, Azazel said:

2 of my friends are flying to Italy next week (assuming all flights aren't grounded by then) - assuming they make it home again, I'm willing to bet neither of them self-isolate.

This kind of behaviour is so reckless IMO.

There seems to be a lot out there who have the intelligence of an amoeba.  Hopefully I am not insulting an amoeba. 

[weirpig]

South Korea  reports 322 new cases  

South Korea reports 322 additional cases of coronavirus

WWW.JPOST.COM

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[pip22]

I'm getting worried now that two people have got the Covid-19 just couple of miles down the road from where I am.

Two South Ribble patients.

Edited March 5, 2020 by pip22

[Summer Sun]

3 more cases in Scotland. UK total now at 90.

[Mixer 85]

Count yourselves lucky in the UK that government is disclosing outbreak locations. Here in Ireland we’re being totally kept in the dark with “east of the country” and “west of the country” Personally I’d like to know at least roughly, what towns/areas are affected. It might help somewhat with avoidance/containment but also adopting the mindset that it’s potentially all around and taking appropriate action with regards to hygiene is probably wisest.

[Bristawl Si]

Cruise ship story is an interesting one and vindicates a speculative post i posted a few days ago.

Since early Jan around 20,000 Brits would've travelled on P&O and Tui ships in the Carib. American lines like Princess and Norweigan (NCL) would've transported probably treble those numbers around Carib. They mainly depart from Miami or Fort Lauderdale. Brit ships use St Lucia or Barbados for departure/arrival.

So, for UK alone 20,000 coming back into UK since New Year. Mixing of nationalities is obviously common at portside and in the visited towns. The death reported linked to a Princess ship; death a while after returning from cruise. Add in those 1st cases reported a few days ago on St Barts and St Maarten, where most cruise ships visit, and there you have a potential already-returned people, and returning people 'timebomb'.

Edited March 5, 2020 by Bristle boy

[Summer Sun]

 

[weirpig]

Uk Moving  into delay phase   

Coronavirus: UK 'mainly' in 'delay' phase of COVID-19 response, says chief medical officer

NEWS.SKY.COM

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The UK is "mainly" in the next stage of its response to the coronavirus outbreak, England's chief medical officer has told MPs.

 

Edited March 5, 2020 by weirpig

[Summer Sun]

Can they delay the peak until late spring as hoped? Seems unlikely at this stage.

Edited March 5, 2020 by Summer Sun

[Snowy L]

2 hours ago, Azazel said:

Fascinating.

I keep flip-flopping between "no it was just the flu" to "yep, definitely had it."

Would be wonderful peace of mind to know I already had it to be honest. 

My symptoms match coronavirus perfectly - they also match the flu perfectly...apart from the day or so of breathlessness which is the one stark difference and only something that occurs with flu if you develop complications..

 

Very interesting.

Some good news - i actually have a course of steroids I was supposed to take to clear out my sinuses which I always have issues with, but I havent taken them yet. I think I am going to keep them on hand in-case I catch this thing.

I would talk to your doctor first before taking any steroids for coronavirus, as experts advise against it.

 

Steroids could do more harm than good in treating coronavirus -- ScienceDaily

WWW.SCIENCEDAILY.COM

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Steroids should be avoided in the treatment of the current novel coronavirus, experts have advised. A commentary article published in...

 

 

[swebby]

2 hours ago, Blessed Weather said:

Just an observation, but I think we all need to be aware that the UK media are addicted to dramatic headlines to grab attention, even so called 'serious' publications like the Telegraph seem prone to this. Take this headline from yesterday's Telegraph and some of the first few sentences:

Coronavirus has mutated into more aggressive disease, say scientists

Coronavirus has mutated into two strains, one which appears to be far more aggressive, scientists have said, in a discovery which could hinder attempts to develop a vaccine. Researchers at Peking University's School of Life Sciences and the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, discovered the virus has evolved into two major lineages - dubbed ‘L’ and ‘S’ types. The older ‘S-type’ appears to be milder and less infectious, while the ‘L-type’ which emerged later, spreads quickly and currently accounts for around 70 per cent of cases. 

Fairly dramatic stuff. But then when you read on, there is actually more positive news that shows they could have made the headline something like "Coronavirus may be mutating to less aggressive disease".

“It is usually the case that when RNA viruses first cross species barriers into humans they aren’t particularly well adapted to their new host - us!” said Dr Griffin. “Thus, they usually undergo some changes allowing them to adapt and become better able to replicate within, and spread from human-to-human.” Dr Griffin said developers would need to test whether their prototype vaccines would still neutralise viruses with the changes, but added that the variations were ‘fairly limited’ and may not be a ‘huge hurdle.’
The Chinese scientists, who analysed the viral DNA from 103 infected people, said it appeared the less dangerous ‘S-type’ was now taking over, possibly because of aggressive public health lockdown measures in China, which had stopped the more virulent disease in its tracks.
However Dr Bharat Pankhania, Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Exeter Medical School, said it was impossible to know what was causing the slowdown. “We don’t really know the true picture in China,” he said. “Is the lower number of cases a true reflection? It could be the virus mutating to a less dangerous form, or it could be the superhuman lockdown measures. “Or there could be a third reason which is genetic drift. RNA viruses are quite mistake-prone so over time they become not very good at replicating.”

So at the moment (and in my personal opinion) I think it's probably a good idea to adopt a questioning, maybe even cynical view of media headlines. Read the small print or dig deeper before forming a conclusion!

Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2020/03/04/coronavirus-has-mutated-aggressive-disease-say-scientists/

Sadly, I think the days that the Telegraph could be called a serious publication have passed, but to be fair, papers will run a headline that grabs attention and that one is not technically wrong, although "aggressive" is over egging it a bit.

Your point about a questioning/cynical view of headlines is always sound advice. Headlines and sub headlines are often not  written by the author of the actual article.

[Beverley Lass]

Prof Whitty (CMO)  told MPs:

Older people or the already ill may soon be told to avoid crowded places to avoid infection

This could force individual MPs and particularly Lords - average age 70 - to avoid Parliament

The virus can stay on handrails on public transport for up to 72 hours

Up to 80% of Brits may get the virus, but probably fewer (he repeated)

1% of those infected are expected to die, but that's an 'upper limit' (he repeated)

There will likely be a 'long period' between an epidemic being declared and its peak

'A year would be lucky' to get a vaccine despite clinical trials in the coming months

Authorities WILL give regular updates on case locations after a row, but not 'street level' data

[Azazel]

7 minutes ago, Snowy L said:

I would talk to your doctor first before taking any steroids for coronavirus, as experts advise against it.

 

Steroids could do more harm than good in treating coronavirus -- ScienceDaily

WWW.SCIENCEDAILY.COM

---

Steroids should be avoided in the treatment of the current novel coronavirus, experts have advised. A commentary article published in...

 

 

ooof thanks for that! Damn it, I thought I had a weapon to use against it haha

[Bristawl Si]

The PM is on This Morning, ITV, right now

Edited March 5, 2020 by Bristle boy

[alexisj9]

1 hour ago, Summer Sun said:

 

Well that's not true though is it, the majority indicates that minority exists, there have been a few who contracted here. 

[Methuselah]

9 minutes ago, Bristle boy said:

The PM is on This Morning, ITV, right now

I'm hoping he'll tell me how I'm supposed to blow my nose...without touching my face!

[feb1991blizzard]

8 minutes ago, alexisj9 said:

Well that's not true though is it, the majority indicates that minority exists, there have been a few who contracted here. 

And thats the ones we know about - there are probably hundreds of thousands that we don't, only an idiot would think otherwise with such a contagious disease.

[swebby]

On the beeb.

Quote

 

10:39

BREAKINGIran to close schools and universities until 20 March

Iran is to close schools and universities until the end of the Iranian calendar year on 20 March because of coronavirus, Reuters news agency reports, quoting the country's health minister.

 

I'm no expert, but in Iran's case i suspect that is five weeks too late?

[DAVID SNOW]

30 minutes ago, Beverley Lass said:

Prof Whitty (CMO)  told MPs:

Older people or the already ill may soon be told to avoid crowded places to avoid infection

This could force individual MPs and particularly Lords - average age 70 - to avoid Parliament

The virus can stay on handrails on public transport for up to 72 hours

Up to 80% of Brits may get the virus, but probably fewer (he repeated)

1% of those infected are expected to die, but that's an 'upper limit' (he repeated)

There will likely be a 'long period' between an epidemic being declared and its peak

'A year would be lucky' to get a vaccine despite clinical trials in the coming months

Authorities WILL give regular updates on case locations after a row, but not 'street level' data

The 1%  death rate was his upper limit, he also said he expects the true figure will be lower.

[nick sussex]

Even if the fatality rate is 0.5% that hides the much bigger impact on older people .

And for those that  do recover the evidence so far is it takes longer than normal flu and the ratio of people who end up in hospital with severe symptoms is again higher than normal flu.

The French government are now bringing in price caps for hand sanitizers . Given some of the outrageous price hikes which saw some places selling 500ml of that for 30 euros .

Edited March 5, 2020 by nick sussex

[swebby]

From the Guardian

Quote

 

16m ago10:55

 

Kate Connolly

The German government’s main body for safeguarding public health, has announced this morning that 349 people are officially infected with Corona in Germany, a rise of 109 cases within 24 hours. On Monday the figure from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) was just 38.

The real figure will be still higher “because of the fluidity of the situation”, a spokesman said, with the RKI never able to be fully on top of the new numbers as health authorities continue to report new incidents through the day.

Meanwhile the government has given pharmacies permission to mix their
own disinfectant solutions with industrial alcohol, in an attempt to
keep up with the unprecedented demand.

 

Suggests that Germany may no longer have containment?

[nick sussex]

Germany has reported a further 109 cases . The total there now 349 . Apparently on the Monday morning update there were only 38 confirmed cases.

Swebby got there first ! After all these years I still haven’t worked out how you link using an iPad !

Edited March 5, 2020 by nick sussex