Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Covid-19 pandemic

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Hong Kong says all visitors from mainland China will have to be quarantined for 14 days.

    Doctors in Wuhan say pregnant mothers can pass the infection onto their unborn child, after a baby was born already suffering from the virus.

    Japanese officials apparently concerned about the possible impact on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

    Comment


      Some fatality rates for you:

      Bird Flu - 60%
      Ebola - 50%
      SARS - 9%
      Coronavirus - 2.5%

      10,000 fatalities every year in the UK from flu.

      I wonder if that cruise ship is flying the plague flag?

      Comment


        Originally posted by Paul S View Post
        Some fatality rates for you:

        Bird Flu - 60%
        Ebola - 50%
        SARS - 9%
        Coronavirus - 2.5%

        10,000 fatalities every year in the UK from flu.

        I wonder if that cruise ship is flying the plague flag?
        Flu fatality rate 0.1%. So if that figure on coronavirus is correct (still lots of uncertainty surrounding that), and it was allowed to spread as freely as flu, that would mean 250,000 annual deaths from coronavirus in the UK. There's a reason the WHO is trying to control the spread. Yes, it's not as fatal as ebola, thankfully. Doesn't mean it's not a concern.

        Comment


          About 14% of confirmed cases are currently deemed "critical". Recovery chances will likely depend on what quality medical care is available. Which is a concern given that it has already spread to more "middle-income" countries such as India and the Philippines.


          Coronavirus in China
          • 563dead
          • 1,153cured
          • 28,018confirmed cases
          • 24,702suspected cases
          • 186,354 under medical watch
          Source: National Health Commission China

          Comment


            NB, the official name for this virus is currently 2019-nCoV (for novel coronavirus which appeared in 2019) which isn't very catchy. People are variously calling it just coronavirus, which isn't specific enough as it is one of seven strains of coronavirus known to infect humans, or China flu, which could stoke racist reactions. A group of scientists met last week to try and recreate a new, memorable, specific name. Their paper is due to be released this week. I'll be interested to see what they propose calling it and whether it catches on.

            Comment


              A friend of mine - a scientist - is already referring to it as CoVo.

              Comment


                https://twitter.com/guardian/status/1225583352788504576

                Comment


                  The number of positive cases on the cruise ship quarantined off of Yokohama has now reached 61 (of 273 passengers tested so far)

                  Comment


                    A small note on how many countries this has spread to. Some outlets are reporting 25 countries, some are reporting 28. I strongly suspect that the discrepancy will be due to whether they are quoting Chinese sources or external sources. Chinese sources will say that it is 24 countries 'outside China' because they consider Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan to be integral parts of China. If you count them as separate countries it's China plus 27 others.

                    Comment


                      7th February update:

                      31,524 confirmed cases, of which 4,825 or 15% are considered critical. 638 deaths.

                      It's the critical figure that I'm most concerned by as that's what will put huge strains on health systems. It's possible that far more people have been infected with the virus mildly and not sought treatment, in which case the fatality rate and critical rate would be much lower, but that would also make it more likely to spread further.

                      Japan now has 86 confirmed cases, which is almost a local epidemic in itself.

                      Comment


                        That Japanese figure includes the 61 cases on the Diamond Princess, which appears to be a rather special (and troubling) case.

                        Comment


                          8th February update.

                          34,915 confirmed cases. 6,106 in severe condition (the website I'm checking changed its classification from 'critical' to 'severe'). 724 deaths.

                          First death of a non-Chinese national, a 60 year old US man in Wuhan.

                          China is introducing ever more restrictive laws. In Hubei, only one member of each household is allowed to leave their home, once every two days, to look for food. Beijing has banned public group dining such as for birthdays. Hubei has switched off all lifts in high-rise buildings. I fear for disabled and elderly people with few contacts.

                          Also reports of officials going door to door in Wuhan, rounding up infected people and taking them to designated quarantine zones, which are mainly converted schools and hotels and seem to have minimal medical facilities. Read a heartbreaking account of a family with multiple sick relatives who are trying to refuse this and say they'd rather just die at home.

                          Comment


                            A British man on that quarantined cruise ship is the first confirmed British case. He was on honeymoon.

                            Comment


                              What about the guy in Brighton who caught it from a conference in Singapore? I don't know what nationality he is.

                              Comment


                                A Japanese national in Wuhan has also died

                                Comment


                                  I may well have misheard the news item about the British man on the cruise ship. They were going on about him being British.

                                  Comment


                                    No, that's quite correct. Guy from Wolverhampton, I think.

                                    Five British people at a French ski chalet have caught the virus too.

                                    Comment


                                      Link to the ski chalet news article:

                                      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51425702

                                      Given the seriousness of the topic and the amount of tragedy, suffering and heartbreaking loss around this disease, I feel terrible for making a frivolous comment about nominative determinism, but I just can't resist pointing out that the resort is called Contamines-Montjoie.

                                      Comment


                                        A ski resort I have been to a few times, popular with Genevans...I suspect the TdG will have a big article about it...

                                        Comment


                                          More than 500 km from Hubei

                                          [URL="https://twitter.com/emilyrauhala/status/1226124788290199554?s=21"]https://twitter.com/emilyrauhala/status/1226124788290199554[/URL]

                                          Comment


                                            Loads of people at Dubai airport yesterday (and on the flight back to Manchester) were wearing face masks. The checkin and cabin crew on Emirates weren't, and nor were the staff in the bars, and I bet they'd have been instructed to by the airline if there were any significant risk of transmission from passengers or other crew joining the plane there.
                                            Last edited by Rogin the Armchair fan; 08-02-2020, 16:24.

                                            Comment


                                              You have much more faith in airlines' care for their staff than I do

                                              Comment


                                                Maybe, but I bet they're bricking it about blamed for being the source of transmitting it to passengers?

                                                Comment


                                                  They are bricking it for all kinds of reasons, and I would imagine that they are significantly less concerned about that than they are about the mass cancellations they would suffer as soon as word got out that their flight attendants were wearing masks.
                                                  Last edited by ursus arctos; 08-02-2020, 20:48.

                                                  Comment


                                                    https://twitter.com/Atul_Gawande/status/1226245337876221953

                                                    Comment

                                                    Working...
                                                    X