For you scientific types.
@sorghum Glass half full, I like that!! Yes, any data collected outside of China IMO is good data.
I think the Japanese government did what they thought was best in the moment in a changing situation. Can’t say I think it would have been any better/worse elsewhere. The Japanese at least let the ship dock so the more serious cases could be taken to the hospital.
It’s pretty evident that no one has a protocol for this, not WHO, not the countries, not medical facilities. All are winging it. Seems fine. Don’t think it would be fine if the number of cases grows outside of China. But let’s hope that doesn’t happen.
There was an interview with 2 of the Diamond passengers who had been moved to the Texas (?) facility on MSNBC. The interview was a wild ride. It was a couple and the woman basically accused the US government of intentionally leaving them to get sick.
Obviously, with all my issues with this administration, I think this is just incompetence and not malice. I’m worried though that these conspiracy theories are going to spread and I’m really afraid that politicians are going to start running with it to drive up hysteria.
It’s why it’s so important that people remain calm and rational and not let the media get your blood pressure up.
The UK has told their people to stay on the DP. I am not beyond a good conspiracy theory.
Some optimistic news, hopefully accurately reported.
Daily Tallies, Hubei province only
New deaths: 108 for a total of 2,209 in Hubei so far.
Newly confirmed deaths: 349, down from 1,693 cases a day earlier. Total confirmed cases in Hubei province 62,031.
Coronavirus patients can have similar “viral load” whether or not they show symptoms
“People with the novel coronavirus may have the same viral load — or amount of virus in the body — whether or not they are showing symptoms of illness, according to researchers in China…published in The New England Journal of Medicine, details how the researchers monitored viral loads of the novel coronavirus in samples taken from the nose and throat of 18 patients: nine men and nine women ranging in age from 26 to 76 in Zhuhai, in China’s Guangdong province…higher viral loads were detected soon after a person was showing symptoms, with higher viral loads found in the nose than in the throat. Among the patients, only one was asymptomatic…overall, “the viral load that was detected in the asymptomatic patient was similar to that in the symptomatic patients, which suggests the transmission potential of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic patients,” the researchers wrote in the letter…suggest that case detection and isolation may require strategies different from those required for the control of SARS-CoV,”…when it comes to viral shedding, the novel coronavirus seemed to resemble influenza more than SARS” (CNN)
Thousands of Americans voluntarily self-quarantine after returning from China
It’s up to the state and local health departments to decide how to manage their residents under self-quarantine.
Have not seen any data how active or latent TB plays into mortality here. Not holding my breath though because certain countries do not like to admit that they have a TB problem.
(W-shaped mortality curve during Spanish flu outbreak has been linked to TB).
Sanofi and the US government are to tackle Covid vaccine:
https://www.biospace.com/article/sanofi-to-work-with-barda-on-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine/
@doschicos is there a typo here…should the second line be 349 newly confirmed cases? Not deaths?
@doschicos is there a typo here…should the second line be 349 newly confirmed cases? Not deaths?
[/quote]
Yes. Thanks for the catch, @thumper1 . Only 349 new cases confirmed in Hubei province today. So good news!
Not good news:
“South Korea reported 31 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, bringing the number of people infected in the country to 82, Korea’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said in a statement.
Of the new cases, 23 infections were traced to church services that a 61-year-old patient who has tested positive had attended in the central city of Daegu, the agency said.” (SCMP)
Short video about a couple in quarantine in Wuhan - touches upon the difficulties of same sex marriage laws and also mental health issues as a result of the virus’ impact.
https://www.scmp.com/video/scmp-originals/3051490/love-under-lockdown-staying-wuhan-together
[quote=“thumper1, post:1549, topic:2080517”]
Daily Tallies - all of China and worldwide
New deaths: 114 in China (108 Hubei) for 2,118 overall in China and 2,126 worldwide (2 in Iran today).
Newly confirmed cases: 394 in China (349 Hubei) for 74,576 in China and 75,726 +/- worldwide.
I really hope China’s numbers are valid and become a trend, not due to pressure from within the party to have results.
“There was an interview with 2 of the Diamond passengers who had been moved to the Texas (?) facility on MSNBC. The interview was a wild ride. It was a couple and the woman basically accused the US government of intentionally leaving them to get sick.”
Before that, there was another couple who complained and did not want to be brought back to the US. They remained on the ship.
You can look from another perspective : bringing them back exposed other Americans to the virus, like people who take care of them during the quarantine and transport and potentially the rest of the country. So, fairness depends on the angle of the observer.
Two coronavirus patients from Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan die
The passengers were a man and woman in their 80s and had underlying conditions and were taken off the ship on 2/11 and 2/12 to receive treatment at medical facilities after showing symptoms.
“A State Department official said there were still about 45 US citizens on board the cruise ship as of Thursday…Americans flown back will have to complete another 14 days quarantine, as will returning Hong Kong residents. Disembarked Japanese passengers, however, face no such restrictions, a decision that has sparked concern.
Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, when asked on Wednesday why Japanese leaving the ship did not have to spend another two weeks in quarantine, referred to the advice of Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID).
The NIID said there should be no problem if people had shown no symptoms for 14 days and had tested negative for the virus during the period their health was under surveillance. Outside the Diamond Princess, Japan has seen 84 cases.”
Looks like China changed its reporting criteria - again. 
Diagnostic change continues to affect Hubei data
"In Wuhan…changes in diagnostic criteria continued to affect the number of reported cases. There were 615 new cases recorded, but the National Health Commission said the actual number was 359, after some cases were removed because of the diagnostic change.
Previously, Hubei, including Wuhan, also counted clinically diagnosed patients as confirmed cases. This changed on Wednesday with a new treatment plan, which will count only those who have tested positive in a nucleic acid test. Numbers of cases were accordingly deducted in 10 cities, with the city of Jingmen in Hubei taking 107 previously confirmed cases from its records." (SCMP)
The worldometers tracking website gives this explanation:
“349 new cases and 108 new deaths were confirmed by Hubei province for February 19. The report actually confirmed 628 new cases (615 in Wuhan, 5 in Xiantao, 3 in Shiyan, 3 in Suizhou, and 2 in Xiangyang) but at the same time it subtracted 279 cases from the current total due to data corrections applied to previously reported numbers in ten separate locations, specifying how many cases were subtracted in each.”
China’s efforts to contain the Covid-19 outbreak have resulted in carbon emissions falling by at least 100 metric tonnes over the past two weeks.
The 2 Diamond Princess passengers who died were a 87-year-old man and an 84-year-old woman.
“…the day before they were confined to their cabins, ship events continued, including dances, quizzes and an exercise class, even as passengers were undergoing health checks… the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo released an analysis… a large portion of infections occurred before the quarantine began…secondary transmissions – those that occurred in the past 14 days – were confined mainly to crew members, government officials and health workers…Most of the infected passengers developed symptoms between 6to 9 February…most crew members first showed symptoms from 10 February onwards…“virus was most likely spread…from the food trays an infected crew member carried to the passengers,” Shigeru Sakurai, an Iwate Medical University professor, who inspected the situation onboard…repeated his concern that passengers leaving the ship this week should be placed in “soft quarantine”…even though they have tested negative.” "
Japanese passengers made their way home on public transport
[QUOTE=""]
3 newly confirmed cases in Iran
South Korea reports first coronavirus death.
[/QUOTE]
The mayor of Daegu has asked its 2.5 million people to stay home as number of confirmed cases in the country hits 104, close to tripling in the past 2 days.
At chipmaker SK Hynix, 800 workers quarantined themselves after a trainee had contact with a patient in Daegu.
“Of the 104 cases, 49 patients are from Daegu or nearby and have been traced to an infected person who attended a local church…described as a “super-spreading event”. “We are in an unprecedented crisis,” Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin said …as he warned of likely further cases…at least 90 more of the around 1,000 other people who attended services at the church were also showing symptoms. “We plan to test all believers of that church and have asked them to stay at home isolated from their families,” Kwon said.”
S. Korea’s Defense Ministry banned troops stationed in Daegu from leaving their barracks and receiving guests. US military imposed similar restrictions on its army base in the city, which houses thousands of troops, family members and civilian employees
Source: SCMP
2 Diamond Princess passengers, both in their 80’s , have died.
Man killed by coronavirus had organ damage similar to that caused by Sars, study finds
Pathological features of Covid-19 greatly resemble those seen in Sars and Mers, say researchers in Beijing, who used samples from 50-year-old
Corticosteroid treatment should be considered, their report says, but other studies suggest the anti-inflammatory drugs cause complications
“The new coronavirus attacks the body in similar ways to Sars and Mers, according to Chinese researchers involved in a new medical study based on an autopsy of one of the ongoing outbreak’s victims, who had suffered lung and liver damage.
The report, published this week in British medical journal The Lancet by experts from the Fifth Medical Centre of the People’s Liberation Army’s General Hospital in Beijing, obtained biopsy samples from the autopsy of a 50-year-old man who died in late January of Covid-19…A review of the patient’s lung, liver and heart tissue showed “the pathological features of Covid-19 greatly resemble those seen in severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (Mers) coronavirus infections”, the authors said.”
Article goes on to discuss more details and pros/cons of cortisteriod use and other treatments.
"Ukraine protesters clash with police over China virus evacuees
Dozens of people clashed with police outside a hospital in central Ukraine over government plans to quarantine evacuees from coronavirus-hit China in the facility.
Six buses with the evacuees arrived at the medical center, accompanied by law enforcement officers, a video published by Ukrainian media showed.
The policemen had to disperse the protesters to unblock a road that leads to the hospital and to create a cordon for the vehicles." (Al Jazeera)
"Several hundred residents in Ukraine’s Poltava region protested to stop officials from quarantining the evacuees in their village because they feared becoming infected. Demonstrators put up road blocks and burned tires, while Ukrainian media reported that there were clashes with police. More than 10 people were detained. “The situation is rather heated,” Poltava regional police spokesman Yuri Sulayev said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy weighed in, saying the protests showed “not the best side of our character.” (CBS)
Imagine if this becomes a full-blown global epidemic if people react this way now.
“Iraq, which has reported no cases of coronavirus, took measures to contain it by suspending visas on arrival for Iranian passport holders and direct flights between the two countries. The move comes as Iran said that three more people have been infected with the virus.” (CBS)
13 more people diagnosed with coronavirus on Diamond Princess cruise ship
"Another 13 people on board a cruise ship that was quarantined off the coast of Japan have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus, the country’s health ministry said on Thursday.
Confirmation of the new cases, from 52 additional test results, brought the total number of infections diagnosed on board the Diamond Princess so far to 634" (CBS)
“US health experts are part of a World Health Organization team in China investigating the novel coronavirus outbreak, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday during a press briefing… includes experts from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US National Institutes of Health, as well as experts from Singapore, Korea, Japan, Nigeria, Germany and Russia. The team includes experts in epidemiology, virology, clinical management, outbreak control and public health, he said. Team members are working with Chinese counterparts to study transmissibility of the virus and the impact the of measures taken in China” (CNN)