CURRENT SITUATION
The Worldometer for the Coronavirus can be accessed here: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
This Worldometer also provides confirmed cases and deaths by country and territory.
Statistical information at time of this blog post publication:
* Coronavirus cases: 28,339
* Number in critical condition: 3,863
* Deaths: 565
* Recovered: 1,322
SHORT ARTICLES/NEWS UPDATES
Short article/news updates in no particular order
Title: Coronavirus: LG pulls out of Mobile World Congress
Published: BBC News, 5 February 2020
From the article:
* The South Korean tech firm [LG] has cancelled its appearance at Mobile World Congress (MWC), which is held every year in Barcelona [Spain].
To read this article:
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51384304
Title: Italy, Turkey screen all arriving passengers for coronavirus
Published: ABC News, 5 February 2020
From the article:
* Italy on Jan. 30 barred all commercial flights to and from China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, the same day two Chinese tourists from hard-hit Wuhan tested positive for the new type of coronavirus in Rome.
To read this article:
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/italy-turkey-screen-arriving-passengers-coronavirus-68774305
Title: Coronavirus update: INZ's response
Published: New Zealand Immigration, 5 February 2020
From the article:
* Any foreign travellers who leave or transit mainland China after 2 February 2020 New Zealand time will be refused entry to New Zealand.
To read this article:
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/media-centre/news-notifications/coronavirus-update-inz-response
Title: Coronavirus Travel Restrictions: Europe to Tighten Entry Rules for All Foreign Travelers
Published: Scengen Visa Info, 5 February 2020
From the article:
* The European Union Member States may soon introduce a harmonized approach to restricting entry for all foreign travelers, amid an outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus.
To read this article:
https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/europe-to-tighten-entry-rules-for-all-foreign-travelers/
Title: Coronavirus: South Korea reports 3 new cases, including two who attended conference in Singapore
Author: Chang May Choon
Published: The Straits Times, 5 February 2020
From the article:
* South Korea reported three new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday (Feb 5), including two South Korean men who attended a conference in Singapore where they both came into contact with a Malaysian man infected with the same virus.
To read this article:
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/coronavirus-south-korea-confirms-new-case-man-infected-in-singapore
Title: Coronavirus Latest Updates: Death toll crosses 550; ‘Mass cancellations’ of hotel, tour bookings in Kerala
Published: Financial Express, 6 February 2020
From the article:
* India conducted the evacuation of its stranded citizen from Wuhan last week. Two Air India evacuated over 600 Indians who were living across Hubei province in China. They are now being kept in two isolation camps near Delhi.
To read this article:
https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/health/coronavirus-live-updates-coronavirus-symptoms-prevention-treatment-coronavirus-deaths-coronavirus-india-kerala-china-evacuation/1858033/
Title: Coronavirus in the UK: latest news and updates after two cases confirmed in England
Published: iNews, 6 February 2020
From the article:
* Two members of the same family have tested positive for coronavirus in England.
* One of the two people diagnosed with coronavirus in Britain is a student at the University of York.
To read this article:
https://inews.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-uk-china-virus-outbreak-latest-news-scotland-wuhan-cases-public-health-england-1374823
Title: Another 10 coronavirus cases found on cruise ship, bringing Japan infection total to 45
Author: Satoshi Sugiyama
Published: The Japan News, 6 February 2020
From the article:
* Concern deepened Thursday over the plight of over 3,700 people on board the Diamond Princess quarantined off Yokohama as 10 more cases of the new coronavirus were detected, raising the possibility of a nightmare scenario of a mass infection of people in a confined space.
* The latest figure brings the total number of confirmed infections in Japan to 45, including the 20 people who have now tested positive on the cruise ship.
To read this article:
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/02/06/national/science-health/japan-10-more-coronavirus-cases-quarantined-cruise-ship/#.XjvdNDIzZxA
Title: Coronavirus Live Updates: Death Toll Soars in China; a Run on Stores in Hong Kong
Published: The New York Times, 6 February 2020
From the article:
* The rise in the death toll and number of new cases came as China’s leader, Xi Jinping, ordered a crackdown on fake medical products and people who undermine efforts to halt the outbreak.
* The fatality rate in Wuhan is 4.1 percent and 2.8 percent in Hubei, compared to just 0.17 percent elsewhere in mainland China.
To read this article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/world/asia/coronavirus-china.html
Title: Global shipping has been hit by the coronavirus. Now goods are getting stranded
Author: Hanna Ziady
Published: CNN, 6 February 2020
From the article:
* Giant shipping companies such as Maersk, MSC Mediterranean Shipping, Hapag-Lloyd and CMA-CGM have said that they have reduced the number of vessels on routes connecting China and Hong Kong with India, Canada, the United States and West Africa.
To read this article:
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/05/business/shipping-coronavirus-impact/index.html
Title: As China Clamps Down on Negative News, Quarantines on Land and Sea
Published: The New York Times, 5 February 2020 [updated: 6 February 2020]
From the article:
* There are now 12 confirmed cases in the United States, as Wisconsin says it has its first case.
* Many doctors believe that the number of deaths and infections are undercounted because hospitals and laboratories are under severe strain to test for the virus. Local officials in Hubei, the center of the outbreak, have called on health care workers to speed up the process.
* Many sick residents in Hubei also say that they have been turned away by overstretched hospitals, which lack test kits and beds.
To read this article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/world/asia/coronavirus-china.html
Title: China coronavirus outbreak: All the latest updates
Author: David Chang
Published: Aljazeera, 6 February 2020
From the article:
* The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, asked for $675m to help countries address the expected spread of the virus.
* China is considering delaying the annual meeting of its top legislative body, five people familiar with the matter told Reuters, as it grapples with the coronavirus epidemic.
* A 2,000-square-metre emergency test laboratory has opened in Wuhan to accelerate the testing of samples and allow cases of suspected infection to be eliminated or confirmed more quickly.
To read this article:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/china-coronavirus-outbreak-latest-updates-200206001100173.html
Title: Coronavirus live updates: China deaths pass 560 as 10 more cruise passengers test positive – latest news
Author: Alison Rourke
Published: The Guardian, 6 February 2020
From the article:
* The coronavirus is having a significant impact on sports events. Last week the Chinese Football Association cancelled all domestic games at all levels.
* Canada: The evacuees, who are expected to arrive from China on Friday, will be separated from each other and from others on the base, although family units will be kept together, the government has said. They will all stay at Yukon Lodge, a new facility on the base which resembles a small chain hotel.
* China’s People’s Daily is reporting the drug Remdesivir is “officially” in clinical trial stage on coronavirus patients in Wuhan’s Jinyintan hospital.
To read this article (ongoing live updates):
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/feb/06/coronavirus-live-updates-in-china-wuhan-coronaviruses-outbreak-death-toll-latest-update-news
Title: Coronavirus: Newborn becomes youngest person diagnosed with virus
Published: BBC News, 6 February 2020
From the article:
* A Chinese newborn has been diagnosed with the new coronavirus just 30 hours after birth, the youngest case recorded so far, state media said.
* Only a handful of children have come down with the virus, which has killed 563 people and infected 28,018.
To read this article:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51395655
Title: Why the New Coronavirus (Mostly) Spares Children
Author: Apoorva Mandavilli
Published: The New York Times, 5 February 2020
From the article:
* Children under age 12 were much less likely to be admitted to a hospital or to need oxygen or other treatment, the researchers found. Children over age 12 had symptoms much like those of adults.
* Adults may be more susceptible because they are more likely to have other diseases, such as diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease, that weaken their ability to stave off infections.
* The body’s innate immunity, which is critical for fighting viruses, also deteriorates with age, and particularly after middle age.
* A key question about the new coronavirus is whether children who are infected and asymptomatic are able to pass the virus to others.
To read this article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/health/coronavirus-children.html
Title: US$675 million needed for new coronavirus preparedness and response global plan
Published: WHO (World health Organization), 5 February 2020
From the article:
* To fight further spread of the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak in China and globally, and protect states with weaker health systems, the international community has launched a US$675 million preparedness and response plan covering the months of February through to April 2020.
* The objectives of the plan are to limit human-to-human transmission of the virus, particularly in countries most vulnerable if they were to face an outbreak; identify, isolate and care for patients early; communicate critical risk and event information; minimize social and economic impact; reduce virus spread from animal sources; and address crucial unknowns.
To read this article:
https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/05-02-2020-us-675-million-needed-for-new-coronavirus-preparedness-and-response-global-plan
Title: How will Latin America be affected by coronavirus?
Published: The Economist, 5 February 2020
From the article:
* Although uncertainty persists around the eventual path of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and its effect on China and the global economy, there is already evidence of an impact on emerging-market financial markets and on commodities. If past experience is a guide, this will transmit rapidly to Latin America and, in particular, to South America's large commodity exporters.
To read this article:
https://country.eiu.com/article.aspx?articleid=1019036285&Country=Peru&topic=Economy
Title: Suspected coronavirus cases identified in Portugal
Published: The Portugal News, 5 February 2020
From the article:
* Two suspected case of the Coronavirus has been confirmed by the Portuguese Health Board.
To read this article:
https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/suspected-coronavirus-cases-identified-in-portugal/52920
Title: Switzerland: Swatch cancels Zurich trade show over coronavirus
Published: The Local, Switzerland, 4 February 2020
From the article:
* Switzerland's Swatch Group on Tuesday said it was cancelling a trade show in Zurich for several of its luxury brands because of fears over the novel coronavirus from China.
To read this article:
https://www.thelocal.ch/20200204/swatch-cancels-zurich-trade-show-over-china-virus
Title: Coronavirus Update: Russia Acts to Curb Spread
Published: The Moscow Times, 5 February 2020
From the article:
* Russia reported its first two cases of coronavirus on Friday and said the infected people were Chinese citizens who had been isolated.
To read this article:
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/02/05/coronavirus-update-russia-acts-to-curb-spread-a69117
Title: Africa ramps up coronavirus preparations as fears grow
Author: David Pilling
Published: Financial Times, 5 February 2020
From the article:
* The White House late last week called in more than 50 ambassadors and diplomats from nearly 40 African countries to discuss their response, amid fears that an outbreak would severely test the ability of weak health systems to diagnose and contain the virus.
* Only two laboratories in sub-Saharan Africa — the Institut Pasteur in Senegal and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa — are able to test for the virus, raising concern that cases could go undetected or might already exist.
To read this article:
https://www.ft.com/content/5147f02c-4730-11ea-aeb3-955839e06441
Title: Coronavirus: is it time for South Africans to panic
Author: Katharine Child
Published: Business Live, 6 February 2020
From the article:
* Ten thousand people dead. That’s the low estimate of how many Americans influenza killed between October and January 25, according to the US Centers for Disease Control. In SA, 6,000-11,000 die as a result of flu every year, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
* At the time of going to press, 427 people had died from the novel coronavirus. The virus — which tends to kill older and already-sick people — has a suspected fatality rate of about 2%, substantially higher than flu’s 0.095%.
To read this article:
https://www.businesslive.co.za/fm/features/2020-02-06-coronavirus-is-it-time-for-south-africans-to-panic/
Title: African students trapped in coronavirus-hit Wuhan plead for help
Author: Samira Sawlani
Published: Aljazeera, 5 February 2020
From the article:
* The country [China] has become the second-most popular destination for African students attending university abroad, with Beijing offering an array of scholarships amid deepening relations with many countries on the continent.
* Earlier this week, Yangtze University announced that a male Cameroonian student had been infected with the virus, making the 21-year-old the first African to be diagnosed with the illness.
To read this article:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/african-students-trapped-coronavirus-hit-wuhan-plead-200204082319647.html
Title: What the Coronavirus Means for Africa
Author: Shannon Smith
Published: Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 4 February 2020
From the article:
* Given its fragile public health systems and close ties to China, Africa is vulnerable to the spread of the coronavirus, highlighting the continent’s centrality to global health security.
* Sino-African ties are extensive, including trade, investment and finance, tourism, education, and security cooperation.
* There are more than 60,000 Africans studying in China. Thousands of African students studying in Wuhan have found themselves caught in the quarantine but cut off from consular services.
* Travel between China and Africa has also been drastically reduced, and many African airlines have canceled flights. Despite WHO requests to keep flights and borders open, many African countries have joined others around the world in restricting travel from China.
* Accordingly, regardless of whether cases of coronavirus are diagnosed in Africa, Africa is already being affected by the outbreak. These developments and anticipated Chinese economic losses will affect commerce between China and Africa, as well as burgeoning tourism. Mauritius alone attracts 5,000 Chinese travelers a month. Producers of commodities such as copper will be affected by a downturn in Chinese manufacturing, which normally surges following the Lunar New Year celebration.
To read this article:
https://africacenter.org/spotlight/what-the-coronavirus-means-for-africa/
Title: 'Fragile' Africa prepares for high risk of coronavirus spread
Author: Kate Kelland
Published: Reuters, 5 February 2020
From the article:
* Africa’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says it has activated its emergency operation centre in the face of what global health officials say is a high risk the coronavirus disease epidemic that began in China will spread to its borders.
* On a poor continent where healthcare capacity is limited, early detection of any outbreak will be crucial.
* The fear is great that a spreading epidemic of coronavirus infections will be hard to contain in countries where health systems are already overburdened with cases of Ebola, measles, malaria and other deadly infectious diseases.
To read this article:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-africa/fragile-africa-prepares-for-high-risk-of-coronavirus-spread-idUSKBN1ZZ1ZO
Title: China Clamps Down on Coronavirus Coverage as Cases Surge
Author: Raymond Zhong
Published: The New York Times, 5 February 2020 [updated 6 Fenruary 2020]
From the article:
* As the number of coronavirus infections in China continues to surge, the Communist government has clamped down on the news media and the internet, signaling an effort to control the narrative about a crisis that has become a once-in-a-generation challenge for leaders in Beijing.
To read this article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/world/asia/china-coronavirus-censorship.html
SCHOLARLY ARTICLES/LETTERS TO EDITOR
Information for/by Clinicians/Health Practitioners
Title: 2019 Novel Coronavirus—Important Information for Clinicians
Authors: Carlos del Rio, MD; Preeti N. Malani, MD
Published: JAMA, published online: 5 February 2020
To read this scholarly article:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2760782
Title: Transmission of 2019-nCoV Infection from an Asymptomatic Contact in Germany
Published: The New England Journal of Medicine, published online: 30 January 2020
To read this letter to the editor by MDs:
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2001468?query=featured_home