Must see video footage if you haven’t already (Ukraine) - Hopefully this isn’t a glimpse into our future (Mad Max):
Officials Warn Of Misinformation Danger Amid Coronavirus Fears | NBC Nightly News | 10 Hours Ago
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COVID-19: Hong Kong policeman infected, dozens of colleagues quarantined
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Hongkongers sew reusable fabric masks
February 21, 2020
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Coronavirus: CDC warns of US outbreak of Covid-19, preps for pandemic
Updated 5 hours ago
“One survey questions worldwide readiness, arguing that no country is fully prepared for the next epidemic or pandemic.
The
Global Health Security Index, which was issued last year, found that only 13 of nearly 200 countries score in the top tier, suggesting that most of the world would struggle to deal with a major outbreak of a deadly infectious disease such as Ebola.
The index is a project of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, with research by The Economist Intelligence Unit.”
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Japan Can’t Run Out the Clock on Coronavirus
Worries about the viability of the Olympic Games should take a backseat to containing a potential public health crisis.
February 21, 2020
“With a projected cost that might reach
$28 billion, the Tokyo Olympics aren't just another international sporting event for Japan. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe views them as a
critical means of boosting Japan's tourist industry, entrepreneurship, and brand. High aspirations are high risk, especially with the Olympics, which rarely go off flawlessly. Among the almost predictable risks? A pandemic. In 2010, there was
serious talk about postponing the Vancouver Olympics due to the H1N1 outbreak, and in 2016, the Zika virus nearly derailed the Rio summer games, with several prominent athletes
skipping them.”
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https://bigislandnow.com/2020/02/21/four-on-big-island-monitoring-for-covid-19/
February 21, 2020
“There are four people on the Big Island currently self-monitoring for potential signs of COVID-19, a state Department of Health press release said Friday.
This is the first time since it began releasing daily updates on the status of coronavirus in Hawai‘i that the state has mentioned a potential presence on the Big Island. However, as of Friday afternoon, there remained no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Hawaiian Islands.
Currently, there are 56 people within Hawaiian borders self-monitoring, with one man still in quarantine.”
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“New test kits are being developed by the CDC. It is estimated that Hawai‘i may receive test kits in early to mid-March. DOH has offered to be a beta-tester for the new kits to ensure they work properly. If Hawai‘i becomes a beta-tested, it means the state may have earlier access to the testing process.”
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Maricopa County officials: Man diagnosed with COVID-19 coronavirus released from isolation
8 hours ago
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Coronavirus: First US patient recovers; Iran reports 2 Covid-19 deaths
Feb. 20, 2020
Re: Washington:
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Almost 800 people remain on the state's watch list as health officials around the world battle to contain the virus...”
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“Chinese President Xi Jinping personally thanked US billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates after his foundation donated $100m to fight COVID-19, the official Xinhua news agency
reported.
The foundation pledged the nine-figure sum towards efforts to detect the new coronavirus that causes the disease, to provide protection for at-risk populations and to develop a vaccine as well as treatment.
In his letter to Gates, Xi said: "I deeply appreciate the act of generosity of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and your letter of solidarity to the Chinese people at such an important moment."”
China coronavirus outbreak: All the latest updates
20 minutes ago
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The Coronavirus May Be ‘Disease X’ Health Experts Warned About
February 21, 2020
“The World Health Organization cautioned years ago that a mysterious “
disease X” could spark an international contagion. The new coronavirus, with its ability to quickly morph from mild to deadly, is emerging as a contender.
From recent reports about the stealthy ways the so-called Covid-19 virus spreads and maims, a picture is emerging of an enigmatic pathogen whose effects are mainly mild, but which occasionally -- and unpredictably -- turns deadly in the second week. In less than three months, it’s infected about 77,000 people, mostly in China, and killed more than 2,200.
“Whether it will be contained or not, this outbreak is rapidly becomi
“Whether it will be contained or not, this outbreak is rapidly becoming the first true pandemic challenge that fits the disease X category,”
Marion Koopmans, head of viroscience at Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, and a member of the WHO’s emergency committee, wrote Wednesday in the journal Cell.”
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“A second patient infected with the new coronavirus has died in Italy, ANSA news agency reported citing healthcare sources, as an outbreak spreads in the country's industrious north with
30 cases reported so far.”
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“Lombardy, Italy's financial and industrial heart, is the most stricken region with 27 cases.”
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“Public gatherings including Sunday masses and football matches were suspended, and schools and shops were closed down in an area south-west of Milan with around 50,000 residents, who were told by authorities to remain indoors.”
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“After a meeting the chiefs of Italy's civil protection agency, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Saturday the government was ready to consider further measures.
Italy was the first euro zone country to suspend all direct flights to and from China, provoking the ire of the Beijing government. It took the decision after two Chinese tourists from Wuhan tested positive in Rome in late January.
Prior to Friday, Italy had reported just three cases of the virus, which first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.”
Second coronavirus patient dies in Italy: ANSA news agency
FEBRUARY 22, 2020 / UPDATED 25 MINUTES AGO
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South Korea reports doubling of coronavirus patients to 433, with over 1,000 at new outbreak site feeling ill | The Japan Times
FEB 22, 2020
““We are conducting investigation based on the database … we have obtained,” KCDC Director Jeong Eun-kyeong told reporters.”
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“Cases from the hospital surged near a hundred overnight, with all but two of the new infections from the hospital’s psychiatric unit.
“We think the patients had repeated exposure given the isolated facility of the psychiatric wards, where many patients share the same room,” KCDC Director Jeong Eun-kyeong told reporters.
The hospital, which has around 600 patients and staff, has been closed and patients are being transferred to other facilities.”
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“Among the new cases confirmed on Saturday, two were in Busan, while one was on Jeju, a soldier stationed on the island who had come into contact with residents in the Daegu area. The government had banned all military personnel at a Daegu base from leaving the barracks.”
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Three boys with COVID-19 are Japan's youngest cases | The Japan Times
FEB 21, 2020
“A preschooler in Saitama and two brothers in Hokkaido have been confirmed infected with the new coronavirus, prefectural officials announced Friday.”
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“The two in Hokkaido are students at an elementary school in the town of Nakafurano, according to prefectural officials. One is under 10 years old.
It is the first time someone under 10 has caught COVID-19 in Japan.”
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“The brothers have no history of travel abroad and the prefectural government is investigating how they became infected.
Prefectural officials also said a female quarantine officer in her 40s who lives in Chitose has been infected.
The cases came as the health ministry said Friday that it will encourage more companies to promote telecommuting and staggered working hours as part of efforts to prevent the virus from spreading further.
The ministry will make the request through Keidanren (the Japan Business Federation) and other lobbies. It will also ask firms to let employees with fevers or other symptoms of illness to take time off at ease.
“We need the understanding of companies to keep the virus from spreading,” Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Katsunobu Kato said at a news conference.”
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Spread of COVID-19 in Japan could hurt Abe's bid to rebuild China ties | The Japan Times
FEB 21, 2020
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Health officials fear COVID-19 pandemic as untraceable clusters emerge | The Japan Times
FEB 22, 2020
““A number of spot fires, occurring around the world is a sign that things are ticking along, and what we are going to have here is probably a pandemic,” said Ian Mackay, who studies viruses at Australia’s University of Queensland.”
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““What we see is a very different phase of this outbreak depending where you look,” said WHO’s Dr. Sylvie Briand. “We see different patterns of transmission in different places.””
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“But as the virus becomes more widespread, trying to trace every contact would be futile, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong acknowledged earlier this month.
“If we still hospitalize and isolate every suspect case, our hospitals will be overwhelmed,” he said. So far, the city-state has identified five clusters of transmission, including two churches. But there remain eight locally transmitted cases with no links to earlier cases, or to China.”
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“And it is almost certainly being spread by people who show such mild symptoms that no one can tell, said Dr. Amesh Adalja of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
“If that’s the case, all of these containment methods are not going to work,” Adalja said. “It’s likely mixed in the cold and flu season all over the place, in multiple countries” and gone unnoticed until someone gets severely ill.
These milder symptoms are good news “in terms of not as many people dying,” said Mackay, of Australia. “But it’s really bad news if you are trying to stop a pandemic,” he added.”
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“For now, health officials should try and contain the infection for as long as possible while preparing for a change in strategy by preparing hospitals, readying protective equipment and bolstering laboratory capacity, said Gagandeep Kang, a microbiologist who leads India’s Translational Health Science and Technology Institute.”
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