WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged global leaders on Saturday to stop stigma and hate amid the virus outbreak. His comments follow reports that people of Asian descent have faced discrimination amid fears of the virus.
"It's easy to blame, it's easy to politicize, it's harder to tackle a problem together and find solutions together," Ghebreyesus said during an address at the Munich Security Conference. "We will all learn lessons from this outbreak, but now is not the time for reclamations or politicization."
5:00 am: First coronavirus death confirmed in Europe
An 80-year-old Chinese tourist died of the virus in France, French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said on Saturday. The man was from the Chinese province of Hubei, the center of the outbreak, and arrived in France on Jan. 16. He was hospitalized since Jan. 25.
The man's daughter also has the virus and was also hospitalized in Paris, but will be discharged soon, the health minister said.
It's the first death that's been confirmed in Europe and the fourth from the virus outside of mainland China. France has 11 confirmed cases of the virus. -- https://nu.federati.net/url/263053 [cnbc]
Officials from both the CDC and WHO told reporters that they were concerned about the number of health workers who become ill as coronavirus spread. Currently, no health workers in the U.S. have contracted the virus. Dr. Bernard Camins, medical director for infection prevention at Mount Sinai hospital, joins "Closing Bell" to talk about how medical facilities are preparing for coronavirus in the U.S. —Cheddar Berk
Suspicion that: along with kidney damage already noticed, #COVID-19 ( #2019-nCoV ) Wuhan #coronavirus infection may affect male organs such as testicles. (AFAIK, they did not perform corresponding research about female organs such as ovaries, so don't take this as an indication that only male fertility may be damaged.) #SARS-CoV-2
Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged the ruling Communist Party to repair loopholes and weaknesses exposed during the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak, Reuters reported on Friday, citing state television.
His reported comments come shortly after China's National Health Commission reported an additional 121 deaths nationwide, with 5,090 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
The flu-like virus was found to have killed a total of 1,380 people in mainland China as of Thursday evening after the health commission said it had removed 108 deaths from the total figure due to a double-count in Hubei province — the epicenter of the global coronavirus outbreak.
It is the second day in a row that the province's data changes have caused significant changes to a nationwide figure, fueling doubts many have about their accuracy. (See 1:15 p.m. update).
The White House does "not have high confidence in the information coming out of China," a senior U.S. administration official told CNBC on Thursday.
World health officials are scrambling to determine just how widespread the new coronavirus is as Chinese authorities reported a surge in new cases overnight after changing how it counts confirmed infections. "How big is the iceberg?" Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization's emergencies program, said at a news conference at the agency's headquarters in Geneva. "We do know, and we all accept, that there is transmission occurring at some level in communities," he said. "We've all seen those clusters, we've all seen those super spreading events. The question is how much is happening outside what we see?" — Lovelace
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a 15th case in the U.S., a recent evacuee from Wuhan who was quarantined at the Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas. The U.S. evacuated roughly 800 Americans from Wuhan, more than 600 of which remain under quarantine at military facilities across the nation. Two other evacuees at a Marine Corps base near San Diego, California also have COVID-19, the CDC said Wednesday. "There will likely be additional cases in the coming days and weeks, including among other people recently returned from Wuhan," the CDC said. — Feuer
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told CNBC's Sara Eisen on Wednesday the new coronavirus that started in China is "clearly more impactful" on the world economy than the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic. "China was different [then], the world was different," said Georgieva, in an interview with Ivanka Trump from a State Department event on economic empowerment for women. During the SARS outbreak, China was only 8% of the global economy, Georgieva pointed out. "Today, China manufactures 28%, with possible impact through value chains on other countries." — Belvedere
I haven't seen an explanation yet. My first guess would be that they recently received a new supply of test kits, and are now testing people who are not as sick. If so, the alarming 2% fatality rate should start falling soon.
(Remember to take this with a grain of salt, as there is no way to confirm this number and the official numbers are still showing a far lower 2-3% rate.)
They're about to announce an official name for the #2019-nCoV #coronavirus. That's important because coronaviruses can cause everything from minor colds to deadly respiratory conditions like #SARS and #MERS. They want to get specific.
#2019-nCoV #coronavirus ... 12,000 known cases, 250 known deaths; nations imposing travel bans to prevent the virus’ spread. Much less deadly so far than related coronaviruses #SARS and #MERS. Possibly originated in snakes or bats, with bats (being mammals) considered more likely. Not known to be spread by foods (consuming deceased animals) ... the animals are believed to have been alive when transmission happened.
By the way, I'm not talking about going to extremes. I'm saying that if necessary, it is sensible to be able to avoid public places for a few days. . I don't see the current #2019-nCoV strain of #coronavirus as a civilization-ender. Nor was the #SARS strain or the #MERS strain. As I said, take it seriously enough to prepare, but do not panic.
@moonman @dielan At last report, #2019-nCoV #coronavirus still had a 2% fatality rate and has already infected more people than its relative #SARS did over a period of almost two years. If it gets loose here and tag-teams with #influenza, it could kill thousands. Or more. . I think it is justified to take it seriously. Not to the point that you poop in your pants and sit in the streets wailing, but preparations like stocking up on food, gloves, face masks for family and neighbors make sense.