Because China

[Mikel2]

Pictures of a new hospital being built in Wuhan as response.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-02/02/c_138748788_8.htm

 

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-02/02/c_138748788_5.htm

 

Do all prefabricated buildings in China come standard with bars on the windows?

[Ssnake]

I think these are horizontal sliding windows, giving the impression of four bars when it's just the window pane frames overlapping.

[Mikel2]

I think these are horizontal sliding windows, giving the impression of four bars when it's just the window pane frames overlapping.

Look at the pile of unmounted windows at the above photo, you see both sides of the window assemblies

Edited February 2, 2020 by Mikel2

[Der Zeitgeist]

The hospital containers indeed have barred windows, as this picture shows. Although to be fair, we will see a lot of people being locked away in various kinds of isolation wards in the coming months, not just in China....

 

​

[Ssnake]

Well, that's cleared up, then.

[Mikel2]

Interesting photo. I wonder how they will handle the HVAC system in such a quarantine facility.

[Jeff]

Interesting photo. I wonder how they will handle the HVAC system in such a quarantine facility.

 

Maybe as much for show as carefully thought out, particularly considering the haste.

[Panzermann]

now this is good idea to get your freshly steamed bread(?) in a safe way:

 

https://twitter.com/globaltimesnews/status/1223963086240899079

 

the vid in ther twitter post shows a toy RC car with trailer fetching the food.

[R011]

 

 

Interesting photo. I wonder how they will handle the HVAC system in such a quarantine facility.

Maybe as much for show as carefully thought out, particularly considering the haste.

The big tanks hooked up to the HVAC system marked "Not Poison Gas at All" are no doubt air freshener.

[JasonJ]

Death toll now at 361.

 

Another list of updates since February 1st 2:50AM.

 

Here are the latest developments (Tokyo time):

 

---

 

Monday, February 3

 

10:38 a.m. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 8.72%, or 259.8303 points, to 2,716.6978.

 

9:07 a.m. China's National Health Commission reported the death toll in China had reached 361, surpassing the number of mainland deaths from SARS in 2002-2003, as of the end of Sunday, up by 57 from the previous day. There were 2,829 new confirmed infections, bringing the cumulative total to 17,205.

 

9:06 a.m. Tokyo stocks fell sharply at the opening, with the Nikkei stock index down 1.83%, or 424.46 points, to 22,780.72.

 

7:27 a.m. Hubei Province reported 56 new deaths from the outbreak on Sunday, according to the local health commission.

 

6:56 a.m. Australia is evacuating 270 nationals on a chartered Qantas flight Monday morning from Wuhan. Some 600 Australians were registered in the Hubei region as of last week.

 

5:35 a.m. The Group of Seven industrialized economies will seek a unified approach in tackling the fast-spreading virus, Germany's health minister said on Sunday. Germany reported that it had 10 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

 

5:19 a.m. Hospital workers in Hong Kong have decided to go on strike starting Monday to pressure the city into sealing the border with mainland China as a step against the new coronavirus.

 

4:30 a.m. Russian Railways said it is suspending passenger trains to China as of midnight Monday until further notice, citing the coronavirus epidemic.

 

4 a.m. Chinese equities markets are poised for their weakest Lunar New Year start in at least two decades when they return Monday from a break extended to contain the new coronavirus.

 

3:32 a.m. The widening coronavirus outbreak is expected to dampen world economic growth at least briefly, the head of the International Monetary Fund warned.

 

2:08 a.m. China has not yet accepted a U.S. offer to help contain the epidemic, the White House national security adviser told an American news program Sunday. "We want to help our Chinese colleagues if we can, and we've made the offer and we'll see if they accept the offer," Robert O'Brien said in a CBS interview on "Face the Nation."

 

Sunday, February 2

 

11:50 p.m. A plane repatriating 250 Europeans from Wuhan landed at a military base in southern France on Sunday. In addition to about 65 French nationals, the plane carried passengers from several dozen countries, including the Czech Republic, Sweden and the U.K.

 

10:43 p.m. Russia will evacuate its citizens from China using five military airplanes, according to the Defense Ministry. Around 130 Russians were prepared to leave Hubei Province, the Tass news agency reported.

 

7:02 p.m. Doctors in Thailand say a coronavirus patient has markedly improved after being treated with HIV and flu antivirals.

 

6:18 p.m. China's central bank said it will inject 1.2 trillion yuan ($173.8 billion) of liquidity into the markets via reverse repo operations Monday, as the country prepares to reopen its stock markets amid the outbreak.

 

6:10 p.m. Indonesia's foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, said the country will temporarily halt flights to and from mainland China starting Wednesday and bar visitors who have been in China for 14 days from entering or transiting in Indonesia.

 

3:50 p.m. South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said that the country will bar entry by foreigners who have visited Hubei Province, according to the Yonhap News Agency.

 

2:30 p.m. Italy has suspended flights to and from mainland China and Taiwan. Some direct flights have already been canceled. China Airlines, Taiwans biggest carrier, said it is having to cancel its thrice-weekly Taipei-Rome direct flight through April 28. Meanwhile, Taipei is asking its diplomats to talk to governments where Taiwanese airlines fly to ensure more flights are not cut off due to the island's precarious international position.

 

1:18 p.m. India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said the second positive case has been reported in the southern state of Kerala. The patient has a history of travel to China, according to the ministry.

 

12:53 p.m. New Zealand announced it would bar the entry of all foreign nationals arriving from mainland China, starting Monday.

 

12:07 p.m. The Philippines' Health Department said Sunday that the country's second confirmed patient died the day before. This marked the first known death outside China, according to the World Health Organization.

 

10:24 a.m. The death toll in China had reached 304 as of the end of Saturday, up by 45 from the previous day, according to state broadcaster CCTV, citing the National Health Commission. There were 2,590 new confirmed infections, bringing the cumulative total to 14,380.

 

10:15 a.m. The United Arab Emirates' state-run WAM news agency reported Saturday night that the virus has been detected in a man arriving from Wuhan. Total cases in the country rose to five.

 

5:27 a.m. Russia said it was suspending visa-free travel for tourists to and from China from Sunday over the coronavirus, Reuters reported. Russia will also temporarily stop accepting and issuing documents for work visas to Chinese nationals.

 

1:07 a.m. The Japanese Embassy in Beijing confirmed that Japan is to send its fourth evacuation plane to China later this week, for around 140 Japanese and Chinese spouses in Hubei Province hoping to return to Japan.

 

12:17 a.m. Japan confirmed an additional three cases among evacuees from Wuhan, including one who initially tested negative, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Saturday, bringing the country's total cases to 20.

 

Saturday, February 1

 

10:47 p.m. The Hubei provincial government has extended the Lunar New Year holiday break to Feb. 13, according to a local newspaper.

 

8:12 p.m. Vietnam declared a public health emergency over the epidemic and said it would stop all flights to and from China. The government said it would also stop issuing visas for foreign visitors who had been in China in the past two weeks.

 

5:27 p.m. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has asked the European Union to facilitate urgent procurement of medical supplies, Reuters reported.

 

7:29 p.m. Uzbekistan said it has instructed the state airline to suspend regular flights to and from China.

 

4:21 p.m. Apple said it has decided to shut down all its official stores in mainland China until Feb. 9.

 

4:13 p.m. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his country will deny entry to all foreign nationals traveling from mainland China from Saturday.

 

3:05 p.m. The U.K. government announced the withdrawal of some embassy and consulate staffers in China over the coronavirus.

 

12:51 p.m. Australia's Qantas Airways said it was suspending direct flights to mainland China from Feb. 9.

 

9:48 a.m. China's deaths from the outbreak had totaled 259 by the end of Friday, an increase of 46, according to the National Health Commission.

 

7:30 a.m. Spain confirmed its first case of the coronavirus late Friday, with the Health Ministry identifying a man diagnosed on a remote island in the Canaries.

 

5:40 a.m. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar declares the outbreak a public health emergency in the country and says Washington will deny entry to foreign nationals who have traveled to China within the past 14 days. Immediate family members of U.S. citizens will be exempt.

 

2:50 a.m. Russia reported its first two cases Friday. It will halt all direct flights to China from 9 p.m. GMT, except for those operated by national airline Aeroflot, according to Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus-outbreak/Coronavirus-latest-China-death-toll-reaches-361-surpassing-SARS

Edited February 3, 2020 by JasonJ

[BansheeOne]

The case in the Canaries is also a German linked to the same company where the local outbreak occurred, courtesy of the long incubation period.

 

Two of the Wuhan returnees airlifted out by the Luftwaffe turned out to be infected, too. Another suspected case was referred to hospital directly after landing, but I've heard nothing else after that. While mortality may be low, and some infected apparently never fall sick at all, the spread is pretty impressive compared to SARS and MERS.

[Ssnake]

Yeah, but everybody focusing on the fast spreading (OMG eleven) is creating the overall wrong impression of the threat level, IMO.

[Der Zeitgeist]

Yeah, but everybody focusing on the fast spreading (OMG eleven) is creating the overall wrong impression of the threat level, IMO.

 

I don't think so. I see the biggest threat not in the death toll, but in the massive societal and economic disruption when transport links, supply chains or places like schools and universities start shutting down.

 

And this will heavily depend on the reproductive rate, as you can't just ignore the spread but have to isolate cases.

[BansheeOne]

I'm actually not sure whether that effect is self-inflicted. Sure, you don't want a massive spread to claim a high total death toll among vulnerable demographics, i. e. the old and those with pre-existing conditions. But are those more at risk than from the common flu, which is the usual benchmark? Because nobody bans people from entry or isolates them for that.

 

The problem seems to be we don't have a good grasp on mortality rate yet, because the fast spread and long incubation make it hard to track total cases. BTW, those properties are the only reason I'm even considering the claims about a designer virus, which as noted earlier is otherwise a standard conspiracy theory in any pandemic. But then Mother Nature usually needs no human help to come up with new and innovative ways to make you sick.

[Der Zeitgeist]

I'm actually not sure whether that effect is self-inflicted. Sure, you don't want a massive spread to claim a high total death toll among vulnerable demographics, i. e. the old and those with pre-existing conditions. But are those more at risk than from the common flu, which is the usual benchmark? Because nobody bans people from entry or isolates them for that.

 

Influenza is already established in human populations, you can't "eradicate" it, but the flu strains alre also pretty well known with various vaccines against them. So you can't quarantine against the flu because it's basically everywhere anyway. Among virologists, the flu is also considered a "pandemic", although nobody bothers to call it like that because it's just a fact of life.

 

2019-nCoV however is still pretty new. No vaccines exist, and there is still a theoretical possibility of beating it back like the 2002 / 2003 strain. So you can't just ignore it and let it spread even if the mortality is low. Also, you don't know what kind of more dangerous mutations it might aquire once it is firmly settled among the human population.

Edited February 3, 2020 by Der Zeitgeist

[JasonJ]

A proper vaccine might take a year to fully be developed and tested out and ready for the market.

[Panzermann]

global times has a ticker:

 

https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1177737.shtml

 

 

9:39 pm Feb 3

The coronavirus can survive for five days maximum on smooth surfaces under suitable circumstances: experts from China's Health Commission

​

 

that is a scary property. iirc viruses stay infectious for a max two days normally

[Panzermann]

Busses from a firm named "Horseman Coaches" transported the quarantined brits to the military base where they are being quarantined.

 

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/why-coronavirus-mask-drivers-coaches-17671978

 

 

Horseman, the coach of the apocalypse?

[Jeff]

Busses from a firm named "Horseman Coaches" transported the quarantined brits to the military base where they are being quarantined.

 

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/why-coronavirus-mask-drivers-coaches-17671978

 

 

Horseman, the coach of the apocalypse?

 

Four Horsemen Coaches?

[JasonJ]

Death toll now at 425.

 

The number of confirmed deaths from China's coronavirus outbreak spiked to 425, after authorities in Hubei province reported 64 new fatalities on Tuesday.

 

In its daily update, figures from the health commission in Hubei, which has been hit hardest by the virus, also showed a sharp increase in confirmed infections with 2,345 new cases.

 

That puts the national total at 19,550, based on numbers previously issued by the central government.

 

 

 

The epidemic, which has spiralled into a global health emergency, is believed to have emerged in December from a market that sold wild game in the Hubei provincial capital Wuhan.

 

There are now cases reported in more than 20 countries.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/1850194/china-virus-death-toll-rises-to-425

[JasonJ]

A couple of artcles about recovery and discharges from hospitals.

BEIJING, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese provinces and municipalities reported Sunday that more patients infected with the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) have recovered and left hospitals.

 

A total of 37 patients including one aged 88 who had been infected with the virus in central China's Hubei Province, the epicenter of the epidemic, have recovered and been discharged from Jinyintan Hospital on Sunday afternoon.

 

Northwest China's Gansu Province also reported its first batch of two patients recovering from the novel coronavirus Sunday.

 

Meanwhile, a 57-year-old patient was also cured and discharged from hospital on Sunday after 17 days of treatment in southwest China's Sichuan Province. He is the province's first patient who was in severe or critical situations and discharged from hospital after recovery.

 

China's Tianjin Municipality also reported its first patient recovering from the virus on Sunday.

 

Patients can be discharged when the symptoms are alleviated, the body temperature remains at a normal range for at least three days, and the nucleic acid test shows a negative result twice, according to China's National Health Commission.

 

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland had reached 14,380 by the end of Saturday.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-02/02/c_138750361.htm

 

BEIJING (China Daily/ANN): A total of 475 patients infected with the novel coronavirus had been discharged from hospital after recovery by the end of Sunday (Feb 2), Chinese health authorities announced Monday.

 

 

Sunday saw 147 people walk out of the hospital after recovery (80 in Hubei), the National Health Commission (NHC) said in its daily report.

 

By the end of Sunday, a total of 361 people had died of the disease and 17,205 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection had been reported in 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in China. - China Daily/Asia News Network

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/regional/2020/02/03/chinese-hospitals-discharge-475-recovered-coronavirus-patients

[Jeff]

Frankly, I view the official Chinese numbers to be about as trustworthy as darts thrown at a dart board.

[JasonJ]

Frankly, I view the official Chinese numbers to be about as trustworthy as darts thrown at a dart board.

Not disagreeing with that. The official death numbers will be minimum possibility.

[Nobu]

The cancellation of the Summer Olympics is not an option for now, but something to monitor in the weeks ahead.

[DB]

Let's be charitable and believe the number of confirmed deaths, bearing in mind that cause of death takes time to establish.

 

If 2 cases were found on the 100-ish repatriated Germans, that might suggest that Wuhan has a current infection rate of 2%, although uncertainty bars would be large. A stupidly simple WAG would in turn suggest that of the order of 100,000 people in/around Wuhan might be affected.

 

There are so many assumptions involved in the above that even giving a ROM estimate is being optimistic.