Category: Health & Medicine

Crisis mode’: Coronavirus disrupts the heart of electronics manufacturing in China

The point being that the economic effects – world wide – will probably be worse than the medical effects of the bug.

  • Factories in China, the center of the electronics industry’s supply chain, are expected to reopen on Monday after being closed for an extended Lunar New Year holiday.
  • The date is being closely watched because Chinese manufacturing is critical to the electronics industry.
  • Given travel restrictions and potential supply-chain problems, products scheduled for the holiday season months away are at risk of being delayed as well, experts said

Factories in China, the center of the electronics industry’s supply chain, have been closed for an extended Lunar New Year holiday and the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus. Most are expected to reopen on Monday, a week later than scheduled.

But quarantines and other measures put in place to stop the spread of the disease in China could continue to disrupt electronics manufacturing well into the 2020 holiday season, even if factories quickly return to full production, manufacturing experts said.

Andre Neumann-Loreck, founder of On-Tap Consulting, a Silicon Valley firm that specializes in advising hardware companies and start-ups building products in Asia, said his clients have been asking a lot of questions about how to deal with the epidemic and have actively made contingency plans.

“Companies that are building hardware or physical products are in crisis mode now, and that’s true whether they’re getting finished goods built in China or relying on China for components and sub-assemblies,” Neumann-Loreck said.

For example, Facebook warned on Friday that it was expecting the coronavirus to impact the production of its Oculus Quest virtual reality headsets.

How delays could cascade

The supply chain has already been disrupted with the week-long delay to factories reopening, said Sherina Kamal, risk analyst at Resillience 360, a logistics risk-management company backed by DHL.

“The ripple effect coming from one region in China is completely unprecedented,” Kamal said. “We’ve never seen anything like this.”………..

Clinical Characteristics of 138 Hospitalized Patients With 2019 Novel Coronavirus–Infected Pneumonia in Wuhan, China

Key Points

Question  What are the clinical characteristics of hospitalized patients with 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)–infected pneumonia (NCIP) in Wuhan, China?

Findings  In this single-center case series involving 138 patients with NCIP, 26% of patients required admission to the intensive care unit and 4.3% died. Presumed human-to-human hospital-associated transmission of 2019-nCoV was suspected in 41% of patients.

Meaning  In this case series in Wuhan, China, NCIP was frequently associated with presumed hospital-related transmission, 26% of patients required intensive care unit treatment, and mortality was 4.3%.

Abstract

Importance  In December 2019, novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)–infected pneumonia (NCIP) occurred in Wuhan, China. The number of cases has increased rapidly but information on the clinical characteristics of affected patients is limited.

Objective  To describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of NCIP.

Design, Setting, and Participants  Retrospective, single-center case series of the 138 consecutive hospitalized patients with confirmed NCIP at Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in Wuhan, China, from January 1 to January 28, 2020; final date of follow-up was February 3, 2020.

Exposures  Documented NCIP.

Main Outcomes and Measures  Epidemiological, demographic, clinical, laboratory, radiological, and treatment data were collected and analyzed. Outcomes of critically ill patients and noncritically ill patients were compared. Presumed hospital-related transmission was suspected if a cluster of health professionals or hospitalized patients in the same wards became infected and a possible source of infection could be tracked.

Results  Of 138 hospitalized patients with NCIP, the median age was 56 years (interquartile range, 42-68; range, 22-92 years) and 75 (54.3%) were men. Hospital-associated transmission was suspected as the presumed mechanism of infection for affected health professionals (40 [29%]) and hospitalized patients (17 [12.3%]). Common symptoms included fever (136 [98.6%]), fatigue (96 [69.6%]), and dry cough (82 [59.4%]). Lymphopenia (lymphocyte count, 0.8 × 109/L [interquartile range {IQR}, 0.6-1.1]) occurred in 97 patients (70.3%), prolonged prothrombin time (13.0 seconds [IQR, 12.3-13.7]) in 80 patients (58%), and elevated lactate dehydrogenase (261 U/L [IQR, 182-403]) in 55 patients (39.9%). Chest computed tomographic scans showed bilateral patchy shadows or ground glass opacity in the lungs of all patients. Most patients received antiviral therapy (oseltamivir, 124 [89.9%]), and many received antibacterial therapy (moxifloxacin, 89 [64.4%]; ceftriaxone, 34 [24.6%]; azithromycin, 25 [18.1%]) and glucocorticoid therapy (62 [44.9%]). Thirty-six patients (26.1%) were transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) because of complications, including acute respiratory distress syndrome (22 [61.1%]), arrhythmia (16 [44.4%]), and shock (11 [30.6%]). The median time from first symptom to dyspnea was 5.0 days, to hospital admission was 7.0 days, and to ARDS was 8.0 days. Patients treated in the ICU (n = 36), compared with patients not treated in the ICU (n = 102), were older (median age, 66 years vs 51 years), were more likely to have underlying comorbidities (26 [72.2%] vs 38 [37.3%]), and were more likely to have dyspnea (23 [63.9%] vs 20 [19.6%]), and anorexia (24 [66.7%] vs 31 [30.4%]). Of the 36 cases in the ICU, 4 (11.1%) received high-flow oxygen therapy, 15 (41.7%) received noninvasive ventilation, and 17 (47.2%) received invasive ventilation (4 were switched to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation). As of February 3, 47 patients (34.1%) were discharged and 6 died (overall mortality, 4.3%), but the remaining patients are still hospitalized. Among those discharged alive (n = 47), the median hospital stay was 10 days (IQR, 7.0-14.0).

Conclusions and Relevance  In this single-center case series of 138 hospitalized patients with confirmed NCIP in Wuhan, China, presumed hospital-related transmission of 2019-nCoV was suspected in 41% of patients, 26% of patients received ICU care, and mortality was 4.3%.

2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the U.S.

Updated February 7, 2020

CDC is closely monitoring an outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel (new) coronavirus named 2019-nCoV. The outbreak first started in Wuhan, China, but cases have been identified in a growing number of other international locations, including the United States. This page will be updated regularly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

People Under Investigation (PUI) in the United States*†

People under Investigation (PUI) in the United States
Positive 12
Negative 225
Pending§ 100
Total 337

Coronavirus Cases On Japan Cruise Ship Treble To 61

I first heard of this on Monday when the count was 10, including 2 U.S. citizens out of 428 aboard. Yesterday, it was 20, including 8 U.S. citizens.
Something new every day…………

Another 41 people on a cruise ship quarantined off Japan have the new coronavirus, the country’s health minister said Friday, confirming more on board will now be tested for the illness……..

Japanese authorities have said the ship’s quarantine may last until February 19, with passengers required to stay inside their cabins in a bid to prevent new infections.

Novel Coronavirus(2019-nCoV)
Situation Report – 17

SITUATION IN NUMBERS
total and new cases in last 24 hours
Globally
28 276 confirmed (3722 new)
China
28 060 confirmed (3697 new)
3859 severe (640 new)
564 deaths (73 new)
Outside of China
216 confirmed (25 new)
24 countries
1 death

Li Wenliang: Coronavirus kills Chinese whistleblower doctor

A Chinese doctor who tried to issue the first warnings about the deadly coronavirus outbreak has died, the hospital treating him has said.

Li Wenliang contracted the virus while working at Wuhan Central Hospital.

He had sent out a warning to fellow medics on 30 December but police told him to stop “making false comments”.

There had been contradictory reports about his death, but the People’s Daily now says he died at 02:58 on Friday (18:58 GMT Thursday).

The virus has killed 636 people and infected 31,161 in mainland China, the National Health Commission’s latest figures show.

The death toll includes 73 new deaths reported on Thursday…….

What is Li Wenliang’s story?

Dr Li, an ophthalmologist, posted his story on Weibo from a hospital bed a month after sending out his initial warning.

He had noticed seven cases of a virus that he thought looked like Sars – the virus that led to a global epidemic in 2003.

On 30 December he sent a message to fellow doctors in a chat group warning them to wear protective clothing to avoid infection.

Four days later he was summoned to the Public Security Bureau where he was told to sign a letter. In the letter he was accused of “making false comments” that had “severely disturbed the social order”.

He was one of eight people who police said were being investigated for “spreading rumours” Local authorities later apologised to Dr Li.

Coronavirus tests U.S. medical system’s unhealthy reliance on China for drugs, supplies.
The basic building blocks of U.S. health care are now under the control of the Chinese Communist Party.

It’s not just the “building blocks of U.S. health care”, it’s all the stuff imported from China and how much of that stuff we depend on that’s not being manufactured because of so many people being in quarantine.

Chinese President Xi Jinping recently warned of the “grave” situation posed by the “accelerating spread” of the coronavirus in China. Xi’s frank warnings were unusual for the seniormost official of the Chinese Communist Party and reveal the depth of the concern at the highest levels of the country’s leadership.

Already, nearly 500 people have died and tens of thousands more have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus. It has been found in Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Europe and the United States. Tens of millions have been put under travel restrictions and even quarantine by the Chinese government.

While many are rightfully concerned about stopping the virus, few are focused on the fact that the more it spreads, the more the U.S. ability to treat any Americans who are stricken is vulnerable to the tender mercies of the Chinese Communist Party because of a strategic shift in health care that occurred without debate or decision in Washington.

Everything from antibiotics to chemotherapy drugs, from antidepressants to Alzheimer’s medications to treatments for HIV/AIDS, are frequently produced by Chinese manufacturers. What’s more, the most effective breathing masks and the bulk of other personal protective equipment — key to containing the spread of coronavirus and protecting health care workers — and even the basic syringe are largely made in China. The basic building blocks of U.S. health care are now under Xi’s control.

As Rosemary Gibson, author and health care expert noted, the United States does not produce its own penicillin anymore — the last U.S. based penicillin production facility closed in 2004. Of course, antibiotics may not do any good against the coronavirus, but they may be needed to deal with a related sickness, just as flu often leads to respiratory infections.

This makes the U.S. acutely vulnerable for several reasons. First, China has a record of faulty products and poor oversight that have resulted in recalls, production delays and other problems Americans certainly don’t want to encounter when trying to obtain lifesaving drugs. As Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross stated recently, it is time for the U.S. to “consider the ramifications of doing business with a country that has a long history of covering up real risks to its own people and the rest of the world.”

 

Pentagon designates a 5th US military base for Chinese coronavirus evacuees

The Pentagon is using Camp Ashland in Nebraska to quarantine up 75 individuals possibly infected with the coronavirus, the Defense Department announced Wednesday.

Americans evacuated overseas in need of quarantine will be flown to a remote spot at Eppley Airfield in Omaha as soon as Thursday, according to Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and will be transported to the camp.

“DOD personnel will not be in direct contact with the evacuees and will minimize contact with personnel supporting the evacuees,” the announcement read. “Should routine monitoring of the evacuees identify ill individuals, [the DepartmentHealth and Human Services] HHS has procedures in place to transport them to a local civilian medical facility. HHS will also ensure that no evacuated personnel are transferred to any DOD installation if they are infected or ill.”
Nebraska National Guard officials have prepared three buildings with 85 beds at the camp, and Guard officials said evacuees won’t be interacting with guardsmen or employees there.

The HHS also said that planes will arrive at bases in California and Texas. All passengers will be screened for symptoms and are subject to 14 days of mandatory quarantine. It typically takes about two weeks before seeing symptoms of the coronavirus, which part of the reason it has spread so fast.

‘Significant breakthrough’ in race for coronavirus vaccine.

I hope it works out as advertised.

The scientist leading the UK’s research into a coronavirus vaccine says his team have made a significant breakthrough by reducing a part of the normal development time from “two to three years to just 14 days”.

Professor Robin Shattock, head of mucosal infection and immunity at Imperial College London, said he is now at the stage to start testing the vaccine on animals as early as next week with human studies in the summer if enough funding is secured.

He told Sky News: “Conventional approaches usually take at least two to three years before you even get to the clinic. And we’ve gone from that sequence to generating a candidate in the laboratory in 14 days.

“And we will have it in animal models by the beginning of next week. We’ve short-tracked that part. The next phase will be to move that from early animal testing into the first human studies.

“And we think with adequate funding we could do that in a period of a few months.”

Novel Coronavirus(2019-nCoV)
Situation Report – 15

• No new countries reported cases of 2019-nCoV in the 24 hours since the previous situation report.

SITUATION IN NUMBERS
total and new cases in last 24 hours
Globally
20630 confirmed (3241 new)
China
20471 confirmed (3235 new)
2788 severe (492 new)
425 deaths (64 new)
Outside of China
159 confirmed (6 new)
23 countries
1 death

No change in the U.S.

2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the U.S.

People Under Investigation (PUI) in the United States*†

As of 2/3/2020

People under Investigation (PUI) in the United States
Positive 11
Negative 167
Pending§ 82
Total 260

WHO Novel Coronavirus(2019-nCoV)
Situation Report – 14

SITUATION IN NUMBERS
total and new cases in last 24 hours
Globally
17391 confirmed (2838 new)
China
17238 confirmed (2831 new)
2296 severe (186 new)
361 deaths (57 new)
Outside of China
153 confirmed (7 new)
23 countries
1 death

Health officials confirm 6 cases of novel coronavirus in California

SACRAMENTO, Calif – According to the California Department of Public Health, they have confirmed a new case of novel coronavirus 2019 in Santa Clara County on Sunday.

In addition, two more cases have been confirmed in San Benito County, bringing California’s number of confirmed cases to six. This information is confirmed by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department, the San Benito County Public Health Department and the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention laboratory.

hose sickened are husband and wife, and both are 57 years of age. One spouse traveled to China and one who did not. This marks the first instance of close household person-to-person transmission of novel coronavirus in California. There is no evidence of person-to-person transmission in the general public in California.

Currently, the California Department of Public Health confirms a total of six cases of novel coronavirus in California: two people in Santa Clara County, two people in San Benito County, one person in Los Angeles County and one person in Orange County have tested positive for novel coronavirus 2019.

This brings the U.S. total to 11.

A Thousand Ways to Get Sold Out.

Although Russia and the Ukraine are the focus of U.S. media coverage, the most important recent events have occurred in China. It remains in the grip of an ever-expanding coronavirus epidemic that the WHO seems reluctant to wall off, saying Beijing would help those foreign countries that got infected.

In the wake of numerous airlines cancelling flights to China and businesses including Starbucks and McDonald’s temporarily closing hundreds of shops, Tedros said WHO was not recommending limiting travel or trade to China.

“There is no reason for measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade,” he said. He added that Chinese President Xi Jinping had committed to help stop the spread of the virus beyond its borders.

“During my discussion with the president and other officials, they’re willing to support countries with weaker health systems with whatever is possible,” Tedros said.

The 2019-nCoV outbreak is proving to be not only an epidemiological event but a geopolitical development. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross pointed out the obvious. China will be diminished as a result, the only question being by how much.

“Well, first of all, every American’s heart has to go out to the victims of the coronavirus. So, I don’t want to talk about a victory lap over a very unfortunate, very malignant disease,” Ross told Fox Business Network on Thursday. “But the fact is, it does give businesses yet another thing to consider when they go through their review of their supply chain.”

“On top of all the other things, you had SARS, you had the African swine virus there, now you have this,” Ross continued. “It’s another risk factor that people need to take into account. So, I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America. Some to U.S., probably some to Mexico, as well.”

Perhaps not just China but the whole uncritical notion of a globalized world has taken a hit. In an eerie parallel development, the chairman of Harvard’s chemistry department was arrested on charges of secretly receiving money from Beijing in exchange for American biotechnology.

In 2013 Charles Lieber, a pioneer of nanoscience who is now the chairman of Harvard University’s chemistry department, visited the Wuhan University of Technology (wut), in China, to celebrate the founding of a lab he was credited by that university with helping to establish and oversee: the wut-Harvard Joint Nano Key Laboratory.
It was a remarkable coup. wut is an institution of little renown. Harvard is generally regarded as the top of the academic tree. And Dr Lieber, whose research has since become part of Elon Musk’s ambitious scheme to supercharge the human brain with nanotechnology, has been seen as a potential Nobel laureate.

Harvard’s officials had not, however, approved the laboratory and did not know about it until early 2015, according to the us Department of Justice. Nor did they know that while conducting his research with grants from the Department of Defence and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr Lieber was, according to federal authorities, also being paid up to $50,000 a month by wut, plus at least $150,000 in “living expenses”, as a prized recruit in China’s Thousand Talents programme to bring foreign scientists, and return Chinese expatriates, to that country’s research laboratories.

Lieber’s bail has been set at a $1 million cash, the surrender of his passport, and a ban of large cash withdrawals without court approval. Even without conspiracy theory, the “Thousand Talents” program and the question of international conflict of interest will be in the dock with Dr. Lieber.

What, then, is the Thousand Talents program? This was established by the Chinese government in 2008, and it has several divisions for both Chinese researchers and foreign experts. The general idea is to recruit scientific talent and expertise to China – encouraging Chinese nationals to come back to Chinese institutions after studying overseas, funding research collaborations between Chinese groups and institutions and foreign researchers, and so on. …

There have also been concerns about outright espionage. Here’s a recent Senate report calling the Thousand Talents effort (and the many other Chinese-sponsored recruitment programs) a direct threat to US security. There have been cases of awardees taking proprietary information with them, of nondisclosure of Chinese funding (as with Prof. Lieber), and so on. In recent years, the Chinese government has reacted to this scrutiny by removing the names of awardees from public web sites in an effort to keep them from becoming targets of investigation by the FBI and other agencies (in the US and other countries).

The virus outbreak and the Thousand Talents affair will add fuel to arguments that naive globalization has been all about the elites making a killing at the expense of ordinary citizens. The amorality went both ways. If China had a Thousand Talents scheme in the U.S., the financial industry had “Sons and Daughters” program in 2016.

Regulators slapped JPMorgan with $264 million in fines and said the bank “corruptly influenced government officials” with its hiring and internship tactics in China.

The settlement follows a three-year investigation into JPMorgan and marks one of the first major crackdowns on a big U.S. bank for running afoul of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Known as the FCPA, the law prohibits companies from making payments or giving “anything of value” to win business from foreign officials.

“JPMorgan engaged in a systemic bribery scheme by hiring children of government officials … who were typically unqualified for the position on their own merit,” Andrew Ceresney, director of the SEC’s enforcement division, said in a statement.

The practice of giving the children of China’s ruling class plum jobs and internships was so common at JPMorgan that the bank even had a formal program known as “Sons and Daughters.” The program included spreadsheets that tracked how often the hires turned into business deals.

Whatever the legal relevance of excluding Hunter Biden’s connection to Burisma Holdings from Donald Trump’s impeachment may be, the saga of a political scion getting a cushy foreign job on the strength of his name plays to the populist narrative of elite betrayal almost as if it had been written by a Hollywood scriptwriter.

The 2019-nCoV outbreak poses a potential political threat not just to the Chinese Communist Party but the entire One World project.

If virus spreads unchecked, the public will be looking for someone to blame and it won’t just be the Chinese apparatchiks.

China Outbreak Forces Hyundai To Suspend Flagship SUV Production

Supply chains using the ‘just-in-time’ logistics model are only as strong as their weakest link.
And we’re going to be seeing much more of this until either China gets their act together or other companies figure out how to supply manufacturers.

Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s largest automaker, suspended the domestic production of its flagship sport utility vehicle this weekend as a result of a supply disruption caused by the deadly virus outbreak in China.

The deadly virus that first appeared in the central Chinese city of Wuhan has resulted in 259 deaths and spread to more than two dozen other countries.

Hyundai’s decision was made following factory closures in China that have led to shortages of supplies, including the complete electrical wiring system of a vehicle, the Korean automaker said.

“We have cancelled overtime factory hours that had been scheduled for Saturday and Sunday to produce our Palisade vehicle,” Jin Cha, a Hyundai spokesperson, told AFP on Saturday………..

Markets have struggled in recent days as the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency over the virus, with analysts concerned about its impact on world economic growth.

Coronavirus: scientists identify possible new mode of transmission in human faeces

Not surprising as the virus that causes polio uses the same vector. I guess we’ll have to write off San Francisco now.

Chinese scientists have found traces of the new coronavirus in the faeces of some infected patients, possibly indicating an additional mode of transmitting the deadly disease.

Health authorities had previously thought the main ways the disease was spread was through respiratory droplet transmission and contact, including touching the face after exposure to a surface containing the virus.

But new findings from Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital raise the possibility of faecel-oral transmission, after researchers found genetic traces of coronavirus  in patients’ stool samples.

The presence of the 2019 coronavirus RNA, or ribonucleic acid – a molecule that carries genetic codes in some viruses – indicates the disease may live in faeces, the Shenzhen Health Commission said in a statement on Saturday.

Novel Coronavirus(2019-nCoV)
Situation Report – 12

SITUATION IN NUMBERS
total and new cases in last 24 hours
Globally
11953 confirmed (2128 new)
China
11821 confirmed (2102 new)
1795 severe (268 new)
259 deaths (46 new)
Outside of China
132 confirmed (26 new)
23 countries (4 new)

Notable Epidemiological Events Reported in the Last 24 Hours

In France, for the first time outside China, a healthcare worker was diagnosed as being ill with 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease.
The health worker treated two patients who were later identified as probable cases.
The first instance of third-generation human-to-human transmission outside China has been identified, in an individual who was exposed to a confirmed case from the cluster in Bavaria, Germany.
For the first time, a case was exported from a country other than China: a patient was identified in South Korea following their exposure in Japan to a confirmed case.
In the last 24 hours, additional instances of human-to-human transmission outside China were reported:
in Japan, a tour guide who is part of the same cluster of Japanese cases who had contact with tourists from Wuhan;
in Germany, a case that is part of the cluster in Bavaria;
and in Thailand, a taxi driver who had no travel history to China.

Epidemiological link to Hubei Province
The outbreak of 2019-nCoV is still largely centered around Hubei Province.
In China, 60.5% of all cases since the start of the outbreak have been reported from Hubei Province. The remaining 39.5% of cases have been reported from 33 provinces, regions and cities. After Hubei Province, the second largest number of cases has been reported from Zhejiang Province (599 cases).
Of the 132 cases identified outside China, 14 were due to secondary transmission outside China. Of the remaining cases, travel history is available for 101 of them: all 101 had travelled to China in the 14 days before illness onset. Of the 81 for whom the exact destination in China was known, all had travelled to Hubei province.

Countries, territories or areas with reported confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV. Data as of 1 February 2020
WHO Regional Office Country/Territory/Area Confirmed Cases
Western Pacific
China* 11821
Japan 17
Republic of Korea 12
Viet Nam 6
Singapore 16
Australia 12
Malaysia 8
Cambodia 1
Philippines 1
South-East Asia Thailand 19
Nepal 1
Sri Lanka 1
India 1

Region of the Americas
United States of America 7
Canada 4

European Region
France 6
Finland 1
Germany 7
Italy 2
Russian Federation 2
Spain 1
Sweden 1
United Kingdom 2

Eastern Mediterranean
United Arab Emirates 4

Total Confirmed cases Total 11953

Novel Coronavirus(2019-nCoV)
Situation Report – 11

SITUATION IN NUMBERS
Globally
9826 confirmed
China
9720 confirmed
15238 suspected
1527 severe
213 deaths

Outside of China
106 confirmed
19 countries

Patients Under Investigation (PUI) in the United States*†

As of 1/31/2020

People under Investigation (PUI) in the United States
Positive 6
Negative 114
Pending§ 121
Total 241

 

Delta suspends all flights to China, as coronavirus reaches 9,600+ cases and growing fast

How about the flights from China?

Delta Airlines has suspended all flights to China amid reports of the worsening Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The airline announced it would suspend all flights between Feb. 6 and April 30, as a result of the coronavirus. In a statement Friday, Delta Airlines said it would continue to monitor the outbreak and make new adjustments to its flight suspensions as further details emerge.

Delta currently operates 42 flights to China weekly. The airline announced it would help customers reschedule their flights after April 30, or discuss refunds options.

Coronavirus spread now a global emergency declares World Health Organization

The rise in new coronavirus cases outside China, now constitutes a global health emergency, the World Health Organization’s Emergency Committee declared on Thursday, calling on all countries to take urgent measures to contain the respiratory disease.Latest WHO figures state there are more than 7,800 confirmed cases globally, with 7,736 confirmed in China, and a further 12,167 suspected cases inside the country where the outbreak began in Wuhan, a city of around 11 million which remains in lockdown.

Latest figures

So far, 170 people have died in China, and 1,370 cases there are officially described as severe. A total of 124 have recovered and been discharged from hospital.

Outside China, there are 82 confirmed cases, in 18 different countries, and only seven had no history of travel in China.

“There has been human-to-human transmission in three countries outside China”, according to a statement released by WHO’s Emergency Committee. “One of these cases is severe and there have been no deaths.”

Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding the President’s Coronavirus Task Force

Today, President Donald J. Trump announced the formation of the President’s Coronavirus Task Force.  Members of the Task Force have been meeting on a daily basis since Monday.  At today’s meeting, which the President chaired, he charged the Task Force with leading the United States Government response to the novel 2019 coronavirus and with keeping him apprised of developments.

The Task Force is led by Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, and is coordinated through the National Security Council.  It is composed of subject matter experts from the White House and several United States Government agencies, and it includes some of the Nation’s foremost experts on infectious diseases.

The Task Force will lead the Administration’s efforts to monitor, contain, and mitigate the spread of the virus, while ensuring that the American people have the most accurate and up-to-date health and travel information.

The President’s top priority is the health and welfare of the American people.  That is why, in 2018, President Trump signed the National Biodefense Strategy, which improves speed of action in situations such as this.  The Administration, led by the President’s Task Force, will continue to work to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

The risk of infection for Americans remains low, and all agencies are working aggressively to monitor this continuously evolving situation and to keep the public informed.  For more information, please visit CDC.gov.

Members of the President’s Coronavirus Task Force:

Secretary Alex Azar, Department of Health and Human Services

Robert O’Brien, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs

Dr. Robert Redfield, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health

Deputy Secretary Stephen Biegun, Department of State

Ken Cuccinelli, Acting Deputy Secretary, Department of Homeland Security

Joel Szabat, Acting Under Secretary for Policy, Department of Transportation

Matthew Pottinger, Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor

Rob Blair, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the Chief of Staff

Joseph Grogan, Assistant to the President and Director of the Domestic Policy Council

Christopher Liddell, Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Coordination

Derek Kan, Executive Associate Director, Office of Management and Budget

China counts 170 virus deaths, new countries find infections

BEIJING (AP) — China counted 170 deaths from a new virus Thursday and more countries reported infections, including some spread locally, as foreign evacuees from China’s worst-hit region returned home to medical observation and even isolation.

India and the Philippines reported their first cases, in a traveler and a student who had both been in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the new type of coronavirus first surfaced in December. South Korea confirmed a case that was locally spread, in a man who had contact with a patient diagnosed earlier.

Locally spread cases outside China have been a worrying concern among global health officials, as potential signs of the virus spreading more easily and the difficulty of containing it. The World Health Organization is reconvening experts on Thursday to assess whether the outbreak should be declared a global emergency.

The new virus has now infected more people in China than were sickened there during the 2002-2003 outbreak of SARS, another type of coronavirus.

Thursday’s figures for mainland China cover the previous 24 hours and represent an increase of 38 deaths and 1,737 cases for a total of 7,711. Of the new deaths, 37 were in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, and one was in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

Three of Japan’s confirmed cases were among a group of evacuees who returned on a government-chartered flight from Wuhan on Wednesday. Japan’s foreign ministry said a second flight carrying 210 Japanese evacuees landed Thursday at Tokyo’s Haneda airport. Reports said nine of those aboard the flight showed signs of cough and fever.

India’s health ministry said a student in Kerala state who had been studying in Wuhan was confirmed to have the virus after returning home during the Lunar New Year break. Philippine health officials say a woman who traveled to the country from Wuhan via Hong Kong had tested positive.

Vietnam, meanwhile, confirmed three new cases on Thursday— all people returned from Wuhan — bringing its total to five. The patients, who are receiving treatment in Hanoi and Thanh Hoa provinces, are all in stable condition, Do Xuan Tuyen, deputy minister of health, said in a statement.

The United States evacuated 195 Americans from Wuhan who are being tested and monitored at a Southern California military base. A statement from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said additional evacuation flights were being planned for Monday or surrounding days.