Coronavirus - worldwide breaking news, discussion, stats, updates and more

[skyscraper101]

Good time to dig out the old Altern8 rave masks

 

[skyscraper101]

Especially now it seems...

 

[cupid_stunt]

Chief Medical Officer, Chris Whitty, statement about cases of novel coronavirus in England -

We can confirm that two patients in England, who are members of the same family, have tested positive for coronavirus. The patients are receiving specialist NHS care, and we are using tried and tested infection control procedures to prevent further spread of the virus.

The NHS is extremely well-prepared and used to managing infections and we are already working rapidly to identify any contacts the patients had, to prevent further spread.

We have been preparing for UK cases of novel coronavirus and we have robust infection control measures in place to respond immediately. We are continuing to work closely with the World Health Organization and the international community as the outbreak in China develops to ensure we are ready for all eventualities.

CMO confirms cases of coronavirus in England

Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty, statement about cases of novel coronavirus in England.

www.gov.uk

 

[skyscraper101]

Two UK cases are in Newcastle, apparently.

 

[elbows]

His wife and mother look like they're still not talking to him after he decided to take the fancy mask for himself.

My interpretation was that they were embarrassed to be seen with him, and were hoping that someone would declare a Public Humiliation Event of International Concern.

 

[not-bono-ever]

Two UK cases are in Newcastle, apparently.

Think York but now in Newcastle

 

[Cid]

Potentially they’ve traveled within the UK before diagnosis?

 

[elbows]

'Analysis' section in the BBC story about this also has this:

Last night, doctors in Germany confirmed cases there had spread before people even developed symptoms.

Coronavirus: Two cases confirmed in UK

Two family members receive treatment, as Britons flown home from China are quarantined on Merseyside.

www.bbc.co.uk

I wasnt surprised when this possibility was mooted a while back, but there was quite a bit of resistance to it. Some of that was just scientists being scientific by wishing to see evidence, but some of it was probably down to not wanting to think the unthinkable - I think there is a natural bias in favour of scenarios where the picture is mostly visible and somewhat controllable.

I've not gone looking for more info about the Germany stuff yet. I've come down with a cold or something so my capacity to be a nerd is diminished today!

 

[Teaboy]

. I've come down with a cold or something so my capacity to be a nerd is diminished today!

I'm sorry but despite your much appreciated work on this thread we now need to quarantine you away from the thread for all our safety.

 

[Numbers]

Make up some Virus Eating Anarchist masks.

 

[Grace Johnson]

elbows I have learnt a lot from your knowledgeable and insightful posts on this thread. Got me thinking deeper and I appreciate that. Thank you. Respect

 

[Baronage-Phase]

'Analysis' section in the BBC story about this also has this:

Coronavirus: Two cases confirmed in UK

Two family members receive treatment, as Britons flown home from China are quarantined on Merseyside.

www.bbc.co.uk

I wasnt surprised when this possibility was mooted a while back, but there was quite a bit of resistance to it. Some of that was just scientists being scientific by wishing to see evidence, but some of it was probably down to not wanting to think the unthinkable - I think there is a natural bias in favour of scenarios where the picture is mostly visible and somewhat controllable.

I've not gone looking for more info about the Germany stuff yet. I've come down with a cold or something so my capacity to be a nerd is diminished today!

Must be catchin'
I've come down with a bug too...

 

[not-bono-ever]

I have a cold and have spent much of this year working with PRC expats...

 

[not-bono-ever]

coughs on thread


Have a couple of weeks off work . Don’t worry, it’s my gift to you.

 

[cupid_stunt]

It's being spread via the internet, now urbs are being infected, its a computer virus that's mutated.

 

[skyscraper101]

 

[JimW]

I've been posting from the infection zone the whole time, bwah ha ha.

 

[elbows]

I have seen that the UK chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, ended up going on about a mortality rate of 2% when speaking earlier.

eg:



Well, from what I've learnt so far, care is required over what this number actually is. The real case fatality rate wont be known for a long time. The thing that currently comes out at about 2% is the proportion of fatal cases.

Luckily I stumbled straight onto this article which seems to be just right for helping to remove this confusion and its even got the 2% figure in it.

Clarity, Please, on the Coronavirus Statistics

Sorting through the different ways of describing the “deadliness” of infectious diseases.

issues.org

Furthermore, when calculating CFR, the denominator includes only cases that have resolved—that is, cases where the patient has either died or recovered. This is why dividing total deaths by the total number of cases—a simple calculation that many media outlets have been wont to do with 2019–nCoV—isn’t an accurate indication of CFR until the end of an outbreak. Before the end of an outbreak, dividing the total deaths by the total number of cases may be better defined as the proportion of fatal cases (PFC) rather than as the CFR.

In the context of the ongoing 2019–nCoV outbreak, and focusing just on China, only 235 cases have resolved as of the end of January 28, 2020—132 (56 percent) of which have died and 103 (44 percent) of which have been discharged after recovery. However, a whopping 5,739 remain hospitalized—which is in large part why we should expect these numbers to fluctuate considerably as the outbreak progresses. Notably, only 21 percent of the confirmed cases that are currently hospitalized are considered “severe,” which suggests that many more may recover in the days and weeks ahead.

Given these numbers, we can at least calculate the proportion of fatal cases, which, as mentioned above, is a somewhat cruder statistic that divides the total deaths by the total number of cases. As of now, the PFC can be calculated as about 2 percent—although it, like the CFR, will continue to fluctuate until the end of the outbreak, when the two figures will ultimately converge.

 

[elbows]

Argh!

 

[8ball]

Couple of guys on the tram wearing masks this morning. No one seemed ruffled or even to notice, really.

One thing I found interesting was the shouting of encouragement to each other in Wuhan from locked-down tower blocks.
Is that a Chinese thing generally, or something spontaneous that could happen anywhere?

 

[Baronage-Phase]

Argh!

"Staying at home is contributing to society "....


Waiting for "Everything's not awesome
But that doesn't mean that it's hopeless and bleak"

 

[maomao]

Couple of guys on the tram wearing masks this morning. No one seemed ruffled or even to notice, really.

One thing I found interesting was the shouting of encouragement to each other in Wuhan from locked-down tower blocks.
Is that a Chinese thing generally, or something spontaneous that could happen anywhere?

I have lived in a Chinese tower block, and stayed in others, but have never seen this happen.

I wasn't joking earlier when I said my inlaws were enjoying this. For a certain age/class of Chinese people it's bringing back a sense of joint venture as a nation which has been slowly disappearing over the last couple of decades. I think the workers at state owned companies, party members etc. will be looked after but there will be trouble at some point when everyone else starts going hungry.

 

[Cid]

Couple of guys on the tram wearing masks this morning. No one seemed ruffled or even to notice, really.

Chinese guys? Many do this time of year anyway.

 

[weltweit]

I would like to know a bit more about these English cases. I suppose we can assume someone travelled from China to bring the disease with them. Presumably one or both of the people infected travelled from there?

 

[Teaboy]

I would like to know a bit more about these English cases. I suppose we can assume someone travelled from China to bring the disease with them. Presumably one or both of the people infected travelled from there?

Honest question. Why? What good can come from it? It turning up in the UK was always inevitable and as a result we will likely have a number of cases here.

What will you do with the information? I'm not having a go I just think there is a danger of getting very worked up and worried about something we have no control over.

 

[quimcunx]

Couple of guys on the tram wearing masks this morning. No one seemed ruffled or even to notice, really.

One thing I found interesting was the shouting of encouragement to each other in Wuhan from locked-down tower blocks.
Is that a Chinese thing generally, or something spontaneous that could happen anywhere?

They had a similar thing in Tehran in 2009 when people would should Allahu Akbar at night during protests/ a curfew, I think.

 

[8ball]

Chinese guys? Many do this time of year anyway.

Yeah. And yes, have noticed it in the past, but thought there might be heightened general awareness this time.

 

[MrCurry]

First confirmed case has shown up in Sweden. A woman returned to Jönköpings county in Sweden from Wuhan Jan 24 with no signs of sickness. After getting a dry cough she’s sought treatment and been confirmed as Coronavirus so now in isolation.

I have a link, but it’s in Swedish, so not much point in posting it.

 

[Yossarian]

One thing I found interesting was the shouting of encouragement to each other in Wuhan from locked-down tower blocks.
Is that a Chinese thing generally, or something spontaneous that could happen anywhere?

Protesters in Hong Kong started doing it in August.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Especially now it seems...

Lucky all the hospitals in this country aren't running at over 90% of capacity already, if they were we'd be well and truly boned about now.