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I'm sure my opinion about possible transmission from asymptomatic cases has flip flopped around a bit, due to lack of quantity and quality of evidence, and variation in expert sentiment towards this possibility.

But when it comes to the idea of milder, more 'cold-like' manifestations of the illness still being infectious, I tended to put that one in the no shit sherlock category. But it still needs to be demonstrated, and something appears to have been announced in this regard:

The growing number of cases of 2019-nCoV infection outside China, including in Germany, raises the issue of potential transmission from persons who have mild symptoms.

The Charité Institute of Virology as well as the Bundewehr Institute of Microbiology are supporting the diagnosis of 2019-nCoV infection since the first cases occurred in Germany. Both laboratories independently monitor virus shedding in patients currently under treatment in Munich Clinic Schwabing. During these studies it was found in several patients that infectious virus could be isolated from pharyngeal swabs in cell culture. These patients had symptoms of common cold rather than viral pneumonia. Concomintantly, both laboratories found signs of viral replication not only in the lung, but also in the pharynx and gut.

Taken together, this suggests that persons who have mild or early symptoms of common cold (sore throat, signs of sinusitis, feeling unwell without fever) may be able to transmit 2019-nCoV to other persons.

Because of the immediate relevance for infection control, the participating institutions have decided to release this information prior to completion of studies and formal scientific publication.

(from the 2nd page of https://www.bundeswehr.de/resource/...a4fabe6e568738c2740/pressemitteilung-data.pdf )
 
There are loads of potential problems with the UK advice, I see the Guardian live updates page has a whole bunch of quotes from unimpressed expats.

Quite it makes absolutely no sense, originally the BBC article said that the new advice was not based on there being an increased severity of the virus

BBC China correspondent Robin Brant said the new advice was "not because we've seen a sudden increase in the severity of the outbreak of the virus". Instead, he said it appeared to be prompted by the Foreign Office organising what it was calling "the last flight" to evacuate Wuhan. The UK was also moving non-essential staff out from its embassy and consulates in China, so "there are fewer people who can help any Britons in distress", he said."

Why on earth the fact that the foreign office had organized the final evacuation from Wuhan means that British nationals should leave all the rest of China is not explained. Reduced consulate support is not good, but again I hardly see why it merits the drastic step of leaving the country asap. And now Raab claims that people should leave in order to minimize the risk of exposure to the virus, despite the fact that the severity has apparently not increased.
 
Let me fix that Raab claim:

People should leave now in order to minimise the risk that the government will be criticised for their woeful shrugging and indifference later on.

Its the most low-rent, flimsy arse-covering exercise, utilising the minimum effort they think they can possibly get away with, which for this government is pretty close to no effort at all.
 
elbows I think China, or the authorities at least have a dilemma. If they want their economy and the JIT supply chains of the world to get back to normal they will have to end the extended New Year's holiday and let the people return to work, which will mean lifting the travel restrictions. This however will inevitably mean that the virus will spread through China and cause thousands more infections and hundreds or more deaths.

If on the other hand they decide their priority is to defeat the virus, they will have to retain significant travel restrictions, especially in Hubei which will mean China Inc will not get back to full strength for many months and could cause civil unrest.

eta of course only they know about how many cases they are experiencing further afield in China.
 
eta of course only they know about how many cases they are experiencing further afield in China.

Can't see a breakdown on the infection numbers, but on deaths, it does seem to still be mainly in Hubei, at least for now.

Of the 427 deaths reported, 426 have been reported from China: Hubei (414), Chongqing (2), Heilongjiang (2), Henan (2), Beijing (1), Hainan (1), Hebei (1), Hong Kong (1), Shanghai (1) and Sichuan (1).

One death has been reported from the Philippines.

SOURCE
 
I've been avoiding the news generally since Christmas but I've recently had a peek and note with interest that we're all going to die of coronavirus.

Hold me, urban - is this true?

a) What's coronavirus?
b) Are we all going to die?
c) Vegas with The Walking Dude or Boulder with Mother Abagail? :hmm:


Slightly more seriously: is this the old/sick/babies in danger? Why is everybody freaking out?

Tinfoilers are blaming this new disease on 5G :facepalm:
 
It's clearly not going to do much because they've given it a boring name.

Like new stars or exo planets, if viruses don't get a catchy nickname, you can quickly forget about them and move on once their 15 minutes of fame is up.

If they get a pronouncable acronym then you should start to worry.
 
We are all going to die.






Sometime but in the meantime I'm hoping for nice couple of weeks quarantine when we're all asked to stay at home.
 
It looks like they're starting to set up places to quarantine people in the US. This is within a few miles of me.

UPDATE: Authorities have confirmed to Channel 8 Eyewitness News that 70 people will be brought for quarantine to Camp Ashland.

Ashland Fire Chief Mike Meyer said 70 EMS workers will also be brought in to monitor the people.

Meyer could not say specifically when the people would be brought to the facility, but said he expected it to be sometime this week.

Officials say Camp Ashland could be used as a quarantine site for Americans returning from China who may have been exposed to the coronavirus, a Nebraska Army National Guard spokesman said.

The facility would provide 85 hotel-style rooms for people who would be kept segregated from staff and daily operations at the camp. Officials say there would also be no contact between the people brought in and the public.



I'm a bit surprised that they have the space there. Camp Ashland was devastated by the floods this spring. Nearly every building was wiped out.
 
It's clearly not going to do much because they've given it a boring name.

Like new stars or exo planets, if viruses don't get a catchy nickname, you can quickly forget about them and move on once their 15 minutes of fame is up.

If they get a pronouncable acronym then you should start to worry.

That was just a temporary name. And the BBC have been told that the group who will name it are now close to announcing the name.


The new name might be rubbish too for all I know. If it is, I hope its at least enough to give peoples new ideas about what the informal name for it should end up being.

Still, I doubt it will end up being known as the bat cough that kicked off.
 
The new name might be rubbish too for all I know. If it is, I hope its at least enough to give peoples new ideas about what the informal name for it should end up being.
Let's hope it suitably dramatic like 'Harbinger of Doom'.

May as well make the name catchy and memorable.
 
That was just a temporary name. And the BBC have been told that the group who will name it are now close to announcing the name.


The new name might be rubbish too for all I know. If it is, I hope its at least enough to give peoples new ideas about what the informal name for it should end up being.

Still, I doubt it will end up being known as the bat cough that kicked off.
Let's hope it suitably dramatic like 'Harbinger of Doom'.

May as well make the name catchy and memorable.
I propose Wet-market Originating Respiratory Misfire Syndrome, or WORMS, for short.
 
In early January, authorities in the Chinese city of Wuhan were trying to keep news of a new coronavirus under wraps. When one doctor tried to warn fellow medics about the outbreak, police paid him a visit and told him to stop. A month later he has been hailed as a hero, after he posted his story from a hospital bed.

Dr In his Weibo post he describes how on 10 January he started coughing, the next day he had a fever and two days later he was in hospital. His parents also fell ill and were taken to hospital.

It was 10 days later - on 20 January - that China declared the outbreak an emergency.

Dr Li says he was tested several times for coronavirus, all of them came back negative.

Image copyrightWEIBO
Image caption
Dr Li Wenliang was accused of spreading rumours
On 30 January he posted again: "Today nucleic acid testing came back with a positive result, the dust has settled, finally diagnosed."


This is frightening. He was tested a number of times after being exposed to the virus. Finally he tested positive. Does this mean people tested as negative might actually still develop the illness?
 
Noticed a lot more masks on the train into the city yesterday. We donned them as well, tight spaces and all that. Some of the 100yen shops are only allowing one pack per customer.
 
Material shortages are getting serious. I'd expect the big players like 3M to start shipping as much as they can ASAP. They did last time...

6EFA47CC-E588-48D2-AF3B-295F60941CD1.jpeg
 
My local hospital in north east China has issued a similar request on social media, Supine . I've tried several avenues in South Korea to get masks, but it doesn't look possible. :( I'm really hoping other countries can start donations soon.
 
Can we help? Is post getting through?

I believe that it is possible to get the masks sent to the hospital with coordination, but that's not the part we're having problems with. It's the bit where we can get a significant amount of N 95 rated or equivalent masks to send. :( Korea is now limiting sale to 5 per person. I found someone who knew a wholesale mask supplier, but he's been instructed not to sell them for export. The hospital also needs goggles and medical gloves. I think the gloves might be easiest to come by as the general populations aren't panic-buying these so much.
 
Cruise ships do seem to be a perfect environment for viruses at the best of times. Loads of people all cooped up together, lots of elderly people with multiple medical needs and weakened immune systems.

Also very easy to quarantine.
 
Hmmm. Thinking about it the chances of any packaging that's correctly labelled as masks actually getting to their intended recipient seems unlikely.
 
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