Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[Monoriu]

I don't think the testing is very accurate or definitive at the moment.  Lots of HKers were stuck on that cruise ship in Japan.  They tested negative when they left the ship.  When they came back to HK, they tested positive. 

[mongers]

China says new coronavirus cases drop to 409 on February 23 but deaths jump to 150

Mainland China had 409 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Sunday, the National Health Commission said on Monday, down from 648 reported a day earlier.

Full item here:
http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/Reuters/worldNews/~3/Cp3ybzaWKS8/china-says-new-coronavirus-cases-drop-to-409-on-february-23-but-deaths-jump-to-150-idUSKCN20I08J

[Legbiter]

China says new coronavirus cases drop to 409 on February 23 but deaths jump to 150

Mainland China had 409 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Sunday, the National Health Commission said on Monday, down from 648 reported a day earlier.

Very dodgy numbers.

Oh, and China is going bankrupt.

The government has asked banks to offer more credit for an economy stunned as the virus spreads rapidly.

But a survey of small and medium Chinese firms found millions at the edge of survival.

The Chinese Association of Small and Medium Enterprises said around 60% could cover regular payments for only one to two months before running out of cash.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51609260

[Razgovory]

Maybe Chinese statistics are accurate. Maybe. Or they're desperate to reopen closed factories before they go bankrupt. This is beginning to seriously affect global supply chains. My dad's business for instance has a German supplier but his supplier is Chinese so this will bite in a couple of months. I can't even imagine what it's like for complex electronics or cars. If your product requires 500 components and one is made in China you're boned.

Or maybe the Chinese caused the plague themselves as stated by Senator Tom Cotton.

[Hamilcar]

I think what we need is a phone app that stores the result of a virus test.  Whenever you come in contact with anyone else, you touch phones.  If you've both been tested and you're both clean, no change.  If the other person has not been tested, then now you too are no longer clean, and can no longer come in phone contact distance with others until you have been retested.

Sort of like Icelandic cousin fucking apps or HIV testing in the porn industry.

Alibaba already offers that.

[The Larch]

Apparently the Slovakian PM has been admitted to hospital with symptoms that'd match with coronavirus. If he tests positive all EU leaders should be quarantined, as they just had a summit last week. 

[jimmy olsen]

Apparently the Slovakian PM has been admitted to hospital with symptoms that'd match with coronavirus. If he tests positive all EU leaders should be quarantined, as they just had a summit last week. 

Link?

[celedhring]

The Chinese playing the long con here.

[The Larch]

Apparently the Slovakian PM has been admitted to hospital with symptoms that'd match with coronavirus. If he tests positive all EU leaders should be quarantined, as they just had a summit last week. 

Link?

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-slovakia-election-primeminister/slovak-pm-pellegrini-cancels-schedule-due-to-illness-idUSKCN20H0A9

Slovak PM Pellegrini cancels schedule due to illness

Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini canceled his agenda because of sudden illness, his office said on Sunday, just one week ahead of a parliamentary election in which his party might lose power.

Pellegrini was due to appear in a televised debate later on Sunday with leaders of all other parties taking part in the European Union member country's Feb. 29 vote.

"Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini was hospitalized yesterday night due to acute upper respiratory tract infection accompanied with high temperature. Due to his condition, he is cancelling his entire schedule temporarily," Pellegrini's office said in a statement.

[viper37]

An infected woman travelled to Vancouver, from Iran, with a stop in Montreal, on an Air Canada flight.
All staff and passengers 3 rows in front and 3 rows behind will be contacted by BC CDC.  The risk is apparently minimal.

I haven't searched for an english link, so use Google translate if you want to read it.
Link in French

[Legbiter]

Why isn't the WHO declaring this a global pandemic? Next week will be exponentially worse. Huge outbreak in Iran apparently.

[Josquius]

Curiously I notice Chinese people in the UK have taken to wearing masks.

[Valmy]

Curiously I notice Chinese people in the UK have taken to wearing masks.

I see the same thing for the Chinese students at the University of Texas...I wondered if they were doing that because of some kind of descrimination or maybe they will be laughing last soon 

[Eddie Teach]

Why isn't the WHO declaring this a global pandemic? Next week will be exponentially worse. Huge outbreak in Iran apparently.

What difference will the declaration make?

[Legbiter]

What difference will the declaration make?

Get governments to start taking this more seriously. Start preparing, stockpiling and preemptively urge people to prepare. More forceful travel restrictions. Not wait passively until you get a large cluster of infection. By the time you see the disease on the ground you're at best seeing a snapshot of the epidemic as it was around 2 weeks ago. Just look at South Korea.