[OFF TOPIC] Coronavirus Pandemic

[OlympicsFan 858]

17 hours ago, LuizGuilherme said:

Brazil surely will be in this top 3. I have no doubts after the last president speech

I don't see any chance for that happening ... you would have to test people to get confirmed cases and unfortunately i don't see testing as very high up on Bolsonaro's list of priorities ...

[heywoodu 15,174]

58 minutes ago, hckosice said:

 

That was the big cause lately, the new governement is angry because the previous one ordered milions of quick tests that are apprently completely useless. the new PM claiming we just thrown millions of euros out of the window to the Danube thanks the previous governement, his priority when starting his mandat was to buy the more accurate tests. and the country is now using only them...

 

btw in a couple of inutes a new press confrence is expected after the last nights new crisis meeting, apparently some surprising informations will be revealed the PM send vis his fb

 

Any news on this yet?

[hckošice 14,899]

okay so fresh updates from after the governement´s press conference

 

Massive testing continue, 23 new Confirmed Cases yesterday and a couple of new regulations and measures applied from today

 

 

So  292 Confirmed Cases in Slovakia  (+23 Yesterday)

 

85 of them are hospitalized, 2 of them in serious case, 1 of them sadly in very critical condition...

 

From the 292 confirmed cases 73 are people who returned from abroad (repatriated people) and from many many many countries like Italy, France, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Croatia, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Brazil, Ecuador, Maldives or Dominican Republic...

 

Updated Graph

Red - Total amount of Confirmed Cases      Blue - Daily Amount of Confirmed Cases

Spoiler

 

 

and now the new measures.

 

The mandatory wearing of masks everywhere remains and was upgraded, when anyone will enter a shop will have to wear also gloves.

 

New stores are now allowed to open from Monday to Saturday (Sunday must be all shops closed due to Sanitary Day)

Under considerably stricter hygienic conditions (mandatory mask, mandatory gloves, from 9 AM to 12 PM only peoples above 65 years can enter the shops, 2 meteres distance must be respected and limited people inside the store at the same time ophthalmic opticians, leasing services, MOT, lawyers, notaries, key services, bicycle sales and services, haberdashery, horticulture, Building Constructions and installation material, IT and other electro sale and services, paints and varnishes markets will be open. But this apply only for the small shops, not the big markets like Hornbach etc., the big areas stores remains closed

 

Pharmacies received exception and will be the only shops in the country open also on Sunday.  The Supermarkets and mall shopping centers can have still only Groceries, Drugstores and Pharmacies open (from Monday to Saturday), no other shop can be open even from the above mentioned ones.

 

 

PM asked the citizens to sew new face maskes,

"sew, sew and sew... Help neighbors, parents, friends, peoples in need and give them a mask if they can't do it by themselves.

The cotton home made masks are the best option we have, wash them after wearing and you can wear them again and again on daily basis, this is our only medicine !  People, sew masks ! there millions of peoples who uploaded their videos how to made a mask on youtubes, it take couple of minute to produce it !

 

do not worry ! we can handle it together !"

 

 

[heywoodu 15,174]

Dutch beer maker Bavaria is going to collect tanks of beer from bars, pubs and so on that had to close down for now. The beer can't be kept good forever, so Bavaria is going to collect it and turn it into disinfectant - adding water and glycerine (to keep hands from dehydrating) to the beer's alcohol. 

 

RIP Dutch Seamus

[up and down 82]

1 hour ago, OlympicsFan said:

I think the most important things are:

1) Asian countries have been hit by viruses multiple times over the last 2 decades, so they have much more experience dealing with this.

2) Asian people seem to have a different sense for hygiene (most of them wear masks (mainly due to air pollution) + disinfectants everywhere)

3) In Europe and the US it is too late to just get by with mass testing ... i doubt that this will be the solution when you have 50k cases or more already. Germany is at 400k - 500k tests per week already and plans to get up to 2 million tests per week by the end of April, but at this point i don't see any chance that "we" will be able to solve this problem with testing and contact tracing alone ...

You are right about this.

[Belle 977]

102 deaths in Sweden so far.

[heywoodu 15,174]

Meanwhile, the German Air Force is taking in even more Italian patients - from Bergamo, specifically - into their own hospitals. At least Germany has the capacity to do so (for now), plenty of countries very simply don't.

 

 

[justony 454]

There is very good discipline in Slovenia, as far as I know. So far, we have 584 cases and 9 deaths, but all among those elderly with other diseases as well.

 

I am only going for a weekly run on 5k and maybe one walk in nature (luckily I don't live in city), other than that we are mostly all staying at home. 

[Fly_like_a_don 1,091]

https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/sport-others/ehsan-hadadi-iran-olympic-silver-medalist-tests-positive-coronavirus-6336099/lite/

@MHSN

[up and down 82]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/03/17/coronavirus-how-countries-across-globe-responding-covid-19/5065867002/

 

 

These countries are doing the best and worst jobs fighting coronavirus
 

LONDON – Keep calm and carry on, said Britain, the country with the least restrictive coronavirus measures in Europe (before sharply altering course Monday night amid a new "catastrophic" warning about how many people could die). Batten down the hatches, says China, the nation that is not far from declaring victory over the COVID-19 epidemic that swept its Hubei province. "Test, test, test," says Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization. 

 

And the United States? Which countries should it look to for guidance about how to combat a disease that has infected more than 183,000 worldwide and killed over 7,100?

 

The majority of global public health experts believe that countries need to act quickly and decisively to reduce what Robbert Muggah, a leading Brazil-based risk and security specialist, said "represents the most significant threat to population health and political and economic stability in a generation." These measures include easy and efficient access to testing and results, rigorous contact tracing, consistent science-based messaging, quarantines and a genuine commitment to clamping down on socializing.  

 

"If you have a fire on your hands, we all know you have to stamp it out fast," said Nicholas Chater, a professor of behavioral science at Warwick Business School, in central England. "There's no point thinking: 'Well, we don't want to put it out too soon.'" 

 

But Chater added that while scientists are learning more about COVID-19 every day, publics around the world will need to get used to something they don't like: uncertainty. "It could be that we can hold this thing back. We just don't know. No amount of modeling can fix that problem," he said, noting that, with a vaccine potentially months or more away, scientists need time to understand the virus's genetics, how it mutates, transmission rates, the viability of cures and the experiences of different countries.

 

Still, while it may be too early to draw definitive conclusions about how to respond to COVID-19, some countries have taken actions that have appeared to yield results, while others are struggling to contain and combat deepening public health crises.

 

Australia 

The Australian government activated its emergency response to COVID-19 on February 27, designating it a global pandemic much earlier than the World Health Organization and any other advanced economy in the Group of Seven nations.

 

Michael Wallach, a vaccines expert at the University of Technology Sydney, said that this enabled authorities there to quickly release emergency funding and tax breaks, and bought precious time for its hospitals to prepare for a potential flood of patients.

 

As of March 17, the death toll for the country stands at five, with more than 375 confirmed cases. Everyone traveling to Australia must self-isolate for 14 days, whether or not they have had potential exposure to the new coronavirus.

 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has stopped short of enforcing school closures and self-isolation for the general population. Wallach said that Australia's early labeling of COVID-19 as a pandemic has been helpful for preparedness, but it also brought "early panic," noting the country was among the first to see consumers stockpile toilet paper.

 

Britain
 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has acknowledged that Britain is facing its "greatest public health crisis" in decades. As of March 17, Britain's outbreak has lagged behind its European counterparts, with more than 1,950 infections and 71 deaths.

 

Johnson has conceded that "many loved ones will die." Yet from the start he has also appeared to pursue a relatively laissez-faire, and controversial, policy based on the idea that, because COVID-19 will spread widely in society, the country's best bet will be to try to get to "herd" or majority immunity as quickly as possible.

 

The thinking behind this is that it will protect the country in the long term if, as happened with the 1918 Spanish Flu, a highly fatal second wave of infections occurs at some point in the future.

 

The concept is not only a massive political gamble. Medical experts say evidence to support the theory won't be available until people who have the disease have recovered and been studied for months. It's also not clear how long any immunity would last. Infections could reoccur. Late Monday, Johnson dramatically changed tactics after researchers at Imperial College London projected that around 250,000 people in Britain would die if "chains of transmission" for the virus weren't immediately slowed or broken.

 

The British government now wants every Briton over the age of 70, the most vulnerable age group, to stay at home for around three months. Johnson has also urged "non-essential contact" with others and all unnecessary travel to stop. Yet pubs, restaurants, schools and entertainment venues remain largely open. Researchers at Imperial College says the restrictions may need to last for as long as 18 months. 

 

Germany, France, Spain
 

Authorities in Germany have adopted relatively strict measures, including closing all schools and day-care centers. Events with more than 50 people have been banned.

 

Museums, movie theaters, gyms, swimming pools and nightclubs have also been temporarily shuttered. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has also outlawed overnight stays in hotels unless absolutely "necessary and expressly not for tourist purposes." 

 

The measures introduced by Merkel follow an abrupt about-face for Germany's leader. For several weeks, she had argued for close coordination with fellow European Union member states to slow the spread of the virus. But amid a fast rise in the number of infections, Merkel closed Germany's borders with Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Denmark. Germany has over 7,636 confirmed cases and 12 deaths.

 

French President Emmanuel Macron has also strongly limited movement in France for the next two weeks. Only trips to the doctor and to food stores will be allowed. Macron also delayed elections. As of March 17, France had more than 6,600 cases of the virus, including 148 deaths. Spain, the fourth most virus-infected nation after China, has taken similar actions to France. It has more than 11,100 cases and 491 fatalities.

 

Israel
 

More than 300 people have been diagnosed in Israel, with the number quickly rising. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has closed Israel's borders to all foreigners.

 

On Tuesday, Netanyahu announced that the country's highly secretive Shin Bet internal security service would soon begin deploying its highly sophisticated counter-terrorism technology to help curb the spread of COVID-19 in Israel.

 

The agency’s capabilities are normally used to track Palestinian militants.

 

In a statement, Shin Bet head Nadav Argaman acknowledged that using these digital tools to keep track of sick Israeli citizens deviates from the agency's typical operations, but he said the goal was still in line with its overall mission of "saving lives."

 

Netanyahu said the technology had never been used before on civilians and would involve a certain degree of violation of privacy. He approved its use for 30 days.

 

Iran
 

Iran's authorities for days denied the risk the outbreak posed even as a high number of its lawmakers have fallen ill with the disease and it has also not spared top officials, including Iran's senior vice-president, Cabinet ministers, Revolutionary Guard members, health ministry officials and close aides to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

 

The virus has killed 988 people amid over 16,000 cases, according to Iran's health ministry, although there are concerns the country may be either underreporting infections or simply not know the scale of its outbreak. Years of western sanctions have puts its health system under extreme strain and officials have been slow to enforce quarantines in some areas.

 

Khamenei issued a religious ruling, or fatwa, Tuesday prohibiting "unnecessary" travel after earlier warning Iranians that "millions" could die if they don't start heeding travel restrictions and public health guidance, such as staying away from religious shrines. 

 

Sources in Iran told USA TODAY that people in Iran have still been widely going about their business in public despite calls from the authorities for people to stay home. 

Italy 
 

Italy has taken over from China as the epicenter of COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization. It has almost 31,500 infections and more than 2,500 deaths, the majority of them in its wealthy northern regions, where there are world-class hospitals.

 

Intensive care beds and ventilators are in such short supply in some areas that the Italian College of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care has drawn up guidelines for doctors about how to manage the crisis if the outbreak intensifies. Among the considerations: prioritizing treatment for those under the age of 80 who don't have any "co-morbidities" - underlying health conditions. With too many patients to care for, many needing life support machines, medical staff would need to effectively choose who lives and who dies. It's a form of triage medicine usually only seen in wartime.

 

Italy has imposed a near-total lockdown on its citizens, with only supermarkets and drug stores open to the public. There are curfews and travel restrictions and its normally bustling piazzas and squares and historic sites are virtually empty.

 

It's too soon to tell if Italy's severe measures are working.

 

Last week, an Italian citizen named Giovanni Locatelli shared Facebook footage comparing a Lombardy newspaper’s obituary section on Feb. 9, when it took up just one page, to a copy on March 13, when 10 pages were needed to commemorate the dead.

 

Singapore
 

Few countries battling the virus have been as successful as Singapore. 

 

It has 243 cases and no deaths and its rate of recoveries has outpaced infections. 

 

According to Michael Merson, director of the SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute and the Wolfgang Joklik Professor of Global Health at Duke University, the country has a number of factors that are hard to replicate: an excellent health system; strict virus testing, tracing and containment programs; a small population; and citizens who are largely accepting of what the government orders to them to do. 

 

"There's strong government leadership, but also trust in the government," said Merson, who used to run the World Health Organization's anti-AIDS program. "Every time a case is identified there is a very strong action plan to identify contacts. It's also very good at promoting hand-washing and keeping people at a safe distance from one another." 

 

Merson said Singapore has allowed businesses and some universities to stay open but with very strict guidelines about the size of gatherings (25 or under). "They take prudent steps at prevention, but they haven't entirely shut the country down. They also have experience with SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome, a much more deadly virus), which has given them some confidence with how to deal with coronavirus," he said. 

 

Still, worryingly, Singapore reported 17 news cases on March 16, the highest number it has reported in a single day. Eleven of the cases were imported from outside Singapore.

 

It has now imposed 14-day quarantines for all arrivals into the country. 

 

South Korea
 

Most of South Korea's infections are linked to a quasi-Christian sect.

 

But the Asian country has still become one of the countries hardest-hit by COVID-19 outside China, with more than 8,000 infections and at least 75 deaths.

 

It has also put in place a rigorous screening program, with more than 200,000 people tested, about 1 in every 250 people. Testing is fast (about 10 minutes) and free (the government pays) and the results are usually sent by text within 24 hours.

 

South Korea was also among the first countries to roll out a drive-through testing center and it has a well-functioning virus-contact-tracing system. 

 

South Korea, like Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong, is one of a number of places in Asia where authorities have appeared to have had some success "flattening the curve," or potentially spreading out the number of its coronavirus cases over a longer period so that health systems can have time to mitigate the impact of the disease.  

 

But Merson said that it's not clear how long countries can continue to "flatten the curve" and if COVID-19 will only roar back once current control measures are phased out. 

 

"We need to watch closely what happens in China," he said, referring to its decision to start phasing in school openings and restart factories and businesses in some areas.    

 

China
 

Despite receiving early criticism for trying to cover up the outbreak, China has been able to turn the tide of an infection that is now rapidly spreading through the global population. It reported fewer than 20 new infections and 14 deaths on Monday, bringing its total number of cases to 80,860, of which more than 67,000 patients have recovered. 

 

China enacted sweeping measures that forced people inside for weeks, banned all forms of public gatherings and mobilized almost 20,000 medical staff from all over the country to Hubei. At the virus's peak, 120 million school kids were taught online. 

 

Huiyao Wang, a senior adviser to China's government, told USA TODAY in a phone interview from Beijing that the U.S. and other western nations need to do even more to combat COVID-19 than they are doing now, including more harsh restrictions. 

 

"I worry that the economic impact may now cause more casualties than the virus itself," he said, adding that the during the worst of the outbreak authorities in China visited every single household in the affected areas, meticulously took temperatures and isolated the sick in large stadiums and other venues for observation and treatment.

 

"I understand that some of the Chinese experience can't be transferred, but since we have been dealing with this for months now they should take our advice," he said. referring to what he described as little high-level contact between the Trump administration and President Xi Jinping's government over the pandemic. 

 

In fact, relations have appeared frosty in recent days. 

 

On Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said China was spreading "disinformation and outlandish rumors" and needed to stop blaming the U.S. for the spread of the disease first detected in China. Pompeo's comments followed a false suggestion on Twitter from Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, shared and retweeted by other Chinese diplomats, that COVID-19 may have originated with the U.S. Army.

 

"We can help with how to build temporary hospitals, we can transfer some of our technology," said Huiyao Wang. "Let's have an online summit right now." 

 

United States
 

Cities and towns across the U.S. have already started closing schools, restaurants, sports stadiums, entertainment venues and encouraging "social distancing."

 

President Donald Trump has urged Americans to refrain from gathering in groups of more than ten people to stem the spread of the virus. He has also declared a national emergency unleashing billions of dollars as part of a raft of measures aimed at bringing a roiling public health crisis – and a growing economic and financial one – under control. In a media briefing at the White House on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin proposed a $1 trillion coronavirus economic stimulus package. 

 

Trump now appears to be taking COVID-19 seriously. 

 

"If everyone makes this change or these critical changes and sacrifices now, we will rally together as one nation and we will defeat the virus, and we are going to have a big celebration all together. With several weeks of focused action, we can turn the corner and turn it quickly," he said in a news briefing Monday. "A lot of progress has been made."

 

However, Trump continues to reject suggestions his administration could have taken action earlier, such as seeing that more testing was available, to ward off COVID-19's threat to Americans and his earlier public comments on the matter are littered with attempts to downplay the crisis. 

 

"We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control," he said during an a TV interview from Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 22, just a day after the CDC reported the first travel-related case in the country.

Edited March 28, 2020 by up and down