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Latest shocking news that is widely dicussed world wide. The whole world is basically busy discussing about how horrible is those people who are thrown out into the sea while working at the fishing vessel. https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/05/07/indonesian-sailors-deaths-on-chinese-fishing-vessel-raise-questions-about-working-conditions.html Indonesian sailors’ deaths on Chinese fishing vessel raise questions about working conditions The deaths of four Indonesian crew members with links to the same Chinese fishing vessel have raised concerns about working conditions on the vessel and others like it. The case first entered the public eye after a video allegedly showing Chinese sailors throwing the body of a dead Indonesian crew member overboard went viral. The footage was first featured on a news segment on South Korea’s Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) on Tuesday. The video shows what appears to be an orange body bag being thrown off a fishing vessel by a group of men. One man can be seen praying in front of the body bag moments before it is thrown overboard. Two unidentified Indonesian sailors who worked on the vessel spoke to MBC about their experience, claiming that those aboard the ship had endured poor living conditions. “We had to [work] for around 30 hours. We were given a meal break every six hours. We would just sit around during the breaks,” one of the sailors said. The other sailor said they were made to drink filtered sea water during work, which eventually took a toll on their health. “We became nauseated. We could no longer drink [sea water]. There was one time when our throats became clogged with phlegm,” he said, adding that some even experienced breathing difficulties. In a press briefing on Thursday, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi confirmed that, in the past few months, four Indonesian sailors who had been registered to Chinese fishing vessel Long Xin 629 had died. One of the sailors, identified only as EP, died at the Busan Medical Center in South Korea on April 27. Another sailor, identified as AR, died on Chinese fishing vessel Tian Yu 8 on March 30. Two other sailors died on Long Xin 629 in December 2019. “On April 26, the Indonesian Embassy [in Seoul] was informed that a citizen with the initials EP was sick. When they contacted him, he said that he had long suffered from difficulty breathing and had coughed up blood,” Retno said. “The Busan Medical Center said that he died from pneumonia.” Retno said that, according to a statement from Tian Yu 8, AR had fallen ill on March 26 and was moved from Long Xin 629 to Tian Yu 8 to be taken to port for treatment. However, AR died before the ship reached port and was buried at sea on the morning of March 31. “According to the embassy, the ship had informed AR’s family and received approval for a burial at sea on March 30,” she said. The two sailors who died in December were said to be buried at sea after dying of an infectious disease. The Migrant Care advocacy group criticized the treatment of Indonesian crewmen on the Chinese vessels, saying that the harsh work environment infringed on their basic human rights. “What these Indonesian crewmen experienced was a violation of their human rights. They were robbed of their freedom by working in an inappropriate environment. They were deprived of their right to information and, ultimately, they were robbed of their right to live,” Migrant Care executive director Wahyu Susilo said in a statement, adding that the case was a form of slavery in modern times. Retno said the Foreign Ministry had summoned Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Xiao Qian on Thursday to express concerns about the alleged mistreatment of Indonesian workers aboard Chinese fishing vessels. “In regard to the burial at sea for the three Indonesians, the Indonesian government has again demanded clarification on whether the burials followed the ILO [International Labor Organization] standards. The Indonesian government also expressed concerns over the poor living conditions on the ships that allegedly caused the death of the four Indonesian crew members,” she said. She also demanded that Chinese authorities conduct an investigation on the working conditions of the fishing ships. “If the investigation has found that there’s a violation, then we want the Chinese authorities to uphold enforcement that is fair,” she said. Indonesia also asked the Chinese government to help ensure that Chinese companies fulfill the workers’ rights, including their salaries, and provide safe working conditions. In his response, the Chinese ambassador assured Indonesian officials that his government would make sure the companies would be accountable to regulations and contracts.

The full data of tests conducted. Countries under safe category with mass testing done No. Country No of tests conducted No of tests conducted per 1 million citizens 1 Faeroe Islands 8,403 171,971 2 Iceland 52,745 154,567 3 UAE 1,200,000 121,330 4 Falkland Islands 402 115,517 5 Bahrain 177,306 104,201 6 Gibraltar 3,366 99,908 7 Malta 40,493 91,708 8 San Marino 2,956 87,118 9 Luxembourg 53,257 85,078 10 Lithuania 180,332 66,243 11 Cyprus 72,768 60,270 12 Bermuda 3,719 59,716 13 Denmark 308,984 53,345 14 Spain 2,467,761 52,781 15 Israel 451,028 52,109 16 Cayman Islands 3,423 52,083 17 Portugal 517,660 50,767 18 Mauritius 60,466 47,545 19 Estonia 62,720 47,281 20 Belgium 540,643 46,649 21 Kuwait 196,397 45,988 22 Ireland 214,761 43,493 23 Qatar 124,554 43,232 24 Isle of Man 3,625 42,631 25 Italy 2,445,063 40,440 26 Latvia 75,571 40,065 27 New Zealand 183,039 37,957 28 Norway 195,921 36,140 29 Russia 5,221,964 35,783 30 Brunei 15,482 35,389 31 Switzerland 306,223 35,383 32 Austria 311,690 34,608 33 Germany 2,755,770 32,891 34 Australia 795,456 31,194 35 Channel Islands 5,342 30,725 36 Singapore 175,604 30,016 37 Slovenia 62,203 29,921 38 Czechia 298,649 27,888 39 Canada 1,032,088 27,346 40 Belarus 251,771 26,644 41 USA 8,659,925 26,163 42 Greenland 1,394 24,555 43 UK 1,631,561 24,034 44 Liechtenstein 900 23,605 45 Hong Kong 168,291 22,448 46 Slovakia 118,371 21,681 47 Andorra 1,673 21,653 48 Finland 119,100 21,495 49 France 1,384,633 21,213 50 Maldives 11,299 20,903 51 Kazakhstan 385,104 20,510 52 Réunion 17,200 19,211 53 Azerbaijan 188,950 18,636 54 New Caledonia 5,213 18,259 55 Venezuela 507,119 17,834 56 Aruba 1,817 17,019 57 Turkey 1,298,806 15,400 58 Serbia 134,533 15,397 59 Djibouti 14,857 15,037 60 Bhutan 11,568 14,992 61 Sweden 148,500 14,704 62 Mayotte 4,000 14,662 63 Netherlands 249,655 14,570 64 Peru 473,190 14,351 65 Chile 255,961 13,390 66 Romania 248,056 12,894 67 S. Korea 660,030 12,874 68 Grenada 1,406 12,495 69 Saudi Arabia 433,500 12,452 70 Montenegro 7,816 12,445 71 Bosnia and Herzegovina 39,989 12,189 72 Poland 460,686 12,172 73 Croatia 44,218 10,771 74 Hungary 103,258 10,689 75 Jordan 106,314 10,420 76 Armenia 30,397 10,258 77 French Polynesia 2,816 10,025 Countries under safe category with sufficient test done No. Country No of tests conducted No of tests conducted per 1 million citizens 78 Oman 50,000 9,791 79 Uzbekistan 325,000 9,710 80 Barbados 2,788 9,702 81 Panama 40,356 9,353 82 Kyrgyzstan 59,490 9,118 83 Greece 94,991 9,114 84 North Macedonia 18,821 9,034 85 Bulgaria 56,105 8,074 86 Uruguay 26,838 7,726 87 Sint Maarten 329 7,673 88 Malaysia 245,102 7,573 89 Lebanon 49,990 7,324 90 Montserrat 36 7,212 Countries who should conduct more tests No. Country No of tests conducted No of tests conducted per 1 million citizens 91 Georgia 27,846 6,980 92 Iran 573,220 6,825 93 Palestine 34,511 6,765 94 Saint Kitts and Nevis 327 6,147 95 El Salvador 39,079 6,025 96 Dominica 416 5,779 97 Cuba 63,560 5,612 98 British Virgin Islands 167 5,524 99 South Africa 307,752 5,189 100 Moldova 20,447 5,069 101 Ghana 149,948 4,826 102 Ecuador 82,312 4,665 103 Caribbean Netherlands 110 4,195 Countries who have not done enough test thus endangering the citizen lives No. Country No of tests conducted No of tests conducted per 1 million citizens 104 Botswana 9,066 3,855 105 Ukraine 167,107 3,821 106 Bahamas 1,500 3,814 107 Albania 10,268 3,568 108 Dominican Republic 38,543 3,553 109 Saint Lucia 620 3,376 110 Thailand 227,860 3,264 111 Costa Rica 15,810 3,104 112 Rwanda 40,187 3,103 113 Iraq 122,941 3,057 114 Turks and Caicos 109 2,815 115 Taiwan 66,861 2,807 116 Mongolia 9,203 2,807 117 Colombia 139,739 2,746 118 Vietnam 261,004 2,681 119 Belize 1,043 2,623 120 Nepal 72,239 2,479 121 Curaçao 389 2,371 122 Tunisia 27,420 2,320 123 Jamaica 6,633 2,240 124 Paraguay 13,846 1,941 125 Antigua and Barbuda 183 1,869 126 Argentina 77,901 1,724 127 Morocco 62,007 1,680 128 Benin 19,474 1,606 129 Trinidad and Tobago 2,241 1,601 130 Brazil 339,552 1,597 131 Japan 202,013 1,597 132 Sri Lanka 33,899 1,583 133 Fiji 1,300 1,450 134 Philippines 157,730 1,439 135 Cabo Verde 791 1,423 136 St. Vincent Grenadines 137 1,235 137 Pakistan 270,025 1,222 138 Uganda 53,872 1,178 139 Togo 9,657 1,166 140 Senegal 18,969 1,133 141 India 1,523,213 1,104 142 Zimbabwe 16,052 1,080 Countries who have done too little tests thus many cases went undetected No. Country No of tests conducted No of tests conducted per 1 million citizens 143 Guyana 785 998 144 Mexico 123,446 957 145 Egypt 90,000 879 146 Sao Tome and Principe 175 799 147 Cambodia 13,173 788 148 Guinea-Bissau 1,500 762 149 CAR 3,498 724 150 Bangladesh 116,919 710 151 Suriname 404 689 152 Bolivia 7,651 655 153 Eswatini 714 615 154 Equatorial Guinea 854 609 155 Namibia 1,511 595 156 Kenya 31,041 577 157 Honduras 5,653 571 158 Timor-Leste 738 560 159 Zambia 10,270 559 160 Indonesia 150,887 552 161 Ivory Coast 12,312 467 162 Guatemala 7,200 402 163 Afghanistan 15,560 400 164 Laos 2,908 400 165 Mauritania 1,842 396 166 Libya 2,338 340 167 Gabon 724 325 168 Gambia 756 313 169 Ethiopia 32,689 284 170 Papua New Guinea 2,402 268 171 Niger 5,488 227 172 Myanmar 10,848 199 173 Algeria 6,500 148 174 Madagascar 3,968 143 175 Nigeria 23,835 116 176 South Sudan 1,247 111 177 Mali 2,172 107 178 Mozambique 3,356 107 179 Haiti 1,145 100 180 Angola 3,000 91 181 Malawi 1,188 62 182 Burundi 284 24 183 Yemen 120 4

Latest data as of 9th May, 2020. Top best recovery rate (These countries have recorded more than 70% recovery rate) Data counted only for countries with more than 1000 cases. No Country Total Cases New Cases Total Deaths New Deaths Total Recovered Active Cases Percentage recovered from total cases 1. Iceland 1,801 +0 10 +0 1,765 26 98.00 % 2. China 82,887 +1 4,633 +0 78,046 208 94.16 % 3. Thailand 3,004 +4 56 +1 2,787 161 92.78 % 4. Hong Kong 1,045 +0 4 +0 967 74 92.54 % 5. New Zealand 1,492 +2 21 +0 1,368 103 91.69 % 6. Luxembourg 3,871 +12 100 +0 3,526 245 91.09 % 7. Australia 6,929 +15 97 +0 6,135 695 88.54 % 8. South Korea 10,840 +18 256 +0 9,568 1,016 88.27 % 9. Austria 15,833 +59 615 +1 13,928 1,290 87.97 % 10. Switzerland 30,251 +44 1,823 +0 26,100 2,328 86.28 % 11. Germany 170,588 +1,158 7,510 +118 143,300 19,778 84.00 % 12. Iran 106,220 +1,529 6,589 +48 85,064 14,567 80.08 % 13. Croatia 2,176 +15 87 +1 1,726 323 79.32 % 14. Denmark 10,319 +101 526 +4 8,093 1,700 78.43 % 15. Uzbekistan 2,349 +24 10 +0 1,803 536 76.76 % 16. Ireland 22,541 +0 1,429 +0 17,110 4002 75.91 % 17. Malaysia 6,589 +54 108 +1 4,929 1,552 74.81 % 18. Azerbaijan 2,279 +75 28 +0 1,576 675 69.15 %

Latest data as of 8th May, 2020. Top best recovery rate (These countries have recorded more than 70% recovery rate) Data counted only for countries with more than 1000 cases. No Country Total Cases New Cases Total Deaths New Deaths Total Recovered Active Cases Percentage recovered from total cases 1. Iceland 1,801 +2 10 +0 1,755 36 97.45 % 2. China 82,886 +1 4,633 +0 77,993 260 94.10 % 3. Thailand 3,000 +8 55 +0 2,784 161 92.80 % 4. Hong Kong 1,045 +0 4 +0 960 81 91.87 % 5. Luxembourg 3,859 +8 100 +2 3,505 254 90.83 % 6. New Zealand 1,490 +1 21 +0 1,347 122 90.40 % 7. Australia 6,914 +18 97 +0 6,079 738 87.92 % 9. Austria 15,774 +22 614 +5 13,836 1,324 87.71 % 8. South Korea 10,822 +12 256 +0 9,484 1,082 87.64 % 10. Switzerland 30,207 +81 1,810 +0 25,900 2,497 85.74 % 11. Germany 169,430 +1,154 7,392 +115 141,700 20,338 83.63 % 12. Iran 104,691 +1,556 6,541 +55 83,837 14,313 80.08 % 13. Denmark 10,218 +135 522 +8 7,927 1,769 77.58 % 14. Malaysia 6,535 +68 107 +0 4,864 1,564 74.43 % 15. Azerbaijan 2,204 +77 28 +0 1,551 625 70.37 %

The full data of tests conducted. Countries under safe category with mass testing done No. Country No of tests conducted No of tests conducted per 1 million citizens 1 Faeroe Islands 8,317 170,211 2 Iceland 51,663 151,397 3 UAE 1,200,000 121,330 4 Falkland Islands 395 113,506 5 Gibraltar 3,366 99,908 6 Bahrain 166,378 97,779 7 Malta 39,366 89,156 8 Luxembourg 51,883 82,883 9 San Marino 2,777 81,843 10 Lithuania 164,088 60,276 11 Bermuda 3,719 59,716 12 Cyprus 70,811 58,649 13 Israel 432,453 49,963 14 Denmark 284,480 49,114 15 Portugal 485,925 47,655 16 Cayman Islands 3,126 47,564 17 Mauritius 60,466 47,545 18 Kuwait 196,397 45,988 19 Estonia 60,530 45,630 20 Ireland 214,761 43,493 21 Isle of Man 3,625 42,631 22 Belgium 493,325 42,566 23 Spain 1,932,455 41,332 24 Qatar 116,495 40,435 25 Italy 2,381,288 39,385 26 Latvia 71,069 37,678 27 New Zealand 175,835 36,463 28 Norway 191,946 35,406 29 Brunei 14,938 34,146 30 Switzerland 290,365 33,550 31 Russia 4,803,192 32,913 32 Germany 2,755,770 32,891 33 Austria 292,254 32,450 34 Channel Islands 5,342 30,725 35 Singapore 175,604 30,016 36 Australia 736,655 28,889 37 Slovenia 59,978 28,850 38 Czechia 286,821 26,783 39 Canada 1,005,294 26,636 40 USA 8,305,785 25,093 41 Greenland 1,394 24,555 42 Belarus 229,466 24,284 43 Liechtenstein 900 23,605 44 UK 1,534,533 22,605 45 Andorra 1,673 21,653 46 France 1,384,633 21,213 47 Hong Kong 154,989 20,674 48 Finland 112,100 20,232 49 Slovakia 109,767 20,105 50 Kazakhstan 371,126 19,765 51 Réunion 17,200 19,211 52 New Caledonia 5,213 18,259 53 Maldives 9,863 18,246 54 Venezuela 502,771 17,681 55 Azerbaijan 175,910 17,350 56 Aruba 1,817 17,019 57 Turkey 1,265,119 15,000 58 Djibouti 14,751 14,930 59 Bhutan 11,492 14,894 60 Sweden 148,500 14,704 61 Mayotte 4,000 14,662 62 Netherlands 249,655 14,570 63 Serbia 122,995 14,077 64 Peru 448,020 13,588 65 Chile 244,226 12,776 66 S. Korea 654,863 12,773 67 Grenada 1,406 12,495 68 Montenegro 7,816 12,445 69 Romania 226,613 11,780 70 Saudi Arabia 405,685 11,653 71 Bosnia & Herzegovina 38,187 11,639 72 Poland 425,994 11,256 73 Hungary 99,058 10,254 74 Croatia 41,938 10,216 75 French Polynesia 2,816 10,025 Countries under safe category with sufficient test done No. Country No of tests conducted No of tests conducted per 1 million citizens 76 Jordan 101,734 9,971 77 Oman 50,000 9,791 78 Uzbekistan 325,000 9,710 79 Armenia 28,017 9,455 80 Barbados 2,699 9,392 81 Kyrgyzstan 59,490 9,118 82 Panama 39,093 9,060 83 North Macedonia 18,168 8,720 84 Greece 90,043 8,639 85 Bulgaria 54,328 7,819 86 Sint Maarten 329 7,673 87 Uruguay 25,698 7,398 88 Montserrat 36 7,212 89 Malaysia 231,019 7,138 Countries who should conduct more tests No. Country No of tests conducted No of tests conducted per 1 million citizens 90 Lebanon 46,677 6,839 91 Palestine 34,511 6,765 92 Iran 544,702 6,485 93 Saint Kitts and Nevis 327 6,147 94 Georgia 24,036 6,025 95 Dominica 416 5,779 96 El Salvador 37,306 5,752 97 Cuba 61,613 5,440 98 Moldova 20,447 5,069 99 South Africa 292,153 4,926 100 Ecuador 83,218 4,717 101 Ghana 135,902 4,374 102 British Virgin Islands 132 4,366 103 Caribbean Netherlands 110 4,195 Countries who have not done enough test thus endangering the citizen lives No. Country No of tests conducted No of tests conducted per 1 million citizens 104 Botswana 9,066 3,855 105 Bahamas 1,500 3,814 106 Ukraine 151,569 3,466 107 Dominican Republic 36,959 3,407 108 Albania 9,806 3,407 109 Thailand 227,860 3,264 110 Saint Lucia 575 3,131 111 Iraq 120,604 2,998 112 Rwanda 38,834 2,998 113 Costa Rica 15,140 2,972 114 Taiwan 66,460 2,790 115 Mongolia 9,137 2,787 116 Turks and Caicos 107 2,764 117 Vietnam 261,004 2,681 118 Colombia 135,352 2,660 119 Belize 1,043 2,623 120 Curaçao 389 2,371 121 Nepal 67,066 2,302 122 Tunisia 25,967 2,197 123 Jamaica 6,417 2,167 124 Paraguay 11,913 1,670 125 Argentina 75,198 1,664 126 Brazil 339,552 1,597 127 Trinidad and Tobago 2,229 1,593 128 Antigua and Barbuda 153 1,562 129 Morocco 56,492 1,531 130 Japan 190,030 1,502 131 Sri Lanka 32,078 1,498 132 Fiji 1,300 1,450 133 Cabo Verde 791 1,423 134 Philippines 144,583 1,319 135 St. Vincent Grenadines 137 1,235 136 Pakistan 257,247 1,165 137 Senegal 18,969 1,133 138 Togo 9,267 1,119 139 Uganda 50,711 1,109 140 Zimbabwe 16,052 1,080 141 India 1,437,788 1,042 Countries who have done too little tests thus many cases went undetected No. Country No of tests conducted No of tests conducted per 1 million citizens 142 Guyana 714 908 143 Egypt 90,000 879 144 Mexico 110,916 860 145 Sao Tome and Principe 175 799 146 Cambodia 13,075 782 147 Guinea-Bissau 1,500 762 148 CAR 3,498 724 149 Suriname 404 689 150 Bolivia 7,651 655 151 Bangladesh 105,513 641 152 Eswatini 714 615 153 Equatorial Guinea 854 609 154 Honduras 5,653 571 155 Timor-Leste 738 560 156 Zambia 10,270 559 157 Namibia 1,283 505 158 Indonesia 134,151 490 159 Kenya 25,861 481 160 Ivory Coast 12,312 467 161 Guatemala 7,200 402 162 Mauritania 1,842 396 163 Afghanistan 14,389 370 164 Laos 2,604 358 165 Libya 2,338 340 166 Gabon 724 325 167 Gambia 756 313 168 Papua New Guinea 2,402 268 169 Ethiopia 28,445 247 170 Niger 5,432 224 171 Myanmar 10,227 188 172 Algeria 6,500 148 173 Madagascar 3,968 143 174 South Sudan 1,247 111 175 Nigeria 22,492 109 176 Mali 2,172 107 177 Mozambique 3,188 102 178 Haiti 1,142 100 179 Angola 3,000 91 180 Malawi 1,112 58 181 Burundi 284 24 182 Yemen 120 4

Top 3 countries in the world who have done the most test. No. Country No of tests conducted Number of test carried out per 1 million citizens 1. Faeroe Island (European Continent) 8,317 170,211 2. Iceland (European Continent) 51,663 151,397 3. UAE (Asia Continent) 1,200,000 121,330 Bottom 3 countries in the world who have done the least test. No. Country No of tests conducted Number of test carried out per 1 million citizens 1. Malawi (Africa Continent) 1,112 58 2. Burundi (Africa Continent) 284 24 3. Yemen (Asia Continent) 120 4

According to the WHO data, those countries that falls under the Oceania and European continent are safe because majority of the countries in the European and Oceania continent have done mass testing for their citizens. 90% of the countries in the Oceania and European continent have provided mass testing for their citizens. That is why we get to see many cases in European continent due to massive testing and it is a good sign. As for those countries in the North and South America, lots of testing have been done too. However only some countries have done mass testing. Some of the countries in the North And South America continent are still not testing enough of their citizens. WHO said the most dangerous category are those countries under the Asia and Africa continent. There are many poor countries in Africa and Asia who could not provide enough test for their citizens. Only 4 countries in Africa such as Reunion, Mayotte, Mautritius and Djibouti could provide mass testing for their citizens. The rest of the other countries in Africa continent have done very few tests for their citizens thus endangering their lives. 25 countries in Africa continent have done very few tests below 1,000 tests done per 1 million citizens. 16 more countries in the Africa continent could not even provide data for the tests done which means very few tests is conducted in these 16 countries or there is no tests conducted at all resulting in lots of cases going undetected. Africa is the most dangerous categories according to the WHO data. This is understandable as majority of the countries in Africa are poor countries. As for Asia continent only a fraction of the countries in Asia could provide mass testing for their citizens. Those countries who are richer and well off could provide mass testing for their citizens. So far according to WHO data only 22 countries in Asia could provide mass testing for their citizens. The rest of the other countries in Asia are under testing and it is very dangerous for their citizens. There are many poor countries in Asia as well which could not provide mass testing for their citizens thus endangering the lives of their own citizens. Who have singled out 9 Asia countries such as India, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Laos, Myanmar and Yemen as poor countries as they have provided less than 1000 test per 1 million citizens and there are many cases that went undetected in these 9 Asia countries. According to WHO data there are many poor countries in Asia who could not provide mass testing for their citizens but the worse had to be these 9 Asia countries who have conducted less than 1000 test per 1 million citizens.

We are going to look at the data of how many people are tested per 1 million citizens for all the different countries in Asia. No of tests carried out among countries in Asia. No. Country No of tests conducted Number of test carried out per 1 million citizens 1. UAE 1,200,000 121,330 (safe category with mass testing) 2. Bahrain 166,378 97,779 (safe category with mass testing) 3. Cyprus 70,811 58,649 (safe category with mass testing) 4. Israel 432,453 49,963 (safe category with mass testing) 5. Kuwait 196,397 45,988 (safe category with mass testing) 6. Qatar 116,495 40,435 (safe category with mass testing) 7. Brunei 14,938 34,146 (safe category with mass testing) 8. Singapore 175,604 30,016 (safe category with mass testing) 9. Hong Kong 154,989 20,674 (safe category with mass testing) 10. Kazakhstan 353,843 18,845 (safe category with mass testing) 11. Maldives 9,863 18,246 (safe category with mass testing) 12. Azerbaijan 175,910 17,350 (safe category with mass testing) 13. Turkey 1,265,119 15,000 (safe category with mass testing) 14. Bhutan 11,492 14,894 (safe category with mass testing) 15. South Korea 654,863 12,773 (safe category with mass testing) 16. Saudi Arabia 405,685 11,653 (safe category with mass testing) 17. Jordan 101,734 9,971 (safe category with sufficient testing) 18. Oman 50,000 9,791 (safe category with sufficient testing) 19. Uzbekistan 325,000 9,710 (safe category with sufficient testing) 20. Armenia 28,017 9,455 (safe category with sufficient testing) 21. Kyrgyzstan 59,490 9,118 (safe category with sufficient testing) 22. Malaysia 231,019 7,138 (safe category with sufficient testing) 23. Lebanon 46,677 6,839 (more tests should be carried out) 24. Palestine 34,511 6,765 (more tests should be carried out) 25. Iran 544,702 6,485 (more tests should be carried out) 26. Georgia 24,036 6,025 (more tests should be carried out) 27. Thailand 227,860 3,264 (insufficient tests done endangering lives) 28. Iraq 120,604 2,998 (insufficient tests done endangering lives) 29. Mongolia 9,137 2,787 (insufficient tests done endangering lives) 30. Taiwan 66,046 2,773 (insufficient tests done endangering lives) 31. Vietnam 261,004 2,681 (insufficient tests done endangering lives) 32. Nepal 67,066 2,302 (insufficient tests done endangering lives) 33. Japan 190,030 1,502 (insufficient tests done endangering lives) 34. Sri Lanka 30,525 1,426 (insufficient tests done endangering lives) 35. Philippines 144,583 1,319 (insufficient tests done endangering lives) 36. Pakistan 257,247 1,165 (insufficient tests done endangering lives) 37. India 1,357,413 984 (dangerous category with not enough tests) 38. Cambodia 13,075 782 (dangerous category with not enough tests) 39. Bangladesh 105,513 641 (dangerous category with not enough tests) 40. Timor-Leste 738 560 (dangerous category with not enough tests) 41. Indonesia 134,151 490 (dangerous category with not enough tests) 42. Afghanistan 14,389 370 (dangerous category with not enough tests) 43. Laos 2,604 358 (dangerous category with not enough tests) 44. Myanmar 10,227 188 (dangerous category with not enough tests) 45. Yemen 120 4 (dangerous category with not enough tests) 46. China No data No data provided 47. Tajikistan No data No data provided 48. Syria No data No data provided 49. Macao No data No data provided As can be seen from the data above lots of countries in Asia are under testing and do not do enough of tests. Among these 49 countries, 4 countries (China, Tajikistan, Syria and Macao) did not provide any data for the number of people they have tested. 9 countries in Asia (India, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Laos, Myanmar and Yemen) are categorized as very dangerous countries as they have provided less than 1000 test per 1 million citizens and there are many cases that went undetected. Yemen is the most dangerous country in Asia as they have only done 4 tests per 1 million citizens which is very shocking. 22 countries in Asia are considered as under the safe categories as they have done mass testing for their citizens.

It is indeed worrying to read news about the explosion of coronavirus cases world wide. Singapore who is one of the smallest country in the world seem to have hit the bomb shell with more than 20,000 cases far surpassing countries who are so much bigger than them. Well here is where we get to see all the differences. Singapore has missed testing their migrant workers communities right from the beginning and hence the explosion of cases could not be avoided now. As of April Singapore has done an extremely brilliant and good job to conduct mass testing for all their migrant workers. So this is a good job done itself. Living in small packed dormitories make it very vulnerable for the workers there to catch the virus. Well at least Singapore is doing mass testing hence there are able to trace lots of cases. As compared to many other countries in Asia, Singapore is one of the best who have done mass testing. There are many poor countries in Asia who have not done mass testing and hence many cases went undetected. One obvious example is Indonesia. Indonesia which is the forth biggest country in the world has done very few test for their citizens and many health experts says Indonesia is waiting for the time to come and explode. Many cases went undetected in Indonesia and more and more people will get infected as many cases went undetected.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/coronavirus-covid-19-cases-numbers-update-deaths-total-moh-12706638 Singapore's COVID-19 cases rise past 20,000 with 788 new infections; 2 more deaths SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 788 new COVID-19 cases as of noon on Wednesday (May 6), taking the country's total to 20,198. The Ministry of Health (MOH) reported two more deaths, a 97-year-old Singaporean woman and a 73-year-old Singaporean man. The elderly woman, Case 1414, died on Tuesday night from complications due to COVID-19. She tested positive for the coronavirus on Apr 7 and had a history of hypertension. She is linked to the cluster at Lee Ah Mooi home. The man, Case 1528, died on Wednesday from complications due to COVID-19. He tested positive for the coronavirus on Apr 7 and had a history of hypertension, hyperlipidaemia and diabetes mellitus, MOH said. He is linked to the cluster at Mustafa shopping mall. Singapore's death toll from the disease is now 20. Thirteen of the new cases were in the community, of which 11 are Singaporeans or permanent residents and two are work pass holders. "The number of new cases in the community has decreased, from an average of 16 cases per day in the week before, to an average of 10 per day in the past week," the ministry said. "The number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased, from an average of nine cases per day in the week before, to an average of four per day in the past week. We will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme." A 64-year-old Singaporean woman who was a patient at St Luke’s Hospital was among the 13 new cases in the community. She tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. The hospital said she had no symptoms of acute respiratory infection but was tested as part of the hospital's precautionary measures. The woman has been transferred to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID). "The affected ward has undergone deep cleansing and disinfection. Testing of patients and staff working in the ward have started. None of them have symptoms of acute respiratory infection and will continue to be monitored. Contact tracing has also started," said St Luke's, a community hospital. SEVEN NEW CLUSTERS A total of 759 of the new cases are work permit holders residing in dormitories. "We continue to pick up many more cases amongst work permit holders residing in dormitories, including in factory-converted dormitories, because of extensive testing in these premises," said MOH. Sixteen cases are work permit holders residing outside dormitories. Of the new cases, MOH said 93 per cent are linked to known clusters while the rest are pending contact tracing. Seven new clusters were reported: 20 Benoi Lane, 5 Fourth Chin Bee Road, 36 and 38 Kian Teck Drive, Tampines Street 62, 14 Tech Park Crescent, 50A Tuas Link 4 and 35 Tuas View Walk 2. The cluster at Wilby Residences at 25 Wilby Road has been closed as there have been no more cases linked to the cluster for the past 28 days. MOH said 115 more patients have been discharged after making a full recovery. In all, 1,634 have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities. The ministry said there are currently 1,462 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and 23 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit. A total of 17,082 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These include those who have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19. More than four weeks have passed since Singapore rolled out elevated safe distancing measures as part of a "circuit breaker" period to fight the novel coronavirus. Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong laid out some factors which would have to be considered before these measures are lifted. This includes having the number of daily community cases falling to zero or single digits over a sustained period of time. There also needs to be a fall in the number of migrant worker cases, said the minister. The majority of Singapore's COVID-19 cases are work permit holders living in dormitories.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/06/coronavirus-singapore-is-not-halfway-through-outbreak-says-minister.html Singapore is not yet halfway through its coronavirus outbreak, says minister Lawrence Wong, Singapore’s national development minister, said the country would continue to uncover high numbers of new cases for some time due to “extensive testing” being carried out in dormitories that house migrant workers. Cases found in those dormitories were the reason behind the surge in the number of infections in Singapore over the past month to a total of 19,410 confirmed cases as of Tuesday, according to the health ministry. Wong, who co-heads Singapore’s taskforce to fight the virus, said the design of those dormitories — made for communal living — have to change. Singapore minister: safeguards in migrant dormitories were ‘not sufficient’ Singapore’s total coronavirus cases have surged in recent weeks to one of the highest in Asia — but the country is not even halfway through its outbreak, according to Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong. “This is still the first half of the marathon,” the minister told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.” Wong, who co-heads Singapore’s task force to fight the virus, said the country would continue to uncover high numbers of new cases for some time due to “extensive testing” being carried out in dormitories that house migrant workers. That group of workers, mostly men from other Asian countries, has accounted for around 87.6% of Singapore’s total 19,410 confirmed cases as of Tuesday, according to the health ministry. Cases found in those dormitories were the reason behind the surge in the number of infections in Singapore over the past month. “We’re testing not only the workers who are reporting sick — for which the numbers are not very large — but we’re doing very extensive testing on workers in the dormitories who are well, who are asymptomatic,” said Wong, who’s also Singapore’s second minister for finance. “And so, we are still picking up quite a high number of cases in the dormitories, I think that will remain for some time. It’s a very serious outbreak but we’re making progress in bringing the outbreak in the dormitories under control,” he added. The Southeast Asian country has one of the highest testing rates in the world. As of April 27, it conducted more than 140,000 tests for the coronavirus, or around 2,500 tests per 100,000 people, according to a prepared speech that Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong delivered in parliament on Tuesday. Gan also said that the country has increased its testing capacity from 2,900 tests a day in early April to 8,000 per day currently — and is aiming to hit 40,000 tests a day. In addition to testing, the Singapore government has put in place a partial lockdown that it called a “circuit breaker” to curb the outbreak. Those measures, which included temporary school closures and the shutting down of nonessential workplaces, are expected to be gradually lifted starting next month. ‘Safeguards were not sufficient’ Before the surge in cases tied to migrant worker dormitories, the way that the Singapore government handled the coronavirus outbreak — which includes active testing and screening for potential infections — was hailed by many experts as an example for other countries to follow. As the virus spreads widely in those packed dormitories, some observers questioned why the government didn’t identify those living quarters as a potential hotbed for the coronavirus earlier. That’s especially so when activists have for years raised the issue of poor living conditions in the overcrowded dormitories, with one veteran Singaporean diplomat describing them as a “time bomb waiting to explode.” ... we are still picking up quite a high number of cases in the dormitories, I think that will remain for some time. Lawrence Wong SINGAPORE’S MINISTER FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT However, Wong said that the living standards in migrant worker dormitories have “steadily” improved over the years, with recreational facilities within the compounds and convenient access to amenities. “The issue is really that these dormitories are designed for communal living, where the workers eat together, they live together and they cook together,” the minister said. “And despite the best effort at putting in place precautions and safeguards, reminding the dormitories’ operators that these ... nonessential communal activities have to be ceased at the start of the outbreak, I think the lesson we’ve learned from this experience is that with this pandemic — an unprecedented pandemic — the safeguards were not sufficient and the design of dormitories have to change,” he added.

https://carnegieendowment.org/2020/04/29/coronavirus-blunders-in-indonesia-turn-crisis-into-catastrophe-pub-81684 Coronavirus Blunders in Indonesia Turn Crisis Into Catastrophe Summary: Indonesia’s coronavirus response has been set back by misplaced priorities and a distrust of data. Without a course correction, the country could pay steep long-term costs. Coronavirus and Global Disorder The sequence of denial, reluctance, and alarm in Indonesia’s response to the coronavirus crisis follows the trajectory of many other countries, including highly developed nations. Concerned about their economic impact, President Joko Widodo delayed containment measures and relied on unproven claims that tropical weather would slow down transmission in the world’s fourth most populous country. The bet did not pay off. Indonesia now faces a collapsing health system, an economic recession that could wipe out two decades of development gains, and the looming threat of social unrest. No one can fault leaders for trying to maintain economic stability in Indonesia, where the devastation of the 1997 Asian financial crisis is seared into political memory. However, the government’s disregard for data, reliance on military personnel for crisis management, and political score-settling steered it away from a balancing act between the economy and health toward a strategy that has delivered worse results for both. FROM CRISIS TO CATASTROPHE After months of denying undetected coronavirus cases, the government confirmed its first infected patient in March. By then Indonesia’s neighbors were already rolling out mass testing and mobility restrictions to contain community spread. Widodo ruled out lockdowns, citing their harsh economic impact in other developing countries like India, but reluctantly allowed limited school closures and suggested that people work from home. Sana Jaffrey is a nonresident scholar in the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Her research focuses on violent conflict and the challenges of state-building in developing democracies. In the absence of strict containment measures, Indonesia’s coronavirus deaths surged to become the highest in Southeast Asia. As of April 28, the government’s official count of positive cases surpassed 9,500 after tests were performed on 62,000 people, less than 0.02 percent of the total population. The country has recorded 773 deaths, including more than 40 doctors and nurses. The government also acknowledged the presence of over 213,000 suspected cases waiting to be tested. The escalating crisis prompted the declaration of a national health emergency and the imposition of social distancing measures in Jakarta and other affected regions. Nationwide restrictions on commercial travel by air, sea, and land are now in effect. New equipment is being imported to ramp up testing, and efforts are underway to manufacture personal protective equipment for medical staff and urgently needed ventilators for patients. On March 13, the president announced a stimulus package worth $8 billion, which includes $324 million in assistance for low-income households. These interventions may have come too late. According to the government’s own projections, 95,000 infections will be confirmed by the end of May. Independent researchers from the University of Indonesia predict 1.7 million infections and 144,000 deaths. Despite efforts to avoid a shutdown, Southeast Asia’s largest economy is in turmoil, with predictions of contraction by 0.4 percent that could plunge more than 9 million people into poverty. The latest survey data presents an even bleaker picture: 25 percent of adults (50 million people) report that they are already unable to meet their daily needs, creating concerns about urban riots. AVERTABLE BLUNDERS Indonesia could not have prevented the impact of the coronavirus altogether. Despite its middle-income status, it has the lowest per capita health expenditure among major regional economies. However, as one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, Indonesia has considerable experience mobilizing localized emergency responses. Far from perfect, past management of the SARS epidemic (2003), the Boxing Day tsunami (2004), and the Avian flu outbreak (2006) have been at least minimally competent. This time, three major flaws in the government’s approach prevented it from mobilizing even the limited resources that were at its disposal to mitigate the crush of a global pandemic. DISREGARDING DATA First, a deep disregard for data in the administration created a false sense of choice: instead of preparing for the inevitable, officials looked for ways to avoid a response. While senior officials peddled unsubstantiated theories about the mild impact of the coronavirus in tropical weather, beleaguered doctors beseeched the president to ignore flawed advice and scientists complained about being shut out of the process. Widodo has defended his administration’s response by noting scientists’ inability to provide definitive forecasts about coronavirus. But the government’s suppression of data on infection rates has only compounded this uncertainty, with deadly consequences. In collecting official data, the Health Ministry initially insisted on counting only polymerase chain reaction tests performed in a single facility in Jakarta, ignoring the surge in suspected cases and positive results from the rapid antibody tests conducted by regional governments. Unconvinced by official figures, journalists pieced together data from cemeteries, medical records, and governors’ tallies to reveal that more than 2,200 suspected patients have died while awaiting tests. Widodo admitted that data was concealed to prevent mass panic. More disturbingly, his administration used this flawed data to defer critical interventions. The delayed timing of ongoing measures to improve detection by distributing new testing equipment to regional labs compromises their effectiveness. Amid already high infection rates, testing may not stem contagion unless supplemented with mass isolation facilities for infected persons in densely populated cities, where people live in close quarters with large families. Containment efforts also came late. A national task force to coordinate the government’s response was only formed in mid-March after a direct call from the World Health Organization. The declaration of a health emergency, providing the legal basis for social distancing measures, took another two weeks. Relatively lax by global standards, these restrictions did not prohibit domestic travel in and out of affected regions despite widespread fear of contagion. Ministers insisted that the low official estimate of deaths did not warrant stricter measures for the remaining 270 million people. The government finally banned most commercial travel on April 24 in a bid to prevent the annual Eid exodus of 20 million people, but an estimated 1.6 million had already made the journey. Apart from delays, the ill-conceived sequencing of containment measures has accelerated both the health crisis and its economic fallout. Early on, the president wanted to avoid a regional lockdown due to its economic impact on the informal sector, which comprises nearly 60 percent of Indonesia’s workforce. However, his suggestion to work from home was adopted in urban areas by white collar workers, who are served by the informal workforce. Without their primary source of income or government aid, food vendors, barbers, and online motorbike drivers returned to their hometowns, exposing new communities to the virus. MILITARY DOMINANCE Second, military dominance in the management of the health crisis has produced an untenable combination of disarray and draconian law enforcement. All personnel in charge of coordinating the crisis response are retired army officers. This includes the head of the disaster management task force, the national spokesman on the coronavirus crisis, the health minister, the religious minister, the minister of maritime affairs and investment, the defense minister, and the president’s chief of staff. Widodo’s administration has the highest concentration of military personnel of any cabinet since the fall of Suharto’s military dictatorship in 1998. A crisis of this scale anywhere in the world would require logistical support from the military. But the predominance of military personnel in top civilian posts has securitized Indonesia’s response to coronavirus. Widodo initially considered responding to the health crisis by declaring a civil emergency, which is legally reserved for fighting rebellions and civil war. Pushback from civil society groups prevented this move, but shortly thereafter the national police chief issued instructions to arrest individuals accused of causing offense to the president and other officials. At least 76 critics have since been detained, including a researcher who published an article about possible errors in the government’s coronavirus data. The security focus of the administration has also prevented it from effectively mobilizing civilian sources of authority. Like other Asian countries, Indonesia maintains an extensive structure of neighborhood associations that collect health data and ensure public compliance with the government’s vaccination drives and family planning programs. Leaders of these associations also serve as the first point of contact in coordinating the government’s disaster response. Instead of devising a national strategy to enforce containment measures through these grassroots bodies, the government ordered neighborhood leaders to use their discretion in responding to the crisis. In the absence of clear instructions or resources, community-level interventions are in disarray. Some neighborhood leaders have coordinated delivery of aid, and others have imposed local lockdowns. However, a growing number have responded by evicting exposed medical staff along with suspected patients and have also refused burial of victims. POLITICIZING THE CRISIS Finally, the administration’s politicization of the health crisis has impaired its ability to coordinate an effective response with regional leaders and civil society groups. This is most visible in the ongoing turf war between the central government and Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, who became the president’s bitter rival in 2016 after defeating his longtime ally in a religiously charged gubernatorial race. Despite the fact that Baswedan’s Islamist allies have urged their followers to cancel religious gatherings and postpone travel, the president’s supporters have accused him of playing politics. In fact, the central government has systematically undermined Baswedan’s efforts to manage the crisis. Even though Jakarta is the nation’s coronavirus epicenter, his requests to impose social distancing measures were repeatedly denied. After the declaration of a nationwide health emergency, his request was held up further by the health minister and only approved after days of haggling over data. The government’s relationship with civil society groups also continues to worsen even as their support remains critical for managing the crisis. In the middle of a pandemic, the parliament announced plans for a speedy passage of two highly unpopular bills. One is the criminal code that triggered deadly demonstrations last year and the other is a labor deregulation bill that was rejected by workers’ unions. Deliberations were finally suspended this week to avoid potentially violent clashes after unions issued a call for protests in defiance of mobility restrictions. SHORT-SIGHTED MEASURES WITH LONG-TERM COSTS Apart from the alarming human tragedy that looms ahead, missteps in the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic may affect Indonesia’s long-term political trajectory in three ways. One is the acceleration of military resurgence in civilian affairs, already well underway in the current administration. Public outcry may have prevented the imposition of civil emergency in March, but it cannot be ruled out as the crisis unfolds. Handing emergency powers to security agencies without effective civilian oversight could deal a severe blow to two decades of struggle for civil liberties in Indonesia. Second, ongoing power plays between the central and regional governments may force a reevaluation of Indonesia’s decentralization laws, which devolve power to districts and relegate governors to the role of a coordinator. The disjointed national response to the coronavirus and district governments’ inability to mount large-scale interventions has exposed the failings of this arrangement. Governors have emerged as effective intermediaries in the crisis by synchronizing district responses and forcing the center’s hand when necessary. Moving forward, their authority may have to be strengthened to streamline governance across the archipelago. Finally, citizens’ trust in government could become another tragic casualty of the crisis. Indonesians are no strangers to coping with the devastation of natural disasters or to overcoming slow government intervention with community-based responses. Hopes were high when Widodo was elected on the basis of his administrative credentials, but civil society groups have once again had to compensate for the lack of a coherent government response with heroic generosity. Underpaid policewomen are donating their salaries, students at underfunded universities are testing low-cost ventilators, and unprotected doctors are creating digital platforms to treat their patients. This time, however, it seems that Indonesians’ resilience may be tested as much by the unprecedented scale of the global pandemic as by the magnitude of their government’s ineptitude.

We fear hunger, not coronavirus: Lebanon protesters return in rage - video

Video of how the virus changed the world.

So what has happened to Kim Jong In? Is he still alive or is he dead? Well Kim Jong In did appear in a public ceremony but then the person that appear have different features compared to the original Kim Jong Un. This is getting very interesting now.

Is Kim Jong-un alive or is it his duplicate? Internet is baffled Kim Jong-un made a public appearance and rubbished the rumours about his death and ill health. The internet is still not convinced. Kim Jong-un put the rumours about his ill health and death to rest by turning up at an opening ceremony of a fertiliser factory on May 1. The Supreme Leader of North Korea cut the ribbon and inaugurated the factory. However, it appears the internet is not convinced that it really was Kim Jong-un. His sudden return has led to the internet speculating whether it was Kim Jong-un or his body double who attended the event. Netizens took to Twitter to share photos of Kim Jong-un's latest appearance and compared footage with his previous pictures. They pointed out differences in physical features such as his teeth and ears. Twitter user Jennifer Zeng shared several pictures to highlight the differences. "Is the Kim Jong-un appearing on May 1 the real one?," she wrote in her tweet. Former member of the British Parliament Louise Mensch also posted a series of tweets on the matter. "It is not the same person," she wrote in a tweet while sharing the viral pictures of Kim Jong-un. Netizens are totally baffled. Twitter is flooded with posts comparing his old pictures and the recent ones. Rumours about Kim Jong-un's ill health and death started doing the rounds after he missed the birthday celebrations of state founder Kim Il Sung on April 15. Several reports also suggested that he underwent a heart surgery.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/03/health/coronavirus-vaccine-never-developed-intl/index.html What happens if a coronavirus vaccine is never developed? It has happened before London (CNN)As countries lie frozen in lockdown and billions of people lose their livelihoods, public figures are teasing a breakthrough that would mark the end of the crippling coronavirus pandemic: a vaccine. But there is another, worst-case possibility: that no vaccine is ever developed. In this outcome, the public's hopes are repeatedly raised and then dashed, as various proposed solutions fall before the final hurdle. Instead of wiping out Covid-19, societies may instead learn to live with it. Cities would slowly open and some freedoms will be returned, but on a short leash, if experts' recommendations are followed. Testing and physical tracing will become part of our lives in the short term, but in many countries, an abrupt instruction to self-isolate could come at any time. Treatments may be developed -- but outbreaks of the disease could still occur each year, and the global death toll would continue to tick upwards. It's a path rarely publicly countenanced by politicians, who are speaking optimistically about human trials already underway to find a vaccine. But the possibility is taken very seriously by many experts -- because it's happened before. Several times. "There are some viruses that we still do not have vaccines against," says Dr. David Nabarro, a professor of global health at Imperial College London, who also serves as a special envoy to the World Health Organization on Covid-19. "We can't make an absolute assumption that a vaccine will appear at all, or if it does appear, whether it will pass all the tests of efficacy and safety. "It's absolutely essential that all societies everywhere get themselves into a position where they are able to defend against the coronavirus as a constant threat, and to be able to go about social life and economic activity with the virus in our midst," Nabarro tells CNN. Most experts remain confident that a Covid-19 vaccine will eventually be developed; in part because, unlike previous diseases like HIV and malaria, the coronavirus does not mutate rapidly. Many, including National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci, suggest it could happen in a year to 18 months. Other figures, like England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty, have veered towards the more distant end of the spectrum, suggesting that a year may be too soon. But even if a vaccine is developed, bringing it to fruition in any of those timeframes would be a feat never achieved before. "We've never accelerated a vaccine in a year to 18 months," Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, tells CNN. "It doesn't mean it's impossible, but it will be quite a heroic achievement. "We need plan A, and a plan B," he says. When vaccines don't work In 1984, the US Secretary of Health and Human Services Margaret Heckler announced at a press conference in Washington, DC, that scientists had successfully identified the virus that later became known as HIV -- and predicted that a preventative vaccine would be ready for testing in two years. Nearly four decades and 32 million deaths later, the world is still waiting for an HIV vaccine. Instead of a breakthrough, Heckler's claim was followed by the loss of much of a generation of gay men and the painful shunning of their community in Western countries. For many years, a positive diagnosis was not only a death sentence; it ensured a person would spend their final months abandoned by their communities, while doctors debated in medical journals whether HIV patients were even worth saving. The search didn't end in the 1980s. In 1997, President Bill Clinton challenged the US to come up with a vaccine within a decade. Fourteen years ago, scientists said we were still about 10 years away. The difficulties in finding a vaccine began with the very nature of HIV/AIDS itself. "Influenza is able to change itself from one year to the next so the natural infection or immunization the previous year doesn't infect you the following year. HIV does that during a single infection," explains Paul Offit, a pediatrician and infectious disease specialist who co-invented the rotavirus vaccine. "It continues to mutate in you, so it's like you're infected with a thousand different HIV strands," Offit tells CNN. "(And) while it is mutating, it's also crippling your immune system." HIV poses very unique difficulties and Covid-19 does not possess its level of elusiveness, making experts generally more optimistic about finding a vaccine. Lessons the AIDS epidemic has for coronavirus But there have been other diseases that have confounded both scientists and the human body. An effective vaccine for dengue fever, which infects as many as 400,000 people a year according to the WHO, has eluded doctors for decades. In 2017, a large-scale effort to find one was suspended after it was found to worsen the symptoms of the disease. Similarly, it's been very difficult to develop vaccines for the common rhinoviruses and adenoviruses -- which, like coronaviruses, can cause cold symptoms. There's just one vaccine to prevent two strains of adenovirus, and it's not commercially available. "You have high hopes, and then your hopes are dashed," says Nabarro, describing the slow and painful process of developing a vaccine. "We're dealing with biological systems, we're not dealing with mechanical systems. It really depends so much on how the body reacts." Human trials are already underway at Oxford University in England for a coronavirus vaccine made from a chimpanzee virus, and in the US for a different vaccine, produced by Moderna. However, it is the testing process -- not the development -- that holds up and often scuppers the production of vaccines, adds Hotez, who worked on a vaccine to protect against SARS. "The hard part is showing you can prove that it works and it's safe." Plan B If the same fate befalls a Covid-19 vaccine, the virus could remain with us for many years. But the medical response to HIV/AIDS still provides a framework for living with a disease we can't stamp out. "In HIV, we've been able to make that a chronic disease with antivirals. We've done what we've always hoped to do with cancer," Offit says. "It's not the death sentence it was in the 1980s." The groundbreaking development of a daily preventative pill -- pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP -- has since led to hundreds of thousands of people at risk of contracting HIV being protected from the disease. A number of treatments are likewise being tested for Covid-19, as scientists hunt for a Plan B in parallel to the ongoing vaccine trials, but all of those trials are in very early stages. Scientists are looking at experimental anti-Ebola drug remdesivir, while blood plasma treatments are also being explored. Hydroxychloroquine, touted as a potential "game changer" by US President Donald Trump, has been found not to work on very sick patients. "The drugs they've chosen are the best candidates," says Keith Neal, Emeritus Professor in the Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases at the University of Nottingham. The problem, he says, has been the "piecemeal approach" to testing them. Remdesivir, one of the drugs being tested as a Covid-19 treatment. "We have to do randomized controlled trials. It's ridiculous that only recently have we managed to get that off the ground," Neal, who reviews such tests for inclusion in medical journals, tells CNN. "The papers that I'm getting to look at -- I'm just rejecting them on the grounds that they're not properly done." Now those fuller trials are off the ground, and if one of those drugs works for Covid-19 the signs should emerge "within weeks," says Neal. The first may already have arrived; the US Food and Drug Administration told CNN it is in talks to make remdesivir available to patients after positive signs it could speed up recovery from the coronavirus. The knock-on effects of a successful treatment would be felt widely; if a drug can decrease a patient's average time spent in ICU even by by a few days, it would free up hospital capacity and could therefore greatly increase the willingness of governments to open up society. But how effective a treatment is would depend on which one works -- remdesivir is not in high supply internationally and scaling up its production would cause problems. And crucially, any treatment won't prevent infections occurring in society -- meaning the coronavirus would be easier to manage and the pandemic would subside, but the disease could be with us many years into the future. What life without a vaccine looks like If a vaccine can't be produced, life will not remain as it is now. It just might not go back to normal quickly. "The lockdown is not sustainable economically, and possibly not politically," says Neal. "So we need other things to control it." That means that, as countries start to creep out of their paralyses, experts would push governments to implement an awkward new way of living and interacting to buy the world time in the months, years or decades until Covid-19 can be eliminated by a vaccine. "It is absolutely essential to work on being Covid-ready," Nabarro says. He calls for a new "social contract" in which citizens in every country, while starting to go about their normal lives, take personal responsibility to self-isolate if they show symptoms or come into contact with a potential Covid-19 case. Social distancing and lockdowns could be reintroduced until a vaccine is found. It means the culture of shrugging off a cough or light cold symptoms and trudging into work should be over. Experts also predict a permanent change in attitudes towards remote working, with working from home, at least on some days, becoming a standard way of life for white collar employees. Companies would be expected to shift their rotas so that offices are never full unnecessarily. "It (must) become a way of behaving that we all ascribe to personal responsibility ... treating those who are isolated as heroes rather than pariahs," says Nabarro. "A collective pact for survival and well-being in the face of the threat of the virus. "It's going to be difficult to do in poorer nations," he adds, so finding ways to support developing countries will become "particularly politically tricky, but also very important." He cites tightly packed refugee and migrant settlements as areas of especially high concern. In the short term, Nabarro says a vast program of testing and contact tracing would need to be implemented to allow life to function alongside Covid-19 -- one which dwarfs any such program ever established to fight an outbreak, and which remains some time away in major countries like the US and the UK. "Absolutely critical is going to be having a public health system in place that includes contact tracing, diagnosis in the workplace, monitoring for syndromic surveillance, early communication on whether we have to re-implement social distancing," adds Hotez. "It's doable, but it's complicated and we really haven't done it before." America's 'new normal' will be anything but ordinary Those systems could allow for some social interactions to return. "If there's minimal transmission, it may indeed be possible to open things up for sporting events" and other large gatherings, says Hotez -- but such a move would not be permanent and would continually be assessed by governments and public health bodies. That means the the Premier League, NFL and other mass events could go ahead with their schedules as long as athletes are getting regularly tested, and welcome in fans for weeks at a time -- perhaps separated within the stands -- before quickly shutting stadiums if the threat rises. "Bars and pubs are probably last on the list as well, because they are overcrowded," suggests Neal. "They could reopen as restaurants, with social distancing." Some European countries have signaled they will start allowing restaurants to serve customers at vastly reduced capacity. Restrictions are most likely to come back over the winter, with Hotez suggesting that Covid-19 peaks could occur every winter until a vaccine is introduced. And lockdowns, many of which are in the process of gradually being lifted, could return at any moment. "From time to time there will be outbreaks, movement will be restricted -- and that may apply to parts of a country, or it may even apply to a whole country," Nabarro says. The more time passes, the more imposing becomes the hotly debated prospect of herd immunity -- reached when the majority of a given population, around 70% to 90%, becomes immune to an infectious disease. "That does to some extent limit spread," Offit says -- "although population immunity caused by natural infection is not the best way to provide population immunity. The best way is with a vaccine." Measles is the "perfect example," says Offit -- before vaccines became widespread, "every year 2 to 3 million people would get measles, and that would be true here too." In other words, the amount of death and suffering from Covid-19 would be vast even if a large portion of the population is not susceptible. All of these predictions are tempered by a general belief that a vaccine will, eventually, be developed. "I do think there'll be vaccine -- there's plenty of money, there's plenty of interest and the target is clear," Offit says. But if previous outbreaks have proven anything, it's that hunts for vaccines are unpredictable. "I don't think any vaccine has been developed quickly," Offit cautions. "I'd be really amazed if we had something in 18 months."

Yes I agree with you that this will really help a lot. @Fly_like_a_don

Latest data as of 7th May, 2020. Top best recovery rate (These countries have recorded more than 70% recovery rate) Data counted only for countries with more than 1000 cases. Country Total Cases New Cases Total Deaths New Deaths Total Recovered Active Cases Percentage recovered from total cases 1. Iceland 1,799 +0 10 +0 1,750 39 97.28 % 2. China 82,885 +2 4,633 +0 77,957 295 94.05 % 3. Thailand 2,992 +3 55 +0 2,772 165 92.65 % 4. Hong Kong 1,045 +4 4 +0 944 97 90.33 % 5. Luxembourg 3,851 +11 98 +2 3,452 301 89.64 % 6. New Zealand 1,489 +1 21 +0 1,332 136 89.46 % 7. Australia 6,896 +21 97 +0 6,040 759 87.59 % 8. South Korea 10,810 +4 256 +1 9,419 1,135 87.13 % 9. Austria 15,752 +68 609 +1 13,698 1,445 86.96 % 10. Switzerland 30,126 +66 1,808 +3 25,700 2,618 85.31 % 11. Germany 168,276 +114 7,277 +2 139,900 21,099 83.14 % 12. Iran 103,135 +1,485 6,486 +68 82,744 13,905 80.23 % 13. Denmark 10,083 +145 506 +0 7,493 2,084 74.31 % 14. Malaysia 6,467 +39 107 +0 4,776 1,584 73.85 % 15. Azerbaijan 2,127 +0 28 +0 1,536 563 72.21 % 16. Iraq 2,480 +134 102 +0 1,602 776 64.60 %

This is really good news to hear. Keep it up.

Latest case as of 5th May, 2020. Top best recovery rate (These countries have recorded more than 70% recovery rate) Data counted only for countries with more than 1000 cases. Country Total Cases New Cases Total Deaths New Deaths Total Recovered Active Cases Percentage recovered from total cases 1. Iceland 1,799 +0 10 +0 1,723 66 95.78 % 2. China 82,881 +1 4,633 +0 77,853 395 93.93 % 3. Thailand 2,988 +1 54 +0 2,747 187 91.93 % 4. Luxembourg 3,824 +0 96 +0 3,405 327 89.04 % 5. Hong Kong 1,041 +1 4 +0 920 117 88.46 % 6. New Zealand 1,486 +0 20 +0 1,302 164 87.62 % 7. Austria 15,650 +29 606 +6 13,462 1,582 86.02 % 8. Australia 6,849 +24 96 +1 5,889 864 85.98 % 9. South Korea 10,804 +3 254 +2 9,283 1,267 85.92 % 10. Switzerland 30,009 +28 1,790 +6 25,200 3,019 83.97 % 11. Germany 166,199 +47 6,993 +0 135,100 24,106 81.29 % 12. Iran 99,970 +1,323 6,340 +63 80,475 13,155 80.50 % 13. Azerbaijan 1,984 +0 26 +0 1,480 478 74.60 % 14. Denmark 9,821 +151 503 +10 7,296 2,022 74.29 % 15. Malaysia 6,383 +30 106 +1 4,567 1,710 71.56 % 16. Iraq 2,346 +0 98 +0 1,544 704 65.81 %

Latest data as of 4th May, 2020. Top best recovery rate (These countries have recorded more than 70% recovery rate) Data counted only for countries with more than 1000 cases. Country Total Cases New Cases Total Deaths New Deaths Total Recovered Active Cases Percentage recovered from total cases 1. Thailand 2,987 +18 54 +0 2,740 193 98.31 % 2. Iceland 1,799 +0 10 +0 1,717 72 95.44 % 3. China 82,880 +3 4,633 +0 77,766 481 93.83 % 4. Luxembourg 3,824 +0 96 +0 3,379 349 88.36 % 5. Hong Kong 1,041 +1 4 +0 900 137 86.46 % 6. Australia 6,825 +24 95 +0 5,859 871 85.85 % 7. New Zealand 1,487 +0 20 +0 1,276 191 85.81 % 8. South Korea 10,801 +8 252 +2 9,217 1,332 85.33 % 9. Austria 15,621 +24 600 +2 13,316 1,705 85.24 % 10. Switzerland 29,981 +76 1,762 +0 24,500 3,719 81.72 % 11. Iran 98,647 +1,223 6,277 +74 79,379 12,991 80.47 % 12. Germany 165,745 +81 6,866 +0 132,700 26,179 80.06 % 13. Azerbaijan 1,932 +0 25 +0 1,441 466 74.59 % 14. Denmark 9,670 +147 493 +9 7,088 2,089 73.30 % 15. Malaysia 6,353 +55 105 +0 4,4,84 1,764 70.58 % 16. Iraq 2,296 +0 97 +0 1,490 709 64.90 %

Latest data as of 3rd May, 2020. Top best recovery rate (These countries have recorded more than 70% recovery rate) Data counted only for countries with more than 1000 cases. Country Total Cases New Cases Total Deaths New Deaths Total Recovered Active Cases Percentage recovered from total cases 1. Iceland 1,799 +1 19 +0 1,717 72 95.44 % 2. China 82,877 +2 4,633 +0 77,713 531 93.77 % 3. Thailand 2,969 +3 54 +0 2,739 176 92.25 % 4. Luxembourg 3,812 +0 92 +0 3,318 402 87.04 % 5. Australia 6,801 +20 95 +2 5,817 899 85.53 % 6. New Zealand 1,487 +2 20 +0 1,266 201 85.14 % 7. South Korea 10,793 +13 250 +0 9,183 1,360 85.08 % 8. Austria 15,597 +35 598 +2 13,228 1,771 84.81 % 9. Hong Kong 1,040 +0 4 +0 879 157 84.52 % 10. Switzerland 29,905 +88 1,762 +0 24,200 3,943 80.92 % 11. Iran 97,424 +976 6,203 +47 78,422 12,799 80.50 % 12. Germany 165,086 +119 6,812 +0 130,600 27,674 79.11 % 13. Azerbaijan 1,932 +38 25 +0 1,441 466 74.59 % 14. Denmark 9,523 +116 484 +9 6,987 2,052 73.37 % 15. Malaysia 6,298 +122 105 +2 4,413 1,780 70.07 % 16. Iraq 2,219 +0 95 +0 1,473 651 66.38 %

kim jong un is alive. he is seen in the public. So case close.

Latest data as of 2nd May, 2020. Top best recovery rate (These countries have recorded more than 70% recovery rate) Data counted only for countries with more than 1000 cases. Country Total Cases New Cases Total Deaths New Deaths Total Recovered Active Cases Percentage recovered from total cases 1. Iceland 1,798 +0 10 +0 1,706 82 94.88 % 2. China 82,875 +1 4,633 +0 77,685 557 93.74 % 3. Thailand 2,966 +6 54 +0 2,732 180 92.11 % 4. Australia 6,783 +16 93 +0 5,789 901 85.35 % 5. New Zealand 1,485 +6 20 +1 1,263 202 85.05 % 6. Austria 15,558 +27 596 +7 13,180 1,782 84.72 % 7. South Korea 10,780 +6 250 +2 9,123 1,407 84.63 % 8. Luxembourg 3,802 +0 92 +0 3,213 497 84.51 % 9. Hong Kong 1,040 +0 4 +0 864 172 83.08 % 10. Iran 96,448 +802 6,156 +65 77,350 12,942 80.20 % 11. Switzerland 29,817 +112 1,754 +0 23,900 4,163 80.16 % 12. Germany 164,316 +239 6,736 +0 129,000 28,580 78.51 % 13. Azerbaijan 1,894 +40 25 +0 1,411 458 74.50 % 14. Denmark 9407 +96 475 +15 6,889 2,043 73.23 % 15. Malaysia 6,176 +105 103 +0 4,326 1,747 70.05 % 16. Iraq 2,153 +0 94 +0 1,414 645 65.68 %