France’s top health official on Tuesday confirmed two new cases of coronavirus, adding that neither patient was in serious condition.

The first new case is a young Chinese woman who recently returned from China and is now hospitalised in Paris, said Jérôme Salomon, the head of France’s national health agency.

The other patient, a male, had recently travelled to northern Italy’s Lombardy region, the centre of a rapidly growing outbreak that has infected more than 300 people in the country, Europe’s worst-hit by the virus.

The two new cases bring to 14 the number of infections detected in France since the start of the outbreak. One of those 14 people has died and 11 have recovered.

At a meeting in Rome earlier on Tuesday, health ministers from Italy and six neighbouring countries, including France, decided not to close their borders over the outbreak, saying it would be a disproportionate measure.

“We have decided it is unthinkable and ineffective to consider closing the borders,” French Health Minister Olivier Véran told FRANCE 24 as he left the talks, calling instead for close cooperation between health officials in Europe.

Switzerland, Austria and Romania each reported their first cases on Tuesday, all in people who had been to Italy.

Spain also reported its first case on the mainland, a woman from Barcelona who had also visited northern Italy, while a four-star hotel on Tenerife was in lockdown after a couple tested positive there.

France’s government has warned French nationals against travelling to the Italian regions affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

Source: France 24

The new coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan, China, in December has infected tens of thousands of people in China and beyond and triggered alarm around the world. Here is what we know about the disease it causes and how it spreads:

* Like other coronaviruses, the new virus – which causes a disease now called COVID-19 – is transmitted from person to person via droplets when an infected person breathes out, coughs or sneezes. It can also spread via contaminated surfaces such as door handles or railings.

* Scientists in China who studied swabs from infected patients say the new coronavirus behaves quite like flu viruses, suggesting it may spread more easily than previously thought.

* COVID-19 infection has an incubation period of between one and 14 days, and a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association has found new evidence that the virus can be spread asymptomatically.

* A World Health Organization-led team of investigating scientists in China has said that the epidemic there peaked between Jan. 23 and Feb. 2 and has been declining steadily since then.

* They also found that the case-fatality rate is between 2% and 4% in Wuhan and 0.7% outside Wuhan.

* Infectious disease and virus specialists estimate that each infected person in the epidemic is infecting, on average, two to three other people.

* The WHO said on Monday that the COVID-19 outbreak was not out of control globally and does not have a large-scale death toll, so it was “too early” to speak of a pandemic.

* Coronavirus infections have a wide range of symptoms, including fever, coughing, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. Mild cases can cause cold-like symptoms, while severe cases can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory illness, kidney failure and death.

* Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that get their name from what they look like under a microscope – they are spherical and their surfaces are covered with “crown”-like spikes.

* Animal viruses can mutate or combine with other viruses to create new strains capable of being passed to people. Scientists say the new coronavirus originated in bats and then passed to humans, possibly via an intermediary animal species.

* Genetic data suggests the new coronavirus is the result of viral recombination – a process where more than one virus infects the same cell at the same time and creates a “recombinant” virus strain.

(REUTERS)

Pavel, a student from Cameroon，is the first, and till now the only African patient to be diagnosed with novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) in China. From confirmation on January 30, to isolation and treatment, till discharge from hospital on February 10,what struck Pavel the most in the unforgettable 12-day-long experience is that “Be it Chinese or foreign nationals, as long as we work together, there’s nothing to be feared in the fight against epidemic.”

The 20-year-old Cameroonian student speaks fluent Chinese and has a Chinese name called “Dong Qichen”. After learning Chinese for two years at the Confucius Institute in Cameroon and the Wenzhou University, he’s now studying at the College of Agriculture of Yangtze University in Jingzhou, Hubei province. He travelled to Wuhan with friends in January and was infected with NCP during his time there. “Soon after my return, I had a fever with a temperature of about 38 degrees centigrade. My teacher was very worried and asked about my condition by phone every one or two hours. I was so moved.”

After being diagnosed with NCP at the Jingzhou Thoracic Hospital of Hubei Province, Pavel had been actively cooperating with treatment.  “They took very good care of me in each and every step of treatment! Chinese doctors and nurses are highly professional and dedicated. Regular disinfection, temperature measurement, and check were conducted at the hospital. The isolation ward is clean and tidy, with three meals a day, and a TV. My doctor told me that I’m doing well and there’s no need for worry. My teachers and classmates call me every day. I can also feel that I’m getting better.”

After his nucleic acid test turned negative, on February 10th , Pavel got his discharge record, which was densely packed with medical information, diagnosis, and doctor’s advice. “During my stay in hospital, I learnt about Chinese medical staff’s workload and the pressure on them. Their families and friends are worried about them. However, they are all brave, strong and united. They are extraordinary!” This experience fills Pavel with gratitude and admiration for the Chinese doctors and nurses.

“Can you believe it? The news that I’ve been cured has spread to Cameroon and made headlines! The Cameroonian Embassy in China also issued an announcement about it. I’m a celebrity now.” In Hubei Province alone, there are nearly 3,000 students from Africa, including around 70 from Cameroon. In these days, family members and friends are all concerned about Pavel. “Originally, my family members in Africa were extremely worried. I’ve been telling them that the disease is controllable and curable. In fact, I haven’t felt as much pain this time as I had in Africa before when I was stricken with malaria or typhoid. Believe me, the best doctor for you is yourself, and the best medicine your smile.”

Although he still has to stay in his own dormitory for self-isolation after he left the hospital, Pavel feels relieved.  “We all love China deeply and always have firm faith in the Chinese government. Let’s stay patient and optimistic and work together in the same spirit! At the end of the day, the epidemic will be defeated!”

 Source: People’s Daily

The World Health Organization warned Saturday that African health systems were ill-equipped to respond to the deadly coronavirus outbreak should cases start to proliferate on the continent.

The WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called on African Union member states “to come together to be more aggressive in attacking” the virus, known as COVID-19.

“Our biggest concern continues to be the potential for COVID-19 to spread in countries with weaker health systems,” Tedros, speaking by video link from Geneva, said during a meeting of 36 African health ministers at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.

The outbreak which began in December has already killed more than 2,200 people and infected more than 75,500 in China.

More than 1,150 people have also been infected outside China, although Egypt is the only African country to have recorded a confirmed case.

There have been more than 200 suspected cases in the WHO’s AFRO region, which includes most African countries, though nearly all have been confirmed negative, regional director Matshidiso Rebecca Moeti said Saturday.

But if COVID-19 starts to spread on the continent, African health systems will struggle to treat patients suffering from symptoms such as respiratory failure, septic shock and multi-organ failure, Tedros said.

“These patients require intensive care using equipment such as respiratory support machines that are, as you know, in short supply in many African countries and that’s a cause for concern,” he said.

Several African airlines including Kenya Airways have suspended flights to China, although the continent’s biggest carrier Ethiopian Airlines has kept its China routes open.

Liu Yuxi, China’s ambassador to the AU, on Saturday urged officials to ease travel restrictions

“I hope that everyone will stay calm and objective. Excessive panic could actually increase the disease,” he said.

AU Commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat told officials to take “drastic preventive and control measures.”

“Africa is particularly at risk, given its relatively fragile health systems,” he said.

‘Looming threat’

African countries have been scrambling to develop the capacity to test for COVID-19.

In three weeks, the number of African countries capable of conducting their own tests has jumped from two to 26, Moeti said.

John Nkengasong, director of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told AFP that number would soon be well over 40.

Yet he noted that if COVID-19 cases started emerging in large numbers African countries could encounter shortages of testing kits and personal protective equipment like face masks.

“If truly we have a virus introduced on the continent and it becomes a larger issue, the ability to procure diagnostics in a timely fashion to support that testing will still be limited,” he said.

“We are facing a looming threat, a serious threat for the continent,” he added.

Tedros said in his remarks that 30,000 sets of personal protective equipment had been shipped “to several countries in Africa”, and that 60,000 more tests would be sent to 19 countries “in the coming weeks.”

He also announced that Nkengasong and Samba Sow, director general of the Center for Vaccine Development in Mali, had been appointed special envoys for the African response to COVID-19.

Tedros said their mandate was “to provide strategic advice and high-level political advocacy and engagement in Africa.”

(Source: AFP)

China on Thursday touted a big drop in new virus infections as proof its epidemic control efforts are working, but the toll grew abroad with deaths in Japan and South Korea.

Fatalities in China hit 2,118 as 114 more people died, but health officials reported the lowest number of new cases in nearly a month, including in hardest-hit Hubei province.

More than 74,000 people have been infected by the new coronavirus in China, and hundreds more in over 25 countries.

The number of deaths outside mainland China climbed to 11.

Japan’s toll rose to three as a man and a woman in their 80s who had been aboard a quarantined cruise ship died, while fears there mounted over other passengers who disembarked the Diamond Princess after testing negative.

South Korea reported its first death, and the number of infections in the country nearly doubled Thursday to 104.

Iran reported two deaths on Wednesday and three new cases Thursday. Deaths have previously been confirmed in France, the Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Chinese officials say their drastic containment efforts, including quarantining tens of millions of people in Hubei and restricting movements in cities nationwide, have started to pay off.

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone about the virus with leaders in South Korea and Pakistan, state news agency Xinhua said.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in “chose to call to express sympathies and support” regarding the outbreak, Xinhua said. Xi told him the epidemic’s impact on bilateral ties will only be temporary.

Xi told Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan that their two countries “are true friends and good brothers,” and that combating the virus is his government’s top priority.

At a special meeting on the virus with Southeast Asian countries in Laos, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said results “show that our control efforts are working.”

Although more than 600 new infections were reported Thursday in Hubei’s capital Wuhan, it was the lowest daily tally since late January and well down from the 1,749 new cases the day before.

The national figure has fallen for three straight days.

Chinese authorities placed the city of 11 million under quarantine on January 23 and quickly locked down the rest of the province in the days that followed.

Wuhan authorities this week carried out door-to-door checks on residents, with the local Communist Party chief warning that officials would be “held accountable” if any infections were missed.

Cities far from the epicentre have limited the number of people who can leave their homes for groceries, while rural villages have sealed off access to outsiders.

‘Chaotic’ cruise quarantine

In Japan, critics slammed the government’s quarantine measures imposed on the Diamond Princess.

The huge vessel moored in Yokohama is the biggest coronavirus cluster outside the Chinese epicentre, with 634 cases confirmed among passengers and crew.

Another 13 people on board the ship were diagnosed with the virus Thursday, Japan’s health ministry said.

Still, passengers were disembarking after negative tests and having completed a 14-day quarantine period — packing into yellow buses and leaving for stations and airports.

An infectious diseases specialist at Kobe University slammed the quarantine procedures on board as “completely chaotic” in rare criticism from a Japanese academic.

“The cruise ship was completely inadequate in terms of infection control,” said Kentaro Iwata in videos he has since deleted.

South Korea, meanwhile, announced 51 new cases, with more than 40 in a cluster centred on the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, an entity often seen as a cult.

The infections apparently came from a 61-year-old woman who first developed a fever on February 10 and attended at least four services before being diagnosed.

Authorities were investigating whether she visited a hospital where a long-term patient contracted the virus and later died.

Growing concern abroad

Beyond Asia, citizen backlash was growing over fears of contagion.

Iraq on Thursday clamped down on travel to and from neighboring Iran, with Iraq’s health ministry announcing people in Iran were barred from entering the country “until further notice.”

The move came after Iran confirmed three new coronavirus cases following the deaths of two elderly men.

And in Ukraine, a crowd clashed with police outside a hospital over government plans to quarantine evacuees from coronavirus-hit China at the site.

Six buses with the evacuees arrived at the medical center in Novi Sanzhary, in the central Poltava region, escorted by police.

Angry demonstrators lit fires and pelted the buses with rocks, breaking at least three windows.

Because of the virus outbreak, airlines operating in the Asia-Pacific region stand to lose a combined $27.8 billion of revenue, the International Air Transport Association said.

This is the first time since 2003 that demand for air travel has declined, IATA CEO Alexandre de Juniac said.

Source: AFP

China’s efforts to control the deadly outbreak of a new coronavirus “are working”, Beijing’s top diplomat said Thursday, attributing an easing in new cases to his country’s “forceful action” against the illness.

Speaking in Laos after talks with peers from the 10 Southeast Asian (ASEAN) countries, Wangi Yi said the outbreak was “controllable and curable” despite the global panic it has seeded.

“China is not only protecting its own people but also the rest of the world,” he told the summit in Vientiane, referencing a recent sharp drop in new cases of the virus inside China, where it has killed more than 2,100 people.

The hastily-convened summit with ASEAN neighbours comes as a region dependent on the flow of Chinese goods and tourists faces a steep bill following restrictions on movement from China.

A similar meeting was held in 2003 following the outbreak of SARS.

Originating in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the new coronavirus — known as COVID-19 — has infected more than 74,000 people inside China.

The government has locked down tens of millions of people in several virus-hit cities, extended Lunar New Year holidays and pulled flights in a scramble to contain the virus.

Still the health scare has cascaded across Southeast Asia, with cases recorded in the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam have restricted flights from mainland China and suspended visa-free arrivals as health screening ramps up at entry points.

Thailand, which has imposed no such restrictions, reported a 90 percent slump in arrivals from the mainland this month, a gut punch to an already beleaguered tourist sector which makes up nearly a fifth of the economy.

Thailand anticipates a loss of more than $8 billion by year’s end from the tourist tail-off.

In Laos, Beijing will be eager to “project regional solidarity with its anti-pandemic efforts” a Southeast Asian diplomat told AFP, declining to be named.

China sees ASEAN as its backyard and has ramped up economic, diplomatic and cultural influence over recent years with billions of dollars of investment, tourist outflows and a bigger presence at regional summits.

There are fears prolonged disruption by the virus could slow work on the massive China-backed “Belt and Road” infrastructure schemes which criss-cross ASEAN.

Philippine Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin Jr thanked China for its “unprecedented domestic measures and quick action” — apparently referring to the lockdowns of several large cities as the virus billowed out.

But he recognised the “massively detrimental” economic impact of the disease, which has constricted global trade and tourism vital to many Southeast Asian economies.

 Source: AFP

In early 2020, an outbreak of new coronavirus in Wuhan, China, sparked fears that the virus could cause a pandemic. It also inspired a significant amount of misinformation.

For example, on Feb. 17, 2020, the website Cityscrollz.com falsely reported that a Cameroonian college student studying in China contracted coronavirus but recovered “because of his blood genetic composition which is mainly found in the genetic composition of subsaharan Africans.”

If such a claim, that people from African backgrounds are more resistant to coronavirus than others, were true, one would expect it to be a major news story. Instead, it’s being reported exclusively in viral social media posts and junk sites. That’s because it’s not true.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), anyone who comes into close contact with someone infected with the coronavirus is at risk for contracting it.

That said, it is true that Kem Senou Pavel Daryl, a 21-year-old Cameroon national studying in China, became ill after contracting coronavirus and was hospitalized. His recovery was not the result of a superior immune system possessed by people hailing from African countries but, according to news reports, rounds of antibiotics and other drugs.

As BBC News reported, Senou recovered after being placed in isolation for 13 days. “The CT scan showed no trace of the illness. He became the first African person known to be infected with the deadly coronavirus and the first to recover. His medical care was covered by the Chinese state.”

As of this writing, the coronavirus outbreak has killed 1,770 people in mainland China. Millions of people are currently quarantined in and around Wuhan in an effort to contain the virus. So far, more than 71,000 people have been sickened worldwide. In mid-February, Egypt announced it had the first-reported case in Africa.

Source: Snopes.com