Coronavirus: we separate myths from facts and give advice

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There is NO shortage to toilet rolls in the UK

Just a lot of maniacs stripping the shelves every time there is a delivery

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Italy shuts nearly all shops

Coronavirus outbreak has officially become pandemic says WHO

Italy is to close all shops except food stores and pharmacies in Europe's toughest lockdown yet as virus deaths and cases continue to mount.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said bars, restaurants, hairdressers and non-essential company departments would also close. Home delivery would be allowed.

Earlier the World Health Organization (WHO) said the outbreak was a pandemic.

WHO chief Dr Tedros said cases outside China had soared 13-fold in two weeks.

He said he was "deeply concerned" by "alarming levels of inaction".

A pandemic is defined as a disease that is spreading in multiple countries around the world at the same time.

What is Italy doing?

In a televised address, Mr Conte said any impact of the tightened restrictions - in force from Thursday until 25 March - on the rate of new cases would take a couple of weeks to be seen.

The country has already closed schools, gyms, museums, nightclubs and other venues across the country.

It has more than 12,000 confirmed cases and a death toll of 827.

"Juventus Football Club is currently activating all the isolation procedures required by law, including the census of those who have had contact with him," a statement said.

Nearly 900 people with the virus in Italy were in intensive care, the WHO's emergencies head Michael Ryan said.

"Iran [another outbreak hotspot] and Italy are suffering now but I guarantee you other countries will be in that situation very soon," he said.

What did the WHO say?

Dr Tedros said that calling the outbreak a pandemic did not mean the WHO was changing its advice about what countries should do.

He called on governments to change the course of the outbreak by taking "urgent and aggressive action".

"Several countries have demonstrated that this virus can be suppressed and controlled," he said.

"The challenge for many countries who are now dealing with large clusters or community transmission is not whether they can do the same - it's whether they will."

What life looks like under Italy's coronavirus lockdown

Governments had to "strike a fine balance between protecting health, minimising disruption and respecting human rights".

"We're in this together to do the right things with calm and protect the citizens of the world. It's doable," he said.

His appeal was followed by the several other countries announcing ever more stringent restrictions to try to prevent the virus taking a hold.

Denmark - which has 514 confirmed cases, up 10-fold since Monday, but no deaths so far - is to close all schools and universities from Friday and will send home all public sector employees who are not in critical roles in the coming days. The government also urged the cancellation of events with more than 100 people attending.

Meanwhile India has suspended most visas for foreigners until 15 April and Guatemala is banning European citizens from entering from Thursday.

Why is it being called a pandemic now?
By Philippa Roxby, BBC Health

The use of the p-word by the WHO to describe the global spread of this new coronavirus is not a huge surprise.

Up until now, it has talked merely of the "threat" or the "potential" for a pandemic. But with cases in more than 100 countries, and increasing numbers not linked to travel, the language has changed.

The WHO no longer "declares" a pandemic the way it used to, so this is as official as it gets. Yet this doesn't mean the pandemic cannot be controlled, it explains.

Epidemic v pandemic: What's the difference?

It's a call to action and a plea for all countries not to give up, no matter how large the number of cases.

Practically, countries are being told to continue to do what they have been advised to do. That means some may have to step up their response.

But the WHO is not changing what it's doing or the threat level of the virus.

What the use of the word "pandemic" highlights is the importance of countries around the world taking urgent action to respond to their own outbreaks - because now it's everyone's responsibility to turn the tide on the virus.

What is happening elsewhere?

Dr Ryan said the situation in Iran - where the official figures are 354 deaths among 9,000 cases - was "very serious". The WHO had sent 40,000 testing kits to Iran but there was still a shortage of ventilators and oxygen.

Earlier, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that up to 70% of the country's population - some 58 million people - could contract the coronavirus. She said since there was no known cure, the focus would fall on slowing the spread of the virus. "It's about winning time," she said.

Some German virologists dispute the high figure. Former federal government adviser on disease control, Prof Alexander Kekulé, told German media he saw a worst case scenario of 40,000 cases.

The number of confirmed cases in Germany has risen to 1,567 from 1,296, the Koch institute for infectious diseases said.

France said there had been 48 deaths in the country, an increase of 15 from Tuesday. There are 2,281 confirmed cases. Coronavirus-linked restrictions have been extended to two more areas, France's health minister said.
In other developments

In the western US, Washington state is banning some large gatherings in certain areas and has told all school districts to prepare for possible closures in the coming days. The governor of Seattle's King County said he expected a serious coronavirus outbreak within weeks

In the eastern US, New York's governor announced that troops would be sent into New Rochelle, in an attempt to contain an outbreak of the virus, as the total number of US cases passed 1,000 on Wednesday. A one-mile (1.6km) containment zone was in force around the town north of Manhattan. Some individuals have been quarantined

Music festivals and other major events in the US, including Coachella festival in California, have been cancelled or postponed. The E3 gaming show set for Los Angeles in June is among those cancelled

Thousands of flights have been cancelled worldwide as airlines struggle to cope with a slump in demand

A UK health minister, Nadine Dorries, said she had tested positive for coronavirus and was self-isolating at home

Several countries - including Sweden and Bulgaria, as well as the Republic of Ireland - have recorded their first deaths, while the number of confirmed cases in Qatar jumped from 24 to 262

China - where the virus was first detected - has seen a total of 80,754 confirmed cases and 3,136 deaths. But it recorded its lowest number of new infections, just 19, on Tuesday

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51845817

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What was originally thought to be panic buying is in fact exploitation



Morrison price 6 for £4

Amazon price 6 for £16.37

There are many such examples on Amazon and eBay

These are NOT local people, who are going round the large supermarkets stripping the shelves and selling the stock at exorbitant prices on Amazon and eBay

People are frightened

The media is making a fortune selling newspapers with shock headlines

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Brilliant advert

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Scientist, 98, and his wife, 85, BOTH recover from coronavirus after fighting the deadly disease for 18 days

The Chinese couple both recovered today and will be discharged Saturday

The husband, Han Tianqi, has been a well-respected astronomer for 63 years

He and his wife were diagnosed with the disease in mid-February in Zhejiang

They both have underlying health conditions and had to be treated in the ICU

It comes as China declared today that 'the peak of the coronavirus has passed'

A 98-year-old Chinese scientist and his 85-year-old wife have recovered from the novel coronavirus on the same day after being treated for 18 days.

They will be discharged this Saturday from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University in eastern Chinese city Hangzhou, according to state media.

A 98-year-old Chinese scientist and his 85-year-old wife have recovered from the novel coronavirus on the same day after being treated for 18 days. They are seen with a medic

Mr Han and his wife were diagnosed with the deadly disease in mid-February and transferred to the provincial hospital on February 24 after their conditions worsened.

They were sent straight to the Intensive Care Units as the couple were in critical condition.

Mr and Mrs Han also suffered other complications caused by multiple underlying health conditions, the hospital told the press.

Han Shijun, the couple's granddaughter, posted a request on social media sites looking for recovered patients who were willing to donate their blood as a potential treatment plan.

'Grandpa sounded very weak. It took him a very long time to recognise my voice when we were on the phone,' the granddaughter told the local press in February.

Scientists believe the treatment works, in theory, by putting disease-fighting proteins from recovered patients into people still battling the illness.

The sick patients' bodies can then use these proteins – called antibodies – as if they were there own, instead of having to make them from scratch.

Some Chinese hospitals have said they are using the therapy already but only on their patients – there is no mass-produced drug or supply of it.

The scientist, Han Tianqi, has been a well-respected leading figure in the field of geodetic astronomy in China for 63 years. He is seen sitting with his wife, Mrs Han, before they fell ill

Their conditions gradually improved after receiving personalised treatment plans and being given round-the-clock care, Chinese media report.

Mr and Mrs Han have tested negative twice consecutively by 12pm local time today and will be released from the hospital on Saturday.

Chinese grandmother recovers from coronavirus in less than a week

The centenarian, Zhang Guangfen, is reportedly China's oldest coronavirus patient to recover

A 103-year-old grandmother has also recovered from the coronavirus following six-day treatment in Wuhan on Tuesday.

The centenarian, Zhang Guangfen, was discharged from the hospital on March 10.

She is so far the oldest coronavirus patient to recover in China and two years older than the previous recorder-holder, 101.

Ms Zhang was cured within less than a week because 'she did not have many underlying health conditions', her doctor Zeng Yulan told the local press.

A 103-year-old grandmother has recovered from the coronavirus following six-day treatment

The news comes as Chinese officials announced today that 'the peak of the coronavirus in the country has passed'

South Korea reported its sharpest one-day increase yesterday in the number of cases after a large cluster of infections was discovered at a call centre in its capital Seoul.

The killer virus has claimed at least 4,641 lives and infected over 126,600 people worldwide.

Face masks have been increasingly in evidence on the streets of London as fears over coronavirus spread

Medical workers in Seoul, South Korea transfer a coronavirus patient to a hospital in a special tube to contain the virus

Boris Johnson is ramping up Britain's response to the coronavirus crisis today amid calls to shut schools, cancel sporting events and urge everyone to work from home.

The PM is chairing the emergency Cobra committee later where the UK's tactics will shift from 'containing' the killer disease to merely 'delaying' its inevitable spread. The UK death toll hit eight yesterday.

However, ministers will not follow Donald Trump's dramatic overnight move of closing the borders to travellers from mainland Europe.

The signs are that they will instead ask those with a cold to self-quarantine, and urge vulnerable elderly people to stay indoors.

People queue up outside a supermarket in Rome. People have been urged to keep their distance from others and to avoid forming crowds

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... virus.html

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Social media is
spreading misinformation

Social media is playing a harmful role in the fight against coronavirus, the Kurdistan Regional Government's Minister of Health Dr Saman Barzenji has said as the Region takes unprecedented steps to bring the spread of the virus under control

One elderly person has died and nine others have contracted the virus in the Kurdistan Region as authorities quarantined close to 3000 people who have returned from Iran.

“Medical professionals are doing their best […]. The doctors and nurses are on the frontlines, standing face to face with people who come here. We have 17 checkpoints with other cities in Iraq,” the top Kurdish health official told Rudaw morning program Nuroji Dostan on Sunday.

“If too many people are infected, managing it would be very difficult … it is not too late, we can still control it,” Barzenji, told Rudaw’s Sangar Abdul Rahman and Hawar Jalaladdin.

Barzenji also cautioned about rapidly spreading misinformation on social media sites

“I beg people to stop spreading propaganda… the only source of information is the ministry of health,” stated Barzenji.

Responding to rumors across social media that he contracted coronavirus after he appeared as feverish while on television, Barzenji denied having the illness.

“No, it is false. Fortunately, my health is good. It was hot and that is why I was sweating,” he said.

China announced that it would provide 200,000 masks to the KRG. Barzenji said that other equipment has arrived to Iraq from China, and a portion will be given to the KRG by the federal government.

In the last 24 hours, 72 people have been tested for the virus, all of whom tested negative except for a woman in Erbil.

“She has cancer, unfortunately, and that is why she visited Iran, she is 49 years old. She has been transferred to a more specialist hospital, we will do our best for her to recover,” said Barzenji.

Speaking of another woman infected by the virus in Erbil, how she contracted the disease remains a mystery.
“We don’t know how she was infected because she has not visited Iran and we are still investigating,” Barzenji added.

“Eleven members of her family were tested but all came back negative .Two of the doctors that saw these patients are in quarantine.”

“Now the best thing is to isolate oneself from everyone. It is not necessary for me to be on this program, maybe I should not have come. [..] The only solution to control the virus was to quarantine everyone in their houses,” said the health official.

The High Committee to Fight Coronavirus will meet tomorrow to discuss a few proposals. Barzenji says local residents have sending in their suggestions, which range from the suspension of work in government offices to the closing of buses and parks.

“We are considering them,” said Barzenji.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/080320203

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Top 12 Most Dangerous
Virus Spreading Surfaces

It seems the coronavirus causes a secondary contagion: Fear. Just ask anyone trying to buy hand sanitizer or toilet paper at their local supermarket

In part, the angst stems from the fact virtually every surface you touch – office phone, cell phone, keyboard, mouse, faucet, door handle, cabinet drawer you name it – could harbor the SARS-COV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 disease.

Touch one contaminated surface and the next time you touch your eyes, nose, or mouth, you could infect yourself with a disease your body might not be prepared to combat.

Several factors determine how long the virus can survive outside the body. But it is clear the surface being touched is critical.

According to a recent study published at MedRxIV.org, the novel coronavirus can survive up to 4 hours on copper. That might sound like a long time, but it is nothing compared to viral longevity on cardboard. There, it remain viable up to 24 hours.

The virus feels even more at home on plastic and stainless steel, two surfaces many consumers consider easy to clean.

The coronavirus can live 2 to 3 days on those surfaces. In theory, that means you could contact a door knob an infected person touched 3 days ago, and still transfer the virus to your own body.

Another study concluded the virus can survive even longer, up to 9 days on some surfaces. That helps explain the continual advice from health officials that people need to practice social distancing, and wash their hands as often as possible.

Health officials know it is dangerous to come in contact with contaminated surfaces. That is why the CDC issues guidance on how to clean and disinfect them, especially for those self-quarantining at home.

Newsmax examined the most dangerous coronavirus breeding grounds. Here are 12 you would be wise to avoid at all cost:

1. Dollar Bills – Uncle Sam will not like this one: Research has shown pathogens can hide in the textured surface of paper money for days. There has not been a confirmed case of coronavirus caused by a contaminated dollar bill. But the World Health Organization spokesman recently told The Telegraph, "We know that money changes hands frequently and can pick up all sorts of bacteria and viruses and things like that. We would advise people to wash their hands after handling banknotes, and avoid touching their face." WHO later issued a clarificationit has not issued coronavirus-specific guidance on handling paper currency. A 2002 Southern Medical Journal Study found 94% of bills tested showed signs of pathogenic contamination. That suggests it would be a good idea to pay with plastic, or even better, use "contactless payments" like PayPal or Apple Pay.

2. Elevator Buttons – One of the biggest danger zones is the plastic button you push to whisk you to your floor. The hard plastic these buttons are made of can maintain active coronavirus cells for up to 48 hours. Medical officials urge people to use a knuckle, rather than a fingertip, to hit the call button or to designate a floor. So think twice before you start punching buttons.

3. Bathroom Shower Curtains – These are so dirty you will want to take a shower after touching them, a quandary in itself. A SafeHome.org study found the bacteria concentrations on shower curtains are higher than on toilet seats. The study detected 16.2 million "colony-forming units" of bacteria on shower curtains, and another 15.9 million on shower floors. Toilet seats, by comparison, harbored a mere 235,000 colonies.

4. Stainless Steel Countertops: Steel counters in public places look clean, but look out! Unless a steel surface is being hit with a powerful disinfectant several times a day, there is a real chance a virus or other pathogen is lurking there. Researchers believe the coronavirus can live on a steel surface for up to three days. Suggestion: Take your own disinfectant wipes, and possibly gloves, and use them if you have to come in contact with steel.

5. Sinks: Sinks seem innocuous because they are places where dishes, cups and eating utensils are placed to be properly washed. But often, dirty dishes are stacked in the sink for hours before they are washed. Anybody touching contaminated dishes or areas of the sink they have been in contact with could be exposed to the virus.

6. Door Knobs: This sounds like a no-brainer, but door knobs used by hundreds of people a day are easy to forget about when you are in a hurry to get somewhere. Always carry a clean tissue to use on doors, and make sure you discard it immediately. In your home, disinfect those door knobs religiously.

7. Landline Telephones: It might be true that landlines are so yesterday — but they are still very much in use in many highly travelled places, such as hotel lobbies and customer service counters. If you have to use one, wipe it off with disinfectant – especially if it is located in a public place. Remember, if you do not, the next call you place might be to your doctor.

8. Office Supplies: Just because you like your co-workers, does not mean you should take precautions. The buttons on your office coffee machine photocopier and water cooler, and handle on your company's staff refrigerator could easily host the coronavirus. When you enter an office space, look for what researchers call the "high-touch areas." Among them: The light switch, the door handle, the water cooler, the buttons on the printer, and so forth. You cannot live in fear that everything you touch might send you to the ER. But it is a good idea to use common sense, and avoid touching the things everyone else is – or at least, to wash your hands or douse them in hand sanitizer as soon as possible afterward.

9. Kitchen Sponges: We tend to think of them as safe, because we use them to clean other surfaces, such as dirty pots and pans. But it turns out that porous surface that is constantly moist is a hotbed for microscopic organisms. In fact, a 2017 German study by Furtwangen University concluded 362 different bacterial species nestled comfortably among the 14 different sponges that were inspected. Indeed, there were 54 billion organisms per square centimeter of sponge.

10. Cardboard Boxes: While cardboard seems like one of the least suspect of surfaces, its porous nature makes it a prime candidate to host the virus. According to scientists, the coronavirus can live on cardboard for up to 24 hours. In the age of same-day and overnight delivery, more and more workers have jobs that involve handling packages, if only in order to open them. Use gloves and hand sanitizer whenever you can, and do not assume good old reliable cardboard can be trusted. It cannot.

11. Toilets: You normally take extra precautions when using public restroom facilities. But it is good to be extra cautious while the coronavirus remains a threat. Use clean paper towels or disinfectant to wipe off all surfaces you may tough, then scrub your hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. Try to use something besides your hands to operate flush handles, deadbolts, and water faucets. If you have to flick on a light switch when you come in, use a tissue or a bareknuckle if you have to – depending on how often these are disinfected, they can collect a lot of germs. Soap up your hands and wash them for at least 20 seconds, and use a paper towel to open the door on your way out – no point in doing all that cleaning if you are just going to turn around and grab a dirty door knob.

12. Coins: No, coins do not harbor as many pathogens as paper money, but they are still nothing to sneeze at. Studies suggest metal money can carry the coronavirus germs for over four hours – especially copper. Most of your change probably comes from retail establishments, like drive-through windows. Who knows where that money came from? The bottom line: The next time someone offers you a penny for your thoughts, you might want to settle for a friendly fist-bump instead.

https://www.newsmax.com/us/safety-clean ... gn=newsmax

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Erbil and Sulaimani
placed on lockdown

Authorities will clear the streets of Erbil and Sulaimani from midnight on Friday and place both cities on lockdown for a period of 48 hours under extraordinary measures to halt the spread of coronavirus

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Interior released a statement on Friday afternoon, seen by Rudaw, ordering the “suspension of traffic inside both cities of Erbil and Sulaimani for 48 hours, starting from midnight.”

“People should stay at home so that medical teams can do their work,” it said.

The new measures come as Sulaimani provincial health authorities confirmed seven new cases of COVID-19 on Friday.

Sulaimani governor Haval Abubakir earlier ordered the suspension of the city’s public transport network, restrictions on travel between provincial towns, and ordered the closure of public amenities.

The World Health Organization (WHO) characterized the outbreak as a pandemic on Wednesday.

The KRG has already banned non-emergency travel between Kurdish and Iraqi provinces and announced a national holiday until the end of March, closing beauty salons, bars, resorts, and children’s play areas. Schools and universities have also been shut down.

“The operation rooms in Erbil and Sulaimani and medical teams need to be on high alert and implement the orders of the interior ministry,” the ministry said.

All celebrations and gathering for Newroz, the Kurdish New Year on March 21, are now canceled and Kurds living in diaspora are urged not to return for the festive period

“We call on all diaspora Kurds in Europe not to come back to the Kurdistan Region for Newroz [Kurdish New Year] holidays this year, as all Newroz celebrations and gatherings are halted,” it said.

The interior ministry also said that any individuals found to have crossed illegally into the Kurdistan Region from Iran since border controls were put in place must present themselves immediately to medical teams or face prosecution.

“The people who have illegally sneaked into Kurdistan Region need to visit medical teams for check-ups as soon as possible, and not doing so will mean they will face quarantine and justice for illegally crossing into the Kurdistan Region and spreading diseases,” it added.

Friday’s new cases bring the total number of infections in the Kurdistan Region to 26 and the total in Iraq to 90.

All seven of the new cases are relatives of a 70-year-old preacher, Rashid Abdulrahman, who died in Sulaimani in early March – just hours after it was first announced he had contracted the virus.

The Kurdistan Regional Government advises anyone in the Kurdistan Region displaying coronavirus symptoms to call its emergency hotline on 122. This service is available in Kurdish and Arabic 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. More information can be found on the government’s website.This is a developing story…

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/130320201

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Swine flu 2009, 2010?

In the US there was NO panic about the swine flu

The swine flu outbreak 2009 and 2010 in America:

60 million Americans were infected

Three hundred thousand were hospitalized

So 60 million people infected, 300,000 hospitalized. And nobody even remembers it. And why? Well, because we had a different president. We had a Democrat president by the name of Barack Obama, and the news then was how wonderfully well Obama was handling it, how expertly well Obama was dealing with it.

There wasn’t any media panic. The Republican Party did not politicize it at all. They made not one single effort that anybody can find or remember to try to make political hay out of it. It was treated as a health issue from top to bottom

Sixty million Americans infected, 300,000 hospitalized

The numbers with the coronavirus are not even close

They are barely a fraction of a percentage compared to the swine flu

A recent model developed by CDC used data on influenza-associated hospitalizations collected through EIP to estimate that approximately 43--89 million persons in the US became ill with 2009 pandemic H1N1 during April 2009 and April 2010

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CDC Estimates of 2009 H1N1 Influenza Cases, Hospitalizations and Deaths in the United States

During the pandemic, CDC provided estimates of the numbers of 2009 H1N1 cases, hospitalizations and deaths on seven different occasions.

Final estimates were published in 2011.

These final estimates were that from April 12, 2009 to April 10, 2010

approximately 60.8 million cases (range: 43.3-89.3 million),

274,304 hospitalizations (195,086-402,719),

12,469 deaths (8868-18,306) occurred in the United States due to pH1N1.

https://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/estimates_2009_h1n1.htm

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Virus fears 50% panic
over by summer

While some countries are experiencing a scramble for toilet paper and certain prominent politicians are calling the pandemic a hoax, the real experts are a bit more rational about Covid-19

In Russia, one senior scientist believes the crisis could have stabilized by the middle of summer.

"It can be predicted that the spread in the world will subside by June-July. In China, the peak incidence rate passed on February 2," says Alexander Shestopalov, head of the experimental modeling and pathogenesis department of infectious diseases at the Federal Research Center for Fundamental and Translational Medicine.

Shestopalov is confident that the current situation with coronavirus infection is "about 50 percent panic," and based on morbidity and mortality data, Covid-19 is 10-15 times less pathogenic than coronaviruses that provoked the SARS epidemic in 2002-2003 and MERS in 2012 – 2015.

"In addition, the quality of diagnosis has now increased significantly, and therefore the detection of the virus is quite high," he added. "In general, measures taken against the spread are adequate, although sometimes excessive."

Shestopalov's estimate is similar to that of Zhong Nanshan, China's senior medical adviser. On Thursday, he told reporters that, if countries take the epidemic seriously, it could all be over by June. Zhong is a highly-respected epidemiologist known worldwide for discovering SARS in 2003.

As of Friday afternoon, over 135,000 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus across the globe, 45 of them in Russia. Three of those have already been discharged.

https://www.rt.com/russia/483042-covid- ... scientist/

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