Global coronavirus cases surpassed 1 million with more than 52,000 deaths on Thursday, as the pandemic further exploded in the United States and the death toll climbed in Spain and Italy https://t.co/UoVOGiPCq1
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 3, 2020
The true number of coronavirus cases across the world could be "five to 10 times" higher than the 1 million Covid-19 infections that have already been confirmed globally, Australia's Chief Medical Officer said https://t.co/rV3vfHTcvf
— CNN (@CNN) April 3, 2020
I’ve been collecting, but not posting, a vast number of China-related coronavirus links; at the moment, it’s impossible for me to sort out the valid information from the propaganda, from both sides. But one thing we know: China had the misfortune of being first in this particular pandemic, so the rest of us look to Wuhan and environs for clues for what we should expect in the near future…
This moving @annafifield story, about people in Wuhan losing the ability to bury the dead, also tries to grapple with the real covid-19 death toll there. Officially: 2,563. But could be +40,000. https://t.co/xQeIihRMNH
— Chico Harlan (@chicoharlan) April 3, 2020
The #COVID19 cost:
Low & middle-income countries hard hit by record capital outflows, falling oil price, collapse in tourism & steep fall in demand for their exports.
85 countries have approached @IMF for short-term ER assis – 2Xs # that did in 2008 shock.https://t.co/aX5WXNAbLt— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) April 2, 2020
Speaking of countries where we can’t tell what’s real and what’s propaganda — especially given the current Oval Office squatter:
Putin with a box labelled "Help for friend Donald" saying "Sorry, pal, I need this for PR." Cartoon by @Sergey_Elkin pic.twitter.com/qPQxDK9kYD
— X Soviet (@XSovietNews) April 1, 2020
Apparently enough, though, to send a plane-load to the US https://t.co/mWKZtvQfSr
— toomas hendrik ilves (@IlvesToomas) March 31, 2020
Russian doctors are in uproar after the US confirms it *purchased* medical aid that Moscow had touted as Putin's benevolent gift to an embattled former foe. "We're gathering money from the whole country to buy PPE for medics, & our govt is selling it to the US. What a mockery" https://t.co/UeZhoIi3lC
— Matthew Luxmoore (@mjluxmoore) April 2, 2020
There are only 83 regions in #Russia. #Crimea and #Sevastopol are regions of #Ukraine which are illegally occupied by Russia since 2014. https://t.co/oYvpWgWYAa
— Alex Kokcharov (@AlexKokcharov) March 31, 2020
Based on my feed, Protsenko spent most of his time hanging out with Putin recently. In elevators, shaking his hand, photo-ops. There will be a pic of them sharing a strand of spaghetti Lady and the Tramp style soon. https://t.co/TBX1e7UP7A
— Mig Greengard (@chessninja) March 31, 2020
Elsewhere…
Israeli Passover PSA: "Better that we celebrate this Passover alone, so that next year, we can all celebrate Passover together."
"We outlasted and overcame Pharaoh, we'll outlast and overcome this." https://t.co/gDkTQzhLD8
— (((Yair Rosenberg))) (@Yair_Rosenberg) April 2, 2020
ADB warns coronavirus may halve GDP growth in developing Asia https://t.co/wp98PjNHAm pic.twitter.com/8RK2NKV1qx
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 3, 2020
Asian nations that have been controlling the virus are imposing stricter measures, fearful that new outbreaks will occur. This is a long-term campaign with no easy end. The rest of the world will learn — maybe the hard way. By @motokorich. https://t.co/7Hw92gkyeT
— Edward Wong (@ewong) March 31, 2020
a technocratic wrinkle I guess I should have seen coming: singapore launches a webmd, but for sars-cov-2 https://t.co/3WoAm3qbyz
— Gerry Doyle (@mgerrydoyle) April 3, 2020
“I have to use the stairs instead of the elevator to make them comfortable.”
A survivor speaks of the social stigma he faces after recovering from #coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/5aS2L1tONj
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 2, 2020
Ramadan begins (approximately) April 23, this year:
Indonesia urges against Ramadan travel, with tens of millions normally flocking to their hometown to celebrate Eid https://t.co/nxVTga07GZ pic.twitter.com/rStA6SXjbE
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 3, 2020
Pakistan, Bangladesh try to stop Friday prayers to avert coronavirus spike https://t.co/FwL9ZetLxG pic.twitter.com/oNk0ceJuqQ
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 3, 2020
Islamophobia concerns after India mosque event sparked new wave of coronavirus cases https://t.co/YbH7ovqIuU pic.twitter.com/uesf8yZ7Ss
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 3, 2020
Good to see the European Union publicly thanking Taiwan, which has been a model nation from the start of the coronavirus outbreak, for its aid. China pressures governments and global institutions not to acknowledge Taiwan like this. We need to stop listening. https://t.co/0878WPp5tB
— (((Yair Rosenberg))) (@Yair_Rosenberg) April 1, 2020
Taiwan has been praised globally for its response to the coronavirus outbreak, but the @WHO still includes its virus cases as part of mainland China's, reigniting an age-old debate https://t.co/QoaCi4mLvm pic.twitter.com/n9QZJijt2d
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 3, 2020
COVID-19 is spreading rapidly throughout Africa, exposing significant deficiencies in healthcare infrastructure. Central African Republic for example, only has three ventilators for the whole country. https://t.co/82wssRrl52 pic.twitter.com/X5QKcsV0JI
— Daveed Gartenstein-Ross (@DaveedGR) April 2, 2020
South Africa's ruthlessly efficient fight against coronavirus https://t.co/ikIwDT5VQs
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 2, 2020
Spain’s death toll from #COVID19 rose above 10,000, after a record 950 people died overnight. But the epidemic is slowing in terms of daily increases in infections & deaths.
Spain has the world’s 2nd-highest death toll after Italy.https://t.co/TitAStKQD1 #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/ohneYmqeyC
— Microbes&Infection (@MicrobesInfect) April 2, 2020
In some parts of Spain, strict rules that stopped doctors from testing patients for coronavirus weren't relaxed soon enough, leaving the disease untracked, medical staff say. As the coronavirus spread, the medics’ unions say Spain ignored them https://t.co/b2w4KFSJ33 pic.twitter.com/hsr0kOWJF3
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 2, 2020
UK deaths are still not diverging from the pack. Indeed, the slope may be steepening. pic.twitter.com/L91ugDwzZT
— richard horton (@richardhorton1) April 2, 2020
Countries are receiving fast track support to help in the fight against #Coronavirus. @WorldBank Group is prepared to deploy up to $160 billion over the next 15 months. https://t.co/62ofayz6qJ pic.twitter.com/ZgxzQwD7ng
— World Bank (@WorldBank) April 2, 2020
raven
A widely beloved restaurateur has killed herself here in Athens. She’d faced many hurdles in the past few years and no one really knows what pushed her over the edge but this can’t have helped.
debbie
A FB friend shared this BBC article: How Will Coronavirus Change the World?
Also, NPR reported on individuals’ efforts to make masks and other PPE. A university in Iowa has remained open so they could produce face shields on their 3D printers. A guy proudly stated they had delivered their first shipment of 1,500 shields to the government stockpile. Great, there they will sit until they rot away, part of Jared’s personal hoard.
Cermet
Repost from previous thread: A very encouraging news item: the corona virus is extremely unlikely to mutate enough in any given year to cause any successful vaccine to drift enough to become less effective.
See:https://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2020/04/ending-covid-it-will-take-some-time-but-rest-assured-a-coronavirus-vaccine-is-coming-and-it-will-work.html
debbie
@raven:
I saw you posting about this last night. Horrible and sad at the same time. I’m so sorry for your community’s loss. Everyone matters.
raven
@debbie: Yea, I figured the morning crew is a bit different so I’d post it again.
debbie
@raven:
As you should. I know you said she had other challenges, but still. Every life is such a loss to us all.
satby
@raven: very sad. Condolences to all who knew her.
Amir Khalid
Daily numbers from Malaysia: 200+ new cases for the second day in a row, three deaths (total 53).
Mary G
The EU lady used Hillary Clinton’s slogan Stronger Together. I think she’s the one that snubbed Ivanka too. I love her.
Skepticat
The medical supplies going to and from between the U.S. and China are like a demonic ping-pong game. But nobody wins.
Amir Khalid
I reckon it’s better than even odds that Eid al-Fitri celebrations in the traditional style — Eid prayers, the obligatory visit to family members’ graves, visiting friends and family — will not be happening this year. What’s more, Saudi Arabia is already telling Muslims around the world to hold off on their Haj plans (for late July) until further notice.
Amir Khalid
At a time like this, organisations like WHO need to ignore the political fiction that Taiwan is a province of the People’s Republic of China. That history is not what’s important now.
YY_Sima Qian
I am rather annoyed by the WAPO article speculating on the number of COVID19 deaths in Wuhan, utterly shoddy journalism, credulous regurgitating wild claims made in the Radio Free Asia report. There are a number of glaring logical fallacies that should have been blindingly obvious to anyone with a brain:
I think such pieces are the fruits of the concerted effort by the Trump administration to push the narrative focus on China, as was leaked by the Daily Beast last week, to divert attention from their miserable showing do date. There is another article in NYT describing the CIA “hunting” for real numbers in China. A lot of verbiage, but the anonymous source quoted could not venture a guess of their own? The only speculated number of deaths refers to the same RFA report, which has also been passed along by Business Insider and Bloomberg. Any Chinese speaking contractor at the CIA, or evacuated embassy/consulate staff, could have perused Chinese media and social media in later Jan. to early Feb., and concluded that many cases and deaths were missed due to lack of testing capacity. Buried in the NYT article even the CIA concluded that the Chinese authorities may not know themselves, just like the authorities in Lombardia, greater Madrid, and NYC do not know, for some of the same reasons.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus was only sequenced on 1/6. By late Jan. both test kit production capacity and lab testing capacity was still being ramped up in China, and the early test kits were not sensitive (30% false negative even for symptomatic patients). In fact, China is the only nation to date that, when faced with limited and inaccurate testing, went to confirmation by clinical diagnosis for a while, against WHO’s recommendations. That led to a 15,000 jump in confirmed cases on 2/12, a shocking number at the time. If the CCP regime’s overriding concern was suppressing the numbers and saving face, why would it have done that? In face, it appears that treating patients and saving lives is the overriding concern for the CCP regime in this emergency, because it is deemed to be critical to regime survival.
So, something gets planted in the Radio Free Asia, then gets picked up by conservative media, and get spread via twitter and reddit, and finally reaches the pages of reputable MSM. We have all seen conspiracy theories get seeded on conservative websites, amplified by the more “reputable” conservative media, and finally picked up by MSM. This is a similar dynamic. I find the RFA to be analogous to Russia Today, and worse than Voice of America, which I find to be similar to the China Daily. I actually find CGTN (China Global Television Network) better than all four. Its news coverage and analysis is relatively straight and objective, its propaganda element not particularly nauseatingly, as long as the subject matter is not related to China.
L85NJGT
2/3 of Lombardy ICU patients are now 30-50 years old.
YY_Sima Qian
Good for Taiwan to be donating masks.
Its early decision to ban export of masks to Mainland China at the start of the crisis in Wuhan, at a time when Wuhan was desperately short of PPE, earned her a lot of ill will on the Mainland. Even Taiwanese tycoons organizing mask donations to Wuhan was criticized by the Tsai government. Not even a symbolic donation, in stark contrast to Japan and South Korea (who gained a great deal of good will in China, at very little expense).
Both the PRC’s and ROC’s donations of medical supplies are inherently political, aimed to serve political ends along side humanitarian objectives. The PRC is looking to gain influence, the ROC is looking to increase her profile. It is not a coincidence that 90% of Taiwan’s masks is going to rich countries in North American and Western Europe, who can easily afford to purchase masks, while 10% is going to her 16 impoverished diplomatic allies in the South Pacific, Central America and the Caribbean (Haiti comes to mind), who can’t. In the meantime, China is sending more of her supplies and medical teams to key countries along the Belt and Road: Pakistan, Iran, Serbia, Italy, Spain.
But hey, if the PRC and ROC want to engage in competition to see who can provide more medical supplies, the more power to them!
Dirk Reinecke
Here in South Africa it appears the situation is under control, but I am worried about the amount of testing done. The country was essentially shut down on the 28th of March and will be locked down until 16 September. The amount of diagnosed infections remains low, around 1500, and less than 5 deaths.
YY_Sima Qian
Some interesting claims from the China National Health Commission: 4.4% of all cases to date in China have been truly asymptomatic (i.e., did not later develop symptoms), and that their infectivity is one third of that of symptomatic cases. Not sure how either number is arrived at. I guess we will have to wait for the papers to be published in scientific journals.
By the way, South Korea’s CFR has now creeped up to over 1.7%, and will continue to creep higher as cases resolve. Germany’s CFR is now at 1.3% and increasing steadily, for the same reason. Anyone hoping that CFR under “normal” circumstances will be < 1% will likely be disappointed.es, Both countries have done massive testing, and should be catching most of the symptomatic patients, and even some of the asymptomatic ones via thorough contact tracing. In fact, the outlier so far is China ex-Hubei (also with thorough testing and contact tracing), with CFR of 0.9%. There are still a few hundred patients on ventilators and ECMOs, however.
YY_Sima Qian
@Dirk Reinecke: 6 months shut down?!!
Dirk Reinecke
Doh, 16 April 2020. I don’t know why I typed September. 21 days of complete shutdown, with only essential services permitted to operate.
Fair Economist
@L85NJGT: Doctors in Lombardy said the elderly came in first, and then younger people came in. They speculated it took longer for the young to need hospitalization. This is the back end of that, plus fewer elderly left as they have higher mortality. So possibly a good sign that the epidemic is slowing there.
Brachiator
@raven:
This is very sad. She was clearly loved by many, her family, her friends, her community. Condolences to her family.
SiubhanDuinne
@AnneLaurie up top:
I don’t say it enough, but I am infinitely grateful to you for these daily aggregations of COVID-19 articles and tweets and other links. Can’t imagine the sheer number of hours you must spend tracking them down, culling the irrelevant or duplicative material, and faithfully posting the remainder. You’re doing valuable work here. Thank you.