Trump says U.S. has 'shut down' coronavirus threat; China shuns U.S. help

[webfact]

Trump says U.S. has 'shut down' coronavirus threat; China shuns U.S. help

By Doina Chiacu and Andrea Shalal

 

People wear protective masks in an old neighbourhood of Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of novel coronavirus, February 2, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has taken decisive action to protect Americans from the threat of a fast-moving coronavirus while offering help to China, President Donald Trump said on Sunday, but a key adviser said Beijing had not accepted the offers of assistance.

 

Trump appeared to downplay concerns about the flu-like virus that has killed more than 300 people in China and spread to more than two dozen countries, telling Fox television in an interview, "We're gonna see what happens, but we did shut it down, yes."

 

Concerns about the virus spurred the United States to declare a public health emergency and bar entry to foreign nationals who have recently visited China.

 

Under new restrictions that go into effect at 5 p.m. ET (2200 GMT) Sunday, U.S. citizens who have traveled in China within 14 days will be directed to one of seven airports designated for screening.

 

"We can't have thousands of people coming in who may have this problem - the coronavirus," Trump told Fox during a short interview broadcast on Sunday. He said U.S. officials had offered China "tremendous help" in dealing with the epidemic.

 

Trump's national security adviser, Robert O'Brien, in a separate interview, said China has been more open about the coronavirus than it has been in previous crises but had not yet accepted U.S. offers of assistance.

 

"So far the Chinese have been more transparent certainly than in past crises and we appreciate that," O'Brien said in an interview with CBS's "Face the Nation."

 

He said Beijing has still not responded to U.S. offers of help from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health professionals.

 

"We've got tremendous expertise," O'Brien said. "This is a worldwide concern. We want to help our Chinese colleagues if we can and we've made the offer and we'll see if they accept the offer."

 

CDC officials have not been invited into China, but are in neighboring Kazakhstan to help guard against the spread of the virus, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday during a visit there.

 

"You’ve got a long border with China which is where this disease has emanated from," Pompeo said in an interview with a Kazakh journalist. "And we’ve got our people from the Center for Disease Control right here on the ground, helping Kazakhstan deal with this so that you don’t have an enormous outbreak."

 

China's National Health Commission said on Sunday the coronavirus has killed 304 people in China, and infections jumped to 14,380 as of Saturday.

 

At least 171 cases have been reported in more than two dozen other countries and regions, including the United States, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Britain.

 

So far, eight cases of the fast-spreading virus have been confirmed in the United States, health officials said. The Pentagon is providing housing for people arriving from overseas who might need to be quarantined.

 

Americans who visited China's Hubei Province, epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic, will be subject to a mandatory quarantine of 14 days - the incubation period of the virus - upon entering the United States. Americans who traveled to other parts of mainland China will undergo health screening and be asked to self-quarantine for up to 14 days.

 

Foreigners who have traveled in China within 14 days of their arrival will be denied entry.

 

Chad Wolf, U.S. Homeland Security acting secretary, said the overall risk to the American public remains low.

 

The latest U.S. patient, in Massachusetts, recently returned from Hubei, the CDC said. The coronavirus is believed to have originated in a market that traded illegally in wildlife in Hubei's provincial capital, Wuhan.

 

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Andrea Shalal; additional reporting by Ted Hesson; editing by Tom Brown and Leslie Adler)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-02-03

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[Peterw42]

Is this one of those "build a wall, defeat ISIS, fix North Korea" things ??? 

[YetAnother]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

China shuns U.S. help

good, population control; survival of the fittest

[wasabi]

Is China's feelings hurt? Shall we shed a tear? What does it prove by shunning help? Pride is not going to cure the virus in fact it exacerbated the situation already. If the tables were turned China would be blocking US citizens from entering the country without abandon.

[tifino]

4 minutes ago, wasabi said:

Is China's feelings hurt? Shall we shed a tear? What does it prove by shunning help? Pride is not going to cure the virus in fact it exacerbated the situation already. If the tables were turned China would be blocking US citizens from entering the country without abandon.

they are just feeling slighted, that their only real domination of the world, is a virus;

and that they see the US as trivialising them

 

 

being seen, as like flies dominating the kitchen food pantry

[URMySunshine]

Panic over has proved a damp squib and preening politicians can now grandstand on how they save their countries from the 'yellow peril'. 

[bluesofa]

54 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

Is this one of those "build a wall, defeat ISIS, fix North Korea" things ??? 

A wall tall enough to prevent the virus climbing over it?

 

[geriatrickid]

The US response has been one of the better organized and most effective. Unfortunately, the weak link is the country next door, Canada. It's response has been  weak. 

[Dr Rodrigues Pereira]

An idiot is an idiot is an idiot ! The only "problem" here , is that this idiot is the President of the United States. 

Dr Rodrigues Pereira, MD , PHD

(Morbid) Pathologist 

 

[Ventenio]

Two Options:

 

1.  Tell everyone that this virus will wipe out the top 1%'s recent profits, and lose money

 

2.  Say whatever so you can help the rich, protect the rich, and the stupid and poor will be stupid and poor...

 

Everything you have been told is a lie........nobody has your best interest in mind.  Nobody.

 

But to learn more, buy my book for $19.99!!!!   

[Tug]

Famous last words (trump says we have shut it down)btw I’d be delighted if I’m wrong!

[Paul Henry]

The self proclaimed Stable Genius is now an authority on corona virus.Just like windmills go buzz and wheer causing cancer. I've closed it down does't say how or when. His word is his command. Its a wonder he hasn't blamed Chinese Muslims for the virus.The Chinese like the Palestinians don't want his involvement as he will distort whatever is said or done to make himself look good. Don,t let the facts get in the way of a self ingratiating story.

[neeray]

3 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Is this one of those "build a wall, defeat ISIS, fix North Korea" things ??? 

"We're gonna see what happens ....... " (Classic Trump)

 

[Eric Loh]

China refused US aids simply because the offer from Trump. He simply is the most despised POTUS internationally. 

[neeray]

2 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

The US response has been one of the better organized and most effective. Unfortunately, the weak link is the country next door, Canada. It's response has been  weak. 

How so?

[tyga]

What's to stop the Chinese deliberately spreading the virus in the US to prove him wrong? It's a sinister and cynical thought but it did cross my mind. I am sure the Chinese don't want this virus to put them at a disadvantage in their power struggle against the US. Compared to cyber terrorism, the economic war and building up their military, it is a lot easier to level the playing field this way!

[Credo]

11 minutes ago, tyga said:

What's to stop the Chinese deliberately spreading the virus in the US to prove him wrong? It's a sinister and cynical thought but it did cross my mind. I am sure the Chinese don't want this virus to put them at a disadvantage in their power struggle against the US. Compared to cyber terrorism, the economic war and building up their military, it is a lot easier to level the playing field this way!

If the Chinese were going to get into bio-terrorism, I suspect they would use a biological agent over which they have control.   Thus far there is no control of this one.   It's also not terribly lethal.   

I would be interested to find out just what assistance was offered to China?

 

[DrTuner]

If China does ask for help, the price should be clear: shut down the Great Firewall or you get nothing.

[TheGhostWithin]

36 minutes ago, Credo said:

If the Chinese were going to get into bio-terrorism, I suspect they would use a biological agent over which they have control.   Thus far there is no control of this one.   It's also not terribly lethal.   

I would be interested to find out just what assistance was offered to China?

 

Probably access to AbbVie drugs on aftermarket conditions.

 

If you are curious, AbbVie is the company which combines both ingredients which have had an effect on the virus as claimed by Thai doctors overnight.

To be cynical, I was talking with my lovely lady (Thai) and we have realised it is one thing to steal and make modifications to innovation, it is quite another thing to actually understand the underlying mechanics to the degree required to steer it towards a different target (in this case, instead of targetted treatment against HIV, targetted treatment against the coronavirus.

 

For those happy to sling about the official Chinese Communist party line of "the flu is far more dangerous than this one", I would ask you this:

 

- The flu has a mortality rate of 0.13% as per CDC statistics (https://www.sciencealert.com/new-study-estimates-75-000-people-in-wuhan-infected-with-coronavirus)

- The flu has multiple varient mutations moving through the entire global population, which traditionally was more prevalent during winter and variants focussed on a single area. With globalisation, we now see multiple variants working in a single area and infections occuring in pockets outside of winter on a greater scale than pre-globalisation.

 

- The estimated mortality rate of the Coronavirus is somewhere between 2-3%. This is calculated by recorded deaths and recorded cases (14,700 as announced by China today). It is estimated there could be up to 70,000 infections in China, predominantly in Hubei and Tianjin with a single known variant. There have been unconfirmed reports of bodies being cremated without autopsy procedures being performed, meaning the death rate could be even higher.

 

If the Coronavirus mutated and formed into multiple variants, and agressively spread throughout the global population (around 7.7 billion people), it the scorecard would look something like this:

 

Deaths globally of influenza: 10.01 million

Deaths globally of Coronavirus type A: 231 million

 

The only reason that the coronavirus is not as deadly as the flu is that it has not had several hundred years to infiltrate the global population, and has only had 3 months inside the human body as hosts to mutate its' DNA chain to be most effective in mortality and level of infection ratios vs influenza.

 

This is big, they just don't want to admit it.

[URMySunshine]

1 hour ago, Paul Henry said:

The self proclaimed Stable Genius is now an authority on corona virus.Just like windmills go buzz and wheer causing cancer. I've closed it down does't say how or when. His word is his command. Its a wonder he hasn't blamed Chinese Muslims for the virus.The Chinese like the Palestinians don't want his involvement as he will distort whatever is said or done to make himself look good. Don,t let the facts get in the way of a self ingratiating story.

Since Trump has claimed success with stock market highs will he claim the failure when the market crashes when it opens later today as everybody rushes for the exit ?

[spiekerjozef]

They offer help and then they stay in your country.

Well done China

[spiekerjozef]

" Concerns about the virus spurred the United States to declare a public health emergency and bar entry to foreign nationals who have recently visited China. "

 

meaning between 2010 and 2020.

[Tayaout]

3 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

The US response has been one of the better organized and most effective. Unfortunately, the weak link is the country next door, Canada. It's response has been  weak. 

You should worry more about Mexico. They had a case that was only detected when he tried to enter the US border: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-mexico/mexico-reports-no-infections-after-one-person-with-new-coronavirus-visits-country-idUSKBN1ZW0OX

[howbri]

4 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Is this one of those "build a wall, defeat ISIS, fix North Korea" things ??? 

All of which he did or is doing. MAGA.

[JHolmesJr]

1 hour ago, Eric Loh said:

China refused US aids simply because the offer from Trump. He simply is the most despised POTUS internationally. 

 

Please take care of yourself...your outbursts don't seem grounded in any form of reality.

Yous seem to be a retired Singaporean living away from home. What your interest in trump is, I dont know,

but FYI the guy is a genius.

 

He's outsmarted China yet again. First on trade (forced them to choose between being fair

or being impoverished)

 

Now he's out manoeuvred them by offering help which he knew they would turn down because they

can't help themselves...and because it would mean letting USA in to see and report exactly how

badly they've mismanaged this epidemic (which has global consequences). Another foreign policy win

for Trump.

[gamb00ler]

 

44 minutes ago, TheGhostWithin said:

 

- The estimated mortality rate of the Coronavirus is somewhere between 2-3%. This is calculated by recorded deaths and recorded cases (14,700 as announced by China today). It is estimated there could be up to 70,000 infections in China, predominantly in Hubei and Tianjin with a single known variant. There have been unconfirmed reports of bodies being cremated without autopsy procedures being performed, meaning the death rate could be even higher.

It is rather early to determine the mortality rate of this coronavirus variant.  At this point scientists also believe that the rate is actually overestimated because so many of the infected experience very mild symptoms and don't report their infection to have it verified as coronavirus.  The long gestation period will also sway the early mortality calculation to the high side.

 

44 minutes ago, TheGhostWithin said:

The only reason that the coronavirus is not as deadly as the flu is that it has not had several hundred years to infiltrate the global population, and has only had 3 months inside the human body as hosts to mutate its' DNA chain to be most effective in mortality and level of infection ratios vs influenza.

This paragraph makes it sound like the coronavirus evolves/mutates with the express goal of becoming more lethal.  That is simply not the case.  The effect the evolution/mutation changes have on the virus's lethality is random.  However, the more contagious branches of the virus family tree will have a greater impact on the host population.

[mogandave]

4 hours ago, wasabi said:

Is China's feelings hurt? Shall we shed a tear? What does it prove by shunning help? Pride is not going to cure the virus in fact it exacerbated the situation already. If the tables were turned China would be blocking US citizens from entering the country without abandon.

It’s not the help they’re shunning, it that with the help comes cameras and accountability.

 

 

[Eric Loh]

1 hour ago, URMySunshine said:

Since Trump has claimed success with stock market highs will he claim the failure when the market crashes when it opens later today as everybody rushes for the exit ?

If stock market crashes, it is merely a correction. The crash will come soon. The stock market is a big bubble of FED fiat money with little intrinsic value. 

[Eric Loh]

42 minutes ago, mogandave said:

It’s not the help they’re shunning, it that with the help comes cameras and accountability.

 

 

Don’t need the cameras or Trump’s aid for national security reasons. 

[stevenl]

2 hours ago, tyga said:

What's to stop the Chinese deliberately spreading the virus in the US to prove him wrong? It's a sinister and cynical thought but it did cross my mind. I am sure the Chinese don't want this virus to put them at a disadvantage in their power struggle against the US. Compared to cyber terrorism, the economic war and building up their military, it is a lot easier to level the playing field this way!

No need for that, time will do it already for them.