'Enemy of mankind': Coronavirus deaths top SARS as China returns to work

[webfact]

'Enemy of mankind': Coronavirus deaths top SARS as China returns to work

By Winni Zhou and Dominique Patton

 

A man wearing a face mask walks past the Oriental Pearl Tower lit with messages reading "Stay strong China", on the Lantern Festival, which marks the end of the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations, following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the country, in Shanghai, China February 8, 2020. Picture taken February 8, 2020. cnsphoto via REUTERS

 

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - China raised the death toll from its coronavirus outbreak to 811 on Sunday, passing the number killed globally by the SARS epidemic, as authorities made plans for millions of people returning to work after an extended Lunar New Year break.

 

Many of China's usually teeming cities have almost become ghost towns during the past two weeks as Communist Party rulers ordered virtual lockdowns, canceled flights, closed factories and shut schools.

 

Even on Monday, a large number of workplaces and schools will remain closed and many white-collar employees will work from home.

 

The scale of the potential hit to an economy that has been the engine of global growth in recent years has taken a toll on financial markets, as shares slumped and investors switched into safe-havens such as gold, bonds and the Japanese yen.

 

China's ambassador to Britain described the newly identified virus as "the enemy of mankind" in a BBC interview on Sunday, but added it "is controllable, is preventable, is curable".

 

"At this moment is very difficult to predict when we are going to have an inflection point," Liu Xiaoming said. "We certainly hope it will come soon, but the isolation and quarantine measures have been very effective."

 

China's cabinet said it would coordinate with transport authorities to ensure the smooth return to work of employees in key industries such as food and medicines.

 

The State Council's special coronavirus group also said workers should return in "batches", rather than all at once, in order to reduce infection risks.

 

China's National Health Commission recorded another 89 deaths on Saturday, pushing the total well above the 774 who died from SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2002/2003.

 

Total confirmed coronavirus cases in China stood at 37,198, commission data showed. New infections recorded the first drop since Feb. 1, falling back below 3,000 to 2,656 cases. Of those, 2,147 cases were in Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak.

 

The virus has also spread to at least 27 countries and territories, according to a Reuters count based on official reports, infecting more than 330 people. Two deaths have been reported outside mainland China - both of Chinese nationals.

 

The latest patients outside China include a group of British nationals staying in a mountain village in Haute-Savoie in the Alps, French health officials said, raising fears of further infections at a busy period in the ski season.

 

A British man who contracted the virus while attending a conference in Singapore may have infected seven other people when he stopped off at a chalet in the French village on his way home, health experts said. Those infected include a British man diagnosed in Spain and a Briton found to have the disease in the UK, both of whom appeared to have been part of the chalet group.

 

For more coverage: https://www.reuters.com/live-events/coronavirus-6-id2921484

 

'WHY ARE WE GOING BACK TO WORK?'

As millions of Chinese prepared to go back to work, the public dismay and mistrust of official numbers was evident on Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter.

 

"What's even more frustrating is that these are only the 'official' data," said one user.

 

The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak has surpassed the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic, data from Chinese authorities showed, as millions of Chinese prepare to go back to work. Emer McCarthy reports.

 

"We all know we can't purchase masks anywhere, why are we still going back to work?" said a second.

 

"More than 20,000 doctors and nurses around the country have been sent to Hubei, but why are the numbers still rising?" asked a third.

 

Authorities had told businesses to tack up to 10 extra days on to holidays that had been due to finish at the end of January and some restrictions continued.

 

Gaming giant Tencent Holdings said it had asked staff to continue working from home until Feb. 21.

 

Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing, will keep schools shut until March 1, the People's Daily newspaper said. Several provinces have shut schools until the end of February.

 

The local government in the southern manufacturing hub of Shenzhen, meanwhile, denied a report in the Nikkei business daily that it had blocked a plan by Apple supplier Foxconn Technology Co to resume production in China from Monday. The company would restart once inspections were completed, it said.

 

EPIDEMIC PEAKING? TOO EARLY TO SAY

Among the latest deaths, 81 were in Hubei.

 

An American hospitalized in the provincial capital Wuhan, where the outbreak began, became the first confirmed non-Chinese victim. The Washington Post identified him as Hong Ling, a 53-year old geneticist who studied rare diseases at Berkeley.

 

Joseph Eisenberg, professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan, said it was too early to say whether the epidemic was peaking.

 

"Even if reported cases might be peaking, we don't know what is happening with unreported cases," he said.

 

Major cities and capitals announced new travel restrictions as concern over the spread of the virus increased.

 

Chinese-ruled Hong Kong introduced a two-week quarantine on Saturday for all people arriving from the mainland, or who have been there during the previous 14 days. Malaysia expanded its ban on visitors from China.

 

France issued a new travel advisory for its citizens, saying it did not recommend traveling to China unless there was an "imperative" reason. Italy asked children traveling from China to stay away from school for two weeks voluntarily.

 

Princess Cruises, operator of the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined off Japan, said a further six people had tested positive, bringing the total cases aboard to 70.

 

(Reporting by Winni Zhou in Shanghai, Ryan Woo and Dominique Patton in Beijing, Aradhana Aravindan and Jamie Freed in Singapore, and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Alex Richardson and Pravin Char; Editing by Neil Fullick and Philippa Fletcher)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-02-10

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info

[techietraveller84]

Sounds like there are a lot of happy, if not bored, school children in China. An extra two weeks out of school, yay! Lucky for them, they probably don't comprehend the scariness of the overall situation that's letting them miss school.

[RichardColeman]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

'Enemy of mankind'

As opposed to China being the 'enemy of every Animal on the planet'

[nobodysfriend]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

China's ambassador to Britain described the newly identified virus as "the enemy of mankind"

True ... created by mother nature to defend itself against the humans ? So , after all , created by the humans themselves ...

People cannot win a fight against the planet they are living on and who , finally , created them .

The only way to survive and to secure a future that is worth living it , is to live WITH the planet , to respect and preserve it's nature that still gives us everything we need to live . Our politicians do not seem to understand this , as they are blinded by greed and ignorance everywhere in the world , not only in Thailand .

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

China's ambassador to Britain described the newly identified virus as "the enemy of mankind" in a BBC interview on Sunday, but added it "is controllable, is preventable, is curable".

And with the "new belt and road initiative" they will export it worldwide alongside all the other "takky goods".

[alanrchase]

The flu kills an average of 1,000 people a day. No one seems too concerned about that. Malaria kills more. 

[Chicken George]

Interesting read from Taiwan. Yes I know Taiwan hates China but this is not the only article to doubt the figures coming out of China. After all China is an historical liar!

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3871783

[Cake Monster]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

And with the "new belt and road initiative" they will export it worldwide alongside all the other "takky goods".

I just hope that when the Export any Corona Virus ( or other Disease ) it carries the same amount of poor QA.

ISO 9002  2019 NCoV Then there will be some hope for the wider World.

[sandyf]

41 minutes ago, alanrchase said:

The flu kills an average of 1,000 people a day. No one seems too concerned about that. Malaria kills more. 

Quite. Both SARS and MERS were a coronavirus and both new at the time. MERS has a higher mortality rate than SARS and possibly the current virus but hardly ever mentioned. The Arabian peninsula is not as densely populated as China so the outbreak was more contained. It was thought to have come from camels but camels are nothing new to Arabs.

Disease has been around for centuries and will always be a potential threat particularly as long as poverty exists around the world.

[overherebc]

A virus is just something that uses a host to reproduce itself and quite often damages or kills the host while doing so.

Think of one very small planet known as earth that has one of the most successful viruses ever slowly, or maybe not so slowly, damaging it and it will eventually rid itself of the virus and slowly recover all on its own.

Nature will find a way.

Edited February 11, 2020 by overherebc

[Rimmer]

A conspiracy troll video has been removed.

 

DO NOT post such nonsense on here please.

[bendejo]

Calm down.  Have a beer.

 

 

[Expat Brad]

On 2/10/2020 at 9:57 AM, alanrchase said:

The flu kills an average of 1,000 people a day. No one seems too concerned about that. Malaria kills more. 

Exactly..... Oh Dear!!! over 800 global deaths and exceeded SARS 770.

This is hardly the end of mankind is it. 

But, it's making and gonna be making certain people billions!!!

This is a SCAM an evil one at that!!!

 

 

[Myran]

9 hours ago, overherebc said:

A virus is just something that uses a host to reproduce itself and quite often damages or kills the host while doing so.

Think of one very small planet known as earth that has one of the most successful viruses ever slowly, or maybe not so slowly, damaging it and it will eventually rid itself of the virus and slowly recover all on its own.

Nature will find a way.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, humanity is a virus ???? I wonder how many versions of this edgy comment we're gonna get this time.

[overherebc]

6 hours ago, Expat Brad said:

Exactly..... Oh Dear!!! over 800 global deaths and exceeded SARS 770.

This is hardly the end of mankind is it. 

But, it's making and gonna be making certain people billions!!!

This is a SCAM an evil one at that!!!

 

 

Not sure the 1000+ dead in China would agree with you.

[overherebc]

4 minutes ago, Myran said:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, humanity is a virus ???? I wonder how many versions of this edgy comment we're gonna get this time.

A lot of the expats I bump into aren't as high up the scale.

[Forethat]

6 hours ago, Expat Brad said:

Exactly..... Oh Dear!!! over 800 global deaths and exceeded SARS 770.

This is hardly the end of mankind is it. 

But, it's making and gonna be making certain people billions!!!

This is a SCAM an evil one at that!!!

Obviously there are those who claim that the deaths are grossly understated. In case those people are right we can safely assume that this will have far bigger impact on the world economy than anything seen before. Especially if they need to take extreme measures to control a pandemic.

 

Quote

Exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui recently revealed leaks from Wuhan crematoriums. He claims based on the number of bodies their furnaces are burning, the death toll could be as high as 50,000.

https://www.ccn.com/billionaire-whistleblower-wuhan-coronavirus-death-toll-is-over-50000/

 

[JHolmesJr]

On 2/10/2020 at 2:39 PM, rhyddid said:

What about Flu or Influenza that kill thousands of time more ? 
 

Ive heard this nonsense repeated again and again.

so what about it?

and how does this affect the fear of contracting NCOV?

 

 

[tgw]

7 hours ago, Expat Brad said:

Exactly..... Oh Dear!!! over 800 global deaths and exceeded SARS 770.

This is hardly the end of mankind is it. 

But, it's making and gonna be making certain people billions!!!

This is a SCAM an evil one at that!!!

there are always a few looneys like that... I guess you don't "believe" in HIV either?

[rvaviator]

On 2/10/2020 at 10:32 AM, hotchilli said:

And with the "new belt and road initiative" they will export it worldwide alongside all the other "takky goods".

Takky goods bought by takky people in the west?  ????

[ThomasThBKK]

24 minutes ago, JHolmesJr said:

Ive heard this nonsense repeated again and again.

so what about it?

and how does this affect the fear of contracting NCOV?

 

 

These people don't understand basic math.

 

 

People don't comprehend exponential growth, their brains can't fathom it.

[RickBradford]

On 2/10/2020 at 8:04 AM, RichardColeman said:

As opposed to China being the 'enemy of every Animal on the planet'

There has to be a debate about the origin of these diseases. To put it bluntly, they are created in Chinese wet markets, due to the locals' vile habits of eating exotic bush meat, keeping different species in close contact, and with dead meat around as well.

 

The government tried to ban the practice in 2013, to no avail, which suggests it wasn't trying too hard.

 

Even virologists are predicting there will be a 'Big One' at some stage, which will be both infectious and deadly. The coronaviruses (of which SARS, MERS and this new one are all examples) are getting more deadly by the decade. And there are no approved vaccines.

[Scott]

One big difference between this and the flu is that we do have vaccinations for the various types of flu.   We can protect ourselves to some extent.   For the new coronavirus, we have nothing.   Not even any effective treatment.  

 

[impulse]

12 minutes ago, Scott said:

One big difference between this and the flu is that we do have vaccinations for the various types of flu.   We can protect ourselves to some extent.   For the new coronavirus, we have nothing.   Not even any effective treatment.  

 

Every year, the current flu vaccine becomes obsolete as the virus mutates.  So they develop a new vaccine, based on the flu that's presenting itself.  Just like they're working on now for the new coronavirus.

 

If you happen to be one of the millions that gets the flu before they have the new vaccine, you're not much better off than someone with the new coronavirus today.  There's no cure- only treatment of the symptoms.  And that happens every year- year in, year out.  They average 100 deaths a day in the USA from the flu.  How many so far from the entire history of SARS, MERS and the new coronavirus?

 

Edited February 11, 2020 by impulse

[Kinnock]

Only a nation of hypochondriac, only child, drama queens would think a bad cold is the 'the enemy of mankind'.

 

(China)Man-up and get back to work you chickens.

 

[Scott]

2 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

Every year, the current flu vaccine becomes obsolete as the virus mutates.  So they develop a new vaccine, based on the flu that's presenting itself.  Just like they're working on now for the new coronavirus.

 

If you happen to be one of the millions that gets the flu before they have the new vaccine, you're not much better off than someone with the new coronavirus today.  There's no cure- only treatment of the symptoms.  And that happens every year- year in, year out.  They average 100 deaths a day in the USA from the flu.  How many so far from SARS, MERS and the new coronavirus?

 

Without getting too far off-topic, the flu vaccine is a guess as to what strain or strains will appear.   The vaccine is usually quite effective for one strain and less so for others.   Those in Asia are relatively lucky because the flu season there starts about the time in ends in the US.   By then, the vaccine has been adjusted accordingly.

If you have been vaccinated for the flu and you get it, the symptoms are usually considerably less severe and the duration of the infection is less.  

For the new virus, we have no vaccine and no known effective medicines.  

[impulse]

1 minute ago, Scott said:

Without getting too far off-topic, the flu vaccine is a guess as to what strain or strains will appear.   The vaccine is usually quite effective for one strain and less so for others.   Those in Asia are relatively lucky because the flu season there starts about the time in ends in the US.   By then, the vaccine has been adjusted accordingly.

If you have been vaccinated for the flu and you get it, the symptoms are usually considerably less severe and the duration of the infection is less.  

For the new virus, we have no vaccine and no known effective medicines.  

 

To put it into context, in the 17 years since SARS in 2003, about 6,200 days have passed.  That means about 620,000 people have died of flu in the USA just since SARS was first identified.  With China having 5x the population a reasonable estimate would be 3,000,000 flu deaths in China since SARS first came on the scene.  In that context, the 800 deaths by SARS and 900 deaths by MERS are a lot less scary than 3 million deaths by flu.  Regardless of the state of vaccines and medicines.

 

It's just that flu doesn't get the press (or the clicks) any more.

 

[JHolmesJr]

Sick of all the talk that common flu kills more so dont panic about COVID-19

Have a look at what they said about the Spanish Flu back then:

 

[Kinnock]

2 minutes ago, Scott said:

Without getting too far off-topic, the flu vaccine is a guess as to what strain or strains will appear.   The vaccine is usually quite effective for one strain and less so for others.   Those in Asia are relatively lucky because the flu season there starts about the time in ends in the US.   By then, the vaccine has been adjusted accordingly.

If you have been vaccinated for the flu and you get it, the symptoms are usually considerably less severe and the duration of the infection is less.  

For the new virus, we have no vaccine and no known effective medicines.  

True - and some years the prediction of flu strains is wrong and the annual epidemic is caused by a type not in the vaccination cocktail - but it's still not the zombie apocalypse.  In those years there's more like 600,000 deaths from flu rather than the normal 500,000 - but we don't cancel flights, treat cruise ships like plague ships and quarantine whole cities.

 

When the 'post-mortem' of this global hysteria takes place, the verdict will be that there was a massive over-reaction that caused a huge impact to the global economy for no real benefit.

 

It was too late to stop it by 1 January, so just let it rip until the "herd immunity" shuts it down, just like we do with seasonal colds.

[Ventenio]

Comparing things are ridiculous

 

WW2 killed 80 million.   China communism killed maybe 50 million.  Cambodia, Indonesia, Chile, Poland of course, Russia of course with Stalin, Vietnam, never ends...............

 

Sure, this virus might only kill 40 million.  Then we will say, "Well, more people died with the Spanish Flu."  And we can argue forever....

 

I'm predicting this one will scare you more than the flu, and that's the real answer.