Tag Archives: epidemiology

The Washington Post reports: The fast-spreading novel coronavirus is almost certainly killing Americans who are not included in the nation’s growing death toll, according to public health experts and government officials involved in the tally. The CDC counts only deaths in which the presence of the coronavirus is confirmed in a laboratory test. “We know that it is an underestimation,” …

The Hill reports: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci said Sunday that it would be “a false statement” to say the government has the coronavirus pandemic under control. “We are struggling to get it under control, and that’s the issue that’s at hand right now,” Fauci said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday. Trump has several …

Bloomberg News reports: So much for keeping business rolling during the coronavirus pandemic. The Council on Foreign Relations has canceled a roundtable called “Doing Business Under Coronavirus” scheduled for Friday in New York due to the spread of the infection itself. CFR has also canceled other in-person conferences that were scheduled from March 11 to April 3, including roundtables in …

Reuters reports: Germany’s health minister urged organizers of public events with more than 1,000 participants to call them off, news agency DPA reported on Sunday. A number of large events, including a travel fair in Berlin, have already been called off, but Jens Spahn said other organizers had been too slow to act. “Given how fast things are developing, that …

The Washington Post reports: Bipartisan congressional negotiators reached agreement Wednesday on a roughly $8 billion emergency spending bill to combat the coronavirus, racing to send it to President Trump’s desk by the end of the week. The deal must still be voted on by the House later Wednesday and the Senate on Thursday, and bipartisan support is expected. The deal …

The New York Times reports: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services notified Congress on Sunday it may need to transfer up to $136 million to help combat the fast-moving coronavirus epidemic, a new sign of how the White House has increased its response in recent days. The notification came as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is …

The New York Post reports: The Chinese government on Monday accused the US of spreading “panic” over the coronavirus outbreak by pulling its citizens out of the country and restricting travel instead of offering significant assistance. The US was the first country to begin evacuations, issued a travel warning against going to China, and from Sunday barred entry to foreigners …

CNBC reports: The World Health Organization said the fast-spreading coronavirus that’s infected more than 8,200 across the world is a global health emergency — a rare designation that helps the international agency mobilize financial and political support to contain the outbreak. The announcement comes just hours after the U.S. confirmed its first human-to-human transmission of the virus, which has killed …

Business Insider reports: Scientists in Melbourne, Australia, have successfully grown the Wuhan coronavirus from a patient sample, which could help provide international experts with crucial information to beat the virus. It’s the first time the virus has been grown in a cell culture outside China. The scientists come from the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity — a joint …

The BBC reports: Hong Kong has announced plans to slash cross-border travel between the city and mainland China as the new coronavirus continues to spread. More than 100 people have now died in China, with confirmed infections surging to more than 4,500. High-speed trains and ferries that cross the border will be suspended from Thursday, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam …

Politico reports: The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened 500 points lower as news of the virus spreading to the U.S. and other countries grew and world officials scrambled to contain the outbreak, which began in Wuhan, China. The coronavirus has affected over 2,700 people. The Dow wound up closing down 456 points, or nearly 1.6 percent. An out-of-control virus — …

Via press release from the State Department: Reconsider travel to China due to novel coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China. Some areas have increased risk.  A novel (new) coronavirus is causing an outbreak of respiratory illness that began in the city of Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. This outbreak began in early December 2019 and continues to grow. Chinese health officials …

The Associated Press reports: China on Monday expanded its sweeping efforts to contain a deadly virus, extending the Lunar New Year holiday to keep the public at home and avoid spreading infection as the death toll rose to 81. Mongolia closed its vast border with China, and Hong Kong and Malaysia announced they would bar entry to visitors from the …

The Washington Post reports: China’s national health commission said early Sunday that the number of confirmed infections had soared 50 percent over the prior 24 hours to 1,975 people across 30 provinces. Fifty-six deaths have been reported, including in major metropolitan areas such as Shanghai. Several doctors in Beijing, the capital, also reported being infected. The United States, meanwhile, announced …

The South China Morning Post reports: The virus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan, already on lockdown, banned most vehicle use downtown and Hong Kong said it would close schools for two weeks as authorities scrambled Saturday to stop the spread of an illness that has infected more than 1,200 people and killed 41. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam [photo] said her …

Reuters reports: France confirmed on Friday its first two cases of the Wuhan coronavirus, with one patient being hospitalized in Paris and the other in the southwestern city of Bordeaux. Health Minister Agnes Buzyn told a news conference these were the first two confirmed cases in Europe and that more cases were likely to occur in France. Earlier, the charity …

The Associated Press reports: On the eve of the Lunar New Year, transportation was shut down in at least 13 cities home to more than 36 million people. The cities are Wuhan, where the illness has been concentrated, and 12 of its neighbors in central China’s Hubei province. Normally bustling streets, malls and other public spaces were eerily quiet in …

The Guardian reports: Three Chinese cities with a total population of 20 million have been put on lockdown and Beijing has cancelled a number of major public events in an attempt to contain the spread of a deadly coronavirus outbreak. Authorities banned transport links from Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, on Thursday, as well as the nearby central Chinese …

According to a new study, AIDS arrived in the United States via Haiti around 1969. WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The AIDS virus invaded the United States in about 1969 from Haiti, carried most likely by a single infected immigrant who set the stage for it to sweep the world in a tragic epidemic, scientists said on Monday. Michael Worobey, a University …