Category Archives: Infectious Diseases

Coronavirus live updates: China goes back to work as cases exceed 40,000 – latest news

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Death toll inside China rises to 908 as the WHO dispatches a team of experts to Beijing

A memorial for whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang has been held in New York. Li’s death sparked an outpouring of anger inside China. Li was silenced by the government for trying to warn people over the threat of the new virus, and later died after contracting it.

The memorial for Doctor #LiWenliang at Central Park, NYC. The crowd repeated his famous line three times: “一个健康的社会不应该只有一种声音 There should be more than one voice in a healthy society,” followed by a long whistle. pic.twitter.com/fIERhUowH0

Some welcome news for the 3,700 people onboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which is quarantined in Yokohama harbour after several cases of coronavirus among passengers.

The quarantine period of the #DiamondPrincess will come to an end on 19 February.
The period will be extended beyond the 19 Feb as appropriate only for close contacts of newly confirmed cases. They need to remain in quarantine for 14 days from last contact with a confirmed case pic.twitter.com/SlaPaKFfwE

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Philippines coronavirus patient has recovered, authorities say

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Woman, 38, who travelled with the only victim to die outside China and Hong Kong, is no longer infectious, says doctor

The first case of novel coronavirus in the Philippines – a Chinese tourist from Wuhan who had been travelling with a man who died of the virus – is no longer showing symptoms and may be discharged soon.

The last test on the 38-year-old woman, conducted on 6 February, showed she was negative for the virus, according to the health department. Two consecutive negative tests are required before a patient may be discharged.

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‘Contact is limited’: inside the world’s coronavirus quarantines – video

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People who are being held in facilities in dozens of countries explain what daily life is like and their hopes for returning home soon. China's Hubei province, where the coronavirus originated from, is under lockdown to limit contagion. The death toll has risen to 724, with 86 more people dying in mainland China, according to officials. This is the highest one-day jump so far

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If China valued free speech, there would be no coronavirus crisis

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Country could have contained spread of disease if only it had learned lessons from Sars outbreak

The death of the whistleblower Chinese doctor Li Wenliang has aroused strong emotions across China. Social media is awash with posts mourning the death of a martyr who tried to raise alarm over the coronavirus but was taken into a police station instead for “spreading false rumours” and “disrupting social order”.

Grief quickly turned into angry demands for free speech. The trending topic “we want freedom of speech”, which attracted millions of views, and links to Do You Hear the People Sing, a song popularised in recent Hong Kong protests, were quickly censored by police.

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China trials anti-HIV drug on coronavirus patients

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News of Kaletra being tested as a possible treatment for the disease sparks panic buying

Coronavirus – latest news

A drug used to treat people with HIV, the virus that causes Aids, is being trialled in patients in China as a possible therapy against the coronavirus.

News that HIV drugs are being deployed in hospitals, however, has led to panic buying on the black market by people who fear they are ill or are going to get sick. They have been obtaining the drug, Kaletra, from generics companies in India and even from people with HIV in China willing to sell or donate their own stocks.

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Concerns coronavirus is going undetected in Indonesia

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World’s fourth most populous country says it has no confirmed cases despite close links to China

There is growing concern that the new coronavirus may be going undetected in Indonesia, where officials have not confirmed a single case of infection among the 272 million-strong population despite the country’s close links to China.

As of Thursday, Indonesia said it had no confirmed cases of the coronavirus and that 238 people evacuated from Wuhan, the centre of the outbreak, had not shown symptoms, although it said they hadn’t been tested.

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Coronavirus live updates: cruise ship cases rise to 61 as China mourns whistleblower doctor – latest news

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Li Wenliang’s death in Wuhan comes as Hong Kong prepares to impose quarantine on mainland travellers. Follow live updates

Toyota has extended the closure of its 12 factories in China by a week.

Officials at the Beijing press conference said they had confidence in the economic system and that the impact on the economy from the outbreak would be “temporary. It will be limited and will not affect the fundamentals, and the economy is sound and stable”.

They added:

The outbreak has taken place during the spring festival and the impact on services is notable. The holiday has been extended and the construction sector and other sectors will be affected. There will be an impact on economic performance in Q1 but the economy will return to productivity when the epidemic is over. Look at 2003 Sars outbreak. There was disrupted growth in Q2 but in Q3 it rebounded. When the epidemic is controlled, the economy will rebound and pent-up investment and consumption released. The Chinese econony will have a quick recovery. it is promising and resilient. The funadmentals will not change. There is ample room for macro regulation – China is one of the few major economies that have normal monetary policy so we have sufficient tools to repsond.

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‘Hidden’ coronavirus cases could thwart containment efforts, experts warn

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Failure to report mild symptoms combined with highly contagious nature of disease raises fears existing figures are ‘tip of the iceberg’

Global health experts have warned that “hidden” infections make containment of the coronavirus unlikely and raised fears that the rapidly rising caseload of 25,000 people could be the “tip of the iceberg”.

“Hidden” cases – where people with mild symptoms do not seek medical help and so remain untested and unrecorded – combined with the highly contagious nature of the disease mean there could be “vastly more cases” than previously thought, according to Tom Frieden, a former director at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Coronavirus live updates: China deaths pass 560 as 10 more cruise passengers test positive – latest news

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Wuhan authorities warn of lack of ‘equipment and materials’ and consider converting hotels and schools into treatment centres. Follow live news and updates

Here’s a summary of what we know so far today about the spread of the coronavirus.

Here’s the latest tracker image from Johns Hopkins University on the spread of the coronavirus. If you want to check in on the tracker, you can find it here.

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More Australian coronavirus evacuees arrive on Christmas Island to be quarantined – video

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Thirty-five Australian citizens and permanent residents, including 13 children and infants, have arrived on Christmas Island from Wuhan for a 14-day quarantine. They join 241 other Australians evacuated from Wuhan, China, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak

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Will coronavirus make markets take a ‘black swan’ dive?

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Impact of Chinese outbreak has already rippled out well beyond world’s No 2 economy

The impact of coronavirus on the global economy is growing and spreading daily. What started as a medical emergency in the Chinese city of Wuhan has led to planes being grounded, cruise ships being quarantined, theme parks being shut and car plants being mothballed.

TV footage of deserted streets and empty shops tell their own story: China’s economy, which was already slowing, is going to suffer a major hit as the authorities seek to stop the virus from spreading.

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Do face masks help prevent coronavirus? – video explainer

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The Guardian's health editor, Sarah Boseley, gives the lowdown on the effectiveness of wearing face masks to protect against the coronavirus, explains how viruses are spread, and offers tips on staying healthy and safe as the outbreak that originated in Wuhan, China, continues to spread


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Coronavirus live updates: all arrivals to Hong Kong from mainland China face ‘compulsory quarantine’ – latest news

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Thousands on board Diamond Princess cruise ship in offshore quarantine in Japan after 10 people test positive, as China death toll passes 490

A hotel worker in the northern Italian city of Verona has tested negative for coronavirus.

The woman, who was isolated after coming down with a fever, is a member of staff at the same hotel where a Chinese couple being treated for the virus in Rome stayed for one night.

Here’s a report from Josh Taylor, a Guardian reporter based in Melbourne, that the Australian government is considering sending its citizens evacuated from Wuhan to isolated mining camps if Christmas Island reaches capacity for people being quarantined.

The home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, admitted there is the possibility that Christmas Island could reach capacity if the outbreak continues to spread. He said one option would be for people to share rooms, or potentially even open up other locations away from the rest of the Australian population.

Related: Coronavirus: 14th Australian case confirmed as Dutton says people could be sent to mining camps

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Cruise ships quarantined over coronavirus – in pictures

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Thousands of passengers and crew on two cruise ships in Asian waters have been placed in quarantine after cases of coronavirus were confirmed onboard. About 3,700 people are facing at least two weeks locked away on the Diamond Princess cruise liner anchored off Japan, while 1,800 passengers and crew are being kept onboard the World Dream, docked in Hong Kong

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Diary of a coronavirus evacuee: ‘Everyone’s trying to avoid contact with each other’ | Daniel Ou Yang

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Australian Daniel Ou Yang, 21, was on the Air New Zealand flight out of virus-struck Wuhan to Auckland. Here he writes about the stress of his evacuation

At 2.52pm, we arrived at Wuhan Tianjin airport.

The drive here was smooth, all the big wide roads with no cars on them. We made it through the checkpoints and arrived within an hour.

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The coronavirus lays bare the limits of WHO’s health diplomacy with China

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The global body is accused of failing to act fast to halt epidemic but the true cost of doing politics with Beijing is still unknown

On social media this week the insults were flying thick and fast, some tinged with racism, but all with a common theme: how the World Health Organization, and its head, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was effectively doing the bidding of the Chinese government in the midst of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.

It is a charge that has also been expressed in less offensive terms elsewhere in columns and articles, some of which have focused on whether, in praising China’s response to the deadly Wuhan coronavirus outbreak during a visit to Beijing, Tedros allowed himself to become complicit in China’s flawed handling of the outbreak in its early days?

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Is UK overreacting to coronavirus crisis by telling citizens to leave China?

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Decision leaves tens of thousands weighing up huge choice without knowing why they should leave

The British government’s surprise announcement telling Britons to leave China “if they can” comes amid mounting international concern about the spread of coronavirus.

But the advice came with no detailed guidance about why the UK’s position had changed – making it unclear whether this was a political stance, or a position based on new medical guidance that British authorities have not shared publicly.

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Coronavirus: first Hong Kong death reported as China cases pass 20,000 – live updates

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Thirty-nine-year-old man in Hong Kong believed to have had underlying condition. Death is only second outside mainland China

From gassy passengers to viral anthems: how Beijing is seeking to lighten the mood amid the coronavirus crisis. This includes state media striking an upbeat or humorous tone, in line with President Xi Jinping’s call for “public opinion guidance”. Read the full story below:

Related: From gassy passengers to viral anthems: Beijing seeks to lighten mood amid crisis

Reports that a South Korean person has tested positive for coronavirus following a visit to Thailand are likely to cause great concern to Thai officials. The outbreak has already dealt a massive blow to Thailand’s tourism industry, which relies upon Chinese visitors.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand said it expects 2 million fewer Chinese tourists this year than last year, when 11 million visited.

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Coronavirus: Hong Kong reports first death as China’s leadership admits ‘shortcomings’

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Carrie Lam says measures would be taken ‘to reduce people movement across the border’ as death toll grows

Hong Kong has reported its first death from the coronavirus as the number of fatalities from the outbreak in China passed 420.

A 39-year-old man with an underlying health condition died on Tuesday morning, according to public broadcaster RTHK.

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