Death toll in China from Wuhan virus now 41, with 1,000+ infected globally, 2 cases in U.S

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Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/01/24/china-death-toll-from-wuhan-vi.html

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Special thoughts for all the antivaxxers and science deniers out there.

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A good pandemic is pretty much what we deserve – and need – right now.

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They better be last in line for the vaccine that eventually gets developed.

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Official numbers?!
Please be smart and add a 0 at the end to be more accurate.

"The footage also showed medical staff in protective clothing and what Xiaoxi said were the bodies of patients who had died in the hospital and been left in the corridor wrapped in linen."

And this come from a newspaper owned by Pro-Beijing camp.
So imagine the real situation…

All journalists are barred from entering hospital,…

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Only 41 deaths? I don’t think so Tim.

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Had they attended a good Michelin restaurant recently?

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I have vague recollections of a time before November 2016 when I didn’t welcome the sweet relief of viral death.

Those were good times.

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So it goes.

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To put that into perspective: As with SARS there are way more people infected than reported, who never see a doctor because they only have mild symptoms, if any. Mortality is calculated from those who were hospitalized, BTW.

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And yet,
Report show people died of pneumonia in Wuhan early January, but where not among the one accounted from this SARS V2.0…
There is a parallel with death toll on road in China.
There are no official number that match hospital death. Also, when everywhere else, a death is accounted as road kill if it occur during the month following the accident;
For China and China only, this number is valid if the death is during the week following the crash.
After this week, it’s natural cause kinda…

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For these who didn’t get it.
Stupidity at its max

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The authoritarian state in a nutshell: denying the magnitude of the problem until they can’t, and then having the ability to scramble to build a large facility from scratch to try to deal with it.

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Am I the only one that is impressed that they are building a (approx) 250,000 sq ft functioning hospital in 6 days?

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Are we talking about homeless deaths on the streets of Trump nation?
Are we talking the thousands of death each fiscal quarter due to lack of medical insurance in the authoritarian capitalist state of Trump nation?

I am unclear of what the fuck ¨authoritarian state in a nutshell" means.

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I feel like this is a situation where dRumph and his cabinet need to make a special on site inspection of what China is doing at the epicenter of this contagion.

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It’s going to be a fleet of prefab buildings.

Edit: Here’s a little more detail, that talks about Xiaotangshan Hospital, built in response to SARS (and then demolished in 2010).

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“Functioning” in the sense of warehousing of humans put of sight of the public. That’s what we are taking about here. I suspect more thought has gone into security than medical care.

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For those interested in the Chinese perspective, here is today’s data.

Total reported coronavirus cases in China (as of 9.02am Sun Jan 26)

  • 1,975 confirmed
  • 2,684 suspected
  • 49 recovered
  • 56 deaths

Cases in Beijing and surrounding areas :

Beijing: 51 confirmed cases, 2 recovered
Tianjin: 10 confirmed cases
Hebei: 8 confirmed cases, 1 death

Cases in other provinces and regions (listed by number of confirmed cases):

Hubei: 1,053 confirmed cases, 42 recovered, 52 deaths
Henan: 83 confirmed cases, 1 death
Guangdong: 78 confirmed cases, 2 recovered
Zhejiang: 62 confirmed cases, 1 recovered
Chongqing: 57 confirmed cases
Hunan: 43 confirmed cases
Shanghai: 40 confirmed cases, 1 recovered
Anhui: 39 confirmed cases
Shandong: 39 confirmed cases
Jiangxi: 36 confirmed cases
Guangxi: 33 confirmed cases
Sichuan: 28 confirmed cases, 1 recovered
Hainan: 19 confirmed cases
Fujian: 18 confirmed cases
Jiangsu: 18 confirmed case, 1 recovered
Liaoning: 1 7 confirmed cases
Shaanxi: 15 confirmed cases
Yunnan: 11 confirmed cases
Heilongjiang: 9 confirmed cases, 1 death
Shanxi: 9 confirmed cases
Inner Mongolia: 7 confirmed case
Hong Kong: 5 confirmed cases
Gansu: 4 confirmed cases
Guizhou: 4 confirmed cases
Jilin: 4 confirmed cases
Ningxia: 3 confirmed case
Taiwan: 3 confirmed cases
Xinjiang: 3 confirmed cases
Macao: 2 confirmed cases
Qinghai: 1 confirmed case

Word on the street

  • (1/26, 7.38am) DiDi Suspends Inter-City Rides: Users opening their DiDi ride hailing app this morning were greeted with a message that says all inter-city car-hailing has been suspended until further notice, as of midnight last night. Normal ride hailing within city limits is not affected. Additionally, DiDi is pledging to require all drivers to wear masks, and encouraging riders to report those that are not via the post-ride evaluation.

  • (1/26, 4.21am) Beijing Infections Reach 51: The Beijing News reports: as of 5:23pm yesterday, the total number of cases in Beijing has reached 51 (49 in treatment, 2 recovered), from the following districts: Haidian 10, Chaoyang 8, Chanping 5, Xicheng 5, Tongzhou 4, Fengtai 3, Daxing 2, Dongcheng 1, Shijingshan 1, Shunyi 1. An additional 11 visitors from outside Beijing are being treated here.

  • (1/26, 4.11am) Three Beijing Doctors Infected: Responding to rumors that medical professionals were being infected, the Beijing Municipal Health Commission acknowledged that three doctors in Beijing have contracted the virus and released specific details about each. Two, surnamed Wang and Lu, were diagnosed after business trips to Wuhan, while a third, surnamed Yan, contracted it after a period of recreational travel in the northeast and attending a conference where he sat directly next to Lu. All three are being quarantined at designated hospitals and are in stable condition.

  • (1/25, 11.01pm) Isolated Reports of Villages Barricading Themselves: In a repeat of what happened during SARS in 2003, some local villages outside Beijing have begun taking it upon themselves to impose a sort of self-quarantine. Changping’s Xianrendong (仙人洞) Village, a popular spot for tourists famous for its vegetarian food, has closed all of its rental spaces, which normally attract over 100,000 each year. Meanwhile, an American visiting Chinese in-laws in the Hebei province village of Neiqiu (内丘) reports that the village he is staying in has declared that no one is to come in or out for 14 days.

  • (1/25, 8.43pm) Beijing Suspends Long-Distance Bus Traffic: Beijing will suspend all long-distance bus service effective tomorrow (Sunday) morning. City buses will run normally and roads in and out of Beijing remain open for all other traffic. Trains and air traffic are not affected by this directive. Again: Beijing is NOT being barricaded, only long-distance (interprovincial) bus suspended. No date of resumption of service has been indicated.
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  • (1/25, 5.09pm) Beijing Subway Starts Temperature Checks: Don’t take the subway if you’ve got a fever. 35 stations on the Beijing Subway network have started temperature checks on inbound passengers as of yesterday, The Beijing News reports. Passengers with fevers will not be allowed into the station and subway staff have been instructed to report the incident and call an abulance to transport the person to a nearby hospital with a fever clinic. A full list of stations where temperature checks have been set up: Fuxingmen, Xidan, Tiananmen West, Tiananmen East, Wangfujing, Dongdan, Jianguomen, Qianmen, Beijing West Railway Station, Beijing Railway Station, Qinghe, Xizhimen, T2 and T3 on the airport express, Liulitun, Sihui, Songjiazhuang, Dongzhimen, Dawang Lu, Wukesong, Guomao, Jishuitan, Fuchengmen, Tiantongyuan North, Tiantongyuan, Qingnian Lu, Dongdaqiao, Chaoyangmen, Sanyuanqiao, Liangmaqiao, Suzhou Jie, Tuanjiehu, Wukesong, Huoying, Xierqi.

  • (1/25, 4.15pm) Rumor Busted: Beijing NOT Being Sprayed by Planes: A cockamamie rumor spread via (you guessed it) WeChat saying that all citizens of Beijing should run inside at 4pm today because planes were going to spray has turned out to be baloney. So far similar rumors have been busted in Zhengzhou, Wuhan and Xi’an.

  • (1/25, 4.02pm) Rumor Busted: Roads In and Out of Beijing NOT shut: Rumors were flying this afternoon that highways in and out of Beijing were being blocked off and motorists were being denied entry/exit. The rumors are utter hogwash at this point, with The Beijing News talking directly to traffic officials who said: its a rumor.

  • (1/25, 12.42pm) Many Malls, Parks Still Open: A walkabout this morning in Beijing saw the Indigo and Solana malls open as usual, as well as Chaoyang Park and Lido’s Side Park. If you’re looking to get out of the house, a public park is a good bet – check out our Park Life series for deets on some of the city’s more interesting destinations.

  • (1/25, 8.29am) Inbound Temperature Checks for All Airport Arrivals: Civil aviation authorities are now checking the body temperature of all incoming passengers at all of Beijing’s airports, The Beijing News reports.

  • (1/25, 8.00am) Many Events, Attractions Canceled: Some advice: if you are planning to go anywhere in Beijing during the holiday, please be aware that most large-scale events that normally attract crowds are CLOSED. We have confirmed the following to be amongst the closures:

      • Forbidden City
      • Lama Temple
      • Confucius Temple
      • Badaling Great Wall
      • Happy Valley Amusement Park
      • Many movie theaters
      • All temple fairs we have checked.
        Also, some open-air places you might not expect to be closed are in fact closing. If it has an entrance ticket or a gate around it, expect it to be closed. If you are indeed going out, it pays to double check before you do. And if you do go out (and find something unexpectedly open or closed), please share that information in the comments below or send to WeChat: mwinchina

  • (1/24, 5.59pm) CCTV New Year Gala Adds Big Coronavirus Number: CCTV’s annual Chinese New Year’s Eve variety show that starts at 8pm tonight as added a special last-minute segment themed around the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak, an unusual move for the heavily rehearsed and scripted show. The performance is called “Love is a Bridge” (爱是桥梁). Look for it tonight as you feast on dumplings.

  • (1/24, 4.36pm) Designated Beijing Hospitals: The Beijing Municipal Health Committee has officially designated three Beijing hospitals as disease control centers for the Wuhan Coronavirus. All patients with confirmed infections with the virus will be quarantined and treated at one of these hospitals:

    • Beijing Ditan Hospital (北京地坛医院), located outside the northeast 5th Ring Road in the Laiguangying area
    • Beijing Youan Hospital (北京佑安医院) in Fengtai District between 2nd and 3rd Ring Roads
    • The Fifth Medical Center of PLA General Hospital (解放军总医院第五医学中心) in Fengtai District between 3rd and 4th Ring Roads.

  • (1/24 3.41pm) Religious Services Suspended: Beijing’s Muslim and Catholic communities have both announced that services will be suspended until further notice.

  • (1/24 3.37pm) Happy Valley Amusement Park Closes: Beijing’s largest amusement park, Happy Valley, has closed until further notice. Shanghai’s Happy Valley as well as Shanghai Disneyland have also announced they will be closing until futher notice.

  • (1/24 2:32pm) Beijing Reports First Recovery from Infection: The People’s Daily reports that one confirmed patient with the Wuhan Coronavirus in Beijing has fully recovered and been released from the hospital. This is the first recorded recovery from the virus in Beijing. The patient is a female resident of Daxing and was released today from the Ditan Hospital in Laiguangying where many infected patients are being quarantined. Her age was not reported.

  • (1/24 1:42pm) Beijing Hotel Occupancy Rates Plummet: Beijing’s hotel business is struggling with a response to the crisis. One well-placed insider from a downtown 5-star said occupancy rates – usually close to capacity at Chinese New Year – have quickly dropped to 20 percent. What’s worse they have guests from Wuhan, and the owner of their building has asked the hotel to ask the guests to leave (which the guests refuse to comply with). The hotel has currently moved all Wuhan guests to one floor of the hotel.

  • (1/24 1:16pm) Thinking of Going to a Movie? Think Again: Not only have almost every major release been pulled from theaters for the CNY holiday, several chains have announced they are shutting down entirely through Jan 27, with further announcements about a return to business coming later, based on conditions. Amongst the closures are the popular Lumiere (卢米埃), CGV, and Bona (博纳) cinema chains.

  • (1/24 11:57am) Caffeine Fiends, Alert: Starbucks China has announced that all stores nationwide will be disinfecting every two hours and they will be closing all Wuhan stores effective immediately for thorough disinfecting, The Beijing News reports. They aim to begin reopening Wuhan stores as soon as possible.

  • (1/24 10.36am) Portions of the Great Wall Closed: Going outside for some fresh air is not a bad thing to do during this holiday season, but be careful if your intended destination is a ticketed portion of the Great Wall or outdoor park, as some of them are closing too. The Juyongguan section of the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs announced today they will be closing indefinitely to prevent the spread of the virus.

  • (1/24 8:46am) Basically Everything is Cancelled: This morning brings a flurry of additional closure announcements from popular tourist attractions and public performance spaces. The Confucius Temple and Lama Temple are both closing, and The Beijing News reports that virtually all scheduled performance at places such as Poly Plaza Theater, the Beijing Concert Hall, Mei Lanfang Grand Theater, and the National Peking Opera Theater. Rule of thumb: if you’re planning to visit any ticketed public spaces or performance halls this Chinese New Year, call ahead to see if it has been closed/canceled.

  • (1/24, 12.55am) First death outside of Wuhan: The 18th victim of the Wuhan Coronavirus — and the first outside of Wuhan — passed away yesterday in Hebei Province. The 80-year-old male from Cangzhou, about 200km south of Beijing, had just returned from visiting relatives in Wuhan.

  • (1/24, 12.36am) International School Chain Delays Reopening Beijing’s Yew Chung International School, part of a network of international schools in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and other cities in China, announced late Thursday night that they would delay the post-CNY return to all of their network schools from Feb 3 to Feb 17. They have asked all students, teachers and administrators to return as normal as if school was to start on Feb 3, to “ensure an adequate quarantine period at home before school starts.” Class assignments will be delivered digitally during the break and a full disinfection of school premises will be made before the resumption of school.

  • (1/23, 11.32pm) Forbidden City Closing: The National Palace Museum announced this evening that they will be closing Saturday Jan 25 as a measure to control the potential spread of the virus and will remain closed until further notice. Prince Gong’s Mansion, another popular tourist spot, also announced they are closing immediately until further notice. Other city attractions that have announced closure include the National Art Museum, National Library, Zhokoudian, the Birds Nest and the Beijing Observatory.

  • (1/23, 5:59pm) District-by-District Breakdown of Beijing Infections: The Beijng News has a district-by-district breakdown of the 22 infections so far in Beijing: Xicheng (3); Chaoyang (2); Haidian (3); Fengtai (1); Shijingshan (1); Tongzhou (2); Daxing (2); Changping (2); visitors from Wuhan (6).

  • (1/23, 5:40pm) Temple Fairs Cancelled: Temple fairs are part of Chinese New Year tradition, but the Wuhan coronavirus is messing with that. The ones we were able to reach directly Thursday afternoon all said that they are officially cancelling this year’s fairs. This includes fairs at Ditan Park, Longtanhu Park, Daguanyuan and Dongyue Temple. If you plan to go to any of the other fairs, please take precautions: we’d suggest masks and hand sanitizer at the very minimum.

  • (1/23, 5:40pm) Beijing Subway Disinfected Hourly: The Beijing Subway running normally and is disinfecting every station on an hourly basis.

  • (1/23, 12.13pm) Fatalities Mostly Elderly, No Children: The People’s Daily released details of all 17 fatalities so far: three female (48, 70, and 82 years old) and 14 male (53, 61, 65, 66, 66, 69, 75, 80, 81, 82, 84, 86, 89, and 89). The youngest victim was 48 and the average age of all is 73.

  • (1/23, 11.30am) Beijing Airports Running Smoothly: Messages circulating yesterday suggested those departing via Beijing’s airports plan to arrive 4 hours prior to departure, because of increased health checks. However, several expat travelers at the airports yesterday and today say they have not had any abnormal delays. With the situation evolving by the hour and today being the last official day of work before the CNY holiday, we suggest those traveling by air play it safe and give yourself some extra time just in case.

  • (1/23 8.43am) Civets, Bats Off The Hook? This Live Science article says some gene-sequencing scientists are now leaning towards snakes as the origin of the Wuhan Coronavirus.

  • (1/23 3.15am) Wuhan Shuts Down Public Transport: Wuhan announced late Wednesday that the entire public transport system in the city of 11 million would be shut down indefinitely as of 10am on Thursday. This includes buses, subway, and ferry service, while all airports and railway stations will be closed temporarily. No timetable of a return to service has been announced.

  • (1/23 2.39am) So Far, Less Deadly: Reported deaths almost doubled Wednesday night, going from 9 to 17, with all the deaths occurring in Wuhan. Despite this, the 3.1 percent mortality rate of this outbreak still appears to be considerably lower than 2003’s SARS, which killed 9.6 percent of those that contracted it.

  • (1/22 8.12pm) Only Fever Clinics Can See Patients with Fevers: Got a fever over 38 degrees C and having trouble breathing? This is when you should go to see a doctor… but you must go to a hospital that is equipped with fever clinic. Luckily there are 89 of them all over Beijing (including Beijing United, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, and Peking Union), and all but five are 24 hours. A full list in Chinese is available here.

  • (1/22 7.58pm) Civet Cats to Blame Again?: The AFP has a detailed post in English about the animals on offer at the Huanan Seafood Market, the alleged origin of the outbreak. Civet Cats are once again mentioned as possible culprits, which if it turns out to be true would be an embarrassing setback given that civets were pinned as the source of the SARS outbreak in 2003.

  • (1/22 7.20pm) Beijing Hotels Affected: Several Beijing hoteliers are reporting that cancellations are way up, and no incoming bookings are taking their place. Read more about how the coronavirus stands to affect your Beijing stay here.

  • (1/22 7.20pm) Caucasian Conspiracy: In an already deleted Weibo post, some crackpot suggested that since no Caucasians died of SARS (which is patently false) it can only mean that the virus is a conspiracy launched by white people to infect the Asian races.

  • (1/22 3.30pm) Offices Sprayed: People in Beijing report that many offices have decided to take off a day early, letting staff leave or continue their work from home. The common areas of many office buildings have been sprayed with disinfectant, and companies have been handing out masks and hand sanitizers to their staff.

  • (1/22 3.30pm) Beijing Subway Line 5 Rumor Quashed: A rumor circulating on Tuesday described how Line 5 was closed after a regular commuter was diagnosed with the virus, turned out to be just that – a rumor. It turns out that while person in question – an intern at a gaming company – was indeed ill, he had been cleared of having the Wuhan coronavirus.

  • (1/22 3.30pm) Now Boarding, Wuhan to Beijing: In what may turn out to be a bad omen for Beijing, flight data presented by this Chinese-language WeChat account shows that the #1 destination by far for passengers flying out of Wuhan, the presumed source of the virus, is Beijing. Nearly 60,000 inbound passengers are estimated to have landed between Dec 30 and Jan 20.

  • (1/22 3.30pm) Bats, Man: China Daily reported on Tuesday that the virus may have originated from bats, though they also suggested there may be an “intermediary” species that lead to the virus infecting humans.

  • (1/22 3.30pm) Lose Your Lunch: The suspected origin of the outbreak has been traced to the Wuhan Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which despite its name, also allegedly dabbles in the meat camels, civets, kangaroo, and scorpion. This Chinese-language WeChat post has some harrowing photos reportedly from the market that will have you saying, “Well, now this all makes sense…”

  • (1/22 3.30pm) CDC on the Case: The US-based Centers for Disease Control has this page set up to follow the virus, which currently lacks an easy-to-use nickname like SARS and is being referred to as “2019 novel coronavirus” or “2019-nCoV."

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