Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) told Fox News on Sunday that the China&#8217;s communist government has repeatedly lied about the coronavirus, including the magnitude of the problem and where the virus originated.
Cotton, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Armed Services Committee, told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo that &#8220;the situation is very grave, in part because, as you say, China was lying from the beginning, and they&#8217;re still lying today, and also because there are so many unknowns about this virus, for example, how many people one person can infect once they have the virus, the extent to which it&#8217;s contagious before one is symptomatic, or the mortality rate.&#8221;
Cotton also said that China&#8217;s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/what-is-coronavirus.html">claim</a> in January that the virus originated from an animal market was not true.
&#8220;This virus didn&#8217;t originate in the Wuhan animal market,&#8221; Cotton said. &#8220;Epidemiologists who are widely respected from China who have published a studied in the international journal The Lancet have demonstrated that several of the original cases didn&#8217;t have any contact with that food market.&#8221;
&#8220;The virus went into that food market before it came out of that food market. So, we don&#8217;t know where it originated,&#8221; Cotton continued. &#8220;But we do know that we have to get to the bottom of that. We also know that, just a few miles away from that food market is China&#8217;s only biosafety level four super laboratory that researches human infectious diseases.&#8221;
&#8220;Now, we don&#8217;t have evidence that this disease originated there, but, because of China&#8217;s duplicity and dishonesty from the beginning, we need to at least ask the question to see what the evidence says,&#8221; Cotton added. &#8220;And China right now is not giving any evidence on that question at all.&#8221;
Cotton noted that the United States has the same types of laboratories that are run by the military and are used for preventative purposes.
&#8220;China&#8217;s obviously very secretive about what happens at the Wuhan laboratory. We don&#8217;t know, again, where this virus originated. That&#8217;s why it&#8217;s so important that we at least ask the questions and get the evidence,&#8221; Cotton said. &#8220;But China continues to block our ability to ask those questions and get that evidence.&#8221;
At the end of January, Cotton <a href="https://twitter.com/sentomcotton/status/1222923797503803392">said</a> that the coronavirus was worse than Chernobyl for China&#8217;s communist government.
Cotton also said that China&#8217;s attempts to downplay the gravity of the situation made the outbreak much worse.
&#8220;The first cases indicated in early December, which meant that they were transmitted some time in November. China finally fessed up to the WHO on December 31. If they had taken action weeks earlier, not only might their own people have been better protected, but the entire world might have been better protected,&#8221; Cotton said. &#8220;This is just a pattern of Chinese dishonesty from the very beginning, which continues to this very day. Just a few days ago, we went from a situation where they were reporting only a couple hundred more cases or maybe 1,000 more cases a day to almost 14,000 cases in a single day.&#8221;
&#8220;That wasn&#8217;t the result of any scientific discovery,&#8221; Cotton concluded. &#8220;That was a political decision to finally reveal what they knew to be true. Yet they are still covering up, in all likelihood, the number of cases and deaths from coronavirus inside of China.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I want to commend <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> for shutting down travel from China. That was the most important preventative step we could have taken. WATCH my interview with <a href="https://twitter.com/MariaBartiromo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MariaBartiromo</a> on coronavirus: <a href="https://t.co/aPa347oFQk">https://t.co/aPa347oFQk</a>
&mdash; Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenTomCotton/status/1229151761186934784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Senate Impeachment Trial Of President Donald Trump Begins

Tom Cotton: China Lying About Magnitude, Origin Of Coronavirus, ‘Worse Than Chernobyl’

China

Coronavirus

Tom Cotton

China&#8217;s communist government reported early Friday morning that an additional 5,090 people have been infected with the coronavirus and an additional 121 people have died.
&#8220;The number of reported cases has been rising more quickly after the hardest-hit province changed its method of counting them Thursday. There are now 63,851 confirmed cases in mainland China, of which 1,380 have died,&#8221; The Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/675691ae5047935577a5aff7a617ba02?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&amp;utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_source=Twitter">reported</a>. &#8220;Hubei province is now including cases based on a physician’s diagnosis and before they have been confirmed by lab tests. Of the 5,090 new cases, 3,095 fell into that category.&#8221;
Worldwide, there have been more than 64,000 cases reported and over 1,400 deaths from the coronavirus.
The news comes as China continues to expand its dragnet over larger and larger areas where the communist party is on a &#8220;wartime&#8221; campaign to round up everyone who may be infected with the virus.
&#8220;In their zeal to execute the edict, officials in Wuhan, a metropolis of 11 million, have haphazardly seized patients who have not yet tested positive for the coronavirus, in some cases herding them onto buses with no protective measures where they risked infection from others,&#8221; The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/world/asia/13china-coronavirus-cases.html?action=click&amp;module=Top%20Stories&amp;pgtype=Homepage">reported</a>. &#8220;After that, patients have been sent to makeshift medical facilities that don’t provide the support they need to recover. With little to no dedicated medical staff on hand to help, some patients die.&#8221;
The number of people infected with the virus is so high that China has had to convert stadiums, exhibition centers, hotels, schools, and other facilities into makeshift hospitals.
The Washington Post reported that the economic fallout from the epidemic shows no signs of slowing down and is &#8220;expected to linger for months even if the flulike illness is soon brought under control, economists and supply chain experts say.&#8221;
&#8220;The Chinese epidemic’s aftereffects will probably cause the global economy to shrink this quarter for the first time since the depths of the 2009 financial crisis, according to Capital Economics in London,&#8221; The Post reported. &#8220;Chinese factories had been scheduled to reopen Feb. 10, after a Lunar New Year holiday that had been extended for several days because of the medical scare.&#8221;
Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz, a German financial services company, told The Post, “I worry that it’s going to be a bigger deal than most economists are treating it as right now. It will take time to restart all these economic engines.”
The outbreak could increase pressure on U.S. officials to confront a separate but somewhat related issue: the fact that China controls a significant portion of the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals.
The Hill <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/467246-another-chinese-threat-to-our-national-security-prescription-drugs">reported</a>:
<blockquote>As recently as the 1990s, the U.S., Europe and Japan manufactured 90 percent of the global supply of key ingredients for the world’s medicines and vitamins. China now has become the largest global supplier of active ingredients and chemical building blocks needed to make many prescription drugs and over-the-counter products.
Millions of Americans ingest drugs made in China — and they likely don’t know it. Hundreds of thousands of physicians prescribe them; the medicines may be packaged to look like all-American products, but they are not.</blockquote>
Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) wrote in an op-ed last year that the trade war could provoke China into using the leverage that it has in pharmaceutical as a way of creating pressure on the U.S.
&#8220;We should not be held hostage by any foreign country,&#8221; Eshoo <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-care/u-s-officials-worried-about-chinese-control-american-drug-supply-n1052376">told</a> NBC News. &#8220;We need to move away from any country having a monopoly on the ingredients that we depend upon our antibiotics — anthrax [vaccine], penicillin, high blood pressure drugs.&#8221;
This report has been updated to include additional information.

CHINA WUHAN COVID-19 PATIENTS HOSPITAL

Thousands More Cases Of Coronavirus Reported, Triple Digits Added To Death Count

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps issued &#8220;disease containment preparedness&#8221; guidelines this week outlining the measures U.S. Northern Command is now implementing to prepare for a possible outbreak.
The orders were issued amid <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/test-kits-for-novel-coronavirus-hit-a-snag-in-the-u-s-11581565817">reports</a> revealing that the number of people in the U.S. who have contracted the potentially deadly virus has reached 14, included two currently being quarantined at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, while the number of confirmed cases in China reportedly increased by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-number-of-confirmed-cases-deaths-of-coronavirus-explodes-in-china">nearly 15,000</a>.
As reported by the <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/02/13/us-military-prepping-for-coronavirus-pandemic/">Military Times</a>, service-wide announcements issued Tuesday and Wednesday by the Navy and Marine Corps reveal that the U.S. Northern Command &#8220;is executing plans to prepare for a potential pandemic of the novel coronavirus, now called COVID19.&#8221;
&#8220;An executive order issued by the Joint Staff and approved by Defense Secretary Mark Esper this month directed Northern Command and geographic combatant commanders to initiate pandemic plans, which include ordering commanders to prepare for widespread outbreaks and confining service members with a history of travel to China,&#8221; the Military Times reports.
The service-wide messages cite an executive order directing U.S. Northern Command to &#8220;implement the Department of Defense Global Campaign plan for Pandemic Influenza and Infectious Diseases 3551-13,&#8221; which provides instructions for preparing for a widespread outbreak, the outlet explains.
Military Times reports that U.S. Northern Command said it was directed on Feb. 1 by the Joint Staff to begin &#8220;prudent planning&#8221; for a potential pandemic. As stressed by Navy Lt. Cmdr. Mike Hatfield, the planning in no way &#8220;indicate[s] a greater likelihood of an event developing.&#8221;
&#8220;The current threat of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus has raised concern that this virus could result in a pandemic disease,&#8221; read the guidelines issued by the Marine Corps on Wednesday (full text below). &#8220;In such a scenario, nCoV could spread, infecting U.S. personnel, and threaten the operational readiness of the U.S. Marine Corps.&#8221;
&#8220;An outbreak of a new (novel) coronavirus is rapidly evolving, but currently poses a LOW RISK to personnel located in CONUS [continental United States],&#8221; the guidelines background section states. &#8220;Plan, and take preparatory and precautionary actions to ensure that an outbreak of 2019-nCoV does not incapacitate Marine Corps forces, installations, and facilities,&#8221; the method section reads. &#8220;If 2019-nCoV is introduced on USMC installations and facilities, or within the Fleet Marine Force (FMF), execute plans and procedures to improve Force Health Protection (FHP) and readiness.&#8221;
Below is an excerpt from the &#8220;<a href="https://www.marines.mil/News/Messages/Messages-Display/Article/2081806/us-marine-corps-disease-containment-preparedness-planning-guidance-for-2019-nov/">Disease Containment Preparedness Planning Guidance For 2019 Novel Coronavirus</a>&#8221; issued by the U.S. Marine Corps Wednesday (formatting adjusted):
1. Situation. 
1.A. General. 
1.A.1.  Commanders will take specific actions to review and validate Disease Containment Plans to prepare for and respond to a potential occurrence of the 2019 Novel (New) Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). 
1.A.2. The current threat of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus has raised concern that this virus could result in a pandemic disease.  In such a scenario, nCoV could spread, infecting U.S. personnel, and threaten the operational readiness of the U.S. Marine Corps. 
1.A.3. The Marine Corps’ response to a pandemic outbreak focuses on five major areas:  1) Force Health Protection (FHP); 2) Disease Containment Planning (DCP) and Readiness; 3) Continuity of Operations (COOP); 4) Defense Support of Civilian Authorities (DSCA); and 5) Support to U.S. Government response efforts.
1.B. Background. 
1.B.1. An outbreak of a new (novel) coronavirus is rapidly evolving, but currently poses a LOW RISK to personnel located in CONUS.  The 2019-nCoV is a viral respiratory disease related  to Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).  Symptoms of 2019-nCoV may include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. 
1.B.2. Chinese health authorities identified 2019-nCoV as the cause of the pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan, China.  There are confirmed cases in over 20 countries, including the United States, with validated cases in Arizona, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Washington State, and Wisconsin, with one reported death of an American citizen in China. 
1.B.3. The U.S. State Department issued a LEVEL 4 DO NOT TRAVEL advisory to China on 30 January 2020.  The World Health Organization (WHO) has categorized risk as VERY HIGH for China, and HIGH globally, and declared that nCoV constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). 
1.B.4. Although the United States Government, in conjunction with private industry, is conducting research to identify protocols that may treat the 2019-nCoV disease, there are no U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments at this time.  Standard treatment for 2019-nCoV includes prompt implementation of recommended infection prevention and control measures and supportive management of complications.  Per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a person under investigation for 2019-nCoV infection should be isolated, and healthcare professionals, and local or state health departments, should be notified immediately. 
1.B.5.  Presently, the U.S. Marine Corps is planning, conducting routine surveillance, and commencing engagement activities, to assure and solidify collaborative relationships, and inform all personnel, to be prepared for disease containment operations and support. 
1.B.6.  This MARADMIN aligns with validating Disease Containment and Installation CBRNE Protection Plans IAW references F and J.
2.  Mission.  The U.S. Marine Corps will prepare for potential outbreaks of 2019-nCoV.  If an outbreak occurs, the Marine Corps mitigates, responds, and recovers from the effects in order to maintain force readiness.
3.  Execution. 
3.A.  Commander’s Intent. 
3.A.1.  Method. 
3.A.1.A.  Plan, and take preparatory and precautionary actions to ensure that an outbreak of 2019-nCoV does not incapacitate Marine Corps forces, installations, and facilities.  If 2019-nCoV is introduced on USMC installations and facilities,  or within the Fleet Marine Force (FMF), execute plans and procedures to improve Force Health Protection (FHP) and readiness. 
3.A.1.B.  Planning will address protection of all Marines, government civilian, contract workforce personnel, and military family members. 
3.A.1.C.  Planning will address FHP, both in garrison and during deployment. Per reference E, the following prescriptive measures must be adhered to: 
3.A.1.C.1.  Identify all Marines returning from mainland China after 2 February 2020 and place service members under a 14-day restriction of movement (ROM). 
3.A.1.C.2.  During the 14-day ROM: 
3.A.1.C.2.A.  Restrict Marines to their residence for a 14-day ROM period, starting from the day of departure from mainland China. 
3.A.1.C.2.B.  Marines will be assessed by cognizant medical staff (by phone consultation or in person), as soon as possible, within the first 24 hours of arrival to home station or their final destination, for the development of fever or symptoms of 2019-nCoV. 
3.A.1.C.2.C.  Marines living in open-bay settings, or rooms with shared bathrooms and/or kitchen facilities, will be placed in separate lodging to span the 14-day ROM period.  The command to which the Marine is assigned will arrange for the separate lodging. 
3.A.1.C.2.D.  Marines will be assessed daily for fever and symptoms by cognizant medical staff (by phone consultation or in person).  For all in-person assessments of members, (including those which are asymptomatic), medical personnel should wear appropriate PPE. 
3.A.1.C.2.E.  Marines will separate themselves from other people in the home/dwelling if residing with roommates/family members to avoid sharing personal items, to the extent possible pursuant to existing guidance. 
3.A.1.C.2.F.  Marines may not travel, visit public/crowded areas, or use public transportation and should avoid interaction with pets or other animals, to the greatest extent possible. 
3.A.1.C.2.G.  Medical evaluation and care will be immediately arranged if the Marine displays fever and symptoms consistent with the 2019-nCoV, as per CDC guidance. 
3.A.1.C.2.G.1.  The Marine will call ahead before going to a medical treatment facility (MTF), informing the MTF of his/her symptoms and travel history. 
3.A.1.C.2.G.2.  MTF staff should follow CDC guidance when assessing Marines who display fever and symptoms consistent with 2019-nCoV. 
3.A.1.C.2.G.3.  If a Marine or Sailor is identified as a patient, per previously published guidance, appropriate reporting will be initiated. 
3.A.1.C.3.  Until further notice, it is recommended that civilian employees and contractor personnel, and family members returning from China follow existing CDC guidance.  Key aspects include voluntarily:  remaining at home, avoiding congregate settings, limiting close contact with people and pets/other animals to the greatest extent possible, avoiding travel, self-monitoring, and seeking immediate medical care if symptoms develop. 
3.A.1.C.4.  Potentially affected personnel will be identified in coordination with Federal, State, and local medical planners, healthcare providers, and Public Health Emergency Officers (PHEOs).  Actions will mitigate the spread of 2019-nCoV to unaffected personnel. 
3.B.  End State.  The U.S. Marine Corps is postured to mitigate, contain, respond to, and recover from the effects of a public health crisis, and is capable of conducting assigned missions in a pandemic environment. 
3.C.  Concept of Operations.  The concept of operations in response to a viral disease crisis retains the phased approach structure outlined in NORTHCOM CONPLAN 3551, IAW  reference I. 
3.D.  Tasks. 
3.D.1.  Commanders will: 
3.D.1.A.  Review, update, and validate existing disease containment plans and policies in order to implement procedures for response, isolation, quarantine, restriction of movement, and community-based intervention. 
3.D.1.B.  Restrict travel and movement of personnel to areas experiencing 2019-nCoV outbreaks.  Provide appropriate medical and non-medical screening of, and protection for, personnel returning from affected areas.  Monitoring and screening of individuals potentially exposed to 2019-nCoV should be based on the guidance set forth in reference E. 
3.D.1.C.  Develop measures to contain and treat U.S. service members DOD employees, contract employees, and family members exposed to, or possibly exposed to 2019-nCoV. 
3.D.1.D.  Interim guidance and recommendations for reporting, testing and specimen collection can be found at the CDC website:  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/HCP/clinical-criteria.html. 
3.D.1.E.  IAW reference K, report suspected cases of Marines and Sailors meeting the CDC’s definition of a patient or confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV through service and combatant command reporting channels, and to COMMARFORNORTH for tracking and reporting to CDRUSNORTHCOM.  OPREP-3 and/or SIR formatting guidance is contained in reference L. 
3.D.1.F.  Ensure DCP is incorporated into COOP plans, including continuity of essential services. 
3.D.1.G.  Coordinate with MTFs in development and execution of DCP responses. 
3.D.1.H.  Commanders will protect personally identifiable information and protected health information, as applicable, in accordance with U.S Law and DoD regulations and policies. 
3.D.1.I.  Coordinate with Navy Regional Medical Command to request PHEO support. 
3.D.1.J.  Become familiar with authority to declare a public health emergency, restrict movement, quarantine and isolate.  Coordinate with Federal, State, local, and military treatment facilities and public health emergency officials outlined in Section 3 of reference B. 
3.D.1.K.  Validate Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Disease Containment Response Plans for 2019-nCoV that incorporate the requirements of this MARADMIN. 
3.D.2.  Coordinating Instructions. 
3.D.2.A.  The U.S. Marine Corps will follow CDC guidance for healthcare providers at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/clinical-criteria.html.  Additional reference material for protective equipment that may go beyond current CDC guidelines are available at:  https://health.mil/Reference-Center/Policies/2018/09/25/Personal-Protective-Equipment-Policy-Guidance.  Due to the dynamic nature of this outbreak, individuals should frequently check the CDC 2019-nCoV website for additional updates at:  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.
4.  Administration and Logistics.  This MARADMIN has been coordinated with HQMC Operations Division, HQMC, Health Services – Preventive Medicine, and HQMC Judge Advocate.
5.  Command and Signal.  A.  Command.  This MARADMIN applies to the Total Force.  B. Signal.  This MARADMIN is effective immediately.

Marine Corps

READ IT: U.S. Military Issues Coronavirus Containment Plan Orders

Marines

Military

U.S. Navy

The number of cases of those infected by the coronavirus in China exploded on Thursday as nearly 15,000 new cases and 242 new deaths from the virus were reported after health officials broadened the types of cases that they includes in their count.
The 14,840 new cases in the Hubei province was by far the largest single day spike of new cases as was the additional 242 people who were killed by it.
&#8220;Chinese officials previously only counted cases confirmed by nucleic acid tests, which critics said were faulty and greatly underestimated the true magnitude of the epidemic,&#8221; The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/coronavirus-china-live-updates/2020/02/12/c60c3606-4d21-11ea-b721-9f4cdc90bc1c_story.html">reported</a>. &#8220;For weeks, Chinese doctors and patients have complained about a lack of nucleic acid testing kits and their accuracy. The dramatic jump in cases in Hubei essentially confirms longtime suspicions that China was for weeks vastly undercounting cases of the virus.&#8221;
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the outbreak will negatively impact the U.S. economy.
&#8220;The monthly survey of economists found 83% of economists expected the coronavirus outbreak will have a small impact on U.S. gross domestic product growth from January to March, or less than 0.5 percentage point,&#8221; The Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/wsj-survey-coronavirus-likely-to-hit-first-quarter-u-s-growth-11581539188?tesla=y&amp;mod=article_inline">reported</a>. &#8220;Just 5% of forecasters expected a significant reduction of more than 0.5 percentage point off the quarter’s annual growth rate, while 10% expected no impact.&#8221;
Constance Hunter, chief economist at KPMG, told The Journal, “The negative demand shock from coronavirus is significant. China’s GDP will be impacted significantly and this will show up in everything from commodity prices to demand for global goods and services.”
Gregory Daco, an economist at Oxford Economics, told The Journal, “The drag on the economy from the halt to production will average 0.5 percentage point in the first quarter, and the hit to the economy in 2020 will depend on how quickly production resumes. Assuming a slow resumption, the Boeing travails will reduce GDP growth by 0.1 percentage point in 2020.”
The New York Times reported that trust in China&#8217;s communist government is deteriorating as the public is highly skeptical anytime the communist government releases new figures.
“The situation that we’ve seen is much worse than what has been officially reported,” Long Jian, 32, told The New York Times. “Those who can get diagnosed and treated are the lucky ones. In our neighborhood, many who weren’t able to get diagnosed ended up dying at home.”
&#8220;The shifting case counts are not the only example of conflicting or spotty information,&#8221; the Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/world/asia/china-coronavirus-cases.html">reported</a>. &#8220;Researchers have given differing estimates on when the outbreak might peak, ranging from a date already past to several months in the future. The Chinese authorities have closely guarded the demographic details about the fatalities, creating uncertainty about who is most susceptible.&#8221;
Earlier this week, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who goes by his first name, warned that officials may only be seeing &#8220;the tip of the iceberg.&#8221;
“As I told media yesterday, #2019nCoV spread outside #China appears to be slow now, but could accelerate. Containment remains our objective, but all countries must use the window of opportunity created by the containment strategy to prepare for the virus’s possible arrival,” Tedros said. “There’ve been some concerning instances of onward #2019nCoV spread from people with no travel history to 🇨🇳. The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries; in short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
There’ve been some concerning instances of onward <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/2019nCoV?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#2019nCoV</a> spread from people with no travel history to 🇨🇳. The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries; in short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg.
&mdash; Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1226629008302931971?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Newsweek <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-china-outbreak-epidemic-wuhan-1485354">reported</a> last week that “a study published in the medical journal The Lancet estimated that the number of coronavirus infections could be more than four times higher than the number given by Chinese authorities.”
“It said its ‘baseline scenario’ put the figure in the city of Wuhan at 75,815 as of January 25,” Newsweek continued. “The Lancet report also projected the “epidemics are already growing exponentially in multiple major cities of China with a lag time behind the Wuhan outbreak of about 1–2 weeks.”
This report has been updated to include additional information.

CHINA-HEALTH-VIRUS

Number Of Confirmed Cases, Deaths From Coronavirus Explodes In China

UC San Diego Health, a regional research hospital that specializes in deadly and infectious diseases, released four patients Sunday after the Center for Disease Control informed the hospital that the patients had tested negative for coronavirus. One of the patients, however, was returned to the hospital on Monday after the CDC performed further testing, and realized that the patient did, in fact, have the disease. 
According to the <a href="https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/health/story/2020-02-10/san-diego-county-has-firt">San Diego Union-Tribune</a>, the four patients had been transported to the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California, where they were previously held under federal quarantine along with over 200 Americans returning from China. 
A spokesperson for the university told the Tribune that the patient who was prematurely discharged continued to follow protocols necessary to minimize the risk of infecting others, and had been transported back to the marine base under federal supervision. 
“The patient left UC San Diego Health the same way they arrived, with all precautions taken. The patient was wearing a mask per CDC instruction. The federal marshals transported the patient while wearing protection,” the spokesperson told the news agency.
According to a UC San Diego Health <a href="https://health.ucsd.edu/news/Pages/Coronavirus-update.aspx">press release</a>, the patient will be held at the hospital for “observation and isolation until cleared by the CDC for release,” but for the time being is “doing well” and has “minimal symptoms.”
The Tribune also reports that it was unclear “how long the patient was present at the base before officials realized that their negative test result was actually positive,” as a specific timeline for the ordeal was not provided. 
In the last 24 hours, the World Health Organization has created a moniker for Coronavirus, COVID-19. According to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/world/asia/coronavirus-china.html">The New York Times</a>, the organization says the name was created to avoid the stigma of identifying the disease with a particular location, animal, or group, while still keeping a pronounceable name.  
“Having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatizing. It also gives us a standard format to use for any future coronavirus outbreaks,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of WHO, according to the organization&#8217;s <a href="https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1227248666127159298">Twitter account.</a> 
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/w-h-o-warns-as-coronavirus-deaths-hit-1000-may-be-the-tip-of-the-iceberg">The Daily Wire</a> previously reported, China’s communist government publicly announced Monday that 1,016 people have died from the Coronavirus since the disease began ravaging Wuhan, China, before spreading outside the region and into small pockets around the world. In total, the Chinese government has reported 42,638 infections. However, a peer-reviewed medical journal has previously estimated that the true number may be as much as four times higher. 
According to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/business/china-coronavirus-commodities.html">The New York Times</a>, the disease has already begun to throw a wrench into the multinational commodity markets that rely on Chinese industry to consume raw materials. 
<blockquote>Prices for key industrial raw materials such as copper, iron ore, nickel, aluminum and liquid natural gas have plummeted since the virus emerged. Currencies of countries that export these goods at high rates, including Brazil, South Africa and Australia, are near their lowest levels in recent memory. And manufacturers, mining companies and commodity producers of all stripes are weighing whether they will be forced to cut back on production for fear of adding to a growing inventory glut.</blockquote>

Brits Evacuated From Coronavirus-hit Wuhan Arrive In The UK

California Hospital Releases Patient Cleared Of Coronavirus, Tests Positive Following Day

The coronavirus epidemic hit new highs on Monday after communist China said that an additional 108 people died from the virus over the previous 24 hours, bringing the death total to 1,016.
Communist China also claimed that 2,467 more people were infected with the virus over the previous 24 hours, bringing the total number of people infected to 42,638.
Newsweek reported last week that &#8220;a study published in the medical journal The Lancet estimated that the number of coronavirus infections could be more than four times higher than the number given by Chinese authorities.&#8221;
&#8220;It said its &#8216;baseline scenario&#8217; put the figure in the city of Wuhan at 75,815 as of January 25,&#8221; Newsweek continued. &#8220;The Lancet report also projected the &#8220;epidemics are already growing exponentially in multiple major cities of China with a lag time behind the Wuhan outbreak of about 1–2 weeks.&#8221;
The New York Times reported last week that Chinese residents said that the epidemic was significantly worse than what China&#8217;s communist government claimed.
“The situation that we’ve seen is much worse than what has been officially reported,” Long Jian, 32, told The New York Times. “Those who can get diagnosed and treated are the lucky ones. In our neighborhood, many who weren’t able to get diagnosed ended up dying at home.”
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who goes by his first name, is the director-general of the World Health Organization and warned on Monday that the numbers currently being reported may not accurately reflect how bad the situation is.
&#8220;As I told media yesterday, #2019nCoV spread outside #China appears to be slow now, but could accelerate. Containment remains our objective, but all countries must use the window of opportunity created by the containment strategy to prepare for the virus’s possible arrival,&#8221; Tedros said. &#8220;There’ve been some concerning instances of onward #2019nCoV spread from people with no travel history to 🇨🇳. The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries; in short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
There’ve been some concerning instances of onward <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/2019nCoV?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#2019nCoV</a> spread from people with no travel history to 🇨🇳. The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries; in short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg.
&mdash; Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1226629008302931971?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The biggest impact from the coronavirus could be felt in the global economy since China has become the world&#8217;s second most powerful economy and the outbreak has halted production in the communist nation.
&#8220;More than two weeks after China locked down a major city to stop a dangerous viral outbreak, one of the world’s largest economies remains largely idle,&#8221; The Times reported. &#8220;Much of the country was supposed to have reopened by now, but its empty streets, quiet factories and legions of inactive workers suggest that weeks or months could pass before this vital motor of global growth is humming again.&#8221;
&#8220;The global economy could suffer the longer China stays in low gear,&#8221; The Times added. &#8220;It has been hampered by both the outbreak and its own containment efforts, a process that has cut off workers from their jobs and factories from their raw materials. The result is a slowdown that is already slashing traffic along the world’s shipping lines and leading to forecasts of a sharp fall in production of everything from cars to smartphones.&#8221;
Jörg Wuttke, the president of the European Chamber of Commerce in China, said, “It’s like Europe in medieval times.”

Hong Kong Evacuates Residents At Building With Two Virus Cases

W.H.O. Warns As Coronavirus Deaths Hit 1,000: ‘May Be The Tip Of The Iceberg’

The Chinese Ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, appeared to not deny that the coronavirus came from China&#8217;s biological warfare program on Sunday and instead suggested that the deadly virus could have come from a military lab in the U.S.
Tiankai made the remarks on CBS News&#8217; &#8220;Face The Nation&#8221; in response to China&#8217;s struggle to stop the coronavirus from continuing to spread. It has now <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/09/world/asia/coronavirus-china.html">infected</a> at least 37,198 and killed at least 811 in China.
&#8220;This week, Senator Tom Cotton, who sits on the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services Committee, suggested that the virus may have come from China&#8217;s biological warfare program,&#8221; CBS News&#8217; Margaret Brennan said. &#8220;That&#8217;s an extraordinary charge. How do you respond to that?&#8221;
&#8220;I think it&#8217;s true that a lot is still unknown and our scientists, Chinese scientists, American scientists, scientists of other countries are doing their best to learn more about the virus, but it&#8217;s very harmful,&#8221; Cui responded. &#8220;It&#8217;s very dangerous to stir up suspicion, rumors and spread them among the people. For one thing, this will create panic. Another thing that it will fend up racial discrimination, xenophobia, all these things, that will really harm our joint efforts to combat the virus.&#8221;
&#8220;Of course, there are all kinds of speculation and rumors,&#8221; Cui continued. &#8220;There are people who are saying that these virus are coming from some &#8212; some military lab, not of China, maybe in the United States. How &#8212; how can we believe all these crazy things?&#8221;
&#8220;You think it&#8217;s crazy,&#8221; Brennan pressed. &#8220;Where did the virus come from?&#8221;
&#8220;Absolutely crazy,&#8221; responded.
&#8220;Where did the virus come from?&#8221; Brennan asked.
&#8220;We still don&#8217;t know yet,&#8221; Cui responded. &#8220;It&#8217;s probably according to some initial outcome of the research, probably coming from some animals. But we have to &#8212; to discover more about it.&#8221;
Republican National Committee (RNC) Rapid Response Director Steve Guest flagged the clip on Twitter, writing, &#8220;China&#8217;s ambassador to the United States just went on CBS&#8217; &#8216;Face the Nation&#8217; and DID NOT deny that coronavirus stemmed from the Chinese military&#8217;s biological warfare program. Amb. Cui Tiankai then suggested that the virus could come from a US military lab.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
China&#39;s ambassador to the United States just went on CBS&#39; &quot;Face the Nation&quot; and DID NOT deny that coronavirus stemmed from the Chinese military&#39;s biological warfare program.
Amb. Cui Tiankai then suggested that the virus could come from a US military lab. <a href="https://t.co/z2g254iccz">pic.twitter.com/z2g254iccz</a>
&mdash; Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveGuest/status/1226545553393278977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;The coronavirus death toll in China has risen to 811, surpassing the toll from the SARS epidemic of 2002-3, according to official data released on Sunday,&#8221; The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/09/world/asia/coronavirus-china.html?action=click&amp;module=Top%20Stories&amp;pgtype=Homepage">reported</a>. &#8220;The number of confirmed infections rose to 37,198, according to China’s National Health Commission. Eighty-nine deaths and 2,656 new cases were recorded in the preceding 24 hours, most of them in Hubei Province, the heart of the outbreak.&#8221;
World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-51429400">warned</a> against misinformation last week, saying that it was &#8220;making the work of our heroic workers even harder.&#8221;
&#8220;I would also like to speak briefly about the importance of facts, not fear,&#8221; Tedros said. &#8220;People must have access to accurate information to protect themselves and others.&#8221;
&#8220;At the WHO we&#8217;re not just battling the virus, we&#8217;re also battling the trolls and conspiracy theories that undermine our response,&#8221; Tedros continued. &#8220;As a Guardian [newspaper] headline says today, &#8216;Misinformation on the coronavirus might be the most contagious thing about it&#8217;.&#8221;
The BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-51429400">reported</a> that a Russian state media organization suggested that the American government was behind the virus.
The Middle East Media Research Institute <a href="https://www.memri.org/reports/arab-writers-coronavirus-part-biological-warfare-waged-us-against-china">reported</a> that some in Arab media blamed the United States and said that the virus was being weaponized against China.
&#8220;Following the spread of the coronavirus in China and other countries, several writers in the Arab press wrote that this virus and others, such as the SARS and swine flu viruses, were deliberately created and spread by the U.S. in order to make a profit by selling vaccines against these diseases,&#8221; MEMRI reported. &#8220;Others wrote that the virus was part of an economic and psychological war waged by the U.S. against China with the aim of weakening it and presenting it as a backward country and a source of diseases.&#8221;
This report has been updated to include additional information.

China&#8217;s Ambassador To U.S. Cui Tiankai Interview

WATCH: Chinese Ambassador Asked If Coronavirus Came From Biological Warfare Program

biological warfare

China announced on Thursday that it was cutting tariffs in half on hundreds of U.S. products worth tens of billions of dollars as China struggles to contain a deadly virus that has killed hundreds.
&#8220;The cuts follow last month’s signing of a &#8216;Phase 1&#8217; agreement toward ending a long-running tariff war over Beijing’s technology ambitions and trade surplus. Both sides have made conciliatory gestures but the lingering dispute threatens to chill global economic growth,&#8221; The Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/7471cbc2cff257050b9474af5c05ea4c?utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_source=Twitter&amp;utm_campaign=SocialFlow">reported</a>. &#8220;The reductions follow American tariff cuts last month on Chinese goods. There was no indication Beijing altered its own cuts in response to the rising cost of efforts to contain a virus outbreak that have depressed business activity by closing factories, restaurants and shops.&#8221;
CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/06/china-to-halve-tariffs-on-hundreds-of-us-goods.html">reported</a> that the retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. goods &#8220;will be cut from 10% to 5%, and from 5% to 2.5% on others, according to a statement from China’s Ministry of Finance&#8221; and the adjustment will &#8220;take effect from 1:01 p.m on Feb. 14, it said, without specifying which time zone it was referring to.&#8221;
&#8220;The cuts apply to about $75 billion worth of imports from the U.S. that was slapped with tariffs on Sept. 1, 2019, according to a separate statement on the ministry’s website,&#8221; CNBC reported. &#8220;After the cut, duties on U.S. crude will be reduced to 2.5%, from 5%, and the tariff on soybeans will be trimmed by 2.5%.&#8221;
The Financial Times <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/6e7113ac-489a-11ea-aeb3-955839e06441">reported</a> that the announcement by China &#8220;spurred a rally on global stock markets with Asian bourses rallying from deep losses on mounting concerns over the impact on China from the virus,&#8221; adding that &#8220;European shares also gained ground while US futures trading was indicating a firmer start to Wall Street.&#8221;
Fears have grown that the recent outbreak of the rapidly spreading coronavirus, which has infected roughly 25,000 people and killed well over 500, could harm U.S.-China trade relations.
The virus &#8220;is taking a heavy toll on China’s economy by halting factory work, grounding flights and disrupting supply chains,&#8221; The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/03/business/economy/coronavirus-china-trade-economy.html">reported</a>. &#8220;It is also likely to slow China’s progress in meeting the commitments it agreed to as part of the initial trade deal that the Trump administration signed with Chinese officials last month.&#8221;
&#8220;Economists have predicted a drag on global growth from the virus, at least in the short term. In the United States, Goldman Sachs analysts estimate a 0.4 percentage-point reduction in first-quarter economic growth, though that effect is likely to fade,&#8221; The Times added. &#8220;Those costs could quickly outweigh the economic benefits of the trade agreement. While the Trump administration has touted big economic gains from the pact, economists’ forecasts have been modest, since the deal leaves tariffs in place on more than $360 billion of Chinese goods.&#8221;
The Times noted that &#8220;privately, some Trump administration officials say that China may use the virus as an excuse to delay meeting its commitments, in hopes that Mr. Trump will ultimately be voted out of office this year.&#8221;
President Donald Trump tweeted about the virus outbreak at the end of the last month, writing: &#8220;Working closely with China and others on Coronavirus outbreak. Only 5 people in U.S., all in good recovery.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Working closely with China and others on Coronavirus outbreak. Only 5 people in U.S., all in good recovery.
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1223004106408833025?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

CHINA-ECONOMY-TRADE

China Making Major Slashes To Retaliatory Tariffs On $75 Billion In U.S. Goods

These days it&#8217;s hard to tell where sincerity ends and parody begins. Reality has become nearly indistinguishable from satire. As a case-in-point consider the recent <a href="https://gizmodo.com/jack-ma-donates-14-million-for-coronavirus-vaccine-li-1841348762?utm_medium=socialflow&amp;utm_source=gizmodo_twitter&amp;utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_twitter">article</a> on Gizmodo complaining that billionaire Jack Ma has donated $14 million to develop a coronavirus vaccine. Author Matt Novak says that this apparently paltry sum is &#8220;roughly equivalent to the average American household donating $33.&#8221; He concludes, somehow, that Ma&#8217;s generosity is proof that the government should &#8220;take that obscene wealth through taxes and [spend] it to make the world a healthier place for everyone.&#8221;
Of course, arguing that $14 million is effectively worthless because it&#8217;s such a low percentage of the giver&#8217;s overall wealth is nonsense, both logically and morally. $14 million to develop a vaccine is equivalent to $14 million to develop a vaccine, period. If I were starving and a man with 600 sandwiches offered me one, I wouldn&#8217;t refuse it on the grounds that one sandwich from a man with 600 sandwiches is like 3 crumbs from a man with one sandwich. I guess Matt Novak would. At least if he has the courage of his profoundly deranged convictions.
<iframe title="Fighting The Coronavirus With Diversity And Tolerance | The Matt Walsh Show Ep. 417" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ouc0I5qX0CM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
But this article was not the best example of leftist self-satire to grace the internet yesterday. That title must go to an <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/30/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-diversity-obama/index.html?utm_content=2020-01-30T19%3A28%3A03&amp;utm_term=image&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twCNNp">article</a> published Thursday on CNN.com, a website whose content would feel right at home on the Babylon Bee.
Headline: &#8220;Coronavirus task force another example of Trump administration&#8217;s lack of diversity.&#8221;
At length, CNN writer Brandon Tensley complains that the experts tapped to combat and contain the deadly coronavirus are too white and too male. &#8220;Who are these experts?&#8221; Tensley asks indignantly. &#8220;They&#8217;re largely the same sorts of white men (and a couple women on the sidelines) who&#8217;ve dominated the Trump administration from the very beginning.&#8221;
He reminds us that President Obama was far more progressive and race-conscious with the Ebola outbreak in 2014. This lies in stark contrast, he contends, to the unsubtle racist message Trump is sending with the team he assembled. The task force &#8220;telegraphs the kinds of people the administration deems worthy of holding power,&#8221; Tensley says. And those people are &#8220;mostly white men who are mirror images of the President himself.&#8221;
One wonders if the writer of this CNN article has noticed the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/specials/tv/anchors-and-reporters">CNN TV lineup</a>. I haven&#8217;t seen so many white people since my wife dragged me into a HomeGoods. Or maybe since I watched the last Democratic primary debate. But CNN has never seem too concerned with hitting the sort of arbitrary racial quotas it wishes to impose on the Trump Administration. That&#8217;s probably because CNN tries to hire the people best suited for the job, regardless of demographic. They appear to fail rather miserably in that regard, but the strategy makes sense in theory.
It makes even more sense for a team of people tasked with the job of monitoring and containing a deadly virus. If Trump emphasized ethnic and sexual diversity over expertise, I&#8217;m not sure I&#8217;d be able to find much comfort in the diversity of his failed task force as I take my last gasping breaths. Perhaps Tensley would feel different. If it were up to him, I&#8217;m sure he&#8217;d fill the team with fashionable ethnic minorities, transgenders, pansexuals, and drag queens, irrespective of their epidemiological backgrounds, and then tell us to take heart as the virus kills our families, knowing that they lay down their lives in service to racial inclusion.
Am I exaggerating? I don&#8217;t think so. Exaggeration is no longer possible. Satire is dead. And leftists have its blood on their hands.

NATO 2018 Summit

WALSH: CNN Complains That Trump’s Coronavirus Task Force Isn’t Diverse Enough, Proving Again That Satire Is Dead

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global emergency over the spread of the deadly coronavirus epidemic, as thousands of new cases have been reported and the death toll closes in on 200 people.
&#8220;The decision reversed the organization’s decision just a week ago to hold off such a declaration,&#8221; The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/30/health/coronavirus-world-health-organization.html">reported</a>. &#8220;Since then, W.H.O. officials said, thousands of new cases in China and clear human-to-human transmission in several other countries — now including the United States — warranted a reconsideration of that decision by the agency’s expert committee.&#8221;
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Thursday that is had confirmed the first person-to-person of the coronavirus in the U.S.
&#8220;The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today confirmed that the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has spread between two people in the United States, representing the first instance of person-to-person spread with this new virus here,&#8221; the CDC said in a statement. &#8220;Previously, all confirmed U.S. cases had been associated with travel to Wuhan, China, where an outbreak of respiratory illness caused by this novel coronavirus has been ongoing since December 2019. However, this latest 2019-nCoV patient has no history of travel to Wuhan, but shared a household with the patient diagnosed with 2019-nCoV infection on January 21, 2020.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Today CDC and <a href="https://twitter.com/IDPH?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IDPH</a> confirmed diagnosis of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/2019nCoV?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#2019nCoV</a> in a patient who had not traveled from China but had close contact with a traveler previously confirmed with the novel <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/coronavirus?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#coronavirus</a>. Read the press release: <a href="https://t.co/d7FyZLzRed">https://t.co/d7FyZLzRed</a>. <a href="https://t.co/WSzdgpcgrU">pic.twitter.com/WSzdgpcgrU</a>
&mdash; CDC (@CDCgov) <a href="https://twitter.com/CDCgov/status/1222979023623553024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The latest <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/30/coronavirus-cases-top-8200-surpassing-2003-sars-outbreak-in-less-than-a-month.html">figures</a> to come out of communist China indicate that more than 8,100 people have been infected with the virus &#8212; a tenfold increase in just one week &#8212; with at least 170 dead as the virus has now officially spread more rapidly than the SARS virus did in 2002 and 2003.
&#8220;The Committee agreed that the outbreak now meets the criteria for a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and proposed the following advice to be issued as Temporary Recommendations,&#8221; WHO said in a statement. &#8220;As this is a new coronavirus, and it has been previously shown that similar coronaviruses required substantial efforts to enable regular information sharing and research, the global community should continue to demonstrate solidarity and cooperation, in compliance with Article 44 of the IHR (2005), in supporting each other on the identification of the source of this new virus, its full potential for human-to-human transmission, preparedness for potential importation of cases, and research for developing necessary treatment.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Full statement on the meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/2019nCoV?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#2019nCoV</a> 👉 <a href="https://t.co/Ia5pFPn3Qi">https://t.co/Ia5pFPn3Qi</a> <a href="https://t.co/YhlPG2YwOJ">pic.twitter.com/YhlPG2YwOJ</a>
&mdash; World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) <a href="https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1222975329360392215?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Financial Times reported on Thursday that Russia closed its borders with China to prevent the virus from spreading into Russia.
&#8220;Russia on Thursday ordered the closure of its huge land border with China as Moscow scrambles to prevent the deadly coronavirus infection spreading from its southern neighbor,&#8221; The Financial Times <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/75adafb6-4306-11ea-abea-0c7a29cd66fe">reported</a>. &#8220;There have been no confirmed cases of the respiratory illness in Russia but Vladimir Putin’s government is anxious to prevent the virus from crossing a land border that stretches for more than 4,000km. Moscow has already blocked Chinese tour groups from entering the country.&#8221;
President Donald Trump weighed in on the overall situation on Thursday, writing on Twitter: &#8220;Working closely with China and others on Coronavirus outbreak. Only 5 people in U.S., all in good recovery.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Working closely with China and others on Coronavirus outbreak. Only 5 people in U.S., all in good recovery.
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1223004106408833025?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This report has been updated to include additional information and corrected to note that the SARS virus outbreak was from 2002-2003, not 2012-2013.

Health care members make first aid to people as they cover

Global Emergency Declared Over Coronavirus; First Transmission Confirmed In U.S.

Health

Health Care

World Health Organization

Thousands of people are now trapped aboard a cruise ship, anchored off the coast near Italy, quarantined over possible exposure to coronavirus.
The Costa Smeralda will remain in the port of Civitavecchia, about 40 miles from Rome until the situation is resolved, and all passengers &#8212; seven thousand people per reports &#8212; will remain aboard, quarantined amid concerns that at least two people from Macao, near China, are sick with the deadly illness.
<a href="https://abc7news.com/5891098/">ABC 7 reports</a> that a &#8220;54-year-old woman, who reportedly came down with a fever and other flu-like symptoms, was put into isolation along with her husband.&#8221;
&#8220;As soon as the suspected case was detected, the medical team on board immediately activated all the relevant health procedures to promptly isolate and manage the clinical condition. The health authority has been immediately notified and is now on board to conduct all the pertinent measures,&#8221; the cruise ship company said in a statement.
&#8220;It is our utmost priority to ensure the health and safety of passengers and crew,&#8221; the statement continued. &#8220;The company is at the complete disposal of the Health Authority and their indication will be strictly applied. Costa Cruises continue to apply the relevant national policies and epidemic developments, as per World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indications.&#8221;
&#8220;All the planned mechanisms were activated,&#8221; the Italian Coast Guard confirmed. &#8220;Health authorities are on board, doing checks. The situation is under control. There&#8217;s a security cordon on the dock.&#8221;
There are six thousand passengers and one thousand crew members aboard the Costa Smeralda, which was on a one-week journey around the Mediterranean from Mallorca, Spain, to Marseilles in France, finally docking in Civitavecchia on Thursday. No one will be allowed to fully depart the cruise until the woman&#8217;s test results come back. Those are expected this afternoon.
If she tests positive for the coronavirus, the seven thousands passengers and cruise members could remain on board indefinitely while medical personnel treat the patients and prevent the illness from spreading. Fortunately for most passengers, the virus is not easily spread, according to health officials, and the real danger comes from complications to the illness, including a &#8220;a deadly form of pneumonia,&#8221; <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/480652-italian-cruise-ship-quarantined-with-thousands-aboard-due-to-possible">per The Hill</a>.
So far, approximately 7,800 people have contracted coronavirus and around 170 people have died. Most of the victims are from Wuhan, China, but there are now identified victims in all regions of China; there have been just 68 cases identified outside of China, including 5 cases in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control report that they are screening for the illness at 20 international airports inside the United States and have quarantined a number of travelers, including several hundred American evacuees from Wuhan, who are now undergoing health screenings at an Air Force base in California.
There have been no coronavirus deaths outside of China.
The World Health Organization held an emergency meeting on Thursday to identify issues with the illness and to begin formulating a plan in case the coronavirus outbreak turns into a global pandemic. The group has yet to decide whether to declare the situation a &#8220;global health emergency.&#8221;

cruise ship coronavirus

Thousands Trapped On Cruise Ship Off Italian Coast Over Possible Coronavirus Cases

The White House is considering suspending all flights in and out of China as a result of the increasing number of deaths caused by the virus.
Speaking on Tuesday, HHS Secretary Alex Azar stated:
<blockquote>Americans should know that this is a potentially very serious threat, but at this point, Americans should not worry for their own safety. This is a very fast-moving, constantly changing situation … Part of the risk we face right now is that we don’t yet know everything we need to know about this virus. But I want to emphasize that does not prevent us from preparing and responding. We have the experience of responding to two earlier coronaviruses that emerged to cause serious illness in people: SARS and MERS, and we have experience responding to bird flu outbreaks in Asia.</blockquote>
He continued:
<blockquote>One challenge is that with an emerging virus like this, our current assessments are based on an uncertain denominator. Our denominator is the 4,500-plus cases that have been identified in China as well as more than 60 cases in other countries. But these early cases are naturally the most severe cases because patients presented themselves to health-care providers … The cases that have been identified skew to the severe; including patients who are older or have other illnesses. The mortality rate may drop over time as we identify a broader set of cases…</blockquote>
Azar acknowledged, “Late on Monday, the CDC and the State Department issued a level 3 travel advisory for all of China. This higher level of alert means Americans should reconsider or postpone travel to any part of China.” Only Hubei province, where the city of Wuhan resides, is under a more severe advisory than level 3. The State Department <a href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/china-travel-advisory.html">wrote</a> on Wednesday:
<blockquote>Hubei Province: Level 4: Do not travel to Hubei province, China due to novel coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China … There is an ongoing outbreak of respiratory illness first identified in Wuhan, China, caused by a novel (new) coronavirus. In an effort to contain the novel coronavirus, the Chinese authorities have suspended air and rail travel in the area around Wuhan.</blockquote>
Asked whether the U.S. would impose more travel restrictions, Azar responded, “In terms of travel restrictions . . . it’s important to not take anything off the table with a rapidly emerging novel infectious disease,” as <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/01/29/white-house-weighs-ban-on-flights-between-china-us-amid-coronavirus-outbreak/">The New York Post</a> noted.
<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2020/01/28/white-house-considers-ban-china-flights-amid-coronavirus-outbreak/4602839002/">USA Today</a> reported, “A White House official, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said talks are ongoing. ‘The White House did not call the airlines and hasn’t asked for a suspension of flights between the U.S. and China,’ the official said.”
British Airways has suspended flights to and from mainland China; the country&#8217;s Foreign Office had cautioned against “all but essential travel.&#8221;
According to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/28/white-house-discussing-china-travel-restrictions-amid-coronavirus-outbreak.html">CNBC</a>, “United Airlines, which has the most service of the U.S. airlines to Hong Kong and mainland China with about a dozen daily flights, on Tuesday announced it would cancel dozens of flights next month to Hong Kong and mainland China as the outbreak worsens. The Chicago-based airline said it has experienced a ‘significant decline in demand for travel to China.’”
CNBC added, “The Department of Health and Human Services said the CDC is expanding screening for the virus from five to 20 U.S. airports.”

White House Considering Banning Flights To And From China, Report Says

After undergoing extensive testing and a temporary quarantine in Alaska, over 200 American evacuees from Wuhan — the Chinese city where the deadly coronavirus outbreak began — have arrived in Southern California, where they will be temporarily held again to undergo additional screenings.
Amid escalating fears about the outbreak, which has prompted the Chinese government to impose a quarantine affecting an unprecedented number of people, some 56 million, the U.S. government began evacuating Americans, including 201 from the U.S. Consulate in Wuhan, who were flown on a chartered jet on Tuesday to a largely dormant airport in Alaska.
In Alaska, Center for Disease Control officials performed multiple tests on the evacuees to ensure they were not infected by the virus, which has killed more than 130 people and infected nearly 6,000 thus far.
After being cleared, the 201 passengers were flown to March Air Reserve Base in California’s Riverside County on Wednesday, where, as <a href="https://apnews.com/e3f13d6f778eae1dd6a062499ed889e7">The Associated Press</a> reports, they will &#8220;undergo additional health screenings in California and will be temporarily housed there for a period of time as they finish the repatriation process.&#8221;
“For many of us directly involved in this, it’s become a moving and uplifting experience,&#8221; said Alaska&#8217;s chief medical officer Dr. Anne Zink, as reported by AP. &#8220;The whole plane erupted into cheers when the crew welcomed them back to the United States.&#8221;
The arrival of the evacuees follows <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/san-francisco-activates-emergency-operations-center-preparing-for-coronavirus">reports</a> that San Francisco has activated its emergency operations center in preparation for a potential outbreak.
AP notes that before being flown to Alaska, the passengers had already undergone two screenings in China. In Alaska, they kept in isolation from the populace and were screened twice more. &#8220;One passenger received medical attention for a minor injury that happened before boarding the airplane in China, Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska’s chief medical officer, told reporters after the plane left,&#8221; AP reports.
The news agency also notes that the flight crew remained &#8220;entirely isolated from the passengers for the entirety of the flight and did not get off the plane in China, putting them at low risk.&#8221;
Nearly 6,000 people have been infected by the virus in China and more than 130 have died. Five cases of the virus have been confirmed so far in the United States, including two cases in California — the first in Orange County and the second in Los Angeles County — a case in Maricopa County, Arizona, another in Washington state, and one in Chicago, Illinois. No deaths from the virus have been reported in the U.S.
On Tuesday, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/28/world/asia/china-coronavirus.html">The New York Times</a> provided some updates on the virus, including the following:
<div class="css-1fanzo5 StoryBodyCompanionColumn">
<div class="css-53u6y8">
<ul>
<li class="css-exrw3m evys1bk0">The number of confirmed cases increased to 5,974 on Wednesday, up from 4,515 on Tuesday, according to the National Health Commission.</li>
<li class="css-exrw3m evys1bk0">Most of the confirmed cases have been in the central Chinese province of Hubei, where several cities, including Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, have been placed under what amounts to a lockdown.</li>
<li class="css-exrw3m evys1bk0">Thailand has reported 14 cases of infection; Hong Kong has eight; the United States, Taiwan, Australia and Macau have five each; Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia each have reported four; Japan has seven; France has four; Canada has three; Vietnam has two; and Nepal, Cambodia and Germany each have one. There have been no deaths outside China.</li>
</ul>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/san-francisco-activates-emergency-operations-center-preparing-for-coronavirus">San Francisco Activates Emergency Operations Center Preparing For Coronavirus</a>
</div>
</div>

Flight Evacuating Americans

Evacuees From Coronavirus Outbreak Center Wuhan Arrive In California

Alaska

California

On Tuesday, scientists in Australia gave new hope to a world fearful of the deadly coronavirus, as they announced they had recreated the virus, which may expedite the process in developing a vaccine.
As <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/">ABC News Australia</a> reported, the scientists at Melbourne&#8217;s Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity intended to share their discovery with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Europe, from where it will be sent to labs worldwide  in order to speedily develop a vaccine.
The virus was grown from cells gleaned from a patient who was infected last Friday. Dr. Mike Catton, the co-deputy director of the Doherty Institute, exulted, &#8220;We got it. Fantastic.&#8221; He asserted that the virus could also be used to detect if someone was already infected before they displayed any symptoms.
Doherty Institute lead scientist Julian Druce said, “This will be a game changer for other labs within Australia.” He added, &#8220;It&#8217;s been 10-12 hour days, 2:00am finishes; so it&#8217;s been pretty full on. We&#8217;ve designed and planned for an exercise like this for many years. This is what the Doherty Institute was built for. And that&#8217;s really why we&#8217;re able to get an answer from Friday to today [of] diagnosis, detection, sequencing, and isolation.&#8221;
A lab in China had also recreated the virus, but would not share it with the WHO. ABC News noted, “However,the same lab released images of the genetic sequence of the disease, which helped scientists at the Doherty Institute recreate it.”
The Daily Wire <a href="https://editorial.dailywire.com/news/report-china-deliberately-spreading-misinformation-about-coronavirus-to-convince-world-health-authorities-outbreak-is-under-control/">reported</a> on Tuesday, “ … the Chinese government, it now seems, is working against the tide, spreading misinformation of their own to convince foreign governments and world health officials that they&#8217;re efficiently handling the outbreak. The Daily Beast reports that Chinese state media is tweeting photos of roadblocks, checkpoints, and even a hastily constructed hospital to show it&#8217;s ‘on top of things.’&#8221;
Catton stated, &#8220;This virus qualifies as a three out of four, so it&#8217;s a level three virus and that&#8217;s based off our understanding of SARS (sudden acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome), which are its close cousins. It&#8217;s dangerous, it does kill some people, but it hasn&#8217;t got the lethality that viruses like Ebola do.&#8221;
He continued, &#8220;I&#8217;d still say we&#8217;re alert but not alarmed. We shared the view of national health authorities that it was likely there would be cases in Australia. That didn&#8217;t happen with SARS, which is a similar virus. I think it&#8217;s something like 150 million visits more each year with China to countries like Australia than was true back then.&#8221;
Catton concluded, &#8220;SARS we know had a death rate — a mortality rate — of about 10 per cent. This [coronavirus] appears to be 3 per cent; my personal opinion is it will turn out to be lower than that.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/world-health-organization-we-blew-it-risk-of-coronavirus-risk-actually-very-high">The Daily Wire</a> reported on Tuesday, “The World Health Organization (WHO) has admitted it made an error last week when it classified the global risk of China’s new coronavirus &#8212; which can lead to SARS &#8212; as ‘moderate.’ The organization on Monday released a new report late Sunday that stated the risk was actually ‘very high in China, high at the regional level and high at the global level.’”

Coronavirus structure, illustration

Aussie Scientists Recreate Coronavirus. That May Speed Up Creating A Vaccine.

Australia

Facebook, Twitter, Google, and other internet powerhouses are scrambling to control the flood of misinformation surrounding the coronavirus, a new and seemingly deadly disease responsible for dozens of deaths in China now spreading to other parts of the globe. But the Chinese government, it now seems, is working against the tide, spreading misinformation of their own to convince foreign governments and world health officials that they&#8217;re efficiently handling the outbreak.
The Daily Beast reports that Chinese state media is tweeting photos of roadblocks, checkpoints, and even a hastily constructed hospital to show it&#8217;s &#8220;on top of things.&#8221;
&#8220;People’s Daily, owned by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the most-circulated newspaper in China, and Lijian Zhao, a deputy director of information with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tweeted an image Monday morning of a building they claimed was a hospital in Wuhan, China, the center of the recent coronavirus outbreak,&#8221; the Daily Beast reported Tuesday. &#8220;The publication and the bureaucrat said enterprising workers in Wuhan had constructed the hospital in just 16 hours.
&#8220;In reality, the picture showed an apartment building <a class="LinkWrapper LinkWrapper--external" href="https://khomesteelstructure.en.made-in-china.com/product/zKoQSVRbbDrH/China-Modular-Steel-Structure-Container-Studio-Apartments.html">more than 600 miles away</a>.&#8221;
Both Daily Beast and Buzzfeed News were able to identify the building using an image search, but that didn&#8217;t stop other Chinese news sources from propagating the government&#8217;s claim.
&#8220;The Global Times, another party outlet, <a class="LinkWrapper LinkWrapper--external" href="https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1177886.shtml">published a story Monday</a> about the purported construction,&#8221; boasting that the hospital was completed in just 16 hours.
“The government wants to use the new hospital to show it is on top of things, but apparently it is not. Even the picture of the hospital is fake,” a researcher with Human Rights Watch told the Daily Beast.
Such obvious misinformation is actually detrimental to the overall public relations push, experts said, because it makes it appear as though China is deliberately trying to mask their response to the disease, which has, so far, killed around a hundred people and infected 2,700 &#8212; a significant number, but by no means indicative of a massive outbreak, or even a pandemic.
To put the numbers in perspective, the Centers for Disease control estimates that &#8220;so far this season there have been at least 15 million flu illnesses, 140,000 hospitalizations and 8,200 deaths from flu&#8221; in the United States alone.
But China struggles with containing disease, as evidenced by the SARS outbreak that took place in 2003, and those suffering from the coronavirus in China may be more likely to die not because the virus is so severe, but because the country lacks the infrastructure needed to handle a health crisis. A government-sponsored misinformation campaign does little to dispell that impression.
For China, the problem may also be internal. Memories of the SARS outbreak are still fresh in China and, <a href="https://redirect.viglink.com/?format=go&amp;jsonp=vglnk_158023909474212&amp;key=d6fb52ca9ca534018a552e655b556f31&amp;libId=k5y91cj00101k4gl000DAbb5523zp&amp;loc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedailybeast.com%2Fcoronavirus-disinformation-being-spread-by-chinese-government-to-convince-foreigners-its-doing-a-good-job&amp;v=1&amp;out=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2020%2F01%2F27%2Ftechnology%2Fchina-coronavirus-censorship-social-media.html%3Faction%3Dclick%26module%3DTop%2520Stories%26pgtype%3DHomepage&amp;ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&amp;title=Coronavirus%20Disinformation%20Being%20Spread%20by%20Chinese%20Government%20to%20Convince%20Foreigners%20It%E2%80%99s%20Doing%20a%20Good%20Job&amp;txt=reported">The New York Times reported Monday</a>, Chinese social media sites are overrun with commenters criticizing the government for botching the response to coronavirus. The Chinese government, which heavily censors such sites, seems powerless to control the anger, and it&#8217;s only a matter of time before distrust foments into more concrete anti-government action.
In the U.S. and Europe, social media sites and news organizations are working to head off disinformation campaigns, by foreign governments and viral media sources. The outbreak was not planned, &#8220;bat soup&#8221; is not responsible for the disease (though experts speculate Chinese &#8220;wet markets,&#8221; which sell warm, freshly slaughtered animal, may be breeding grounds for diseases like coronavirus), and coronavirus is not the result of bioweapons experimentation in Wuhan.

coronavirus

Report: China Deliberately Spreading Misinformation About Coronavirus To Convince World Health Authorities Outbreak Is Under Control

With multiple confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States, including two in California, the city of  San Francisco has activated its emergency operations center in preparation for a potential outbreak.
While there have been no reported cases of the virus in the city, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital is &#8220;on standby, with isolation rooms prepared for coronavirus patients if needed,&#8221; Fox News-affiliate <a href="https://www.ktvu.com/news/san-francisco-activates-emergency-operations-center-in-preparation-of-coronavirus-outbreak">KTVU</a> reported Monday.
&#8220;It&#8217;s important to recognize that there are no known cases in San Francisco at this time,&#8221; said San Francisco Health Officer Dr. Tomás Aragón, KTVU reports. &#8220;We are actively preparing for the possibility of confirmed cases.&#8221;
&#8220;We will be broadcasting in partnership with the Department of Public Health public health information about how to prevent the spread of the virus, and what to do to stay healthy during flu season,&#8221; said San Francisco Department of Emergency Management&#8217;s Mary Ellen Carrol.
&#8220;We won&#8217;t be able to tell just by the symptoms,&#8221; Dr. Aragón explained. &#8220;That&#8217;s why the history of where that person has been is the most important factor.&#8221;
As the symptoms of the coronavirus are similar to the common flu, officials are carefully monitoring those flying into the states from the regions in China impacted by the virus, namely Wuhan, outbound traffic from which has now been canceled, San Francisco International Airport announced.
WTVU notes that a flight planned by the State Department containing personnel who worked in Wuhan is scheduled to arrive Tuesday in Ontario via Anchorage. &#8220;San Francisco authorities say they are in communication with state health officials and the Centers for Disease Control to monitor developments in the progression of coronavirus,&#8221; WTVU reports.
San Francisco&#8217;s preparatory measures were announced after additional coronavirus cases were reported in the States over the weekend, totaling <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/coronavirus-hits-u-s-more-cases-reported-in-multiple-states">five cases</a> in four states, including two in California (one in Orange County and another in Los Angeles County), one in Arizona (Maricopa County), one in Washington state, and another in Chicago, Illinois.
As reported by The Associated Press, China reported Tuesday that 25 more people have died from the coronavirus, totaling at least 106 deaths so far.
“China on Tuesday reported 25 more deaths from a new viral disease, raising the total to at least 106, as the U.S. government prepared to fly Americans out of the city at the center of the outbreak,” The Associated Press reported. “There were 1,771 new cases confirmed on Monday, raising the national total to 4,515, according to the National Health Commission. It said 976 were in serious condition.”
The Chinese government has responded to the outbreak by imposing a massive, &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/coronavirus-hits-u-s-more-cases-reported-in-multiple-states">unprecedented</a>&#8221; quarantine, encompassing some 56 million people.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a level 3 travel warning Monday to &#8220;avoid nonessential travel&#8221; to the affected area.
“CDC recommends that travelers avoid all nonessential travel to China,” the CDC <a href="https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/warning/novel-coronavirus-china">said</a> in a statement. “In response to an outbreak of respiratory illness, Chinese officials have closed transport within and out of Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province, including buses, subways, trains, and the international airport. Additional restrictions and cancellations of events may occur. There is limited access to adequate medical care in affected areas.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
CDC recommends travelers avoid all nonessential travel to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/China?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#China</a> due to the ongoing <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/2019nCoV?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#2019nCoV</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/coronavirus?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#coronavirus</a>) outbreak. The outbreak is growing and there is limited access to adequate medical care in affected areas. <a href="https://t.co/Km38IKxIAs">https://t.co/Km38IKxIAs</a> <a href="https://t.co/NHboTImlyr">pic.twitter.com/NHboTImlyr</a>
&mdash; CDC Travel Health (@CDCtravel) <a href="https://twitter.com/CDCtravel/status/1221904223333429250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 27, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-new-chinese-reports-show-coronavirus-rapidly-spreading-deaths-infections-surging">Coronavirus Rapidly Spreading; Deaths Predicted To Be In Thousands</a>

San Francisco

San Francisco Activates Emergency Operations Center Preparing For Coronavirus

The coronavirus — which has killed more than 80 people in China so far and has resulted in more than 50 million Chinese citizens now effectively quarantined in the country — has reached the United States, with four states thus far confirming cases, including two new cases on Sunday in California and Arizona.
&#8220;The U.S. has five confirmed cases of the new virus from China, all among people who traveled to the city at the center of the outbreak, health officials said Sunday,&#8221; the <a href="https://apnews.com/c482d489c4e3cca2f5b549386f666e3a">Associated Press</a> reports. &#8220;Two new cases were reported Sunday — one in Los Angeles County in California and the other in Maricopa County, Arizona.&#8221;
The newly confirmed case in Arizona, AP notes, involves someone connected to Arizona State University, located in Tempe, &#8220;who did not live in school housing and had a history of travel to Wuhan, China,&#8221; according to state health officials. The patient, officials said, is not severely ill and is currently at home but isolated in order to prevent further spreading of the virus.
&#8220;The department said it would not release potentially identifying information on the person, including the gender and age, and declined to say whether the person was a student or faculty member,&#8221; AP reports.
The newly confirmed case in Los Angeles — the second in California — involves a patient who reported feeling ill upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday, at which point the patient was taken immediately to the hospital. Officials are likewise withholding identifying information about the individual, though they have revealed that the patient traveled from Wuhan.
In a press conference Sunday, L.A. County Department of Public Health&#8217;s Dr. Sharon Balter addressed the new case. “Everything worked as it should,” said Balter, as reported by AP. “The patient presented for care, the patient was immediately transported to a hospital, the patient has remained in the hospital.”
The two new cases makes a total of five confirmed cases thus far in the U.S.: one in Orange County, California, another in Washington state (reportedly a male in his 30s), and another in Chicago (reportedly a woman in her 60s).
On Sunday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html">statement</a> confirming the five cases, all involving individuals who had traveled to the States from Wuhan:
<blockquote>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is closely monitoring an outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel (new) coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Chinese authorities identified the new coronavirus, which has resulted in more than a thousand confirmed cases in China, including cases outside Wuhan City. Additional cases have been identified in a growing number of other international locations, including the United States, where 5 cases in travelers from Wuhan have been confirmed in four states (AZ, CA, IL, WA) as of January 26, 2020. There are ongoing investigations to learn more.</blockquote>
As reported by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/26/world/asia/coronavirus-wuhan-china-hubei.html">The New York Times</a> Sunday, the communist Chinese government has expanded its quarantine to include around 56 million people.
“A top Chinese health official warned on Sunday that the spread of the dangerous new coronavirus, already extraordinarily rapid, is accelerating further, deepening global fears about an illness that has sickened more than 2,700 people worldwide and killed at least 80 people in China,” the Times reported. “The grim diagnosis came amid concerns that China’s efforts to contain the spread of the disease, despite a lockdown of unprecedented scope affecting 56 million people, may not only have come too late but could even make the situation worse, including by exacerbating shortages of medical supplies.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-quarantines-56-million-cities-cancel-work-for-weeks-deaths-infections-skyrocket">China Quarantines 56 Million, Cities Cancel Work For Weeks. Deaths, Infections Skyrocket.</a>

Coronavirus Hits U.S.: More Cases Reported In Multiple States

Arizona

Chicago

Illinois

Los Angeles

Communist China has expanded its quarantine around the area that is at the center of the coronavirus outbreak as several major cities have canceled work for the next couple of weeks in hopes of stopping the virus from spreading.
&#8220;A top Chinese health official warned on Sunday that the spread of the dangerous new coronavirus, already extraordinarily rapid, is accelerating further, deepening global fears about an illness that has sickened more than 2,700 people worldwide and killed at least 80 people in China,&#8221; The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/26/world/asia/coronavirus-wuhan-china-hubei.html">reported</a>. &#8220;The grim diagnosis came amid concerns that China’s efforts to contain the spread of the disease, despite a lockdown of unprecedented scope affecting 56 million people, may not only have come too late but could even make the situation worse, including by exacerbating shortages of medical supplies.&#8221;
Ma Xiaowei, director of China’s National Health Commission, said that Chinese officials have learned that those who are infected with the virus but who are not yet showing symptoms may still be able to infect other people, making containment of the virus a significantly harder goal to achieve.
“The epidemic is now entering a more serious and complex period,” Ma said on Sunday. “It looks like it will continue for some time, and the number of cases may increase.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the following <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html">statement</a> about the outbreak:
<blockquote>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is closely monitoring an outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel (new) coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Chinese authorities identified the new coronavirus, which has resulted in more than a thousand confirmed cases in China, including cases outside Wuhan City. Additional cases have been identified in a growing number of other international locations, including the United States, where 5 cases in travelers from Wuhan have been confirmed in four states (AZ, CA, IL, WA) as of January 26, 2020. There are ongoing investigations to learn more.</blockquote>
The CDC later added that while there have not been any reported cases of &#8220;person-to-person spread in the United States&#8221; up to this point that &#8220;it’s likely to occur to some extent.&#8221;
Multiple Chinese cities that have massive populations have canceled work until nearly mid-February in an effort to keep people from having contact with each other in hopes of stopping the spread of the virus.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Shanghai (pop 24 million) has cancelled work until February 9. Suzhou (pop 11 million) already cancelled work until February 8. I&#39;m sure other cities will as well. Plan seems to be have everyone stay home for 14 days to see who has the virus. <a href="https://t.co/kxhGLJZd4I">https://t.co/kxhGLJZd4I</a>
&mdash; Steve Lookner (@lookner) <a href="https://twitter.com/lookner/status/1221701033258377218?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 27, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Dr. William Schaffner, a longtime adviser to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, indicated that the news was a &#8220;game changer,&#8221; <a href="https://www.cnn.com/asia/live-news/coronavirus-outbreak-hnk-intl-01-26-20/h_2a84ba79568235481f2a32f98865aef7">saying</a>, “When I heard this, I thought, ‘oh dear, this is worse than we anticipated.’ It means the infection is much more contagious than we originally thought.”
&#8220;The rapidly spreading virus has led the Chinese government to spearhead a highly ambitious project of building a 269,000 square foot hospital in six days that is capable of holding 1,000 infected patients,&#8221; The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-quarantines-40-million-1300-infected-expert-predicted-coronavirus-pandemic-could-kill-65-million-u-s-evacuation-underway-in-china">reported</a> on Saturday.
Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, told BBC: “China has a record of getting things done fast even for monumental projects like this. This authoritarian country relies on this top down mobilization approach. They can overcome bureaucratic nature and financial constraints and are able to mobilize all of the resources. The engineering work is what China is good at. They have records of building skyscrapers at speed. This is very hard for westerners to imagine. It can be done.”

Deadly Wuhan Coronavirus Spreads To Hong Kong

China Quarantines 56 Million, Cities Cancel Work For Weeks. Deaths, Infections Skyrocket.

The United States government is working to evacuate American citizens out of the Chinese city of Wuhan as China has now quarantined 40 million people and is warning that the nation is in a &#8220;grave situation&#8221; by the &#8220;accelerating&#8221; spread of the virus.
&#8220;The operation comes as the death toll from a newly identified coronavirus that originated in Wuhan climbs above 40 and the number of confirmed infections tops 1,300, with many of the cases in and around the central Chinese city of 11 million people,&#8221; The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-plans-to-evacuate-citizens-from-epidemic-stricken-chinese-city-11579951256">reported</a>. &#8220;Roughly 1,000 American citizens are thought to be in Wuhan, and the U.S. consulate there is reaching out to those it knows about to offer a seat on the plane [which] &#8230; seats around 230 people.&#8221;
Bloomberg News <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-24/china-s-unproven-antiviral-solution-quarantine-of-40-million">reported</a> that the quarantine area has expanded from 11 million people to 40 million people which is arguably the largest quarantine in history.
Eric Toner, a scientist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told Business Insider that he was not surprised by the rapid spread of the virus, and that just a few months ago he created a simulation model that mapped out what would happen if a coronavirus reached a pandemic scale.
&#8220;Toner&#8217;s simulation of a hypothetical deadly coronavirus pandemic suggested that after six months, nearly every country in the world would have cases of the virus,&#8221; Business Insider <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/health-experts-issued-ominous-warning-170400102.html?guccounter=1">reported</a>. &#8220;Within 18 months, 65 million people could die.&#8221;
The most severe pandemic to occur in modern history was the Influenza of 1918, also known as the Spanish Flu.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html">reported</a>:
<blockquote>The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history. It was caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin. Although there is not universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it spread worldwide during 1918-1919.  In the United States, it was first identified in military personnel in spring 1918. It is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the United States.</blockquote>
The rapidly spreading virus has led the Chinese government to spearhead a highly ambitious project of building a 269,000 square foot hospital in six days that is capable of holding 1,000 infected patients.
&#8220;It&#8217;s basically a quarantined hospital where they send people with infectious diseases so it has the safety and protective gear in place,&#8221; Joan Kaufman, lecturer in global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51245156">told</a> BBC.
Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, told BBC: &#8220;China has a record of getting things done fast even for monumental projects like this. This authoritarian country relies on this top down mobilization approach. They can overcome bureaucratic nature and financial constraints and are able to mobilize all of the resources. The engineering work is what China is good at. They have records of building skyscrapers at speed. This is very hard for westerners to imagine. It can be done.”

China Virus

China Quarantines 40 Million, 1,300+ Infected; Expert Predicted Coronavirus ‘Pandemic’ Could Kill 65 Million; U.S. Evacuation Underway In China

A series of actions by the Chinese government and reports coming out of the region indicate that the communist regime is covering up the true scope of the threat posed by the coronavirus, which has already triggered the quarantining of 11 million people and a massive travel ban.
In an in-depth report Thursday detailing the latest developments regarding the deadly virus, which has already taken the lives of 17 people and infected over 600, <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Wuhan-quarantine-expands-as-Chinese-fear-14997682.php">The Washington Post</a> describes the city of Wuhan, whose 11 million inhabitants are now quarantined, as &#8220;pulsat[ing] with fear and anger&#8221; upon the announcement of the extreme measure imposed on the city.
And it&#8217;s not only Wuhan&#8217;s 11 million being impacted by the virus; it&#8217;s also the millions of people living in the surrounding areas, as the government is now expanding the quarantine to Huanggang and Ezhou, shutting down modes of travel and thus restricting the movements of some 20 million people.
A virologist who worked on the SARS outbreak in 2003, is &#8220;conservatively&#8221; estimating that the coronavirus outbreak will be 10 times worse. &#8220;A bigger outbreak is certain,&#8221; Guan Yi told Caixin magazine, citing &#8220;the holiday traffic rush and a dereliction of duty from certain officials,&#8221; as some key reasons the situation is even worse this time.
Actions by authorities have indeed been troubling, as the Post chronicles, including initially claiming the coronavirus could not be transmitted by human, which proved to be untrue, and taking steps that indicate that they are reverting back to their manipulative handling of past disasters:
<blockquote>The ruling Communist Party, which initially tried to show transparency after being criticized for covering up the SARS virus outbreak 17 years ago, has now shown signs of reverting to its default position of censoring bad news.
The Wuhan Health Commission admitted Thursday evening that it was struggling under the strain of the outbreak. &#8220;At present, there is an obvious increase in the number of patients with fever in the city, and it is true that there are long queues and a shortage of beds in fever clinics,&#8221; the commission said in a post that was online for less than an hour.
A post from Wuhan Railway saying that 300,000 people traveled by train out of Wuhan on Wednesday, headed to every corner of the country, was also quickly deleted.</blockquote>
The Post quotes some residents who have expressed feeling &#8220;petrified&#8221; and suspecting that &#8220;there must be some things about this virus that remain undisclosed.&#8221; (<a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Wuhan-quarantine-expands-as-Chinese-fear-14997682.php">Read the Post&#8217;s full report here</a>.)
Along with shutting down the train station, ferry, subway and bus services in Wutan, police are checking all incoming vehicles, though not fully closing down the roads, at least yet. As reported by the <a href="https://apnews.com/ed98662865c3c2eafc1733c827111ab2">Associated Press</a> Thursday, Chinese authorities have announced that &#8220;similar measures would take effect Friday in the nearby cities of Huanggang and Ezhou,&#8221; and in Huanggang, &#8220;theaters, internet cafes and other entertainment centers were also ordered closed.&#8221;
&#8220;In the capital, Beijing, officials canceled &#8216;major events&#8217; indefinitely, including traditional temple fairs that are a staple of holiday celebrations, in order to &#8216;execute epidemic prevention and control,'&#8221; AP reports. &#8220;The Forbidden City, the palace complex in Beijing that is now a museum, announced it will close indefinitely on Saturday.&#8221;

Menu