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Nigeria scotches coronavirus rumors in Lagos
A suspected case of coronavirus in Nigeria has tested negative, according to the authorities in the country’s main city of Lagos.
The Chinese citizen, who arrived in the country seven weeks ago, went to a hospital in Lagos earlier this week with a fever, raising concerns.
Lagos State’s health ministry released the news on Twitter after rumors of a potential coronavirus case started spreading online.
The statement urged Nigerians not to spread unverified news
about the disease and emphasized the city’s readiness for a potential outbreak.
This is the 11th suspected coronavirus case in Nigeria to come back negative.
Earlier this week, Algeria became the second country on the continent to confirm a coronavirus case, after an Italian man tested positive.
Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, has killed more than 2,700 people. Most of the deaths have been in China, where the virus originated in December.
Globally, more than 80,000 people in more than 40 countries have now been infected.
Coronavirus: Pregnant nurse ‘propaganda’ sparks backlash
A video featuring a pregnant nurse treating patients in a hospital in the virus epicentre of Wuhan has sparked a backlash across China.
The video by state media outlet CCTV was meant to portray nine-month pregnant Zhao Yu as a hero.
But instead social media users criticised the hospital for allowing a heavily pregnant nurse to work in a highly contagious environment.
One user said the woman was being used as a “propaganda tool”.
More than 2,200 people have now died from the coronavirus in China, with the majority of deaths coming out Wuhan, capital of Hubei province.
In China alone, there have been more than 75,000 cases of infection. The virus has also spread around the globe with more than 1,000 cases and several deaths worldwide.
A show of ‘propaganda’
State media outlet CCTV had last week released a video featuring Zhao Yu, who works in the emergency ward at a military hospital in Wuhan.
The video shows her walking around the hospital in a hazmat suit while heavily pregnant. She’s seen making the rounds and testing a patient who is later sent to the fever department. The patient is heard telling her not to work as it is “dangerous”.
Zhao Yu acknowledges in the video that her family objects to her continuing to work, but adds that she hopes to do her part in fighting the virus.
But the video – which was meant to be a touching tribute to her self-sacrifice – touched a nerve, with many accusing the broadcaster of using her story as a form of “propaganda”.
“Can we stop all this propaganda? Who made the decision that this video was okay? Pregnant women should not be [on the frontlines], that’s it,” another said.
“What is this, a show for political purposes? Don’t send a woman who is nine months pregnant to do this,” said one comment.
“I really think that this message… blindly advocating women to fight on the frontlines regardless of their health… it’s really sick,” one person said.
And it’s not the only video that has got netizens angry.
Another video posted this week by state-owned media outlets in Gansu showed several female nurses weeping as they had their heads shaved.
The video explained that the head-shaving exercise took place so it would be easier for women to wear protective head gear while treating patients.
But many doubted the logic of this, asking why women couldn’t simply have short hair instead of shaving their heads off entirely. Others asked why there weren’t videos of men having their heads shaved.
The hashtag #SeeingFemaleWorkers – calling for people to recognise the contribution of women on their front lines – also started to go viral on Weibo.
“Professionalism. Faith. Loyalty. Strength. These are all qualities worth being proud of. Women aren’t capable and great just because they’re shaving off their long hair,” said one comment.
“Why does the media always use women’s sacrifices as a tool for propaganda? Wouldn’t it be equally as admirable for these women to go on the front line with their long hair? For women who are not pregnant to be fighting?” said one commentary on WeChat.
“They must be beautiful, a mother, a partner, and then make sacrifices. Only then will they be considered great.”
Coronavirus: South Korea confirms huge rise in cases
South Korea says the number of new coronavirus cases in the country has more than doubled in one day.
Officials said on Saturday that 229 new cases had been confirmed since Friday, raising the total to 433.
Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said the outbreak had entered “a serious new phase”.
Many of the new cases are linked to a hospital and to a religious group near the south-eastern city of Daegu, authorities have said.
Two patients in South Korea have died so far and there are fears the number will rise.
Daegu and nearby Cheongdo – where the hospital is situated – have been declared “special care zones” and the streets of Daegu are reported to be largely abandoned.
South Korea has now reported the largest number of confirmed infections outside China – 76,288 cases including 2,345 deaths – and the outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise ship off the coast of Japan which has seen more than 600 cases.
The latest developments came as Chinese health authorities reported a decrease in the rate of deaths and new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has expressed concern at the number of new cases with no clear link to China or other confirmed cases.
He said the greatest concern now was countries with weaker health systems, particularly in Africa.
Outside China, more than 1,200 cases of the virus have been confirmed in 26 countries and there have been at least eight deaths, the WHO says.
In other developments:
- An evacuation flight carrying 32 British and other European cruise ship passengers from Japan has landed in England
- Italy reported its second death from the virus – a woman living in the northern region of Lombardy – a day after a 78-year-old man became the first person in Italy to die from the new coronavirus.
- Iran reported its fifth death from the disease and said there were now 28 infections
The new virus, which originated last year in Hubei province in China, causes a respiratory disease called Covid-19.
What happened in South Korea?
Medical officials first announced 142 new cases on Saturday and then hours later increased the number by 87.
In a statement, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said that of the 229 new cases, 95 were related to Daenam Hospital in Cheongdo. There are now 114 confirmed cases at the hospital – nine staff and 102 patients – it added.
Mr Kim said most of those diagnosed had been inpatients for mental health issues. He said some cases showed “no confirmed epidemiological connections”, meaning it was not clear how they had contracted the virus, he added.
Coronavirus: Car sales in China fall 92% in February
Car sales in China fell 92% in the first half of February as the coronavirus shutdown took its toll, according to an industry trade body.
Car dealerships have remained closed while buyers have stayed away to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.
Nationwide car sales slumped 96% in the first week of February to a daily average of just 811 vehicles.
The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said it hoped sales would pick up as more showrooms reopened.
“There was barely anybody at car dealers in the first week of February as most people stayed at home,” said CPCA secretary general Cui Dongshu.
Dealers have gradually restarted operations this month, and the automobile trade body is hoping sales will improve during the second half of February.
Chinese car maker Geely has just launched a “contactless” service that lets customers buy its cars online and get them delivered directly to their homes.
China is the world’s biggest car market, selling just over 21 million cars last year, according to Statista. The US is the second biggest market.
Even before the deadly outbreak, car sales in China were in decline due to a slowing economy and trade tensions with the US.
While car sales have slumped, production has also been severely disrupted with many of the world’s biggest car makers warning of delays.
Many car companies had expected to restart operations in China this week. But even those firms that have re-opened some locations have warned it will take longer to return to full capacity than expected.
It is not just car makers who are suffering disruptions in China, known as “the world’s factory”. Global manufacturers are also facing production delays, with Apple warning of global iPhone supply shortages.
The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak has now risen to more than 2,200 people.
Coronavirus: Largest study suggests elderly and sick are most at risk
Health officials in China have published the first details of more than 44,000 cases of Covid-19, in the biggest study since the outbreak began.
Data from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC) finds that more than 80% of the cases have been mild, with the sick and elderly most at risk.
The research also points to the high risk to medical staff.
A hospital director in the city of Wuhan died from the virus on Tuesday.
Liu Zhiming, 51, was the director of the Wuchang Hospital in Wuhan – one of the leading hospitals in the virus epicentre. He is one of the most senior health officials to die so far.
Hubei, whose capital is Wuhan, is the worst affected province in the country.
The report by the CCDC shows the province’s death rate is 2.9% compared with 0.4% in the rest of the country.
The findings put the overall death rate of the Covid-19 virus at 2.3%.
China’s latest official figures released on Tuesday put the overall death toll at 1,868 and 72,436 infections.
Officials reported 98 new deaths and 1,886 new cases in the past day, with 93 of those deaths and 1,807 infections in Hubei province – the epicentre of the outbreak.
More than 12,000 people have recovered, according to Chinese authorities.
What does the study tell us?
The paper by the CCDC, released on Monday and published in the Chinese Journal of Epidemiology, looked at more than 44,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in China as of 11 February.
While the results largely confirm previous descriptions of the virus and patterns of infection, the study includes a detailed breakdown of the 44,672 confirmed cases across all of China.
It finds that 80.9% of infections are classified as mild, 13.8% as severe and only 4.7% as critical. The number of deaths among those infected, known as the fatality rate, remains low but rises among those over 80 years old.
Looking at the sex ratio, men are more likely to die (2.8%) than women (1.7%).
The study also identifies which existing illnesses put patients at risk. It puts cardiovascular disease at number one, followed by diabetes, chronic respiratory disease and hypertension.
Pointing out the risk to medical staff, the paper says that a total of 3,019 health workers have been infected, 1,716 of which were confirmed cases. Five had died by 11 February, which was the last day of data included in the research.
On 13 February, China broadened its definition of how to diagnose people, including “clinically diagnosed cases” which previously were counted separate from “confirmed cases”.
What does it say about the future?
Looking forward, the paper finds that “the epidemic curve of onset of symptoms” peaked around 23-26 January before declining up to 11 February.
The study suggests that the downward trend in the overall epidemic curve could mean that “isolation of whole cities, broadcast of critical information (e.g., promoting hand washing, mask wearing, and care seeking) with high frequency through multiple channels, and mobilization of a multi-sector rapid response teams is helping to curb the epidemic”.
But the authors also warn that with many people returning from a long holiday, the country “needs to prepare for the possible rebound of the epidemic”.
China’s response to the virus has seen the lockdown of Wuhan – the largest city in Hubei – and the rest of the province as well as severe travel restrictions on movements across the country.
FROM BBC NEWS
First African to contract Cornavirus and his recovery
When Kem Senou Pavel Daryl, a 21-year-old Cameroonian student living in the Chinese city of Jingzhou, contracted the coronavirus he had no intention of leaving China, even if that were possible.
“No matter what happens I don’t want to take the sickness back to Africa,” he said from his university dormitory, where he is now under a 14-day quarantine.
He was suffering from a fever, a dry cough, and flu-like symptoms.
When he became ill he thought of his time as a child in Cameroon when he contracted malaria. He feared the worse.
“When I was going to the hospital for the first time I was thinking about my death and how I thought it was going to happen,” he said.
For 13 days he remained in isolation in a local Chinese hospital. He was treated with antibiotics and drugs typically used to treat HIV patients. After two weeks of care he began to show signs of recovery.
The CT scan showed no trace of the illness. He became the first African person known to be infected with the deadly coronavirus and the first to recover. His medical care was
Egypt has become the first country in Africa to confirm a case of the coronavirus. Health professionals warn that countries with weaker health systems may struggle to cope with a potential outbreak of the illness, which has led to more than 1,770 deaths and infected more than 72,000 people, mostly in China.
“I don’t want to go home before finishing studying. I think there is no need to return home because all hospital fees were taken care of by the Chinese government,” says Mr Senoua.
To evacuate or not?
Since late January governments around the world, led by the US, began evacuating their citizens out of Wuhan and neighbouring cities.
But thousands of African students, workers and families, remain in lockdown across the central Hubei province – the outbreak began in the provincial capital Wuhan – and some think their governments should do more to help them.
“We are sons and daughters of Africa but Africa is not willing to come to our rescue when we need it the most,” says Tisiliyani Salima, a medical student at Tongji Medical University and president of the Zambian Wuhan student association.
For close to a month Ms Salima has been living in self-quarantine.
Time has begun to lose meaning for the 24-year old student. She spends her days sleeping and checking updates on Chinese social media apps.
She acts as the liaison between her embassy and the 186 Zambian students living under quarantine in Wuhan. Many worry about food safety, supplies, and lack information in a city that this week has seen an average of 100 deaths a day.
She watched other international classmates evacuated from the city while her countrymen and women were left behind.
“South of the Sahara most African countries have had a similar response,” says one student who agreed to talk under the condition of anonymity.
“Publicly or privately African countries say that China can handle the situation. But the situation is not under control. When you listen to the official response it tells you that the African countries do not want to offend China. We don’t have the bargaining power,” the student says.
China is currently Africa’s largest trading partner and the ties between the two have blossomed in recent years.
In the process China has become home to 80,000 African students, many attracted to the middle kingdom by scholarship programmes. But community leaders say families, young and old are stranded in Hubei province with little aid or assistance from their governments.
“People are saying: ‘Don’t bring us back because Nigeria can’t handle us.’ I feel conflicted but at the end of the day I am also human,” says Angela, a recent graduate from Nigeria, who only gave her first name.
“I would appreciate if they would recognise that there are Nigerians here but we don’t seem to be a priority. We didn’t get any response from our government,” she says.
Last week, for the first time in 22 days in lockdown, dwindling supplies forced Angela to venture out of her apartment to buy some essentials.
“The city is like a ghost town. When I left my complex I didn’t know if I would even be allowed back in. People are checking temperatures outside the gate,” she says in a phone interview from her apartment.
On 30 January the Cameroonian community penned an open letter to the president urging their government to evacuate citizens stuck in the epicentre of the outbreak.
Weeks on Dr Pisso Scott Nseke, a community leader in Wuhan, says Cameroonians are still waiting for a response.
He accepts that the community is not united in the desire to be evacuated but says they are disappointed by the lack of assistance from the government.
As of mid-February, Egypt, Algeria, Mauritius, Morocco and Seychelles had moved their citizens out of Hubei province.
Other nations such as Ghana and Kenya are reportedly considering evacuating.
FROM BBC NEWS
Coronavirus: Americans from quarantined cruise ship evacuate from Japan
Two planes carrying hundreds of US citizens from a coronavirus-hit cruise ship have left Japan, officials say.
There were some 400 Americans on board the Diamond Princess, which has been in quarantine since 3 February.
On Sunday, Japanese officials said the number of infections on the ship had risen by 70 to 355, making it the largest cluster of cases outside China.
Meanwhile, China reported a total of 2,048 new cases on Monday – 1,933 of which were from Hubei province.
More than 70,500 people nationwide have already been infected by the virus. In Hubei alone, the official number of cases currently stands at 58,182, with 1,692 deaths. Most new cases and deaths have been reported in Wuhan, Hubei’s largest city.
In other developments:
- In Japan, a public gathering to celebrate the birthday of new Emperor Naruhito has been cancelled, due to concerns over the spread of the outbreak
- In China, the National People’s Congress standing committee has said it will meet next week to discuss a delay of this year’s Congress because of the outbreak
- At the weekend, an American woman tested positive for the virus after leaving a cruise liner docked off the coast of Cambodia.
What’s happening to the US ship?
The Diamond Princess has been quarantined in Japan’s port of Yokohama with some 3,700 people on board after a man who disembarked in Hong Kong was found to have the virus.
At least 40 US citizens who were on board are infected and will be treated in Japan, Dr Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told Face the Nation on CBS.
Two aircraft chartered by the US government left Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in the early hours of Monday.
More than 300 passengers are being repatriated voluntarily, the US state department said. Fourteen of them tested positive for the virus and were being kept separate from the other passengers, it said.
Those entering the US will undergo a 14-day quarantine, on top of the time they have already spent confined on the ship.
“And the reason for that,” Dr Fauci added, “is that the degree of transmissibility, on that cruise ship, is essentially akin to being in a hotspot.”
Some of the Americans have declined to be evacuated, preferring to wait until the ship quarantine comes to an end on 19 February.
Passenger Matt Smith, a lawyer, said he would not want to travel on a bus to the plane with possibly infected people.
To assist with relief efforts, Japan’s government has given away 2,000 iPhones to passengers on the ship – one for each cabin.
The smartphones were distributed so people could use an app, created by Japan’s health ministry, which links users with doctors, pharmacists and mental health counselors. Phones registered outside of Japan are unable to access the app.
Other evacuation flights have been arranged to repatriate residents of Israel, Hong Kong and Canada. On Monday, Australia announced that it would evacuate 200 of its citizens too.
Meanwhile, a plane carrying 175 evacuated Nepalis, mostly students, has arrived in Kathmandu from Wuhan.
Coronavirus: Armed robbers steal hundreds of toilet rolls in Hong Kong
Armed robbers in Hong Kong made off with hundreds of toilet rolls worth more than HKD1,000 ($130; £98).
Toilet rolls are currently in short supply in Hong Kong due to shortages caused by panic-buying during the coronavirus outbreak.
Knife wielding men robbed a delivery man outside a supermarket in the Mong Kok district, police said.
Police have arrested two men and recovered some of the stolen loo rolls, local media reports said.
The armed robbery took place in Mong Kok, a district of Hong Kong with a history of “triad” crime gangs, early on Monday.
According to local reports, the robbers had threatened a delivery worker who had unloaded rolls of toilet paper outside Wellcome Supermarket.
An Apple Daily report said that 600 toilet paper rolls, valued at around HKD1,695 ($218; £167), had been stolen.
Stores across the city have seen supplies massively depleted with long queues when new stock arrives.
Despite government assurances that supplies remain unaffected by the virus outbreak, residents have been stocking up on toilet paper.
Other household products have also seen panic-buying including rice, pasta and cleaning items.
Face masks and hand sanitisers are almost impossible to get as people try to protect themselves from the coronavirus, which has already claimed more than 1,700 lives.
“A delivery man was threatened by three knife-wielding men who took toilet paper worth more than HK$1,000 ($130),” a police spokesman said.
Authorities blame false online rumours for the panic buying and say supplies of food and household goods remain stable.
There has also been some panic-buying of toilet rolls, hand sanitisers and face masks in Singapore, which has 75 confirmed coronavirus cases.
SOURCE BBC NEWS
BREAKING NEWS: Eight of nine UK patients receiving treatment discharged
All but one of the nine people being treated for the coronavirus in the UK have been discharged from hospital.
They were discharged after twice testing negative for the virus, NHS England said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, all 94 people who were being quarantined at Arrowe Park hospital on the Wirral have left the site.
The patients were among the first British coronavirus evacuees flown back to the UK from Wuhan, China, which is the centre of the outbreak.
More than 100 people are still in quarantine in a Milton Keynes hotel after arriving from China last weekend.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “I want to stress that any individuals who are discharged from hospital are now well and do not pose any public health risk to the public.”
Prof Keith Willett, NHS strategic incident director, said more people may need to spend some time at home in the coming weeks to reduce the spread of the virus.
The final person being treated for the virus is still at Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital in central London.
Prof Willett thanked those who have just left Arrowe Park hospital for the “calm, patient and responsible” response to the situation.
Hundreds of people who were at a conference in London earlier this month, including two Labour MPs, were contacted by health officials after an attendee was later diagnosed with the virus.
The person, who has not been identified, was at the UK Bus Summit at the QEII Conference Centre.
Officials have been tracing the contacts of the ninth person in the UK to test positive for the virus.
The first death from the disease in Europe was confirmed on Saturday, after a Chinese tourist died in France.
The victim, one of more than 1,500 fatalities from the virus, was an 80-year-old man from China’s Hubei province.
He arrived in France on 16 January and was placed in quarantine in hospital in Paris on 25 January.
Only three deaths had previously been reported outside mainland China – in Hong Kong, the Philippines and Japan.
A further 2,641 people have been newly confirmed as infected, bringing the China’s total to 66,492.
Outside mainland China, there have been more than 500 cases in 24 countries.
FROM BBC NEWS
BREAKING NEWS: Egypt Africa’s First Reported Corona virus case
Egypt confirms coronavirus case, the first in Africa
The country’s health ministry says the affected person is a ‘foreigner’ who is hospitalized and in isolation.
Egypt has confirmed its first case of a deadly coronavirus that emerged in central China at the end of last year and has since spread to more than two dozen countries around the world.
Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Mugahed said in a statement on Friday that the affected person was a “foreigner” who did not show any serious symptoms
Officials were able to confirm the case through a follow-up programme implemented by the government for travellers arriving from countries where the virus has spread.
The ministry statement said the person was hospitalised and in isolation. It did not specify the person’s nationality or their point of entry.
The development made Egypt the first country in the African continent to report a confirmed case, and the second in the Middle East region, after the United Arab Emirates late last month diagnosed its first cases.
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