WHO chief calls for solidarity at coronavirus summit

Feb. 11, 2020
In China, more than 1,000 people have died from the novel corona virus, and more than 42,000 have been infected. President Xi Jinping made his first official appearance since the disease broke out.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is hosting an expert summit on Tuesday and Wednesday. Leading experts want to deal with therapies, the source of the virus, transferability and possible vaccinations.

On Thursday, the EU health ministers want to discuss measures to protect against the spread of the virus.

There are 14 corona cases in Germany.
28 people are now ill in Japan
Two Japanese evacuated from Wuhan have contracted the novel corona virus, although their tests had previously been negative. As the Japanese Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday, one of them was even tested twice without the virus being detected. Both men had been flown out of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, in late January.

According to the information, the man was diagnosed with respiratory disease twelve days after the second test. Since returning to Japan on January 29, he has been quarantined in a hotel room. According to the Ministry of Health, the second man had returned on January 30 and had also been tested negative at first. A second test on Monday then found the virus. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the incubation period for the novel coronavirus is around 14 days.

In Japan, a total of 28 people have contracted the virus. A dozen other infected citizens are also on a quarantined cruise ship off the country's coast. So far, more than 130 people have fallen ill on the "Diamond Princess". Japanese authorities got 65 recently ill passengers and crew from the ship on Tuesday.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic in China, the Japanese government has brought hundreds of its citizens out of Wuhan City, the home of the viral disease. A fifth return flight is scheduled to be organized this week. According to the authorities, the passengers of the first flight on January 29 will also be released from the quarantine this week after another test
Chinese companies are cutting jobs due to coronavirus
The spread of the corona virus is fueling concerns about a noticeable loss of jobs in China. The media company Xinchao Media wants to cut 500 jobs and thus every tenth place in order to "secure its own survival" because of the virus, as the company announced on its account with the messenger service WeChat. "To overcome the epidemic, you have to put the brakes on, block the cash flow, cut costs," said CEO Zhang Jixue. Many companies have been experiencing headwinds since the end of January - for example due to extended plant holidays, falling demand or less consumption. "It is possible that the corona virus could cut two to three million jobs in the first quarter," said Nie Wen, an analyst with financial services firm Hwabao Trust.

The expert does expect the job losses to be temporary. The public sector should primarily support smaller companies, as many of them are heavily indebted and could not survive the crisis due to problems with the cash flow, Never warned.

According to the health authorities, 1,017 people have now died of the virus in the People's Republic. The number of infections found rose to around 42,700. According to the authorities, only 11,500 restaurants or 13 percent were open in Beijing in the middle of last week. The restaurant chain Xibei, which operates over 360 branches, cares about the salaries of its approximately 20,000 employees. If the virus continues to spread, "it won't be able to last much longer," the company said
Cruise ship is refused to dock in Asia

Out of concern for the novel corona virus, a cruise ship from Hong Kong cannot dock in Asia - although no cases are known on board. Thailand's health minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Facebook on Tuesday that he had banned the ship from mooring. Taiwan and Japan had previously refused to do this, as the Holland America Line shipping company described.

The ship originally wanted to dock around 120 kilometers southeast of Bangkok. Prime Minister of Thailand Prayut Chan-o-cha said that the "Westerdam" would be supplied with fuel, water and food if necessary. According to the shipping company, around 1,500 guests and 800 crew members are on board. So far, 33 cases of the novel virus that can trigger a lung disease are known in Thailand. The concern about infection in Bangkok can be seen from the fact that many people wear protective masks.

The shipping company wrote a few days ago on its website that the guests were safe. They will be well taken care of. The ship was not in quarantine. There is no reason to assume that there are cases of the coronavirus on board. On the homepage, the shipping company also described a series of preventive medical measures that would be taken.

In Yokohama, Japan, the cruise ship "Diamond Princess" is quarantined. More than 130 infections had recently been detected there.
Expert: peak of the epidemic later this month

The peak of the coronavirus epidemic could be reached this month, according to a leading Chinese scientist. The situation is already improving in some provinces, said epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan, who became internationally known for his role in fighting the Sars epidemic in 2003. There the number of new cases decrease.

"The peak should be reached by mid or late this month." The epidemic should then stay a bit at this level and then subside, he added. Zhong, who recently predicted an earlier peak, said his forecast was based on developments in the past few days and government action to combat the virus.
China changes case statistics
The novel corona virus has now cost the lives of more than 1000 people in China. 108 new deaths were recorded - more than ever before in one day. According to official statistics in China, the total number is now 1016.

It has been proven that a good 42,600 people have been infected so far - just under 2,500 more than the previous day. However, the Health Commission has not counted people for whom the virus was tested with a test, but who show no symptoms of the lung disease - a procedure that clearly contradicts the definition of the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO considers someone to be proven to be infected if a 2019 nCoV infection has been confirmed by a laboratory - "regardless of clinical signs or symptoms," it says. The Chinese Commission gave no reason why the statistics were changed.

The extent to which infections are never recorded is completely unclear. People infected with the corona virus can be contagious during the incubation period - even if they show no symptoms. Experts usually expect up to 14 days. The WHO recently emphasized that around 80 percent of infections take a mild course.

In general, the number of unreported cases in China is likely to be immense. "We don't see the real daily increase, but the daily upper limit in the ability to identify new cases," said coronavirus expert Christian Drosten from the Berlin Charité. It could be that the obstacle in the reporting system is testing, but it could also be something else. "I don't give anything to these numbers anymore.
WHO chief: "Now it's about saving lives"
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has called for solidarity in the face of the new corona virus that is rampant in China. "It's not about publications, patents and profits now," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday at the start of an expert summit in Geneva. “Now it's about stopping the outbreak and saving lives. With your support, we can do it. ”

Experts from all over the world meet in Geneva until Wednesday to advance research into the virus and, if possible, to lay the foundation for the development of a vaccine. The world's leading experts want to deal with therapies, the possible source of the virus and its transmissibility in the two days.

The outbreak is a test of political solidarity: to see whether the world can fight this common enemy across borders and ideologies. A test of financial solidarity: whether the world is now investing enough in the defense. And it was a test of scientific solidarity: whether the world could come together to find answers to common problems together.

Tedros described the outbreak as "an emergency for China, but also a serious threat to the rest of the world". Colleagues in China who were connected via video link, said Tedros: "We stand by you, we wish you courage, patience, success and good health in this situation with its extremely difficult circumstances.

Corona virus: Two "citizen journalists" arrested in Wuhan
Two Chinese "citizen journalists" who have reported the outbreak of the corona virus and the overcrowded hospitals in Wuhan on the Internet have been arrested by the Chinese police. As the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch reported on Tuesday, referring to family and friends, police officers "picked up lawyer Chen Qiushi and blogger Fang Bin on the pretext of quarantine."

Since then, both of them are no longer accessible via their cell phones, which should normally be possible in isolation. Neither had symptoms of infection. "People in normal quarantine can make calls," said New York-based researcher Wang Yaqiu from Human Rights Watch. "Both examined the conditions in Wuhan and spoke bluntly about it."

The videos of Fang Bin, who also filmed body bags and uploaded them to YouTube, had gone around the world. Chen Qiushi also filmed in the overwhelmed hospitals in the severely affected city of Wuhan. "There are not enough face masks, not enough protective suits, not enough material and, more importantly, not enough tests," Chen Qiushi said in a video.

The outspoken lawyer had also participated in pro-democratic demonstrations in Hong Kong last year and distributed videos of it on social media in China. "I'm not even afraid of death," Chen Qiushi said in a video from Wuhan. "Do you think I'm afraid of the Communist Party?
Health Commission chiefs fired in severely affected Hubei province
How the authorities deal with the outbreak of the corona virus in China has personnel consequences: As the state television broadcaster CCTV reported on Tuesday, the two highest-ranking representatives of the health commission in the central Chinese province of Hubei were fired. The epidemic started in Hubei in December. Most of the cases of infection and death are there.

According to the CCTV, the provincial communist party decided Monday to fire the party secretary of the Hubei Health Commission, Zhang Jin, and the head of the commission, Liu Yingzi. The two heads of the Chinese Health Commission, Wang Hesheng, are said to take on both of their posts.

The authorities in Hubei are accused of incompetence in dealing with the corona virus. They have been particularly criticized since the death of a young doctor who was one of the first to warn of the novel pathogen. According to his description, the police had tried to silence him.

In China, more than a thousand people have now died from coronavirus infections. The World Health Organization (WHO) will host an international conference on the search for a vaccine starting Tuesday. The two-day meeting is designed to help contain the disease
Because of the corona virus: China's table tennis teams are training in Qatar
After the outbreak of the corona virus in their country, China's table tennis stars have moved to Qatar this year to prepare for the Team World Cup and the Olympic Games. The world association ITTF and the Chinese association CTTA confirmed this on Tuesday morning. "We are very grateful for the help we received in this difficult time," said CTTA chief Liu Guoliang.

A total of 29 members of the women's and men's national teams participated in the German Open in Magdeburg the previous week and did not fly back to China afterwards. The background is not the fear of being infected with the virus. Rather, there is the fear that it may not be possible to leave the country before the World Team Championships in South Korea (March 22 to 29) or even the Olympic Games in Tokyo (July 24 to August 9).

China has dominated table tennis for decades and has recently won the men's team World Cup nine times in a row. According to the ITTF, numerous associations have offered their help to the Chinese over the past two weeks. Qatar was chosen because the next table tennis world tour tournament will take place there from March 3rd to 8th.
More than 1000 coronavirus deaths in China
The new corona virus has already killed more than 1000 people in China. A further 108 people have fallen victim to the lung disease within the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 1,016 people in China who have died from the lung disease. This was announced by the Beijing Health Commission on Tuesday.

A total of 29 members of the women's and men's national teams participated in the German Open in Magdeburg the previous week and did not fly back to China afterwards. The background is not the fear of being infected with the virus. Rather, the fear that the country might not be able to leave before the World Team Championships in South Korea (March 22 to 29) or even the Olympic Games in Tokyo (July 24 to August 9).

China has dominated table tennis for decades and has recently won the men's team World Cup nine times in a row. According to the ITTF, numerous associations have offered their help to the Chinese over the past two weeks. Qatar was chosen because the next table tennis world tour tournament will take place there from March 3rd to 8th.
More than 1000 coronavirus deaths in China
The new corona virus has already killed more than 1000 people in China. A further 108 people have fallen victim to the lung disease within the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 1,016 people in China who have died from the lung disease. This was announced by the Beijing Health Commission on Tuesday.

103 new victims alone were reported from the particularly hard-hit province of Hubei. While the death toll has risen faster than ever since the onset of the disease, the number of new infections decreased on Tuesday compared to the previous day. Nationwide, 2,478 other diseases were reported, bringing the total number of infections detected to mainland China to 42,638.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the situation was still “very serious” on Monday, the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported. However, China will "certainly win a full victory" in the fight against the epidemic.

Xi Jinping made the comments during one of his first public appearances since the disease broke out. State media showed the president visiting a residential complex and hospital in Beijing, where he was wearing a white coat and face mask. According to Xinhua, the party leader called for the impact of the epidemic on the economy to be minimized. Mass layoffs should be avoided. The effects of the coronavirus epidemic on the economy are "short-lived".

After the forced extension of the Chinese New Year holidays, many cities were slow to start working again. In Beijing and Shanghai, subways and other public transport remained unusually empty during rush hour at the beginning of the week, suggesting that many companies were still closed or asking their employees to work from home.

Many German companies are also affected. Volkswagen announced on Monday that it had postponed the start of production at its factories in China due to the ongoing epidemic. There would be challenges due to delays in the resumption of nationwide supply chains and also due to limited travel opportunities for employees. Production is expected to resume in all factories by the beginning of next week at the latest.

The World Health Organization (WHO) will host an expert summit on coronavirus on Tuesday and Wednesday. The WHO hopes that this will enable a swift and well-founded exchange of previous knowledge on the mysterious lung disease. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the conference should focus on science. He refused to politicize the event. "Let's focus on this common enemy of humanity," Tedros said in Geneva on Monday.

In its daily press conferences on the virus, the WHO recently emphasized that around 80 percent of the cases take a mild course. Nevertheless, it is important now to fight the virus vigorously. "We as a human race should work hard to fight this fire before it gets out of control," said Tedros.
So far, more than 300 infections have been detected outside of China, including 14 in Germany