Medical
Coronavirus death toll leaps in China
China's health authority said Thursday that it received reports of 15,152 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection and 254 deaths Wednesday from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. [Full Article...]
People Quarantined in Vietnam because of the Coronavirus
Police officers in face masks were today guarding checkpoints in the farming region of Son Loi with villagers facing 20 days in quarantine . So far, 15 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Vietnam , including 12 Vietnamese, one Vietnamese-American, and two Chinese nationals. [Full Article...]
China picks ex-Shanghai mayor to lead in virus epicenter
Asian stock markets wobbled and the safe-havens of the Japanese yen, gold and bonds rose after the Hubei numbers were reported. The rise in the toll more than doubled the prior provincial daily record of 103 set on Monday, while the number of new cases soared by 14,840 - also a daily record - to a total of 48,206 cases. [Full Article...]
Coronavirus outbreak 'just beginning' outside China, says expert
And in Japan, 39 new cases were confirmed on a cruise ship quarantined at Yokohama, bringing the total to 174 aboard the Diamond Princess. China has handled the new coronavirus outbreak in a transparent and "highly responsible" way, the country's United Nations ambassador said Wednesday, after criticism that local authorities did not react quickly enough. [Full Article...]
Trump Seeks to Boost Spending for Artificial Intelligence Research - White House
The $1 billion contribution would replenish the US commitment to the organization in full."A robust request for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, for the next several years sends a strong positive signal to the world that the USA will maintain its full commitment to help save 8 million lives". [Full Article...]
China's Hubei, Wuhan Communist Party chiefs removed amid epidemic
This morning, state media announced that Jiang Chaoliang, head of the party in Hubei province, was removed and replaced by Ying Yong, mayor and deputy chief of the Shanghai party. Chinese scientists are testing two antiviral drugs and preliminary clinical trial results are weeks away but a vaccine could take 18 months to develop. [Full Article...]
Coronavirus death toll leaps in Hubei
A total of 48,206 cases of COVID-19 are now being treated in Hubei province alone, majority in the city of Wuhan. This means lung imaging on suspected cases can be considered sufficient to diagnose the virus, rather than the standard nucleic acid tests. [Full Article...]
Outbreak will hit EVERY country after record day for outbreak deaths
Hubei had previously only allowed infections to be confirmed by RNA tests, which can take days to process and delay treatment. Markets had reached record highs in Europe on Wednesday, amid hopes Chinese authorities' tough quarantine measures were helping to contain the spread of the flu-like virus. [Full Article...]