Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Thread - 2020 Breaking News

[Seanette]

Eeeep. Now a known case in my area.

Officials Confirm First Case Of Coronavirus In Sacramento County

[Snowboarder_Bo]

81,002 confirmed infected
2,762 deaths
30,070 recovered

Korea had over a hundred confirmed new infections today, including an American soldier.

South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 134 of the 169 new cases were confirmed in Daegu, where the government has been mobilizing public health tools to contain the virus. Another 19 cases were in neighboring North Gyeongsang province towns.

A U.S. military statement said the 23-year-old soldier was in self-quarantine at his off-base residence. He had been based in Camp Carroll in a town near Daegu, and visited both Carroll and nearby Camp Walker in recent days, according to the statement.

South Korean authorities and U.S. military health professionals were tracing his contacts to determine if other people may have been exposed.

Italy saw a 45% increase in confirmed infections and several other European countries saw their first confirmed infections.

Italian officials reported 11 deaths and 322 confirmed cases of the virus, 100 more than a day earlier. While the majority were concentrated in northern Italy, some of the new cases registered outside the country’s two hard-hit regions, including three in Sicily, two in Tuscany and one in Liguria.

Six European countries announced cases of COVID-19 disease Tuesday in people who had recently traveled from northern Italy, where the virus emerged as a fast-growing cluster last week.

For Switzerland, Austria and Croatia it was the first confirmed new coronavirus cases in those countries. Germany, France and Spain, which had previously reported cases, confirmed new infections in people who were from or had visited northern Italy.

@Seanette

Eeeep. Now a known case in my area.

Officials Confirm First Case Of Coronavirus In Sacramento County - CBS Sacramento

There are currently 57 confirmed infections in the US.

[steatopygia]

First South American case, in Brazil. I have no idea of their testing ability.

Second case in Africa, Algeria.

Switzerland joins the club. Austria and Croatia are also in.

The city of San Francisco, with zero cases, has declared a state of emergency. :dubious:

In good news, China may actually be getting things under control. That would be amazing. Good job!

I remain dubious of Russia. India has been remarkably lucky so far.

[Snowboarder_Bo]

@steatopygia

First South American case, in Brazil. I have no idea of their testing ability.

@steatopygia

Second case in Africa, Algeria.

@steatopygia

The city of San Francisco, with zero cases, has declared a state of emergency. :dubious:

Do you have cites for these items? Thank you.

I’m especially curious about the first two items. The Johns Hopkins site does not show any confirmed infections in Brazil at this time and only shows 1 confirmed infection in Algeria.

[Seanette]

Here’s one for the statement about San Francisco:

SF Mayor London Breed Declares Local Emergency Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

[steatopygia]

This page , thewuhanvirus.com .

I haven’t been able to figure out the update schedule on the Johns Hopkins page. I’m not sure it has a defined schedule. The Wuhanflu page has been accurate though I believe it is just using news sources. YMMV

[steatopygia]

I just found a blog post on the Johns Hopkins site that outlines how they go about updating. I think it is too long to post here. Link to the blog.
The pertinent information is on the Feb. 11th post.

ETA Algeria is the second country in Africa. Egypt was the first.

[PookahMacPhellimey]

@steatopygia

It looks like they did cancel Carnival in Venice.

They did, yes. I have a guest who came especially for it. Luckily we did manage to go one day before it was cancelled. Might go sightseeing instead today.

[Tom_Tildrum]

As I understand it, San Francisco’s cases are all evacuees; there are no locally-transmitted cases. The emergency declaration just allows for easier funding and fewer regulatory constraints.

The spike in South Korea seems to be associated with an extremist religious sect that some are calling a death cult.

[bordelond]

@Snowboarder_Bo

Do you have cites for these items? Thank you.

I’m especially curious about the first two items.

Major news sites are corroborating the Brazilian case now, though only within the last half hour or so.

On the CDC’s coronavirus global map, they show Algeria’s case(s?), but not Brazil’s. I think there is some lag before CDC (and I guess Johns Hopkins) updates.

[bordelond]

@steatopygia

This page , thewuhanvirus.com .

This link still shows Algeria with one case, which matches Worldometers’ counter, BNO’s counter, and major news sites’ info.

[bordelond]

Pakistan may have two cases now - waiting for major news site corroboration. But these preliminary reports have been holding up.

[teela_brown]

So far I haven’t seen this mentioned anywhere.

Once you’ve had COVID-19, are you now immune to it?

[SuntanLotion]

Awhile ago, I read some prominent people saying we Needed to solve the overpopulation crisis. I think this might be their way…

[Snowboarder_Bo]

@teela_brown

So far I haven’t seen this mentioned anywhere.

Once you’ve had COVID-19, are you now immune to it?

No; recovery does not appear to convey immunity.

There was a man in China this week who had recovered and was diagnosed again with COVID-19; I’m having trouble locating the article now but it was linked in one of the threads here on the Dope.

[Euphonious_Polemic]

New situation report from WHO

I think this may be the first day that new cases inside China (412) are fewer than those outside China (459)

South Korea seems to be ramping up much faster than I’d like (1261 total, 284 new since yesterday)

It now seems to be firmly established in the middle east. If it gets into Syria or other war-torn zones, all bets are off.

I don’t think we have any situational awareness of whether or not it is in Africa at this point.

[steatopygia]

@Snowboarder_Bo

No; recovery does not appear to convey immunity.

There was a man in China this week who had recovered and was diagnosed again with COVID-19; I’m having trouble locating the article now but it was linked in one of the threads here on the Dope.

I think this is in no way established. One possible case from the center of an epidemic is nothing I would count on.

[PastTense]

The number of coronavirus cases in Italy has jumped to 400, amid international efforts to contain the spread of the deadly outbreak.

The rise in Italy, the main focus of infection in Europe, represents a 25% surge in 24 hours.

Several European countries announced new cases traced to Italy.

Also on Wednesday, the World Health Organization said that for the first time the virus was spreading faster outside China, where it originated.

Coronavirus cases surge to 400 in Italy

[Broomstick]

@Snowboarder_Bo

No; recovery does not appear to convey immunity.

There was a man in China this week who had recovered and was diagnosed again with COVID-19; I’m having trouble locating the article now but it was linked in one of the threads here on the Dope.

Maybe, maybe not - there was some dispute about it, that maybe he’d been released before he was actually recovered. There’s only one report of someone being reinfected, and that’s it.

Maybe you don’t gain immunity… but that would be unusual. So I’m not convinced the question is settled yet.

[DSeid]

It would be unusual to recover and gain no immunity at all but infection with the established human coronaviruses usually do NOT evoke long lasting immunity, sometimes not enough to get through an entire season. My understanding is that reinfection with the same species of human coronavirus within the same season occurs.

Part of the issue may be that the antibody level drops off, but these viruses also change their external face (the receptor binding protein - RBP - in the spikes) fairly quickly.

Why don’t we ever develop immunity against the common cold? The incredible variability of coronaviruses is better understood with this study about the ways in which coronaviruses adapt and evolve, becoming ever more effective at infecting hosts without being defeated by the immune system. The receptor binding domain (RBD) of coronavirus S-protein displays three highly variable extended loops that modulate the affinity to both the receptor on a target cell and the neutralizing antibodies. … The spikes are made up of S proteins (S for spike). A specific part of the spike seems to allow the virus to attach itself to host cells. The spike’s RBD (receptor binding domain), which initiates the interaction between cell and virus, is essential for infection. But RBDs are targeted by antibodies that neutralize the virus and allow the immune system to flush it out of the host’s system.

Coronaviruses are thus faced with an evolutionary problem. They can’t infect cells without an RBD, which needs to be exposed so that it can latch onto cells. But the RBD needs to be masked to avoid being targeted by antibodies.

In response, the coronavirus has developed a mechanism that helps it survive, and thrive. The RBD is made up of three parts that vary widely between strains. Thanks to this variation, antibodies are unable to detect new strains, whereas RBDs retain – and even improve – their affinity for the target cell. Plus, RBDs alternate between visible and masked states. …