Health expert on coronavirus containment: “The window of opportunity is narrowing”
From CNN Health’s Jamie Gumbrecht
There’s great concern about the spread of the novel coronavirus in countries outside China and among people with no connection to China or Wuhan, World Health Orginization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday.
There’s still a window of opportunity to contain the virus, Tedros said, “but the window of opportunity is narrowing.”
WHO is calling on countries to continue containment measures while preparing for community transmission, he said. He said China’s containment measures in Wuhan and elsewhere are “hammering” the virus and can help contain it.
"We must not look back and regret that we failed to take advantage of the window of opportunity we have,” he said.
The outbreak can still go any direction, Tedros said, and countries need to prepare for any eventuality.
Dr. Sylvie Briand, director of the World Health Organization’s Infectious Hazards Management Department, said the agency is working to prepare countries’ health care workers with training and making sure they know how to protect themselves, and to make sure countries have enough workers to handle a number of cases.
Not all speech is free and shouldn’t be. For example, inciting a riot or screaming fire in a crowded movie theater or threatening to commit murder or talking bombs in an airport. Some things just shouldn’t be said and there are laws to protect the population as a whole from irresponsible and life threatening speech.
“Shincheonji Church of Jesus and is the birthplace of its founder, Lee Man-hee, who has donned the mantle of Jesus Christ and claims that he will take 144,000 people with him to Heaven, body and soul, on the Day of Judgement.”
BREAKING: South Korea reports 142 new coronavirus cases
From CNN’s Sophie Jeong in Seoul
Workers wearing protective gear prepare to disinfect against the coronavirus at a subway station in Seoul, on February 21, 2020. Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
South Korea reported a jump of 142 additional cases overnight, bringing the country’s total to 346, according to the South Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
New cases breakdown:
North Gyeongsang province (which surrounds southeastern city of Daegu): 103
Minister of Health spent a good deal of today’s press conference scolding the press for misinformation it is spreading. So imagine what goes on online. Victims are quite gullible, rush to buy whatever they offer and do not consider the ulterior motives people have spreading rumors…Or feed on them.
A woman in Canada tested positive after traveling to Iran. That has got health officials concerned
From CNN’s Paula Newton
Canada’s chief public health officer Theresa Tam has raised concerns over a woman who tested positive for coronavirus after recently returning from Iran.
“Any important cases linked to Iran could be an indicator that there is more widespread transmission than we know about,” Tam said.
Iran only recently began reporting its first cases. On Friday, the Middle Eastern country confirmed a total of 18 patients with coronavirus and four deaths.
Tam said this is a reminder that the novel coronavirus is a global issue and that there is the possibility that the virus could be present in countries that may not have the capacity to detect or contain the virus.
The Central Epidemic Epidemic Command Center says the 19 from diamond princess cruise ship returned to Taiwan safely and the initial quarantine confirmed that they had no discomfort and the test results were negative.
They will be sent to the centralized quarantine location to complete the 14-day isolation and quarantine.
