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The untold story of America's biggest outbreak
By 15 April, when Smithfield finally closed under pressure from the South Dakota governor's office, the plant had become the number one hotspot in the US, with a cluster of 644 confirmed cases among Smithfield employees and people who contracted it from them. In total, Smithfield-related infections account for 55% of the caseload in the state, which is far outpacing its far more populous Midwestern neighbour states in cases per capita. According to the New York Times, the Smithfield Foods case numbers have surpassed the USS Theodore Roosevelt naval ship and the Cook County Jail in Chicago, Illinois.
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Coronavirus state of emergency expanded to all of Japan
The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Japan exceeded 9,000 on Thursday. It took only nine days for the number to double.
The government has responded by expanding the state of emergency for the coronavirus outbreak to the entire country and says the measure will remain in effect through May 6.
Prime Minister Abe Shinzo said on Thursday the virus has been spreading in six prefectures — Hokkaido, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Gifu, Aichi, and Kyoto — to the same extent as in the seven prefectures where the state of emergency originally applied. Those seven are Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Osaka, Hyogo and Fukuoka.
The 13 prefectures have now been designated as "special alert prefectures" where it is necessary to promote efforts to prevent the spread of infections.
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Coronavirus outbreak may have started in September, say British scientists
Study narrows origin to a period between September and December, after virus mutated to a form that was harmful to humans.
It is more likely to have come from southern China than Wuhan, but further analysis of bats and other potential host animals is needed, geneticist says
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New wave of infections threatens to collapse Japan hospitals
Hospitals in Japan are increasingly turning away sick people in ambulances as the country braces for a surge in coronavirus infections.
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Coronavirus: Germany says its outbreak is 'under control'
Jens Spahn said that since 12 April the number of recovered patients had been consistently higher than the number of new infections.
The infection rate has dropped to 0.7 - that is, each infected person passed the virus to fewer than one other.
In Germany 3,868 have died of Covid-19 - fewer than in Italy, Spain or France.
However, the number of fatalities is still rising in Germany, as is the number of infected health care workers.
So far almost 134,000 people have been infected in Germany.
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Obesity Linked to Severe Coronavirus Disease, Especially for Younger Patients
Young adults with obesity are more likely to be hospitalized, even if they have no other health problems, studies show.
The research is preliminary, and not peer reviewed, but it buttresses anecdotal reports from doctors who say they have been struck by how many seriously ill younger patients of theirs with obesity are otherwise healthy.
No one knows why obesity makes Covid-19 worse, but hypotheses abound.
Some coronavirus patients with obesity may already have compromised respiratory function that preceded the infection. Abdominal obesity, more prominent in men, can cause compression of the diaphragm, lungs and chest capacity. Obesity is known to cause chronic, low-grade inflammation and an increase in circulating, pro-inflammatory cytokines, which may play a role in the worst Covid-19 outcomes.
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Almost half of French aircraft carrier crew test positive for COVID-19: minister
PARIS (Reuters) - Almost half the 2,300-strong crew on France’s sole aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the armed forces minister said on Friday.
Florence Parly told parliament that 1,081 out of 2,010 tests carried out had shown a positive result. A total of 545 sailors had shown symptoms and 24 were in hospital, she added.
The minister said it was impossible to say at this stage whether the virus had been present on the aircraft carrier before a mid-March stopover in the French Atlantic Ocean port of Brest.
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