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Coronavirus outbreak in France did not come directly from China, gene-tracing scientists say
Genetic analysis showed that the dominant types of the viral strains in France belonged to a clade – or group with a common ancestor – that did not come from China or Italy, the earliest hotspot in Europe.
The Pasteur institute collected samples from more than 90 other patients across France and found the strains all came from one genetic line. Strains following this unique path of evolution had so far only been detected in Europe and the Americas.
Several patients had recently travelled to other European countries, the United Arab Emirates, Madagascar and Egypt but there was no direct evidence that they contracted the disease in these destinations.
To the researchers’ surprise, some of the later strains collected were genetically older – or closer to the ancestral root – than the first sample in this clade.
The researchers also found that three sequences later sampled in Algeria were closely related to those in France, suggesting that travellers from France might have introduced the virus to the African country and caused an outbreak.
Benjamin Neuman, professor and chair of biological sciences with the Texas A&M University-Texarkana, said the French strains might have come from Belgium, where some sequences most closely related to the original strain from China were clustered.
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Tokyo reports fewest coronavirus cases in 4 weeks
On Monday, the number of newly confirmed coronavirus cases in Tokyo was 39, marking the first day in nearly a month with fewer than 40 infections and the second straight with fewer than 100.
To date, a total of 3,947 cases have been confirmed in Tokyo. 65.2% of patients have experienced mild to moderate symptoms, 2.4% have seen severe symptoms, and 2.7% of cases have led to death. 29.7% of patients had been discharged.
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Kauai hasn’t seen a new COVID-19 diagnosis in 15 days. Now, they’re reporting no active cases
HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - For 15 days, Kauai hasn’t seen a single new case of coronavirus. And on Tuesday, a new milestone: the island’s last COVID-19 patient in isolation was allowed to leave the hospital.
That means there are no known active cases on Kauai.
The decline in the threat has many wondering: What now?
Gov. David Ige has extended his stay-at-home order for the state through May 31 — and mandated that county mayors go through him for approval before instituting any changes to the restrictions.
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Doctors See Rise in Strokes Caused by Coronavirus; CDC Expands List of Possible Symptoms
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its list of possible symptoms for the novel coronavirus this weekend to include chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headaches, a sore throat and a loss of taste or smell. Doctors around the country are reporting an alarming number of young and middle-aged people infected with COVID-19 have been dying of strokes, including those who barely presented other symptoms of the disease.
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Sweden records deadliest week of century after resisting lockdowns
There were at least 2,505 Swedes who died between April 6 to April 12, amounting to 358 fatalities per day, Swedish outlet The Local reported.
“It’s important to clearly state that these are preliminary statistics, and that the death toll, especially for the most recent weeks, will be revised upward,” said Tomas Johansson of Statistics Sweden, a government agency that compiled the figures.
The recent spike in fatalities comes as the country refused to implement containment measures to stop the spread of the virus.
Sweden is in the top 10 for fatalities (R = 256/M, it was 100 2 weeks ago) in the entire world. That is only 9 countries have a higher death rare. 20 counties have no deaths and 30 more have < 1 per million.
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Top NYC doctor takes her own life
A top New York City doctor who was on the front line of the US fight against coronavirus has taken her own life.
Dr Lorna Breen, who was medical director of the emergency department at New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital in Manhattan, died of self-inflicted injuries on Sunday, police said.
New York accounts for 17,500 out of America's coronavirus 56,000 deaths.
The elder Dr Breen said his daughter had had no history of mental illness. She died in Charlottesville, Virginia, where she had been staying with her family.
Lorna Breen herself had fallen ill with the coronavirus during the course of her work and returned to the job after about a week-and-a-half of recuperating, said her father.
The hospital had sent her home again, before her family "intervened" to bring her to Charlottesville, said her father.
He said that when they last spoke, his daughter had seemed "detached" and told him how Covid-19 patients were dying before they could even be removed from ambulances. Dozens of patients have succumbed to coronavirus at the 200-bed hospital in Manhattan.
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Coronavirus Has Now Killed More Americans Than Vietnam War
In not even three months since the first known U.S. deaths from COVID-19, more lives have now been lost to the coronavirus pandemic on U.S. soil than the 58,220 Americans who died over nearly two decades in Vietnam.
Early Tuesday evening ET, the U.S. death toll reached 58,365, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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Coronavirus: Germany's COVID-19 infection rate rises after lockdown lifted
The rate at which the coronavirus is spreading in Germany has increased following the easing of lockdown restrictions.
Authorities say the “R” factor, which measures the average number of people that an infected person contaminates, is now close to the limit of target levels.
It had been at around 0.7 on April 20th when Germany eased restrictions on movement and economic activity.
Now it is at 0.96, said Lothar Wieler, the head of the Robert Koch Institute.
Authorities have said they want to keep the "R" factor below 1 to keep the pandemic on a scale that's manageable for the country's health care system.
Euronews correspondent Jona Kallgren says the government is likely to wait to see if the trend is confirmed before announcing any corrective measures.
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