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B.C.'s 13th coronavirus patient in critical condition, officials announce
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says woman in her 80s has severe case of COVID-19
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The neuroinvasive potential of SARS-CoV2 may be at least partially responsible for the respiratory failure of COVID-19 patients
Following the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), another highly
pathogenic coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2 (previously known as 2019-nCoV)
emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and rapidly spreads around the world.
This virus shares highly homological sequence with SARS-CoV, and causes acute,
highly lethal pneumonia (COVID-19) with clinical symptoms similar to those
reported for SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. The most characteristic symptom of
COVID-19 patients is respiratory distress, and most of the patients admitted to the
intensive care could not breathe spontaneously. Additionally, some COVID-19
patients also showed neurologic signs such as headache, nausea and vomiting.
Increasing evidence shows that coronavriruses are not always confined to the
respiratory tract and that they may also invade the central nervous system inducing
neurological diseases. The infection of SARS-CoV has been reported in the brains
from both patients and experimental animals, where the brainstem was heavily
infected. Furthermore, some coronaviruses have been demonstrated able to spread via
a synapse-connected route to the medullary cardiorespiratory center from the
mechano- and chemoreceptors in the lung and lower respiratory airways. In light of
the high similarity between SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV2, it is quite likely that the
potential invasion of SARS-CoV2 is partially responsible for the acute respiratory
failure of COVID-19 patients. Awareness of this will have important guiding
significance for the prevention and treatment of the SARS-CoV-2-induced respiratory
failure.
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Western media excoriates China over coronavirus response, even as infected numbers drop & hospitals close
China can do no right in its response to the coronavirus, according to western media. Even as the epidemic appears to be subsiding, Beijing is being slammed for being simultaneously too authoritarian and too weak.
Even as the Chinese government earns plaudits from the World Health Organization and epidemiology experts for its handling of the epidemic, Western media haven’t let up on their criticism. Coronavirus has given them license to unleash every stereotype and wild speculation they’ve ever had about life in China, and they aren’t about to let go of that opportunity. Accordingly, nothing Beijing does — or doesn’t do — will be enough for the armchair critics of the American press.
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China closes 1st ‘pop-up’ coronavirus hospital, built in 10 days, after last group of recovered patients discharged
Authorities in Wuhan have closed the city’s first makeshift hospital after discharging the last batch of 34 recovered coronavirus patients, as the rate of infection in the city has dropped dramatically.
Wuhan was the site of the original outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic, and the city’s response, building a new hospital in less than two weeks to handle Covid-19 patients, was seen as a modern marvel with the total number of hospital beds in the city eventually going from 5,000 to 23,000.
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European Defence Agency CANCELS all meetings as two EU officials test positive for Coronavirus in Brussels
"We have confirmation of the case," spokesperson Dana Spinant said after the first case was revealed on Wednesday. Spinant added that reports about a male official working at the European Defence Agency contracting the virus were true, and that he had recently returned from a trip to Italy.
The second case was confirmed just a few hours later on Wednesday with health officials revealing that the patient works in a security unit of the European Council and is believed to have been in contact with a previous case in Belgium.
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Malaysia records largest single-day increase in Covid-19 cases, total now 36
Malaysia has recorded seven new Covid-19 cases today, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 36, reveals the Prime Minister's Department.
This is the highest single-day increase in the number of cases since the Covid-19 infection began in Malaysia.
"There were seven new cases reported in Malaysia today, March 3. Therefore, there are now 36 recorded cases to date. Of this, 22 cases (61.1 percent) have recovered.
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Coronavirus: Cases in UK jump to 87
The UK has seen its biggest day-on-day increase in coronavirus cases, bringing the total number to 87.
Almost all of the 36 new patients had recently travelled to affected countries or been infected by others who had done so, the UK's chief medical adviser Prof Chris Whitty said.
But it is not clear how three new patients in England caught the virus.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that two patients at King's College Hospital have been diagnosed with the virus.
A family member of an elderly patient at the south London hospital told the BBC one of those who was infected had been staying in the same room as his relative prior to being diagnosed.
The hospital said it had restricted access for staff and visitors to the affected ward, and was tracing those who may have come into contact with the infected patients.
Of the 87 cases in the UK there are 80 in England, three in Scotland, one in Wales and three in Northern Ireland.
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WHO: Covid-19 More Lethal Than Seasonal Flu
“Globally, about 3.4 percent of reported COVID-19 cases have died,” Director-General of WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing in Geneva. The figure is higher than previous estimates that hovered around two percent while influenza’s fatality rate is less than one
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Infected kids don't get sick.
Kids can catch the disease but they don't really get sick from it.
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