Tuesday 24 March 2020

CORONA 

  COVID---19
During a total solar eclipse, the Sun's corona and prominences are visible to the naked eye.
corona (meaning "crown" in Latin derived from Ancient Greek κορώνη (korōnè, "garland, wreath")) is an aura of plasma that surrounds the Sun and other stars. The Sun's corona extends millions of kilometres into outer space and is most easily seen during a total solar eclipse, but it is also observable with a coronagraph.
Spectroscopy measurements indicate strong ionization in the corona and a plasma temperature in excess of 1000000 kelvin,[1] much hotter than the surface of the Sun.
Light from the corona comes from three primary sources, from the same volume of space.
The K-corona (K for kontinuierlich, "continuous" in German) is created by sunlight scattering off free electronsDoppler broadening of the reflected photospheric absorption lines spreads them so greatly as to completely obscure them, giving the spectral appearance of a continuum with no absorption lines.
The F-corona (F for Fraunhofer) is created by sunlight bouncing off dust particles, and is observable because its light contains the Fraunhofer absorption lines that are seen in raw sunlight; the F-corona extends to very high elongation angles from the Sun, where it is called the zodiacal light.
The E-corona (E for emission) is due to spectral emission lines produced by ions that are present in the coronal plasma; it may be observed in broad or forbidden or hot spectral emission lines and is the main source of information about the corona's composition

Corona. COVID---19

COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
Last updated: March 24, 2020, 09:13 GMT

Coronavirus Cases:

383,349

Deaths:

16,585

Recovered:

102,548
ACTIVE CASES
264,216
Currently Infected Patients
252,137 (95%)
in Mild Condition
12,079 (5%)
Serious or Critical
Show Graph
Jan 22Feb 21Mar 22Jan 28Feb 03Feb 09Feb 15Feb 27Mar 04Mar 10Mar 160250k500k
Show Statistics
CLOSED CASES
119,133
Cases which had an outcome:
102,548 (86%)
Recovered / Discharged
16,585 (14%)
Deaths
Show Graph
Feb 02Feb 07Feb 12Feb 17Feb 22Feb 27Mar 03Mar 08Mar 13Mar 18Mar 230%100%
Show Statistics
Total Coronavirus CasesTotal Cases(Linear Scale)Jan 22Jan 29Feb 05Feb 12Feb 19Feb 26Mar 04Mar 11Mar 180100k200k300k400kCases
Total Coronavirus DeathsTotal Deaths(Linear Scale)Jan 22Jan 29Feb 05Feb 12Feb 19Feb 26Mar 04Mar 11Mar 1805k10k15k20kDeaths
The charts above are updated after the close of the day in GMT+0. Latest data is provisional, pending delayed reporting and adjustments from China's NHC.

Confirmed Cases and Deaths by Country, Territory, or Conveyance

The coronavirus COVID-19 is affecting 196 countries and territories around the world and 1 international conveyance (the Diamond Princess cruise ship harbored in Yokohama, Japan). The day is reset after midnight GMT+0.
Highlighted in green
= all cases have recovered from the infection
Highlighted in grey
= all cases have had an outcome (there are no active cases)
The "New" columns for China display the previous day changes (as China reports after the day is over). For all other countries, the "New" columns display the changes for the current day while still in progress.

Latest Updates

March 24 (GMT)

  • 6 new cases in Georgia [source]
  • 14 new cases in Bosnia and Herzegovina [source]
  • 1 new death in Iceland: an elderly woman [source]
  • 3 new cases in French Guiana: all imported [source]
  • 17 new cases in Pakistan [source]
  • 4 new cases in Réunion [source]
  • 18 new cases in Slovakia [source]
  • 9 new cases in the DR Congo [source]
  • 17 new cases in Estonia [source]
  • 152 new cases in South Africa [source]
  • 2 new cases in Montenegro [source]
  • 2 new cases in New Caledonia [source]
  • 12 new cases in Mayotte [source]
  • 46 new cases in Croatia [source]
  • 2 new cases in Kuwait [source]
  • 11 new cases in Ukraine [source]
  • 53 new cases in Czechia [source]
  • 214 new cases in Israel [source]
  • 10 new cases in Cameroon [source]
  • 8 new cases in Lithuania [source]
  • 17 new cases in Latvia [source]
  • 1 new case in Ethiopia [source]
  • 2 new cases in Jamaica [source]
  • 1 new death in Romania: a 70-year-old man, with previous health conditions that were treated with insulin, who had returned from Italy [source]
  • 26 new cases in Kyrgyzstan: including a 1-year-old child, a 6-year-old child, and a 14-year-old child with positive results [source]
  • 2 new deaths of former passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship. 20 new recoveries have also been reported [source]
  • 12 new cases in Japan [source]
  • Guam: The Joint Region Marianas Public Affairs Office has released a statement retracting the 4 new cases previously reportedat the U.S. Naval Hospital as "it was made in error[source]
  • 1 new case in Bulgaria [source]
  • 6 new cases in Kazakhstan [source]
  • 18 new cases in Oman [source]
  • 20 new cases in Taiwan [source]
  • 1 new case in Bolivia: a 58-year-old woman who arrived on Friday from Switzerland [source]
  • 5 new cases in Madagascar: all from France and from the same Air France flight [source]
  • 12 new cases in India. Total cases surpass 500 [source]
  • 3 new cases in Uzbekistan [source]
  • 5 new cases in French Polynesia [source]
  • 1 new case in Suriname [source]
  • 3 new cases in Aruba [source]
  • 1 new case in Trinidad and Tobago. 1st case in Tobago: a resident of Trinidad who arrived in Tobago on an international flight on March 18th and was immediately placed under quarantine. 5 days later, he developed symptoms and was admitted to the hospital [source]
  • 5 new cases and 1 new death in Paraguay [source]
  • 2 new cases in Afghanistan [source]
  • 106 new cases and 3 new deaths in Thailand [source]
  • 1 new case in Fiji: a 28-year-old male who had returned from Australia on Saturday. Despite not showing any symptoms of COVID-19, he was advised by health officials at the airport to go straight home and self-quarantine for 14 days. On Sunday night he developed a sore throat and then a cough. After resulting positive to the test, he and his family members were transported to the hospital with separate ambulances. Fiji Airways was practicing safe distancing by spacing out the 26 other passengers, who are now in self-quarantine. The airline had already announced they were cutting their international flights by 95%. Now they announced that, from tomorrow, there will be no more scheduled passenger Fiji Airways travel into or out of Fiji until further notice [source]
  • 29 new cases in Colombia [source]
  • 53 new cases in New Zealand.   Probable cases are now counted and treated as confirmed cases. 3 new probable cases and 10 from the previous days have been added to the total today [source] [source]
  • 2 new cases in El Salvador [source]
  • 51 new cases and 1 new death in Mexico [source]
  • 78 new cases7 new deaths (all in Hubei), and 456 new discharges occurred in China on March 23, as reported by the National Health Commission (NHC) of China. After 5 days with no new cases, 1 new case has been reported in Wuhan [source
January Timeline:
  • On January 31, the first 2 novel coronavirus cases in the UK, [18] the first 2 cases in Russia, [20] and the first case in Sweden and in Spain were reported. Canada reported its 4th case.
  • On Jan. 31, the United States
    • declared Coronavirus a Public Health Emergency
    • issued 14 days quarantine rules for US citizens entering the US from China (mandatory if entering from the Hubei province).
    • issued an order to deny entry to foreigners who have traveled to China within the past two weeks.
  • On January 30, the novel coronavirus total case count surpassed that for SARS (which affected 8,096 people worldwide).
  • On January 30, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a Global Public Health Emergency.
  • On January 30 CDC confirmed the first US case of human to human transmission[17].
  • Germany, Japan, Vietnam and the United States have reported cases in patients who didn't personally visit China, but contracted the virus from someone else who had visited Wuhan, China[15]. These cases of human to human transmission are the most worrisome, according to the WHO[16].
  • Wuhan (the city where the virus originated) is the largest city in Central China, with a population of over 11 million people. The city, on January 23, shut down transport links. Following Wuhan lock down, the city of Huanggang was also placed in quarantine, and the city of Ezhou closed its train stations. This means than 18 million people have been placed in isolation. The World Health Organization (WHO) said cutting off a city as large as Wuhan is "unprecedented in public health history."[12and praised China for its incredible commitment to isolate the virus and minimize the spread to other countries.

How dangerous is the virus?

There are three parameters to understand in order to assess the magnitude of the risk posed by this novel coronavirus:

How contagious is the Wuhan Coronavirus? (Ro)

The attack rate or transmissibility (how rapidly the disease spreads) of a virus is indicated by its reproductive number (Ro, pronounced R-nought or r-zero), which represents the average number of people to which a single infected person will transmit the virus.
WHO's estimated (on Jan. 23) Ro to be between 1.4 and 2.5. [13]
Other studies have estimated a Ro between 3.6 and 4.0, and between 2.24 to 3.58. [23].
Preliminary studies had estimated Ro to be between 1.5 and 3.5. [5][6][7]
An outbreak with a reproductive number of below 1 will gradually disappear.
For comparison, the Ro for the common flu is 1.3 and for SARS it was 2.0.

Fatality Rate (case fatality ratio or CFR) of the Wuhan Coronavirus

See full details: Coronavirus Fatality Rate
The novel coronavirus' case fatality rate has been estimated at around 2%, in the WHO press conference held on January 29, 2020 [16] . However, it noted that, without knowing how many were infected, it was too early to be able to put a percentage on the mortality rate figure.
A prior estimate [9] had put that number at 3%.
Fatality rate can change as a virus can mutate, according to epidemiologists.
For comparison, the case fatality rate for SARS was 10%, and for MERS 34%.

Incubation Period (how long it takes for symptoms to appear)

Symptoms of COVID-19 may appear in as few as 2 days or as long as 14 (estimated ranges vary from 2-10 days, 2-14 days, and 10-14 days, see details), during which the virus is contagious but the patient does not display any symptom (asymptomatic transmission).

Age and conditions of Coronavirus cases

According to early estimates by China's National Health Commission (NHC), about 80% of those who died were over the age of 60 and 75% of them had pre-existing health conditions such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.[24]
According to the WHO Situation Report no. 7 issued on Jan. 27:
  • The median age of cases detected outside of China is 45 years, ranging from 2 to 74 years.
  • 71% of cases were male.
A study of 138 hospitalized patients with NCIP found that the median age was 56 years (interquartile range, 42-68; range, 22-92 years) and 75 (54.3%) were men.[25]
The WHO, in its Myth busters FAQs, addresses the question: "Does the new coronavirus affect older people, or are younger people also susceptible?" by answering that:
  • People of all ages can be infected by the novel coronavirus COVID-19.
  • Older people, and people with pre-existing medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease) appear to be more vulnerable to becoming severely ill with the virus.

Patient who died in the Philippines was a 44-year old male

The patient who died in the Philippines on February 2, in what was the first death occurring outside of China, was a 44-year-old Chinese man from Wuhan who was admitted on Jan. 25 after experiencing fever, cough, and sore throat, before developing severe pneumonia. In the last few days, “the patient was stable and showed signs of improvement, however, the condition of the patient deteriorated within his last 24 hours resulting in his demise." according to the Philippine Department of Health.

Serious Cases of 30 year old patients in France

As of Jan. 29, according to French authorities, the conditions of the two earliest Paris cases had worsened and the patients were being treated in intensive care, according to French authorities. The patients have been described as a young couple aged 30 and 31 years old, both Chinese citizens from Wuhan who were asymptomatic when they arrived in Paris on January 18 [19].

Age and Sex of the first deaths as reported by the China National Health Commission (NHC)

The NHC reported the details of the first 17 deaths up to 24 pm on January 22, 2020. The deaths included 13 males and 4 females. The median age of the deaths was 75 (range 48-89) years.[21]

WHO Risk Assessment: Global Emergency

See full details: WHO coronavirus updates
On January 30, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a Global Public Health Emergency.
For more information from the WHO regarding novel coronavirus: WHO page on Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)

Comparisons:

  • Every year an estimated 290,000 to 650,000 people die in the world due to complications from seasonal influenza (flu) viruses. This figure corresponds to 795 to 1,781 deaths per day due to the seasonal flu.
  • SARS (November 2002 to July 2003): was a coronavirus that originated from Beijing, China, spread to 29 countries, and resulted in 8,096 people infected with 774 deaths (fatality rate of 9.6%). Considering that SARS ended up infecting 5,237 people in mainland China, Wuhan Coronavirus surpassed SARS on January 29, 2020, when Chinese officials confirmed 5,974 cases of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). One day later, on January 30, 2020 the novel coronavirus cases surpassed even the 8,096 cases worldwide which were the final SARS count in 2003.
  • MERS (in 2012) killed 858 people out of the 2,494 infected (fatality rate of 34.4%).

Coronavirus Worldometer Sections:

CORONA    COVID---19 The article is about the plasma surrounding stars. For the colloquial term for the disease, see  Coro...