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Originally posted by kkina:

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Originally posted by RAMIUS:
What if it like, never leaves your body? Like ya know mannn, you’re sick forever. That would suck.

Some viruses are like that.

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Originally posted by BansheeOne:
To keep tracking this, with 528 confirmed cases and 17 deaths in Italy now, fatality rate has remained remarkably stable (and high) at ca. three percent there. Meanwhile in South Korea, the rate is actually dropping with 1,766 cases and 13 deaths = 0.7 percent. Though comparability may be compromised by information lag; the Johns Hopkins tracker still shows 14 deaths for Italy, but news already report 17. So by now numbers of both Italian cases and South Korean deaths may be higher.

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Why South Korea may have more coronavirus cases than the US

South Korea had tested 66,652 people as of Thursday afternoon.

By Joohee Cho

27 February 2020, 11:09

SEOUL, South Korea -- Global health experts say the speed and scope of South Korea’s novel coronavirus diagnostic capability exhibit impressive and significant lab capabilities that no other countries, including the U.S., can match at the moment.

South Korea had tested a total of 66,652 people for the COVID-19 coronavirus virus as of 4 p.m. local time Thursday, whereas Japan had reported administering roughly 1,890 tests and the U.S. only 445. The huge discrepancy compared to other countries reflects how quickly South Korea’s numbers have been rising, experts say.

The total number of confirmed cases so far in South Korea is 1,766, up 505 from the day before. Of the 66,00 people who have been tested, more than 25,000 are still awaiting lab results.

More than 10,000 people a day are being tested around the clock, propelled by a sense of concern that the virus may spread outside of Daegu area, where around 80 percent of all confirmed cases have been found.

"This week is crucial for us in determining whether we have successfully dealt with COVID-19," South Korea Prime Minister Chung Sye-Kyun said.

The tests are being run at 79 designated health centers, in addition to authorized private hospitals and public health labs across the country.

"We have quickly selected these institutions after training and evaluation programs held on Feb. 7 and 20," official Park Hyun Kyu at Korea's Center for Disease Control told ABC News. "They do preliminary screening, then send all positively sampled results to us for final diagnosis."

Dr. Todd Ellerin, Director of Infectious Disease at South Shore Health in Massachusetts, says the massive number of tests is impressive.

[...]

A big reason for South Korea's success is how quickly they were able to get test kits ready, Ellerin said.

"One thing China did was that [after] the first case came in November, activity began in late December and by January 10th China shared the sequence with the public and they already had test kits on that day."

Officials say the rapid implementation was possible because the South Korean government was able to shorten the process for the newly developed test kits to be approved by its version of the Food and Drug Administration.

"It would normally take about a year to get a test kit approved, but FDA gave out emergency approval to acceptable applicants on a temporary basis," Park told ABC News.

For the testing itself, medical institutions, spread out across local communities, follow detailed instructions provided by the central health authorities and screen applicants with suspicious respiratory symptoms. The meticulous process takes from half an hour to an hour per person.

"It just takes a lot of time because the tester has to change suits to a new one every time," said Park.

"All medical teams dispose of their quarantine suits and inspection tools by using it just once, and new medical tools are used for each patient, every time," an official with Samsung Medical Center, one of the largest testing centers in Seoul, told ABC News.

As number of tests continues to stack up, several locations have set up "drive-thru" centers that could minimize contact between the potential patient and medical staff. This new idea shortens time spent on testing to just 10 minutes per person since the medics do not have to change quarantine suits for every patient.

Applicants must drive to the site in their privately owned vehicles wearing masks. Tests are conducted at a makeshift tent outside of buildings to prevent spreading indoors.

[...]

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February 24, 2020 / 7:33 AM / 5 days ago

Mapping coronavirus: South Koreans turn to online tracking as cases surge

Sangmi Cha

SEOUL (Reuters) - As the new coronavirus spreads in South Korea, private software developers have set up websites and apps to help people track cases and shun places where infected people have been in the hope of avoiding the fast-spreading virus.

The government, stung by criticism of how it handled past outbreaks, initially released very detailed information on confirmed cases, including the age, gender and daily routes infected people took before being quarantined.

Identities were not published but the information that was enabled web developers to build detailed maps tracking the movements of patients.

“We experienced a public backlash after a mass infection took place during the MERS outbreak five years ago, because we didn’t make public where those patients had gone,” a health official, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.

A button on one of the sites, Coronamap.live, is labeled “See whether I am safe”. A click shows users if there are any known coronavirus cases in their vicinity.

Many South Koreans have been logging on to the sites, with some saying the thought of becoming infected and appearing on an online map is so mortifying it keeps them from going out.

[...]

But the increase in cases over recent days with confirmed infections surging from 31 to more than 763, including seven deaths, in less than a week, has made it nearly impossible to keep up.

“Currently adding 600+ places,” said a message on Monday on Coronamap.live, which offers an interactive map in Korean, Chinese and English.


‘TAKING A TOLL’

Health authorities also just can’t keep up with the new cases and in recent days have been forced to publish more general summaries and regional information on cases.

Still, the government regularly releases updates and discusses cases in briefings, and Hong said he uses a wide range of other open-source resources like news reports to supplement official data.

[...]

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Originally posted by Fed161:
Well, here is an interesting take on containing the Carona Virus: From the IB Times:

In what appears to be a rather drastic measure to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID 19), North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un allegedly sanctioned the execution of the first North Korean patient that tested positive for the deadly strain of the virus.

This is from Reuters:
Reuters
Earlier last week, reports had suggested that a North Korean trade official was shot dead for leaving coronavirus quarantine to visit a public bath. According to South Korean media, the victim, who had returned to the country after a visit to China, was executed for risking the spread of the deadly virus.

So in North Korea, I guess the plan is to shoot anyone who has any flu symptoms. That should definitely slow down the spread of the virus in North Korea.

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Originally posted by SIG4EVA:
Well boys, my family and I are still alive and healthy, lol. It's been 20 days since we got back from Taiwan through LA and Dulles.

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Originally posted by TigerDore:

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Originally posted by SIG4EVA:
Well boys, my family and I are still alive and healthy, lol. It's been 20 days since we got back from Taiwan through LA and Dulles.

Good news! And beautiful kids!



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Since the dems are blaming the Coronavirus on Trump, will they now credit him for helping the climate?

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Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Since the dems are blaming the Coronavirus on Trump, will they now credit him for helping the climate?

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Originally posted by Prefontaine:
Gents, I’m supposed to be going to Hawaii in a month to surf. Should I be concerned with this? I’m sure anyone doing any kind of travel in the cocoon might be concerned. I’m not so much worried about it on the island but on the plane makes me worry. Or is this the liberal media making everyone hysterical?

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Originally posted by slosig:

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Originally posted by Fed161:
Well, here is an interesting take on containing the Carona Virus: From the IB Times:

In what appears to be a rather drastic measure to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID 19), North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un allegedly sanctioned the execution of the first North Korean patient that tested positive for the deadly strain of the virus.

This is from Reuters:
Reuters
Earlier last week, reports had suggested that a North Korean trade official was shot dead for leaving coronavirus quarantine to visit a public bath. According to South Korean media, the victim, who had returned to the country after a visit to China, was executed for risking the spread of the deadly virus.

So in North Korea, I guess the plan is to shoot anyone who has any flu symptoms. That should definitely slow down the spread of the virus in North Korea.

Maybe you read the above paragraph differently, but to me it looks like he was executed not for having symptoms but for leaving quarantine to visit a public bath. Execution is pretty steep, but leaving quarantine when you are sick and going to a public place is not a particularly cool move.