RTSat, 21 Mar 2020 17:15 UTC
© REUTERS/Aly SongPeople in Shanghai, China March 20, 2020.
China has marked its third consecutive day of no new local cases of coronavirus, as officials ease lockdown measures.
The number of deaths in China from the disease has also slowed dramatically.The positive development has coincided with the government's decision
to relax strict quarantine policies put in place across the country. Even in Wuhan, the epicenter of the disease, officials said residents could spend more time outside. Local businesses were also allowed to re-open in communities and neighborhoods where there were no existing cases of the virus.
The rate of infection has been brought to a near standstill in China, which struggled for weeks to contain Covid-19. Although no new local infections have been spotted in 72 hours, China said that it suffered
41 imported cases on Saturday — the highest one-day tally of infections from abroad. Seven new deaths were also reported, but the figure represents a steep decline in fatalities. Around 3,255 people in mainland China have died from Covid-19 since the health crisis began more than two months ago.
China's recovery contrasts sharply with Europe's ongoing struggle with the virus. Italy, with more than 4,000 deaths, has become the world's hardest-hit nation. Countries across Europe have closed their borders and implemented curfews and other restrictions in hopes of containing the disease. With more than 275,000 cases worldwide, Covid-19 has killed 5,000 people in Europe and 11,400 people globally.
Comment: Another 546
deaths were attributed to the virus over the last day in Italy, but note that these are not necessarily deaths directly caused by the virus - it just means that that many people died who also tested positive for the virus. There is undoubtedly some overlap (to what degree it's impossible to say yet without more data) between covid cases and people already ill who would have died whether or not they had the virus. It does seem that mortality in some cities is higher than usual, however.
For example:
"At the moment we receive an average of 25 coffins a day but we can manage only 12," the manager of a crematorium in the province of Piacenza in northern Italy told RT's Ruptly.
Obviously, this situation creates an abnormal amount, bringing us to an emergency phase, making us very likely to halt for a few days in order to be able to recover some space.
Neighboring regions have already begun sending their own excess bodies to the Piacenza facility, the manager added, observing: "It is the same problem that Bergamo had and exactly for this reason, we are receiving the coffins from all across central and northern Italy. They do not have any more provisional spaces for coffins."
No word on how often, if at all, such a situation happens for the crematoria.
Spain's cases
jumped to almost 25k, with over 300 new deaths, but because of the emergency situation, they're not even testing for the virus, so these numbers are worthless.
German cases jumped by 2705, with 47 total deaths. (Again, the reliability of the numbers is in question.) The Bundesbank chief warns a recession in Germany is
inevitable. The absurdity of the French situation was pointed out by officers
to RT: they're not even sure that they themselves aren't infecting people by approaching them to enforce the restrictions on movement and gathering imposed by the government. Speaking of which, thousands of French are ignoring the quarantine orders, leading to nearly 39,000
citations for violations of the restrictions. A Dutchman
received 10 weeks in jail for coughing on cops, saying, "I have the coronavirus and now you do, too."
A Turkey-based startup has
invented a disinfection module for ATMs that removes bacteria and viruses. Maybe cash isn't dead after all! Russia delivered over 100k Covi-19 test kits to
13 countries, including Iran and North Korea. In the States,
Illinois went into full lockdown (but only after the primaries). Maryland's National Guard reassured residents there is no
martial law threat - after military humvees appeared in the streets. And Little Rock Air Force Base declared an emergency after one airman tested positive.
See also:
Comment: Another 546 deaths were attributed to the virus over the last day in Italy, but note that these are not necessarily deaths directly caused by the virus - it just means that that many people died who also tested positive for the virus. There is undoubtedly some overlap (to what degree it's impossible to say yet without more data) between covid cases and people already ill who would have died whether or not they had the virus. It does seem that mortality in some cities is higher than usual, however. For example: No word on how often, if at all, such a situation happens for the crematoria.
Spain's cases jumped to almost 25k, with over 300 new deaths, but because of the emergency situation, they're not even testing for the virus, so these numbers are worthless. German cases jumped by 2705, with 47 total deaths. (Again, the reliability of the numbers is in question.) The Bundesbank chief warns a recession in Germany is inevitable. The absurdity of the French situation was pointed out by officers to RT: they're not even sure that they themselves aren't infecting people by approaching them to enforce the restrictions on movement and gathering imposed by the government. Speaking of which, thousands of French are ignoring the quarantine orders, leading to nearly 39,000 citations for violations of the restrictions. A Dutchman received 10 weeks in jail for coughing on cops, saying, "I have the coronavirus and now you do, too."
A Turkey-based startup has invented a disinfection module for ATMs that removes bacteria and viruses. Maybe cash isn't dead after all! Russia delivered over 100k Covi-19 test kits to 13 countries, including Iran and North Korea. In the States, Illinois went into full lockdown (but only after the primaries). Maryland's National Guard reassured residents there is no martial law threat - after military humvees appeared in the streets. And Little Rock Air Force Base declared an emergency after one airman tested positive.
See also: