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Stop the spread: US restricts foreigners coming from China as virus fear increases

Ken Moritsugu, Zeke Miller
AP
Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00 UTC
Quarantine workers
© Chinatopix via AP
Quarantine workers in protective suits check identity documents as tourists from the Wuhan area walk off of a chartered plane taking them home from Bangkok at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, January 31, 2020.
The United States on Friday declared a public health emergency and took drastic steps to significantly restrict entry into the country because of a new virus that hit China and has spread to other nations.

President Donald Trump has signed an order that will temporarily bar foreign nationals, other than immediate family of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, who have traveled in China within the last 14 days. The new restrictions, which take effect at 5 p.m. EST on Sunday, were announced by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who is coordinating the U.S. response.
"It is likely that we will continue to see more cases in the United States in the coming days and weeks, including some limited person-to-person transmissions. The American public can be assured the full weight of the U.S. government is working to safeguard the health and safety of the American people."
Americans returning from China will be allowed into the country, but will face screening at select ports of entry and required to undertake 14 days of self-screening to ensure they don't pose a health risk. Those returning from Hubei province, the center of the outbreak, will be subject to up to 14 days of mandatory quarantine.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

Trans-identified children need therapy, not just 'affirmation' and drugs: Why I resigned from Tavistock

Marcus Evans
Quillette
Fri, 17 Jan 2020 19:57 UTC
tavistock clinic transgender
Over the past five years, there has been a 400 percent rise in referrals to the Tavistock Centre in north London, the only National Health Service (NHS) clinic in Britain that treats children with gender-identity developmental issues. During this period, there also has been an abrupt shift in the composition of the children seeking treatment. Formerly, a significant majority of patients had been young male-to-female children. Now, a significant majority are biological females who claim to have a male gender identity, often following the rapid onset of gender dysphoria in their teenage years.

We do not fully understand what is going on in this complex area, and it is essential to examine the phenomenon systematically and objectively. But this has become difficult in the current environment, as debate is continually being closed down amidst accusations of transphobia. As I argued in a May, 2019 presentation before the House of Lords, this de facto censorship regime is harming children.
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Airplane

Airline removes gas mask-wearing passenger after he panics travelers

Marc Nathanson
ABC News
Sat, 01 Feb 2020 04:03 UTC
Gas mask
© ThePlatypusesTX
An unidentified man wearing a gas mask is seen aboard an American Airlines flight from Dallas to Houston, Jan. 30, 2020.
American Airlines removed a mysterious gas mask-wearing man from a Houston-bound flight and rebooked him on another plane after passengers became panicked, airline officials said.

The presence of the man, whose gas mask completely hid his face, unnerved many of those on board Flight 2212 from Dallas to Houston as they waited to take off Thursday evening, passenger Joseph Say told Houston ABC station KTRK.

"I had a seat in the back," Say said. "I looked up and saw a guy coming onto the plane wearing a full gas mask, which was kind of odd. He didn't have a filter though -- which I thought was even more strange."

"Immediately, people start talking in the back of the plane," said Say. "You couldn't see his face. You couldn't identify any features on him. People were worried he had sneaked something on board and that he had the mask for his own safety."
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Bad Guys

Protesters storm New York subway & vandalize stations to protest increased police presence


RT
Sat, 01 Feb 2020 17:59 UTC
protests subway New York anarchists antifa
© Reuters / Caitlin Ochs
Demonstrators protest an increased police presence in the subway system at Grand Central in the Manhattan borough of New York City, January 31, 2020.
Subway stations across New York City's five boroughs faced delays during Friday rush hour after hundreds of protesters gathered for a mass action over a plan to ramp up police presence in terminals and crack down on fare-skippers.

The demonstrations kicked off on Friday afternoon and saw throngs of protesters - many clad in masks and carrying banners - descend upon stations throughout the city, scrawling anti-police slogans on walls and destroying MetroCard and OMNY readers used to pay fares. Social media was awash in photos and videos of the event, showing demonstrators as they filled subway stations with signs and placards.

In several terminals, protesters jumped turnstiles and used bike locks and chains to prop open emergency exits, encouraging commuters to evade fares.

Comment: Vandalizing and destroying public property. That's the way to make the case that the transit system is over-policed?

Antifa plans massive anti-cop action in NY subways, push for free transit, ending police presence

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Health

Coronavirus' deadliest day in China, WHO declares international health emergency, countries close borders - UPDATES


RT
Thu, 30 Jan 2020 18:21 UTC
virus
© REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
China has suffered its deadliest day since the coronavirus outbreak began, with 38 related deaths recorded. The World Health Organization (WHO) is set to discuss declaring a global health emergency.

Record fatalities

Thirty-eight new deaths in China were reported over the last 24 hours, marking the deadliest day since the outbreak began in Wuhan. The virus has now spread to every region in China, killing 170 nationwide.

The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in China has jumped to 7,711, while an additional 81,000 people are under observation.

Comment:

UPDATE February 1st 2020 @ 18:25 CET

RT reports that, as of January 30th, the WHO has declared the coronavirus a "public health emergency of international concern":
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the coronavirus "a previously unknown pathogen, which has escalated into an unprecedented outbreak" at a press conference on Thursday, but said the WHO was not recommending restrictions of trade or travel with China, where the virus originated.

Tedros pointed out that the declaration was "not a vote of no confidence in China," but made out of concern for other countries, with "weaker" healthcare systems.

China's response to the outbreak has been "very impressive," the WHO chief added. "So is China's commitment to transparency and to supporting other countries."

"China is actually setting a new standard for outbreak response."


While the majority of coronavirus cases have been registered in China, the WHO confirmed there were 98 confirmed cases elsewhere in the world - including eight cases of direct transmission in Germany, Japan, Vietnam and the US.

The "vast majority" of cases outside of China have either traveled to Wuhan or been in contact with someone who has, the WHO officials noted.

"The only way we will defeat this outbreak is for all countries to work together in a spirit of solidarity and cooperation," Tedros said. "We are all in this together, and we can only stop it together."

Coronavirus is the unofficial name of the pathogen, which the WHO is referring to by its interim name, 2019-nCoV. The condition caused by it is being called "2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease."

The virus first appeared in Wuhan, in China's Hubei province, on December 31. Since then, it has infected at least 8,130 people in China, at least 100 of whom have died. The 2019-nCoV appears to be closely related to the SARS vector, which infected 8,100 people across 17 different countries in 2003, killing 774.

The much faster pace of coronavirus infections, however, has the WHO and public health officials in China very concerned.
On January 30th the first case of direct transmission was confirmed in the US by the CDC:
The first US case of person-to-person coronavirus transmission has been recorded in Chicago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Illinois officials confirmed.

The new patient is the husband of a Chinese woman who brought the infection over from Wuhan, officials said Thursday at a press briefing. His wife is being held in isolation at a local hospital.

"Despite the case that we are reporting the first instance of person-to-person transmission in the United States, it is important to note that these two individuals were in close contact," said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

Messonnier called the outbreak "a very serious public health situation" and added that "Moving forward, we can expect to see more cases, and more cases means more potential for person-to-person spread."


Patients in the five 2019-nCoV cases previously confirmed in the US all contracted the infection in China. As of Wednesday, the CDC was monitoring an additional 160 people across 36 US states. Of those, 68 have tested negative for the virus, while the results for the remaining 92 are still pending.

Thursday's revelation means the US is now the fifth confirmed country with a direct transmission case of the virus.

"Although the numbers outside China are still relatively small, they hold the potential for a much larger outbreak," said World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, calling the continued rise in the number of infections and direct transmission "most deeply disturbing."
A Trump official makes the bizarre claim that the outbreak could be good for the US economy - which probably reflects the desperate state the US economy is in. And the official will likely be sorely disappointed when:
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Thursday the deadly coronavirus outbreak that has claimed the lives of 213 and infected almost 10,000 people globally could boost the US economy.

"I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America - some to US, probably some to Mexico as well," Ross said in an interview on Fox News.

He acknowledged the downside, saying, "I don't want to talk about a victory lap over a very unfortunate, very malignant disease."


And yet he does anyway.


Ross added that businesses need to take the risk into account and consider the virus when reviewing supply chains.

Later, the US Commerce Department said in a statement: "As Secretary Ross made clear, the first step is to bring the virus under control and help the victims of this disease."

The commerce department's spokesperson added: "It is also important to consider the ramifications of doing business with a country that has a long history of covering up real risks to its own people and the rest of the world."


Typical projection from a US official.


The statements have been criticized by some economists and politicians, with Democrat congressman Don Beyer tweeting that Ross' reaction to a "disease killing hundreds is to talk about ways to make money off it."

"Somehow they always find a way to be worse," he added.

White House trade advisor Peter Navarro said on Thursday that Washington will not make tariff concessions to Beijing, explaining that the tariffs are in place because China "engages in massive unfair subsidies."

This week, the World Health Organization declared a global emergency as China's coronavirus spread to 18 other countries.

Analysts say the virus could hurt China's economy. It has already forced global companies including tech giants, auto makers, and retailers to temporarily shut down in China after the authorities extended the Lunar New Year holiday and imposed major travel bans across the country.
China not only identified the virus in record time at the beginning of the outbreak but now it's developed a test that can detect the virus in under 15 minutes:
Experts from a tech company based in Wuxi in eastern China's Jiangsu Province, working with the National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, developed the rapid nucleic test kit in just ten days, according to the Xinhua news agency.

The test takes between eight and 15 minutes to produce a result and is currently being mass-manufactured at a rate of 4,000 kits per day, with the city government in Wuxi exploring efforts to boost production even further.


China is really demonstrating its capabilties throughout this high profile outbreak:



The first batch of kits has reportedly already been deployed to the frontlines at the epicentre of the outbreak, Wuhan, in Hubei province.
RT reports on January 31st are that two members of the same family in the UK have tested positive:
The two patients in England are receiving "specialist NHS care," Chief Medical Officer for England Professor Chris Whitty said, stressing that the UK has "robust infection control measures" in place to respond to the deadly virus.

"The NHS is extremely well-prepared and used to managing infections and we are already working rapidly to identify any contacts the patients had, to prevent further spread."


Let's hope the outbreak is mild because the underfunded NHS has been struggling with the flu outbreaks in recent years.


According to Whitty, the UK is working closely with the WHO to ensure that the country is "ready for all eventualities" regarding the health crisis.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Thursday that the epidemic constitutes a global health emergency, noting that the virus has infected people who had not traveled to China.

Originating in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the new coronavirus has claimed at least 213 lives - all in China - and spread to nearly twenty countries.

Governments have been scrambling to stop the spread of the virus. Countries across Asia, Europe and the Americas have suspended direct flights to Chinese cities, hoping that restricted travel could help prevent further infections. Several states, including Russia, Japan and the US, have also issued travel advisories for China.
And again the US is using the outbreak as an opportunity to be as beligerent as it can towards China, this time issuinh what Beijing calls a "truly mean" travel warning - bearing in mind the WHO haven't called for restrictions on travel, yet:
"The World Health Organization urged countries to avoid travel restrictions, but very soon after that, the United States did the opposite," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement. "It's truly mean."

Earlier on Friday, the US State Department issued its highest-level travel warning, advising citizens: "Do not travel to China due to novel coronavirus." The warning also advised those currently in China to "consider departing using commercial means."

The US warning came a day after the World Health Organization labeled the outbreak of the SARS-like Wuhan coronavirus a "public health emergency of international concern." Since the virus broke out in Wuhan - a city of 11 million people - last month, it has spread to every region of China and at least 25 other countries, killing at least 213 people and infecting just under 10,000, mostly in China.

The US is not the only country advising its citizens to avoid China. Britain, Germany, Russia, Japan and others have all issued their own travel warnings, and China's neighbors have locked down their borders. Singapore banned all arrivals and transfers from travelers from Chinese airports. Mongolia banned all arrivals from China by air, train and road. Vietnam suspended all tourist visas for Chinese citizens and foreigners who have been in China in recent weeks, and Russia closed its far east border with China.

At least seven major airlines, including Air France, KLM, British Airways, American Airlines and Lufthansa, have all stopped flying to mainland China, and several governments, including the US, Britain and Japan, have chartered flights to evacuate their citizens from the Wuhan area.
On February 1st China responded to the actions taken by the countries noted above:
Beijing has lashed out at countries fanning fears of the novel coronavirus — which so far claimed 259 lives — insisting that its response against the deadly disease goes far beyond standards accepted worldwide.

"We have adopted the most comprehensive and strictest prevention and control measures, and many of them go far beyond the requirements of the International Health Regulations," Foreign Minister Wang Yi assured while speaking with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Saturday.

"China's efforts are [aimed at] not only protecting the health of its own people, but also safeguarding the health of people worldwide. Governments and the World Health Organization have given full recognition to this."

The death toll from the previously unknown virus has risen to 259 overnight — all registered in China — with almost 12,000 confirmed cases elsewhere in the world.

Beijing "does not agree with the approach adopted by individual countries to create tension or even panic," the minister pointed out, reminding that the World Health Organization (WHO) "did not approve of travel or trade restrictions on China."


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Biohazard

Fear in the age of coronavirus: Chinese no longer welcome in other countries


The Straits Times
Sun, 01 Mar 2020 17:30 UTC
airport passengers coronavirus
© Agence France-Presse
Passengers wearing face masks queue at the immigration counter upon arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2, on Jan 29, 2020.
Hong Kong suspends travel from China. Schools in Europe uninvite exchange students. Restaurants in South Korea turn away Chinese customers.

As a deadly virus spreads beyond China, governments, businesses and educational institutions are struggling to find the right response. Safeguarding public health is a priority. How to do that without stigmatising the entire population of the country where the outbreak began is the challenge.

With the death toll reaching 170 and the roster of cases climbing above 7,700, worries are growing. Many global companies with operations in China have asked workers to stay home. Airlines are curtailing flights to the nation. Several countries have begun evacuating citizens from the most stricken zone around the city of Wuhan.

Comment: It's a sign of the times that sensible precautions against a unknown disease are railed against, yet hysterical reactions are applauded. A lot of it seems to be a mix of reasonable conclusions and deep-seated prejudice. China is rightfully worried about this toxic brew even as it strains to meet its domestic emergency.


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Star of David

Freedom of speech? Abby Martin banned from speaking at US university for refusing to sign pro-Israel pledge


teleSUR
Sat, 01 Feb 2020 16:38 UTC
Abby martin
© Abby Martin
Abby Martin is an outspoken critic of Israel’s apartheid government and anti-Palestinian policies.
Former teleSUR presenter and creator of The Empire Files Abby Martin was blocked from delivering a keynote speech at Georgia Southern University for refusing to "sign a contractual pledge to not boycott Israel" to comply with the anti-Boycott, Divest and Sanctions state law.

"After I was scheduled to give a keynote speech at an upcoming Georgia Southern conference, organizers said I must comply with Georgia's anti-BDS law," Martin tweeted on Friday.

Since 2014, 28 states, among those Georgia, have adopted anti-boycott laws, including five executive orders issued by governors.

"I refused and my talk was canceled. The event fell apart after colleagues supported me." Martin is an outspoken critic of Israel's apartheid government and anti-Palestinian policies.

Comment: Abby Martin has been championing the cause of Palestine for years. How is it that Georgia Southern University was unaware of that? Or did the pro-Israeli groups on campus set her up in the hopes of making an example of her? They are not above such tactics.

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X

Proposed Missouri book ban could jail librarians for loaning 'inappropriate' content

Ivan Pereira
ABC News
Fri, 31 Jan 2020 11:32 UTC
Public Library
© St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP, FILE
Children look for books at the Ferguson Municipal Public Library in Ferguson, Mo., Nov. 26, 2014.
Librarians and free speech advocates are fighting back against a proposal in the Missouri House of Representatives that would ban certain books from the state's libraries with the threat of a misdemeanor charge.

Missouri House Rep. Ben Baker introduced the bill, dubbed the "Parental Oversight of Public Libraries Act," in January that calls for the creation of a panel made up of non-library workers who will determine the removal of "age-inappropriate sexual material," from their local branch.

Libraries that don't comply will lose their funding. Library employees providing material deemed inappropriate would be hit with a misdemeanor charge and liable for a $500 fine or a maximum jail sentence of a year, according to the bill's current language.

Cynthia Dudenhoffer, the president of the Missouri Library Association, said she was shocked when she first heard about the bill and said it was unnecessary. Each of the state's library systems, which account for a total of 365 branches, already have their own protocols in place to determine which materials are allowed for their younger members.

Comment: See also: Telling it like it is: Drag Queen destroys Drag Queen Story Hour and woke culture

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Ambulance

Pentagon AGAIN increases casualty numbers from Iranian airstrikes against US base in Iraq, this time to "50, as of today" - UPDATE: Now it's 64!


The Guardian
Wed, 29 Jan 2020 11:04 UTC

Comment: UPDATE January 31

We're losing track of how many times the number has been revised. It seems American troops keep getting injured by that Iranian attack.

What were the Iranians using, time bombs?

Here's the latest revision:
The U.S. military has once again raised the number of U.S. service members who suffered traumatic brain injuries in Iran's missile strike on an Iraqi base earlier this month.

Pentagon spokesman Thomas Campbell said that as of January 30, "a total of 64 U.S. service members have been diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury, or TBI."

In remarks that have angered many U.S. veterans groups, President Donald Trump initially claimed that no Americans were harmed in Iran's January 8 attack on the Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq.

The military later said that 11 troops had suffered injuries, then raised it to 34 before saying on January 28 that 50 personnel had been injured.

Trump has downplayed the injuries, saying he "heard that they had headaches and a couple of other things."
This is the FIFTH time the Pentagon has revised its casualty estimate upwards since the airstrikes on January 8th...


al-asad airbase iraq iran airstrikes
© AP
The Pentagon said on Tuesday 50 US service members were now diagnosed with traumatic brain injury after missile strikes by Iran on a base in Iraq earlier this month, 16 more than the military had previously announced.

Donald Trump and other top officials initially said Iran's 8 January attack had not killed or injured any US service members.

"As of today, 50 US service members have been diagnosed" with traumatic brain injury, the Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Campbell said in a statement about injuries in the attack on the Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq.

Symptoms of concussive injuries include headaches, dizziness, sensitivity to light and nausea.


Comment: "As of today..."

Who knows what tomorrow will bring? The situation is always... fluid. Dynamic narratives are always... shifting.

The inability of the top authorities in the NATO sphere to speak plainly about even the smallest things is why conspiracy theories, paranoia, hysteria and chaos in general are proliferating across the West.


Comment: At this point we can no longer rely on the Pentagon's claim of zero US deaths. We have their claim versus the Iranian claim (of 80 or so US deaths). So that remains unknown, for now.

The dodgy PR campaign over this also makes us wonder just how far off is the official death toll for US soldiers in the Iraq War 2003-2011. Officially, it's 3,836, but given how drastically they under-reported Iraqi deaths in that war, and how readily and craftily they lie about the small things, and how sensitive they are about the optics of Americans coming home in coffins...

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USA

Antifa plans massive anti-cop action in NY subways, push for free transit, ending police presence

Paulina Dedaj
Fox News
Fri, 31 Jan 2020 13:30 UTC
antifa NYC transit protest
Police in New York are increasing their presence in subways Friday after members of the far-left Antifa movement called for a mass protest against law enforcement and transit fares.

The Police Benevolent Association of New York City issued a strong warning ahead of Friday's Antifa demonstration, urging New Yorkers to "pay close attention."

"This is [the] true endgame of the anti-police movement, an end of all policing & destruction of public order," the group said in a tweet. "Our members have spent their careers -- and in some cases given their lives -- to bring public safety back to NYC. We can't go backwards."

Comment: Some footage from the protest:







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